Thanks Mitch, will do. The cd drive on my iMac stopped working yesterday, so I won't be doing any new transfers until I get it fixed. I guess I can struggle along with the 793 albums transferred so far until I can get if fixed.
I've listened to the Ligeti "Ten pieces for Wind Quintet" 3 times over the last 3 days. We are not quite there yet. Still need more burn in. Once I get another couple hundred hours in, I will bring in a good pair of NOS 6922s to compare with the 6GC7s. I'm open to suggestions. |
Jcaudio, I don't use the Vtuner often, but I did notice the same thing the last time I tried to connect. I can certainly understand why you are upset. Seems like sony is making that fatal audio mistake here, the mistake of assuming its customers are all stupid.
Get your act together Sony. |
Sony needs to wake up and smell the coffee. They have, in my opinion, a superb product with huge sales potential. They are failing miserably when it comes to facilitating commercial availability of their catalogue in DSD, now this issue with Vtuner.
What is not clear to me is if this has been a case of a corporate decision to deny culpability for the problem, or clueless employees at the help desk making up stuff as they go.
This is an important feature worked perfectly for a long time. What is the deal, Sony? |
Schubert, good thing I'm not running a business. I wouldn't know how to build a business plan around an assumption that 90% of my customers are idiots. How is that for a company brand.
"Successfully selling junk to complete idiots for generations. Bend over, we deliver!" |
Knghifi, I'm not sure if you caught the discussion about the Audio Magic Illusion umbilical. If not, please read my review, and Wig's rave comments. No hyperbole. As an upgrade for the ModWright HAPZ1, it is a must have. Stunning improvement over the truth umbilical. The difference is on the same order of magnitude as the ModWright mods over the stock HAPZ1.
I've got a 1940's Westinghouse Canada U54 rectifier coming in from Brent Jesse. Got the last one. I'm also going to bring in a 5R4GYS for comparison. When you get a feel for your Siemens/Telefunken preference, please let me know.
I have an audio magic fuse in my PS 9.0, but I was thinking about trying an SR red. |
Day 3- I’m going to love the internet radio function. Sampled a couple of the high quality stations and found them to be very good quality. I’ve got the music transfer thing figured out. No frustrations or calls to sony tech support today.
Today I explored the internet radio function. This is set up in a way that sorts stations according to genre, location, popularity, and other criteria. Since I listen to classical exclusively, I use the genre filter, which takes you to a second selection criterion screen. This one sorts by country, but also has a “high quality” station list. Opening this one reveals quite a few stations which can be selected. I listened to WGUC (one of my favorites since the late 70’s) this morning and the sound quality was very good. This evening I am playing the Linn Classical station, which is of excellent quality. There is also a station dedicated to live broadcasts of the Concertgebow. This will certainly get some use. The internet radio function is going to get a lot of use around my house. Even my wife expressed a mild interest in this function! At any rate, I had the internet radio function going for most of the day at a low level to give me some more burn in time.
I altered my Mac’s network hierarchy, setting my current home network name at the top of the hierarchy and this has eliminated the problem with my Mac not being able to locate the HAPZ1. I also had no further difficulties with wireless transfer of music from the Mac to the HAPZ1. I deselected all the file types other than flac, wav, and m4a. This should ensure that I don’t transfer anything other than music files from iTunes. I had some stuff from iTunes university that transferred to the HAPZ1 yesterday. Deleting unwanted files from the hard drive has (as of yesterday) become easy. One highlights the file, holds the enter button down for a couple seconds, and a screen comes up allowing you to delete the file. Sony documentation does not tell you this, I got this from yesterdays call to Sony tech support. Lots of smiles today. This thing is a steal at 2K. |
Tim, I had a similar hesitation. I have an existing library of about 1200-1500 cds. I thought, "this is not going to be a viable option without a digital in." Unfortunately, a digital in is not an option because of the design. The stock unit does not have digital in or digital out, and the guys who are offering mods have indicated that option will not (can not) be a part of the mod package.
