audioengr
Responses from audioengr
| CD vs FLAC Just replace your active preamps with a good transformer passive linestage (TVC), and you will probably hear the difference. Most active preamps add so much noise, distortion and compression that all of these differences are masked. I used to use ... | |
| Connecting Windows PC to DAC These are generally referred-to as USB converters. There is a large range in SQ from these. You get what you pay for, and this is the most important part of the digital audio system. The lower the jitter of the master clock and the design and powe... | |
| CD vs FLAC If you are planning on USB from a computer and you actually have a highly resolving system, FLAC will not sound as good as .wav. Even AIFF files dont sound as good as FLAC. The differences are mostly in the imaging soundstage and compression. FLAC... | |
| Computer/DAC combo sugestions Kedoades - have not made a direct comparison of PWD and the W4S when driven from Off-Ramp 5 I2S. They are both world-class. I think you would be happy with either one.Steve N.Empirical Audio | |
| CD player with Tube Output or Music Server I've had the Naim servers here from customers. They are no where near the SQ of a decent CD player or transport. They can be decent with a reclocker following them and a good DAC.If you want a good CD player, get the PSAudio transport and PWD comb... | |
| What to expect from a new DAC? Knghifi - Music First has evidently improved the core material or windings etc. because the latest versions of MF are even better. I dont think you need silver anymore. The copper is really good.Steve N.Empirical Audio | |
| What to expect from a new DAC? "Add the Bel Canto REF LINK to this list. It is every bit as good as the Off-Ramp 5. See Steven Stone's review in the current issue of TAS."It's certainly a good one, but does not offer I2S. Steven could have used a better S/PDIF cable IMO. Might ... | |
| Computer/DAC combo sugestions The best I have found for the money is:Mac Mini Oct. 2009 SSD/8Gigs -> USB cable -> Off-Ramp 5 -> I2S cable -> Wired 4 Sound DAC2Total cost is around $4499.00This will beat 99.9% of transports, period. Supports up to 192. Killer SQ:htt... | |
| What to expect from a new DAC? Knghifi - No joke - read this:http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/musicfirst/passive.htmlThis is an old review. New units are even better I understand.Steve N.Empirical Audio | |
| What to expect from a new DAC? Tom6897 - I really doubt if the "system" jitter is 10psec. Most clock specs are in this range, and that is when they are driven with very expensive low-noise power supplies. In systems, this number goes up usually by a factor of ten. Also, even wi... | |
| What to expect from a new DAC? "So, my transport is a Levinson 31 Reference DAC.... so it was very expensive (and sounds great)."I've modded ML transports. Not even close, even with clock upgrades.I have a fully modded ML 38 preamp (my mods). Also not even close to a decent tra... | |
| What to expect from a new DAC? First, the digital source is more important than the DAC itself. Muiltiple reviews in TAS show that a $1K DAC can sound almost identical to a $8K DAC when driven by a low jitter source (not a CD transport BTW).Second, Most D/A chips have gotten a ... | |
| Converting Flac to Wav & Upconversion Sgr - there have been quite a few anocdotal reports that say that networked audio is less likely to exhibit these format differences in SQ. I believe is is a funciton of the audio stack, which is bypassed when using most networked audio streaming.... | |
| sooloos music server sound quality Camb - you would have gotten a bigger improvement by reclocking and a reclocker costs a lot less than a grand.Steve N.Empirical Audio | |
| Quality of laptop for use with Dac. None of the OTS devices work with Async USB. Galvanic isolation must be built-in.Steve N.Empirical Audio |