Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Direct to power amp?
A poll associated with this post was created, to vote and see the results, please visit http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=55246 Question: Direct to power amp? - Yes - No sxr71;362933 Wrote: Okay how would one go about designing an attenuator for their system? I have a SB receiver and the input impedance of my NHT M-oo's is 32Kohms. You could take a look at this wiki page: http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/DIYPassiveAttenuation. It includes a link to an Excel spreadsheet that can help you work out the resistor values required, but that link seems broken. (The link to the web-based calculator is also no longer valid). The original spreadsheet is at http://www.delback.co.uk/general/atten_calc.xls. sxr71;362933 Wrote: I need stepped attenuation because I cannot always listen at the same volume since I can't afford to disturb my roommates with loud music in the case of certain tracks. Rather than build a stepped attenuator, it would be far simpler to build a simple fixed attenuator which provides the loudest possible volume you'll ever want when the SBR's volume is at maximum, and then use the SBR's volume control for day-to-day adjustments. It works at 24 bit precision, and IME does not introduce any audible degradation. And of course being remote controllable it's far more convenient. -- cliveb Transporter - ATC SCM100A cliveb's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=348 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=55246 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Transporter versus SB3 with Beresford DAC
OK I owned a Benchmark DCA1, bought a Beresford as temporary replacement and now using the Lavry DA10. Rest of system is All Naim NAC202 pre/NAP200 power/HiCap power supply/NAPSC power supply/Ariva speakers. I have not heard the Transporter, but it would have to pretty poor if it does not sound a whole lot better than the Beresford DAC. The Beresford is a good value considering its price, it sounds different than the SB2, warmer, but not necessarily better. The Benchmark and the Lavry both have a whole lot more details. I personally like the Lavry better, not as clincal as the Benchmark in my humble opinion. By the way my Beresford was bought in September this year so relatively new. I sold it for a song a few weeks ago. -- agentsmith System 1: SB2 and a mostly Naim system System 2: SB2 connected digitally to a Meridian F80 agentsmith's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=1838 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=54947 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Direct to power amp?
A poll associated with this post was created, to vote and see the results, please visit http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=55246 Question: Direct to power amp? - Yes - No pablolie;362550 Wrote: It is not officially recommended given the fact you can blow your speakers (and ears, and neighborhood relations) to shreds if the S'box goes haywire, which does happen on very rare occasions. It happened to me after a thunderstorm that my SB3 had gone utterly insane and was blowing random noises at full volume, and only unplugging it would end it. So be careful - I would not rely on the Preamp Volume Control setting, I would make sure there is a way to make sure the max power coming out of the power amp can not obliterate your speakers. Same here. I stopped the direct-in experiment after the first blast of noise. Not worth the anxiety to me. -- tubesguy tubesguy's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=1703 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=55246 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Transporter rca spdif digital input problem - no music
Hi everyone I am expierencing the same problem. Has this issue been resolved? This thread seems unattended for soem time now... -- trishend trishend's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=6578 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=43855 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Greenhorn looking for guidance.
Does your Denon have preouts? If so, you have a nice upgrade path if you ever want to go to a separate preamp/poweramp like many audiophiles have. You may want to just connect the preouts to a nice 2-channel amp and go from there to your main (L/R) speakers. This will allow you to experiment with a 2-channel amp and find one you like at your leisure. Generally speaking, A/V receivers are often limited by their power supply, so you'll find using an outboard amp will make things sound better because the amp will have its own (serious) power supply. Often the A/V receiver's preamp section isn't as bad as its power amp section because the preamp section isn't affected by an undersized power supply quite as much as the power amps. To maximize this you may want to use the receiver's direct or source direct mode where it (supposedly) bypasses most of the digital circuitry. Plus, you can continue to use the receiver to listen to movies, gaming, etc. in 5.1. And when funds permit, you can use the 2-channel amp in a dedicated 2-channel setup along with a preamp, reusing the receiver elsewhere. -- Mark Lanctot Current: SB2, Transporter, Boom (PQP3 - late beta) Stored: Boom (PQP1 - early beta), SBC (beta - no battery) Sold: SB3, Duet Mark Lanctot's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2071 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=55469 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Looking at SPDIF with a scope...
Phil, any further progress on sorting this out? -- opaqueice opaqueice's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=4234 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=53345 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Direct to power amp?