Obviously, I rethought my position and decided I would slowly invest the time to transfer at least the more frequently played CDs. It takes a few minutes, probably 2-4 to burn an ALAC or wave file to your iMac. This is the big time drain. I would suggest you grab a half dozen cds, burn them to your iMac, multiply by 100, and ask yourself if it is going to be a reasonable time commitment spread over several months. I invested about a half an hour one day one, and since then, i just grab a few cds and burn them while I am at the computer anyway.
Wireless transfer from the iMac to the HAPZ1 is substantially faster and can be set to run automatically, so there is really no time burn on that part of the process.
If you don't have a router that will reach your garage, another option is to buy an external hard drive. You can transfer the files from your iMac to the external drive, then take your external drive to the location of the HAPZ1 and download the files via USB.
For a person who has a substantial music collection, and who may purchase hi rez files for download on a limited basis, purchase of the HAPZ1 is going to be primarily driven by the superb sound quality. It is not going to be the right machine for everyone, but for those who can accept it for what it is, it is a real gem. |
Day 7 & 8.
More than a little frustration with wav files. Transfer of wav files is probably an exception rather than rule proposition. Sadly, transfer of the bulk of one’s library in wav is probably not a viable plan.
Having determined that at least in one case, a wav file sounded perceptibly superior to its ALAC equivalent, I was faced with a conundrum of sorts. If wav files are consistently superior, and one can purchase for download only flac and ALAC files, would one not be better off buying a cd, and transferring a wav copy? Is the file size of wav going to make it impractical to copy the bulk of one’s library in wav? As alluded to in Uomoragno’s post above, these questions were rendered moot by the difficulty I experienced in transferring about 6-8 CDs in wav to the Sony. While the wav copies were successfully created in iTunes, less than half of these albums transferred to the Sony correctly. In most cases, the metadata did not transfer, which one could probably live with. However, about half of the “albums” were seriously corrupted. As an example, the 3rd movement of the 3rd quartet from the Takacs Bartok cycle was extracted out of the “album”, and the sony created a separate “album” of this movement. Many cds transferred in similar but with even more extreme corruption. Sadly, I am forced to conclude we should not expect that transferring wav files will be practical. In actual fact, file size might well make this impossible anyway, but it would be nice to have that option for a few very special works. Alac appears to be robust with respect to music and metadata transfer.
I should mention that one cd would not properly copy into iTunes as either Alac or wav. So this is an example where the music is going to require playback through a cd player. The CD is a hybrid SACD/red book. Don’t know just yet if this is going to continue to be an issue, but it bears watching.
I bought a tablet last night and successfully transferred the HDD Audio remote app to the tablet. I will spend some time over the next few days evaluating what this app brings to the party.
It is fortunate that my purchase of the HAPZ1 coincided with my retirement. This is not a plug and play proposition. It does require time and learning. On the other hand, we have all spent a good bit more time on issues like getting speaker placement dialed in, so its not like this investment is out of proportion to the return. |
Days 10 and 11.
Joe, we are not quite alone, but you can get us all together in one room and still have room for an angel choir singing "Lobet den Herrn."
Now then, having been reminded that my life (and wife) will not permit me full time devotion to this project, I have gone light the last couple of days. I am still experimenting a bit with file types, but for the time being, I am ok with ALAC for the majority of my transfers. They really are quite good in the substantial majority of cases.
There are a few transfers I have made where I was not quite satisfied with the sound. I took Erikminer's advice and transferred in aiff 3 CD's, where the ALAC file was not up to par. Of those three, 2 did not transfer at all (which is far better than a corrupted transfer), while one transferred perfectly. If one changes the cd title in I tunes before the transfer ( I added aiff to the title), the new title transfers and it is easy to distinguish between the 2 in the HAPZ1 menu. The one that did transfer (metadata and all) exhibited a subtle but important improvement over both the ALAC and the original cd as played back through my modwright sony 5400.
For the time being, my best practice is to try Alac first, followed by aiff, followed (reluctantly, and only if it is an important recording) by wav. I have been looking into XLD as suggested by lowrider, but I haven't tried it yet. Reviews appear to be mixed on this software.
Again exposing my ignorance here, I wonder about one of the programs like audirvana? By the time I get done with the ModWright mods, I'm going to be in 4-5K on this thing, so I'm not sure it makes sense to get cheap on $80 worth of software. |
One more installment of the HAPZ1/MW5400 comparison.
