audioengr
Responses from audioengr
| DAC/Pre's Digital attenuation vs. analog Using digital volume exclusively for volume control will result in a significant reduction in detail and imaging. It's okay to do about -9dB, but not more. This requires that the DAC have some kind of gain control or a good volume of its own.There... | |
| Help Me select Mini It is a good idea to get a large SSD so that you can put multiple OS images on it. Often, the good S/W players need fresh OS installs to sound good for each new release. Amarra for instance. Things get mucked-up with both the OS and the player S/W... | |
| Help Me select Mini Get the version with i7, 8GBytes DRAM and 256GB SSD.Steve N.Empirical Audio | |
| Computer Audio http://www.empiricalaudio.com/computer-audio/Your computer will probably be fine, although in order to use Amarra or Pure Music, you should have a more recent machine and 8Gbytes of DRAM. A SSD also can help with SQ.The thing to understand is that... | |
| Help with fatiguing sound in my PC system Realremo - be careful not to overdo the absorptive materials. If you already have carpeting, then you are already close. Too much will kill the liveness.Just deal with the side-wall echoes by using a small mirror to determine the best points of at... | |
| Focus on 24/192 Misguided?..... hi-res may not be necessary according to theory, however in practice modern D/A chips behave better with it (digital filtering), and as a result it sounds better.Steve N.Empirical Audio | |
| Converting Flac to Wav & Upconversion Mezmo wrote:"Steve, have you found that permanently up-sampling files with a purpose-built program (ie, Izotope) is beneficial?"Depends on your DAC. With most DACs, this type of upsampling from 44.1 to 96 can be very beneficial. More detail and im... | |
| Converting Flac to Wav & Upconversion FLAC to .wav conversion is one thing, but sample-rate conversion is another. dbpoweramp is great for ripping and format conversions, however it is probably a mediocre resampler at best. Use Izotope for this. It's the best.Steve N.Empirical Audio | |
| Focus on 24/192 Misguided?..... The benefit over 24/96 is usually subtle, but can be interesting in complex classical or female vocals. I have some 2L classical that is 24/192 and very nice indeed. The 192 titles are so sparse that its not really a requirement, only a nice to ha... | |
| Help with fatiguing sound in my PC system Realremo - The Synchro-Mesh is not the right solution if you want to stay with USB. It is a resampler.The right solution is to upgrade your USB converter. The Master Clock is in there, so it is the right upgrade. Bit perfect too.Steve N.Empirical ... | |
| Help with fatiguing sound in my PC system "Is there a re-clocker out there that I am missing?"Depends on what you want to reclock. Here is one that is more for Sonos and AppleTV etc..:http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=102003.0"there are probably better ones than the MF V-link I b... | |
| Help with fatiguing sound in my PC system Fatigueing sound is generally due to high jitter at the wrong frequencies. This will not get fixed without fixing the source or interface with the Master Clock in it.Most people feel that they can use a $200 interface with a $2K DAC. The opposite ... | |
| Wadia 171i Digital Transport Sound Issues Just reclock it. Jitter is the problem, particularly with HF detail and depth/imaging.Steve N.Empirical Audio | |
| Should Sound Quality of Computer Audio be improved If you dont believe computer audio has arrived yet as a viable replacement for CD and even vinyl, then you need to go to the Newport Beach show June 1. It will change your thinking. You have not heard anything yet.Steve N.Empirical Audio | |
| Transport for PS Audio PW DAC IMO, you are confusing the USB interface performance with the computer. Mac Mini is a fine source device if used with a good async USB interface. Newer ones are better, and always try all of the USB ports. They do vary in performance.Steve N.Empir... |