audioengr
Responses from audioengr
| Reference DACS: An overall perspective I was in a room at RMAF last year with Wilson on one side and Scaena on the other side. They both had dCS Vivaldi stacks. They were both good, but I much preferred the sound in my room using my Overdrive DAC, and so did the other showgoers. Its th... | |
| Sony HAP-Z1ES Hi-Res Music Player RMAF 2013 Mr Bill - because I have helped a LOT of people find solutions and audio nirvana. Just read all of the threads. My products are top-tier and they don't cost an arm and a leg because I don't advertise, I don't sell through dealers and I don't have ... | |
| Spdif source switching? The optimum device would be a Sychro-Mesh. It is the best reclocker on the market and has Toslink and coax inputs with a selector switch. The SM will improve your audio quality significantly by reducing jitter. I used to mod the Monarchy DIP. Even... | |
| Network Music Player or CD Player-Opinions Wanted You can beat that for a lot less money and get more functions.I also like classic rock, particularly in the afternoon. I rip mostly CDs and I expect my 44.1kHz redbook digital to match the performance of vinyl. I want detail, imaging, smoothness i... | |
| Sony HAP-Z1ES Hi-Res Music Player RMAF 2013 If the HAP does not challenge your vinyl, you might try reclocking the S/PDIF output of the HAP with a Synchro-Mesh reclocker ($599). It is likely the jitter of the output that is the problem:http://www.empiricalaudio.com/products/synchro-meshPowe... | |
| Digital volume control question... It has to do with the gain of the amp. Higher gain will allow you to use less of digital volume. The lower this drops, the better. 0 is best of course, but you will need really high gain to get this. The rule of thumb that I use is no more than -1... | |
| Are all asynchronous USB inputs similar? Mordante - I2S is not particularly helpful if the clock is still powered by the computer. The main objective is to reduce the jitter of the master clock. The best way to do this is get the Master Clock out of the computer and on its own power syst... | |
| What's the best Dac for the money Overdrive SE is the DAC to beat. Combine this DAC with the Final Drive transformer buffer and Short-Block USB filter for best results. $9948.00 for all of these with the best options.http://www.empiricalaudio.com/products/overdrive-dacYou will not... | |
| What is behind a "warm" or "vinyl"sound? "The funny thing is that analog CDs, I.e. AAD, sound much more organic, open and correct than later ADD and DDD CDs."This is primarily due to the mediocre DSP software that abounds. There is some good software out there though, such as Sonic Studi... | |
| why dsd "Steve, do you think that recording music in pure DSD and mixing for SACD in mind could make a difference?"Certainly, but the quality of the A/D, the master record clock and the mixing etc. all matters. I'm shocked most of the time when I find out... | |
| why dsd "many reviewers who praised SACD playback claim at the same time that CD layer playback performance of these players was substandard"This is not so surprising. I believe it is actually easier to design a good DSD DAC/SACD player than a good CD pla... | |
| Does the ESS Sabre Chip have a telltale sound? It depends on how you use the Sabre chip. In my experience, if you drive it with S/PDIF input it uses the internal reclocking, which mucks-up the sound IMO. If you drive it with I2S, it is quite pristine and nice sounding. I believe it avoids this... | |
| What is behind a "warm" or "vinyl"sound? "Most RF is really analogWhy most?"Because things like Bluetooth, which are RF are simply digital, not modulated"Digital is discrete states and levelsIt's not what Al said or even books."Of course not, but discrete levels is how it is detected and... | |
| why dsd Most of the excitement is due to the limited quantities of really well-recorded tracks and the fact that it is hi-res compared to CD sample-rate. If they took this kind of care to record CD tracks, they would be even better than DSD IMO.I have com... | |
| What is behind a "warm" or "vinyl"sound? Most of the SQ issues associated with digital have to do with poor digital filtering in the DAC, (whether in the CD player or other separate DAC), jitter and the sample-rate. For accurate dynamic playback at high-frequency 44.1kHz is insufficient.... |