mazian

Responses from mazian

To Roon or not
I've had Roon for a couple of years and apart from occasional drop outs it works fine as far as SQ is concerned. However the app is not good if you want to catalogue or search for classical music. Like almost all other apps it has difficulty sorti... 
Who are your three favorite female singers?
Ella FitzgeraldSarah VaughanEva CassidyMary Black 
Serious Problems with Qobuz
I've had similar issues with Tidal and you just have to live with it. Incidentally you are lucky you can get Qobuz because it is not available in Australia the last time I looked 
laid back stereo power amp
Rogue could do the job but Van Alstine would be hard to beat given your pre. 
Speakers suggestion help
For clear vocal midrange you really should listen to Maggies or Martin Logans or other electrostatics before settling on Focals. 
Tubed Preamp recommendations?
Van Alstine, Modwright, Belles or DeHavilland. Maybe need to go 2nd hand to keep within your price range. 
review my list please
List is fine but the weak link is definitely the Sonus. The Bluesound node 2i would be an improvement but it is still entry level and a better streamer/dac would be well worth the extra expense. There have been plenty of posts to look at re stream... 
MHDT Orchid or Audio Mirror/ pick one for me please
I tried the Orchid and Pagoda and a few other well reviewed DACs but found that none of the R2R DACs really had any effect on my near all tube system, which includes an Exemplar 3890 Denon CD player. I didn't try the Audio Mirror, as it wasn't pos... 
Can anyone recommend a good streamer/DAC?
I had the CXN and while the SQ was very good the controlling software via the app was useless, particularly if you listen to classical music. 
Is imaging reality?
Like most of the contributors I love to hear the individual instruments or groups of instruments across the soundstage on a well recorded CD. However a well recorded CD will produce sounds from the orchestra that you do not generally hear in the c... 
Good entry level cables
Morrow is as good as any. 
Most organic / real / analogue sounding DAC (ideally with Volume Control) for $1500??????
Pure Audio Lotus 5. In my all tube system it beat the hell out of the MDHT Orchid and Pagoda as well as the Denafrips Pontus and it does have a volume control on the remote. I don't know how well it will go with a SS system though. 
Train
Here's 2 oldiesĀ Rock Island LineMidnight Special 
to my ears digital audio does not sound natural? something is wrong!
Is this the dumbest post ever? 
is this the greatest live band of all time?
Depends on your definition of a band. In different genres I would go with the Stones, Woody Hermann's many Herds and the Berlin Phil.