Cool, I'll read up to see what I2S is all about.
Hmm, so you don't think monster cable is that good, huh? Man, I researched cable like crazy... people said the Z2 was really good. I also had some audioquest starquad type 4... and I couldn't get a straight answer out of anyone which would be better. The Monster Cable Z2 looked better, so I just kept that one... but I still haven't hooked it up yet... lol, too busy trying to get the rest of my system together. |
oh, i see. Thanks for the info.
So, just to make sure of one of the most basic ideas here... when everyone is talking about connecting their USB DAC to their computers, they are just using the stock USB ports that are built into the computer's motherboard, right? Or is there some additional sound card hardware people use to output USB?
So, would I be wrong in saying that a little $200 laptop running Vista would sound just as good as my $2000 editing workstation running Vista?
Any opinions on this Musiland MD-10? Its at a nice price... And apparently boasts the ability to toggle bit-depth. Wouldn't this be the best of both worlds b/w NOS and OS? |
Wow, that looks amazing.
I wonder how it would sound next to a Nad c352 paired with a Paradisea+... |
Deuce... good to hear... I'm excited man. I actually can't believe I have gone this long without a nice home theatre system. Granted I have nice headphones that I edit on and listed to music on... I think I am definitly in for a treat once I put this stuff together.
Ckorody... great, that cleared up a lot of the haze in front of me. I have heard the Scott Nixon stuff mentioned quite a bit... So I am assuming this would sonically be superior to the Musiland MD-10...?
Is Scott Nixon's Tube DAC generally considered the best USB DAC under $500? It looks perfect... just one USB in... I wouldn't use any additional digital inputs (not planning on it anyways).
Ya, I've heard great things about the Benchmark DAC 1... just a bit outside of what I want to pay though. How would the Scott Nixon compare to the Benchmark?
You know, I saw that he had these kits available at the bottom of his page, including a USBTD kit. Anyone have any experience / know anything about this?
Thanks again. |
Hey Sailor, thanks for the input. Based on all the reviews I have gathered thusfar and what I read about different models and the difference between NOS and over-sampling, I seem to be settling nicely on the idea of picking up a Scott Nixon USB DAC. I like the idea of only having the one port I need, USB, and keeping the circuitry minimal as well. Converting straight from USB to I2S sounds advantageous too.
So, now I have another question - How long can I run a USB cable? From where I have my workstation hooked up now I am guessing I would need about a 30 foot run... which may be a bit too long, but I'm not sure if it matters or not with USB... I also don't know if there are any USB cables made in this length. I'll go see if I can find any.
I am ultimately planning on picking up a cheap laptop, but I'm thinking that may not be an immediate purchase.
|
Hey, wow alright thats good to know that I should be able to run this cable about 30ft... there wont be any loss, right?
Would there be a difference b/w a fiber optic and a standard USB at this length?
Its confusing b/c... I understand loss with analogue cables and fiber optic cables, but how could there be with a digital data connection? It seems like as long as those numbers get there ok.. it would all be the same... no?
I actually read a bad review on Scott Nixon's DACs just now... which turned me away. Then I started looking into the Paradisea+... Based on reviews in forums here and scattered about different websites... it sounds ridiculous. I think I might go with this one (I have changed my game plan about 40 thousand times as I progress with my research). Any off-hand opinions on the Paradisea+? |
Ckorody... whats an enhanced wall duplex? |
Ckorody... ah, good to know... thx for the info. So, if a USB also carries power, does that mean that there are differences b/w 'high' and 'low' quality USB ports on a computer?
This is especially interesting because I know a company that modifies cameras to output an uncompressed video signal via USB. They chose to write their software specifically for Macs because they knew the quality of their USB ports would be consistent where as with PCs they are outsourced everywhere and made my many different manufacturers with varying quality... apparently. Is this room for concern?
I am planning on picking up a laptop at this point, so cable length of a standard USB line isn't an issue now... but whether I should buy an ibook or not is the question now. I would in a second, but I heard 'tiger' is sonically inferior to 'leopard' osx... and any ibook with leopard seems more expensive than what I want to pay... which makes me just want a PC with Vista to avoid worrying about it.
Hmm, many considerations. |
Gmood1- Aw, great... thats good to hear another positive input about the paradisea.
I am especially interested in the Audio Sector you mentioned. Do you have any idea how this would perform side-by-side to a paradisea? |
GMood- Hmm, tough choice b/w the two then. Thanks for the info.
Ckorody- I went and checked my source about what the developer of that camera mod said about PC USB vs Mac USB. Here is an excerpt:
"To elaborate on the PC support issues in the past, our current Andromeda system for the DVX works over USB2.0. This is one of the main reasons why we could bring this system to market for such a low cost. The main 'PC' problem with USB2.0 however, is that there is no minimum required data bandwidth to be supported by USB2.0 hardware manufacturers(the 480Mbps number is just marketing).
Apple machines(with a few older exceptions) have a fast enough USB2.0 bus to support Andromeda. PC's, on the other hand, have all sorts of varying performance and the only way to find out if a system performs fast enough is to test it. It then becomes a significant problem if we need to test even a few of the hundreds(and ever-changing) PC models out there for compatibility."
But, of course, this is just one person and one subjective opinion. Also, this is in reguards to uncompressed video... which needs a much fatter pipeline as the datastream is much larger. With audio, even if there is more "varying performance" on a PC, it may not be an issue as having the maximum data potential may not be as crucial. But, you know, I'm sort of just shootin' fish in a barrel here.
