Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Which headphones?
I like senheissers , I have a set of 600's and 650's driven thru one of 3 headamps , a graham slee solo , a musical fidelity X-cans V3 with Siemens CCa's as valves and a custom built single ended valve headphone amp. I find the 650 + X-cans a pretty good combo -- Rodney_Gold Sb3/Z-sys RDP1/meridian DSP5500's TP/X-cans v3/Senns 650's TP/TACT 2.0/SCM 50a's TP/Meridian DSP5000's The nicest thing about smacking your head against the wall is...the feeling you get when you stop Rodney_Gold's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=14618 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=63677 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Transporter Review in TAS
wayne325;426531 Wrote: Does an airport express decode at 96 kHz? If not then maybe it's just as good for CD, but that's it. To my ears, it was not even just as good for 44.1/16 CDs, not even close. And I believe the AE outputs 44.1/16 only. -- agentsmith System 1: Transporter+Hi-Line RCA-DIN, Naim 202/200/Hicap+Powerline/NAPSC, Naim NAT03 tuner, Harbeth Monitor 30 System 2: SB2 or Airport Express connected via TOSLINK to a Meridian F80 Headphone: Naim Headline+NAPSC and ancient Senn HD580 agentsmith's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=1838 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=63161 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Which headphones?
Hi Rodney, since you have both HD600 and 650, I was hoping you could help me with two things : 1- can you use the cord of the 650 on the 600 ? I need to replace the one on my HD600 and for some reason the HD650 cord is much cheaper (and it has a regular jack). 2- Would you say it's worth upgrading from 600 to 650 ? -- BlueScreenJunky BlueScreenJunky's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=22725 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=63677 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Which headphones?
I have a Beresford TC-7520 DAC driving the Beyerdynamic DT770 pro 80ohms, I'm very happy with that setup. -- Uluen SYSTEM: MUSIC - EARS http://www.last.fm/user/Uluen Uluen's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=12166 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=63677 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Help - distorted sounds!
Here we go ... and I think it's not going to be good news. agentsmith: the volume adjustment is OFF. I finally got the hex key and set the attenuation to -20db. The output through the unbalanced cables is the same: horrible. I tried it both through the pre-amp, and directly into power. Horrible. I went back to the balanced output, and the problem is still there of course. At 0db there is noticeable distortion. Again I tried going directly from the Transporter to the power amp, but I couldn't get anywhere near to 0db. It is a 200w amp after all. It did seem to sound better than going through the pre but that could just be because of the volume adjustment had removed the symptoms, and that it ended up way louder than I would ever listen to. In trying things out, I discovered that the Transporter generates a background hiss. When I get to about -20db on the pre-amp it's very noticable. Then I tried something ... I connected my laptop up from the headphone output via some throwaway cable I had in a box, and it generated significantly less background hiss than the transporter. Is that normal? I would have thought not, considering what the transporter claims to be. Not a good sign. Then I though, I can play the CD that the distortion is most noticeable on through the computer. Guess what? It plays fine, no distortion. Then I though, I can play the actual flac file that the transporter is playing, through the computer too, and that played without distortion. Then I set the transporter up at reduced volume to mask the distortion (it ended up at -11.5db to match the volume of the computer), and I got the transporter and the computer playing the same flac file in sync, and flipping the amp between inputs. Damn! I couldn't tell much difference, except that I preferred the sound coming from the laptop. Laptop?? Holy crap. Now I'm depressed. And this is no media laptop, it's an old Dell Latitude D610. Excuse me for a moment ... Bugger. Bugger. BUGGER! Jon -- jono338 jono338's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=29508 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=63669 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Help - distorted sounds!
Dang, is it broken ? consider taking it back to the store and get a replacement. -- Mnyb Mnyb's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=4143 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=63669 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Anybody have experience with passive preamps?