Shostakovich, Symphony 13, "Babi Yar" Kitajenko, Gurzennich Orchester Koln. SACD Capriccio. This proved to be an outstanding choice for the comparison. The ALAC file through the HAPZ1 exhibited superior articulation of the Russian. (Not that I could do anything with this, since I don't understand a word of Russian). I also noticed better reproduction of the upper harmonics in the brass. The tuba had more bite. In fact, all of the brass had more of that wonderful brassy bite that one hears live in a hall with good acoustics. This more faithful reproduction of upper harmonics was also evident in the low string opening of the 3rd movement. There were a few instances where the MW5400 shone. This was mostly in reproduction of solo violin or massed violins. Lovely, silky smooth. But really, I thought the HAPZ1 bettered the MW5400 by a fair margin on this music. |
Richard, at a high level, I have been very happy with the HAPZ1 based on its sonic merits. Its operation is not perfect for our needs, but it is pretty good in most ways and excellent in others. In my opinion, the sonic merits of the stock HAPZ1 justifies any logistical frustrations associated with file transfer.
While I do work hard to keep my cd collection organized, I have some recordings that are MIA. Once a disk is misfiled in my racks, it is a real chore looking through 1500-2000 cds to find it. I've had a Mahler 1 missing for 6 months. The HAPZ1 makes it extremely easy to organize even a very large collection in such a way as to make it extremely easy to find a given recording.
By "recognizing" I assume you mean properly associating album artwork with a particular recording. If that is your meaning, I would say that the sony is probably picking up about 70%. With a little work, my guess is that could go as high as 90%. What I am finding is that when I import the CD to iTunes, iTunes many times has a variety of possible titles for the same recording, one or none of which allows one to import the artwork into iTunes, This data comes from the iTunes store. When you change the title or artist to match the iTunes record associated with the artwork, this change imports into the sony, but the artwork does not always import. However, in many cases, one can do a search within the sony software that allows one to find the correct artwork. Still it is hit or miss, but the Sony database (Gracework) is much better than iTunes at assigning the correct artwork.
As an example, the Padmore/Lewis Winterrise has the correct artwork associated with it in iTunes, but this did not import into the sony, and instead the sony assigned another recording artwork (different tenor and pianist) to the recording. Searching through the database did not turn up the correct recording.
For me, this is more of an annoyance than a problem, since one can change the album title in iTunes to anything you want and this does import into the sony. This means it is no problem to associate an unambiguous title to the album. |
Mitch, my updates on burn in were "complicated" by purchase of new amplifiers. This rendered any continuation of the burn in progress impossible, since there was a quantum jump in performance of the system with the new amps. The amps are new so they are also burning in. I wanted to trade in my old equipment on the new amps, so I had to do this before moving out of the Coincident dealers sales territory. I do wish I could have gotten another 100 hours on the HAPZ1 to complete the comparison before buying the new amps, but because of the impending move I needed to act.
What I will be able to do, as soon as time permits, is do another careful A/b of the HAPZ1 vs the Modwright Sony 5400 player. Since that was the time zero reference point, this will provide a very good end point analysis of the fully burned in Modwright HAPZ1.
I am in the midst of purchase of the new house and won't close until late October. Our house is not yet on the market, and essentially all of my time is consumed with keeping things moving with the 2 houses. I will certainly be glad when this move is over. It is never painless to move, but this is more than I anticipated.
I can say this on the HAPZ1. I hardly ever listen to the MW 5400 anymore. It is a very good source. |
Installment 3 of the stock HAPZ1 vs MW5400 comparison.
Tonight's music selection:
1) Shostakovich 10 Kitajenko/Gurzenich-Orchester Koln
I listened to the music from the beginning through about 5 minutes of the 3rd movement, first with the HAPZ1, then with the MW5400, then back to the HAPZ1 to confirm my initial impression. The music was thoroughly enjoyable through both machines. The HAPZ1 continued to exhibit its previously noted strengths. Fast attacks, articulate, detailed-- I also noted that the initial edge the MW 5400 had on dynamics has disappeared. If anything, it is now the HAPZ1 with superior dynamics. I also noted that the HAPZ1 was a little stronger (and faster) in the bass--keep in mind I'm talking 45-50Hz here (monitors). I will give this more attention when I rotate the Maggies in, but even so, we are only talking 37 Hz. The MW5400 continued to shine with respect to smooth silky, sweet strings. I also noted much more of that wonderful fruity woodwind sound from the 5400. It's the tube magic with respect to upper harmonics at work here, I suspect. This is important, because it really is so much of what draws many of us into the music. I do hope the ModWright HAPZ1 modification imparts this tube magic to the machine. Even so, I preferred the HAPZ1 by a razor thin margin.