Also, this application is so specialized that someone would buy a computer to run it.
I'm thinking I might try a used mac whether the USBs are superior or not... partly because I am entertaining the idea of picking up the camera mod being described in the quote... partly because people seem to really like the audio quality on them... partly because they are cheap on Ebay... and partly because I have never used one and it could be fun to try :).
If I upgraded to leopard from tiger, what is the install process like for a Mac OS. I know and have done many windows installs from scratch... is it the same process? Or is it like trying to understand another language completely...
Ok, I have another question too... this is shifting gears quite a bit, but here we go. After the Dac, I will only have about $400 to spend on an amp. Do you think my best move would be to buy an integrated or go with just a power amp?
Just running a power amp raises a few concerns for me. First and foremost, it seems kind of dangerous, doesn't it? I mean, if you have a sudden system error and the OS plays an 'error' sound... it could come through your speakers at full power and damage... something... right? Another concern is not having any other hookups to run a DVD player or something into the amp. Also, I heard if you lower the volume on digital audio, the resolution it's self is decreased, is this true? That would mean that if I used a laptop not at full volume, I would get sub-quality sound from what I could when all the way turned up, right?
Man, a lot to know with this stuff. I appreciate all the help guys.
Cheers- |
Musicman... I'm not sure what I2S is... I mean, its a protocol of some sort I gather... but what medium is it carried across, etc..?
It's good to hear you like the paradisea. Ya, I heard a couple not-so-appealing things about SN DACs... and they would actually be basically just as or more expensive than the paradisea anyway. Thx for the info.
Ckorody - Ya, I know what you mean about the andromeda. I dismissed it for a long time... now just recently I started to look at it again. Your probably right though, I will probably stay away. It is appealing though... the results people get out of it when it does work look amazing. He's in the middle of making a new system that uses a firewire connection.. that should be much better.
Ya, I know I've researched like crazy at this point... I always do this. I feel I'm nearing an end.
I'm not sure what you meant by "Better IMHO to do less better"... meaning just use amp and no integrated or were you referring still to not getting the andromeda... hmm, im guessing the latter b/c then you recommend just picking up an integrated...?
Not sure what you meant about 'No discussion about speakers here...' either...
Anywho, ya an integrated was what I was leaning towards too. Then I can hook up an el cheapo DVD player and what not as well if need be. I know that there are so many times when somehow my PC audio was turned all the way up... that would be a total bummer to have that happen on my new system... on small speakers, nonetheless.
Would a Trends USB DAC be comparible to a paradisea?
I saw those chinese amps on Ebay... they are like 12 dollars plus 200 for shipping. They looked nice, but I couldn't find any reviews on them anywhere. They are pretty good though? I wonder how they would compare to NAD stuff...
Here is what I have landed on at this point:
Ibook -> USB cable -> Paradisia+ -> Monster 1000i RCA interconnects -> Nad 325Bee integrated -> Monster Z2 reference speaker cable -> 2 Paradigm Atoms v5.
What u think?
I just found a used paradisia for sale... It's about 6 months old but this is the second owner... think I should stay away? He said its in great shape... has about 600 hrs on it... and is including like 5 tubes... "NOS 1954 WE396A, NOS 1950s Tungsol 2C51, NOS Bendix JAN CEA 2C51, NOS GE JAN 5670W and GE 5670 stock tube".
I know I'm full of questions... I just dont want to pull the trigger on anything and feel like I should have done something else all of a sudden. |
Heh, I think I have early symptoms of the disease... as you can tell by all my posts recently.
Well that sounds good then... I think I am going to settle on the system I described in my last post. It took *tons* of research and comparing each and every component from source to speaker to get to that point... I was basically coming from knowing nothing about any of this, so its been quite a journey I would say. |
Wow, Scott Nixon helped design it... sounds promising based on the positive feedback I've heard about his DACs.
I mean, if the sound compares well with the combination of a Nad or Jolida integrated with a Paradisea+ or Scott Nixon's own DACs... this would be a serious consideration for me.
I hope you do buy it so I know what it sounds like :).
One thing that concerns me is that giant slot for the Sonos... I wouldn't be interested in a Sonos at all, so I would have a giant hole back there... plus I wonder if there were any compromized in design / performance having to work around the slot... |
Wait... Maybe I WOULD be interested in a Sonos... I was just planning on buying a cheap ibook for playback, but... a Sonos would be just as expensive and give me the same quality of sound as a solid USB connection if I bypassed the Sonos DAC, right? |
hmm, actually the sonos is a bit more expensive than I thought... Oh well, I'm still interested in the ibook to decco... |
Oh, ok I see.
Another thing that worries me a little is that they are very vague with their product description, whereas their other amps they list s/n ratio, etc...
Did you find someplace with a more detailed description? |
Oh, you think maybe they just haven't tested all the specs such as s/n ratio yet? Does that happen w/ new equipment sometimes?
Ya, agreed about the 30 day trial thing...
So, I don't get it... they are not the same company as whoever makes Sonos, right? |
Ya, good point.
Well... this thing is intriguing.
The closest dealer that they list to me is like 500 miles away, lol... so testing before I buy is not much of a realistic option... not one that I want to do at least. |
Hey Gmood, u get to listen to the audio decco yet? |
Sweet... I'm sold. As soon as I can gather the funds... I'm pickin' one up. |
