2. pc-audio
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Computer audio, I am not convinced yet ......

I am extremely interested in using the computer (Mac or PC) as a source for a digital playback. It seems to be the right direction for modern digital playback, a good alternative to the age old CDP, has endless potential and most convenient. So, I got an EMM DAC2 (retail $10000) with USB input and connected it to an Windows laptop via USB. My preamp, amp, speakers and cables are also of very good quality. Played some track on my system from the PC (used Audacity software, a very good and high quality software for sound processing). In 2 minutes I had to turn it off. It is just mediocre sound compared to playing the same track through a $1000 CDP(Sony SCD XA5400ES). It is almost like listening to an internet-radio through my PC speakers. I was wondering what happened to my first rate sound system ? Later I replaced the Windows PC with a Linux based MacMini, hoping that I will get the result I wanted. But it did not improve much. I did not like the outcome. My listening experience with the computer set up was 4 minutes(2 with PC and 2 with Mac) total. Since then I have gone back to using the same old CDP. I think I blame on the USB interface for this failure. The USB interface has not come up to the state of the art of a modern CD player. I did not try other interfaces purposely. No High-Res, only 16bit/44.1 audio files. I dont listen to SACD. Fire Wire to USB, USB to SPDI/F, Fire wire to HDMI, Firewire to SPDI/F, and almost an infinite combinations of patch up ideas are out there. But I dont like a patch up solution nor do I like to compromise the sound in favor of convenience.

I have heard many audiophile friends changed to computer based playback system many years ago for good and they are happy too. But I am not convinced yet. I am eagerly waiting for computer audio to catch up. I am sure it is in the making but it still has to go quiet a long distance.

Your thoughts are most welcome.
topmostaudio

Showing 9 responses by topmostaudio

topmostaudio OP
28 posts
 
Dtc,
Thanks for asking this question. yes I have tried the Digital input of the EMM DAC2 and the sound was fantastic. DAC2 is a great DA converter by itself when non-USB port is used. I have no knowledge of how the USB is implemented. This is exactly the point. The technology has not been matured enough. Everybody is trying something in all directions to find the right approach which has not been achieved satisfactorily. I am not blaming the DAC2 entirely for the failure. The computer is also involved in the whole picture.
topmostaudio OP
28 posts
 
Spectron & Mapman, yes you are right that the mediocre circuits in a general purpose computer and the noise inside it are the big issues. If that is the case then we can not use a general purpose PC/MAC at all for this purpose. The computer must be designed by an audiophile company carefully removing non-audio parts and selecting exotic audio-parts which will cost $30,000 and up like some of the exotic CDP or DAC ? It may or may not run my 3D graphic software at its full speed. I will not call this specially designed audiophile grade computer a computer at all. It will be an alternate transport which happen to use some processor and useless outside audio application.
topmostaudio OP
28 posts
 
Don_c55, I don't have any SACD media. I am sure SACD will sound better than the Redbook CDs, but I have no plan in investing on SACD. Thanks for the suggestion.
topmostaudio OP
28 posts
 
Steve. N., Thanks for the suggestion. I believe the 5th generation USB converter you meant the OffRamp 5 USB converter ? I will have to try this one. Can you also mention some other high quality USB converter ? What is the best quality power supply to go with it ?
A USB converter and then the DAC ? This will add one more stage in the signal path and one more pair of ICs, and one more power supply, etc, etc, etc. This is getting too messy !!! Four to five extra components for just replacing a simple CD player !!! That is why I like a good DAC unit with USB input which has been implemented correctly to minimize number of components as well as expensive ICs.

Also a DAC with high quality USB input and a high quality volume control will be my preference !!! Is there any such thing in the market which will outperform my Sony SCD XA-5400 ES player ?
topmostaudio OP
28 posts
 
Mapman, good question, why must be USB ? When I tested the DAC2 with its digital input I tested with the Sony Player digital output. I am not sure if every PC/MAC comes with a TosLink or SPDI/F digital output or how it will sound compared to the digital output from the CD player. But every PC or MAC comes with abundance of USB ports and even it comes with USB3 faster data rate. That's why I was more inclined towards the USB ports. After testing with USB and not liking it, I almost gave up and did not think of using digital port from PC. Now that you have raised this question, I need to test it with the TOSLINK port from a PC. Unfortunately, I have already sold the DAC2 as it was not getting used. The main purpose of buying an expensive gear like DAC2 was to use it with a computer to get some decent result. I can buy the DAC again for the experiment and even perhaps something better than the DAC2 available today.
topmostaudio OP
28 posts
 
Simon, I was referring to a computer of some sort with a CPU as in a normal computer, but the computer is designed for audio and thus will be extremely costly yet not usable as a normal computer.

I can see very clearly that with the on set of this so called computer audio, a new type of device called "interface converter" is going to find its importance in the audio system much like a preamp found its position in interconnecting various sources to an audio system previously.

So, the audio chain with a computer will look like the following:
Computer => Interface Converter => DAC => Preamp => Amp => Speaker.
Previously it was
CDP/TT => Preamp => Amp => Speaker. OR
Transport => DAC => Preamp => Amp => Speaker

This new component "Interface Converter" will convert various digital Interfaces (I2S/HDMI/USB/FireWire/SPDIF/TOSLINK) => Analog or
one form of digital => another form of digital signal.

The quality of this conversion will dictate the quality of the system sound. Better the conversion quality better is the isolation between a mediocre computer HW and a high end audio system.
topmostaudio OP
28 posts
 
Hfisher3380, I am not dead set on the USB per se. I will be perfectly happy with an interface from the computer (PC/MAC) which is reliable and gives best audio output without any compromise.
topmostaudio OP
28 posts
 
Mapman, No, I have not used any network device other than Windows laptop and MacMini. Wifi is an interesting option. At the time I thought the wifi is inferior to wired connection for HQ audio, even though it can isolate the computer noise. Probably I have to revisit this option again.
Can anybody suggest me a good network server with wifi to consider ?
topmostaudio OP
28 posts
 
Can anybody comment on Lynx HiLo converter with USB input ? Is the USB implementation truely asynchronous ? How is the DAC performance ? How would it compare to a good USB/SPDIF converter + EMM DAC2 ? Thanks,
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