2) Bach, Sonatas for violin and harpsichord #2. I chose this disk, because in contrast to so many harpsichord recordings, it does not sound like "Two skeletons copulating on a tin roof." The HAPZ1 brought a little more to the harpsichord, ironically, based on superior upper harmonics. Go figure. I might have preferred Ehnes' violin via the MW 5400, but again this was a tough call. Probably a toss up here overall.
So, based on what I have heard so far, if I had 2K to spend, and had my choice between a used MW 5400 and a new stock HAPZ1, which one would I choose? Sophie's choice! Don't make me choose. I'm going to have to think about this for a while.
Hopefully, I will have time to revisit some of this music with the Maggies in and the Coincidents out. I do really want to see if that fundamentally changes my take on these two machines. I'm betting not. |
Thanks so much Pokey. I'm entering a very exciting time of my life. I had planned on staying in Indianapolis for another 8 years or so. Over the last decade, I have watched both of my parents decline with Alzheimer's. I lost Dad about a year ago. In one of the last lucid conversations I had with him, he said to me, "I worked hard all of my life and saved all of my money. Now look at me, I can't even get out of bed." I have a few really good years left. I'm not going to repeat the mistake my parents made. Now is the time.
As for the thread, stay posted for comments on the ModWright modification. I should have it back by the end of May. Dan has already warned me that the transformers especially require a long break in, so it will probably be mid June before I have any firm conclusions. |
I have about 120 hours of burn in now on the ModWright modification. At this point, the upper harmonics have bloomed, ripened, whatever you prefer, to a substantial extent. I spent some significant time last weekend listening to Stravinsky. Dumbarton Oaks, Petrushka, the Rite of Spring, also Messiaen quartet for the End of Time, and Golijov Dreams and prayers of Isaac the Blind. Bassoon, contrabassoon, every possible permutation of clarinet, all sound just wonderful. Strings are also doing very nicely. Cello is pretty much to die for. Oboe and horn are just not quite there yet. I am still far short of the 400 hours necessary for the transformers to fully burn in.
I have about 400 cds loaded at this point. I've got most of my favorite recordings of my favorite works downloaded, and a few 2nd and third choices on favorite works as well. It is going to be a much easier deal now to find recordings using the tablet. No more, where are my glasses, where is the flashlight, and where did that Abbado Mahler 1 get to? Not to mention the Floristan Shostakovich trio.
Yesterday, I had a hankering for Bach's Wahrlich, wahrlich ich sage euch. It was so nice just scrolling down on the tracks listing to get the desired cantata, rather than fumbling through 54 cds trying to figure out which one had Wahrlich.
Also this week, I listened to some of the DSD freebies that came with the player. Looking at my first post, I was struck by my initial comment on these recordings--- " sound quality indeterminate." Much different this time. The Yo Yo Ma track from Appalachian journey was stunning. I will be willing to sample some dsd downloads, once something I actually want is commercially available. I don't know, maybe the Starker Bach sonatas.
Stay tuned |
Bill K, if the transfer program worked properly, what you say is correct. Unfortunately, what I have found repeatedly, is that files left in the iTunes folder on my iMac, are sometimes redownloaded in corrupted form to the HAPZ1. The only way I have found to prevent this is to clear the "transferred files" list in the HAPZ1 transfer program and delete the albums from iTunes. Thus, there is no backup. I considered moving the files out of iTunes into a separate folder that is not designated for transfer to the HAPZ1, but it appears this looses the album integrity, so that one just has individual tracks, not albums.
Sony recently updated the HAPZ1 transfer program without releasing any details on what they changed. I hope they fixed this, and I do intend to try leaving the files in iTunes to see if they fixed the glitch. |