A poll associated with this post was created, to vote and see the results, please visit http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=55246 Question: Direct to power amp? - Yes - No pablolie;362550 Wrote: It is not officially recommended given the fact you can blow your speakers (and ears, and neighborhood relations) to shreds if the S'box goes haywire, which does happen on very rare occasions. It happened to me after a thunderstorm that my SB3 had gone utterly insane and was blowing random noises at full volume, and only unplugging it would end it. So be careful - I would not rely on the Preamp Volume Control setting, I would make sure there is a way to make sure the max power coming out of the power amp can not obliterate your speakers. I would submit then that this is an issue that should be fixed? Plenty of companies have designed digital volume controlled preamps that don't suffer this problem. Maybe bring in some Wadia designers to get it right? -- Pneumonic Main: Transporter Squeezebox 3 Sonic Frontiers Ultra Jitterbug Roksan DAC/PS Modwright Sony SCD 777ES Sonic Frontiers SFL-2 Pre S.A.R. Labs MOS 450 Power Martin Logan CLS II Speakers Office: Squeezebox 3 COEM Lite Audio DAC AH McCormack TLC-1 Pre Sonic Frontiers SFS80 Power Elipson Circee Speakers Pneumonic's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=10091 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=55246 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Transporter rca spdif digital input problem - no music
This thread is old - the digital input problems are believed to have been fixed as of a few months ago. If you're still having issues, we need to know what firmware version you're running. -- seanadams seanadams's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=43855 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Greenhorn looking for guidance.
Long story short, I've got two friends who have Naim systems (one with Devore Gibbon 8 speakers), and my interest in quality audio components has gone WAY up... Naim is a strong and successful audiophile brand. It is not a product someone genuinely interested in sound quality would go near. I would suggest you learn enough about the audiophile market to be confident I am either talking the simple truth or complete b*ll*cks before spending any of your money on expensive luxury items. 1) Where can I begin to learn more about the finer points of audio fidelity as it relates to listening and recording? From those that earn their living from listening and recording. Try browsing/posting to some of the pro-audio groups although be aware that, remarkably, there are one or two audiophile ones. (Audiophile does not mean what you probably think it means to those that earn a living from knowing what is going on with sound.) There are one or two books and courses that teach sound engineers how to listen and understand what is being heard. It might make a good opening question. 2) What would be my best route of upgrades for my home components? Understand why audiophile products are the way they are in order to make an informed decision about whether you want to pickup audiophile beliefs or not. 3) Should I be running analog or digital signal to my receiver? (i.e. is my SB3 a better DAC than my Denon receiver.) If you post questions like this to audiophile groups you will almost certainly get a lot of advice to spend large sums of money on audiophile products. For most audio components, genuinely high quality sound is inexpensive. Have some confidence, have a listen and make up your own mind. But be aware that unbiased comparisons require a bit of preparation and why this is important requires a bit of knowledge. Another question for a pro-audio group perhaps. The book linked to is written by someone that earns a living by promoting audiophile beliefs. Should you decide against them it is likely to be a waste of money. -- honestguv honestguv's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=13734 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=55469 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Greenhorn looking for guidance.
The best way to listen to a lot of kit is to check out some hi-fi shows. You don't want to buy purely off the basis of your listening there, but it will give you a reasonable idea of what stuff does. There's a lot of variety, and you could easily get something much better than your friends' Naim kit - but only if you spend some time looking! -- adamslim Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others SB+, Audion 300Bs, Lowther Big Fun Horns with PM6As SB3, Charlize, Harbeth HL-P3ES Bm adamslim's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=7355 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=55469 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Squeezebox upgrades
harmonic;354220 Wrote: Run while you can Best thing I've read all week seriously. It's a real maze navigating the options and seriously wondering if even the research is worth it. -- sxr71 sxr71's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=18773 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=54335 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Sound of Ripped CDs not good, what do I do?
Themis;362869 Wrote: Yeah, kind of you're wrong, you don't know it yet, but I'm sure you'll realize it later on ... ;) Well...I wasn't going to point that out. :) -- Nonreality -IF THE RULE YOU FOLLOWED BROUGHT YOU TO THIS, OF WHAT USE IS THE RULE.- HTTP://www.last.fm/user/nonreality Nonreality's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=15723 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=55079 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Greenhorn looking for guidance.
