I found the USB from laptop directly to the DL III to be disappointing. Adding the Vlink improved it quite a bit. I'm ordering some room treatments and I am playing around with Foobar/Jriver/Jplay. I'll get it there, eventually. |
I auditioned Jplay a couple of days ago and it helped. Less ringing. But the volume control is in 6dB steps to keep the signal bit-perfect, it's not a slider.
I only know of two manufacturer's of re-clockers, Monarchy Audio's DIP products and Empirical's units. Is there a re-clocker out there that I am missing? I know USB-S/PDIF converters re-clock the signal, and there are probably better ones than the MF V-link I bought. Audiophelio, Halide, Stello. Not sure one of these will make as significant a difference as a new clock.
Does anyone out there use a PC setup with Focal 826v or 836v? I'm interested in how you set up your source. |
My ears won't stop ringing. I might have tinnitis. If so, I'm selling all my gear. The sound fatigue might have nothing to do with the jitter, the speakers or the amp, it might have everything to do with how loud I've listened to my music for the past 3 years. |
I definitely want to do USB, But the synchro mesh looks interesting, will it work with a mf v-lnk, does it accept 24/96? |
I bought the DL III because of the sonic character described in pretty much all of the reviews - warm, big soundstage, with a very good handle on low end frequencies. The improvement in SQ after running the signal from my Denon changer into the DAC was noticeable, there was no listener fatigue. But leaving the changer and the pre amp completely out of the signal chain blew that improvement out of the water, yet produced listener fatigue. The pre must have been rolling off the highs somehow. Looks like my search is not over! I might sell the Halo to fund a USB converter upgrade... |
Thanks Mapman, I will try that if the acoustic deadening I plan to do in the room doesn't help. I have always wanted to dampen my listening room, There are way too many hard surfaces.
Also considering a purchase of Jplay, the SQ improvement cannot be ignored. I don't know if I can go back to iTunes, even using WASAPI, iTunes cannot compete with the improvement Jplay makes. |
Update: purchased Jplay and placed the pre back into e system, the signal from iTunes with Jplay is strong enough to retain a lot more detail compared to just running iTunes thru the pre. Using Jplay directly into the dac and amp is still too bright. Wouldn't be doing Pc audio without Jplay, it's a great piece of code...more later... |
Yes it does, and acoustic foam is next on my list. I have carpet on the floor, but the walls and ceiling are gypsum wall board (sheet rock). The room is 12x12x8. I'm planning on putting up about 100 sq ft of acoustic dampening. I have also researched the audiophellio, read some reviews, and tonight I'm more in the "save for new speakers" camp. Still researching the stello. Tomorrow night or Sunday I'll have another idea, but the acoustical treatments will happen regardless.
Whatever I do, nothing can help my 1980 "Boy" CD, I'll have to buy the 2008 remaster. |
stereo 5, agree that iTunes is terrible by itself. This is why I purchased Jplay, tried it with both Jriver and Foobar, and could not hear a difference compared to iTunes with Jplay, so I stuck with iTunes as my software of choice. I have been managing an iTunes library since the iPod 5th gen came out, so I'm used to and like the interface. Jplay gives bit perfect output using kernel streaming and loads the tracks into RAM, the HD is never touched for playback, and it sounds really good.
First reflection points and maybe a bit of dampening overhead would be the only places I'd put absorption. Thanks for the mirror trick, Steve. I have a window on one side with a double cell fabric blind, might add drapes there.
And yeah, the off ramp is better than the audiophilleo, I'm sure, But it's also got a much higher entry level price point ($1200?).. I don't want to totally out pace the rest of my system, once the interface is upgraded, I'll have some more work to do to bring the rest of the system up. I never really thought i would take the Pc audio plunge, but the convenience and fun of the iPad interface made it irresistible, and there really hasn't been that much tinkering. |
Davide256 - I use the Jplay plugin with iTunes. This plugin loads the tracks into RAM, then plays them back from memory without ever hitting the HD. It uses kernel streaming or WASAPI, and has several other adjustments for memory management, also features a bit-perfect volume control in 6dB increments. Sound improvement over stock iTunes is astounding. I tried this plugin with Foobar and JRiver trial software and could not hear a significant difference, so I stuck with itunes as the interface. That might change later, Jplay and iTunes don't play so nice together.
The immediate, in-reach upgrade is a converter that has dual clocks, so I am not synthesizing a 48kHz stream from 44.1kHz data. If that does not improve things, you're right, I have to consider going to a high-quality integrated, upgrading speakers, etc. |
agree, Davide256, I have placed my Halo pre back into the signal chain after purchasing the Jplay plugin. I did mess around with the volme control in the plugin, but 6dB steps don't do it for me. I am running the signal into the direct inputs on the Halo, this bypasses the tone control circuitry and goes straight to the volume pot. Still have to try it through the tone controls, see what that does. I'm having a ball though, headaches or not! |
Yes that is why I bought the DL III, for the warmth. I think I'm doing everything correctly, the synergy of my components is off, it'll take time to determine who the culprit is, might be a combination of things. it's frustrating. |
Thanks, Davide, I plan to upgrade my converter as well. I upgraded my speakers and the brightness was alleviated somewhat. Pics will follow soon in my system profile. Work is killing me right now, can't get to that yet.
The choice of DACs kind of changes a bit when you already have a really good USB converter, eh? I imagine I will be in your boat (swapping DACs) in about a year or so. |
My USB cable is a Pangea, but still, point taken. It will be a long time before I spend $600-$700 on a cable. |