Symbiotic;362951 Wrote: Greetings! I'm relatively new to the audiophile world, though not new to the world of audio. I'm a musician, composer, sound designer by trade, though I've never spent a great deal of time learning about the audiophile aspects of recording and listening. Long story short, I've got two friends who have Naim systems (one with Devore Gibbon 8 speakers), and my interest in quality audio components has gone WAY up... My questions are these: 1) Where can I begin to learn more about the finer points of audio fidelity as it relates to listening and recording? 2) What would be my best route of upgrades for my home components? 3) Should I be running analog or digital signal to my receiver? (i.e. is my SB3 a better DAC than my Denon receiver.) Now please don't laugh - remember I'm just now getting into this scene, so forgive my n00bness. I have all my music encoded as Apple Lossless, transcoded as FLAC to my SB3. The SB3 is connected via optical to a Denon AV receiver. The Denon is connected to JM Labs Focal 806 Cobalt bookshelf speakers which were given to me by a friend. I think the Denon is probably my weakest link at this point, though a serious cable/connector upgrade is probably worthwhile, too. Also, I need to keep the flexibility of the Denon (I use this system for music, video, and gaming)...so I don't know if that means I need an audiophile-grade AV receiver, or just a great audio setup and keeping the Denon for video and gaming stuff... I think the speakers are actually pretty good. Though at some point I'd like to upgrade them to something a bit more significant, for now they're probably the best component in my setup. I will eventually upgrade to a Transporter, though for the time being, the SB3 is an excellent playback device. I haven't done any modifications to it, though. Still using the factory power supply, as I was told a replacement wouldn't affect the digital output. I think that covers all my questions for now. Any guidance or advice is appreciated. Here is my take. Do you like the sound you have? If so forget about it. If not then what do you want to improve. Usually speakers will make the most difference. Your receiver may be better may not be better than the sb, it depends on the model and if you have both digital and analog inputs you can test it for yourself. The audiophile world is a crazy one in that there is always something better and I'm not sure you ever get there. A lot also depends on how good your ears are and not some reviewer. Things others can hear may not mean a thing to you. Like I said, if you are happy with the sound now, don't worry about it. -- Nonreality -IF THE RULE YOU FOLLOWED BROUGHT YOU TO THIS, OF WHAT USE IS THE RULE.- HTTP://www.last.fm/user/nonreality Nonreality's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=15723 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=55469 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Direct to power amp?
A poll associated with this post was created, to vote and see the results, please visit http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=55246 Question: Direct to power amp? - Yes - No seanadams;363210 Wrote: That's quite the understatement! :) In case I wasn't clear, it is EXPLICITLY, UNEQUIVOCALLY DISADVISED UNDER ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, for reasons that have already been detailed here ad nauseam. Transporter is NOT a preamp. A digital volume control should never be used as a substitute for matching levels between equipment. Omitting electrical attenuation does NOT sound better... unless, that is, you prefer hearing less dynamic range (resolution) and a higher noise floor. Sean, I'm perhaps late to the party on this one but I am disappointed to hear that some people have encountered not so nice noise issues when using the TP as a digital volume control plugged direct into a power amp. Judging by the results of this poll a significant % of respondents in this audiophile forum are going against your advice and running their SD units direct as a digital volume control. Presumably because they prefer the way it sounds. As an aside, I know in my just concluded testing, I thought the results of going direct was awesome and something that I'd like to further explore. But, if doing so places my speakers and/or ears, at risk I won't continue obviously. That's unfortunate though because of missed opportunity to utilize something that is there (or should be there?) for using. As you know us audiophile's are typically serious tinkers who'll do whatever necessary to try out different things and combinations of gear as they look for just that right, or even just a different, concoction. We get to miss out on this one. I know that other applications of digital volume control by other audio companies don't have such problems so technically something must be amiss with SD's implementation, no? At any rate, the potential noise issue is obviously an undesirable situation for those who do run direct and I wonder what, if anything, is being done to address it? Thanks -Kerry -- Pneumonic Main: Transporter Squeezebox 3 Sonic Frontiers Ultra Jitterbug Roksan DAC/PS Modwright Sony SCD 777ES Sonic Frontiers SFL-2 Pre S.A.R. Labs MOS 450 Power Martin Logan CLS II Speakers Office: Squeezebox 3 COEM Lite Audio DAC AH McCormack TLC-1 Pre Sonic Frontiers SFS80 Power Elipson Circee Speakers Pneumonic's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=10091 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=55246 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Transporter versus SB3 with Beresford DAC
pkfox;358804 Wrote: Hi there, this topic has been done to death ( maybe not with your DAC - but plenty of others ) it all comes down to personal opinion - my friend prefers his standard SB3 with no external DAC to my TP - I rest my case... cheers What are you really trying to say? -- sxr71 sxr71's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=18773 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=54947 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