Hi iPhone. My VTL 2.5 preamp has quite a bit of noise through my speakers. The noise is quite audible from 9 ft away during quiet passages (not noticeable during moderate or loud passages). New tubes solve the problem for a month or two, but they eventually get noisy also. The preamp is also connected to my surround processor, so it is turned on quite a bit of the time. I like its smooth sound, but it does roll off a bit on the high end. When I connected my Benchmark DAC directly to my amp the noise went away (which I expected), but also the highs were more extended and the bass was quicker. Always looking for a way to improve things, I started looking into preamps when I discovered the idea of passive preamps. As I've said above, they sound good on paper (no active components to introduce noise or distortion), but the casual comments I've read on the web lead me to believe they are tricky to integrate into a system. I really don't want to make it a career to continuously fiddle with the system to get it to sound right. On the other hand, if I only need to be careful about using an amp with a high input impedance (mine is 100K), I'd still be interested in them. -- duke43j duke43j's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=15911 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=63739 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] SB Duet, external DAC, cabling preference
I'm adding a DacMagic to my Duet system (pros/cons debated elsewhere) for my main stereo system which is downstairs. Music server pc is upstairs. Currently the SB receiver is downstairs connected via wifi using analog out to my amp. Is it better to have 1) wifi to downstairs receiver, 1.5m digital coax to dac, dac analog out to amp, 2) cabled ethernet to downstairs receiver, 1.5m digital coax to dac, dac analog out to amp, or 3) cabled ethernet to receiver upstairs, long run of digital coax downstairs to dac, dac analog out to amp. I guess the real question - is cabled ethernet any better than wifi (wifi connection is very good), and if so, should the long cable run be ethernet or digital coax? Thanks for the help. Chris -- mccauls mccauls's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=17852 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=63782 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Anybody have experience with passive preamps?
duke43j;426731 Wrote: Hi iPhone. My VTL 2.5 preamp has quite a bit of noise through my speakers. The noise is quite audible from 9 ft away during quiet passages (not noticeable during moderate or loud passages). New tubes solve the problem for a month or two, but they eventually get noisy also. The preamp is also connected to my surround processor, so it is turned on quite a bit of the time. I like its smooth sound, but it does roll off a bit on the high end. When I connected my Benchmark DAC directly to my amp the noise went away (which I expected), but also the highs were more extended and the bass was quicker. Always looking for a way to improve things, I started looking into preamps when I discovered the idea of passive preamps. As I've said above, they sound good on paper (no active components to introduce noise or distortion), but the casual comments I've read on the web lead me to believe they are tricky to integrate into a system. I really don't want to make it a career to continuously fiddle with the system to get it to sound right. On the other hand, if I only need to be careful about using an amp with a high input impedance (mine is 100K), I'd still be interested in them. I am kind of thinking what Phil is that your VTL Pre-amp has a major problem that needs repaired. I would also see if the dealer will let you borrow a higher model VTL that has Balanced XLR connectors. That alone should be a huge improvement. Really two routes to go here in my mind from what I think your driving at. Either go dedicated stereo music listening only and use the SB3 as the volume device with fixed attenuators (or upgrade to a Transporter) or move up the line as far as active pre-amps go. The VTL 6.5 has Balanced XLRs and Home Theater Bypass and there are other good pre-amps with XLRs and Bypass as well (but I'm a tube pre-amp guy). The Ayre Pre-amps would really sound great with what you currently have. I have used passives in the past and tried them recently, some good some bad. The biggest thing I have seen is that it takes big bucks to do one right that has multiple sources. Which always leads me back to the KISS principle, Squeezebox Source (SB3 or Transporter), high quality fixed attenuators, amp, and lastly speakers. When I really want to go native, I run the Transporter straight into the Ayre Mono-Blocks and it is truly amazing how the Vandersteens sound with only Source, Amp, and themselves. If I didn't watch a movie almost daily, I would probably leave it that way. -- iPhone *iPhone* Media Room: Transporter, VTL TL-6.5 Signature Pre-Amp, Ayre MX-R Mono's, Vandersteen Quatro, VeraStarr 6.4SE 6-channel Amp, VCC-5 Reference Center, four VSM-1 Signatures, Runco RS 900 CineWide AutoScope 2.35:1 Living Room: Duet, ADCOM GTP-870HD, Cinepro 3K6SE III Gold, Vandersteen Model 3A Signature, Two 2Wq subs, VCC-2, Two VSM-1 Kitchen: Squeezebox BOOM Bedroom: SB3, GFR-700HD, Thiel 2.3, Second Boom Home Office: SB3, NAD C370, two VSM-1 Home Gym: SB3, Parasound Vamp v.3, Thiel PowerPoint 1.2 House Portable: SB3, Audioengine A5 Thunderbird: Duet, Mac Mini Expedition: SB3, ToughBook iPhone's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=13622 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=63739 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Transporter as a DAC for DVD S/PDIF output
One last question: when connecting the Transporter to Squeezecenter, it is possible to fix the volume of the output to max. When using the Transporter as a dac (s/pdif) it remembers the volume setting when switching it of and on. When connecting Squeezecenter and back to using it as a dac, its volume is changed back to mute. Would be great if the volume could be fixed to max when using the Transporter as a dac as well. Thanks in advance for your help. -- Supertramp Supertramp's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=30362 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=63379 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] SB Duet, external DAC, cabling preference
mccauls;426776 Wrote: I'm adding a DacMagic to my Duet system (pros/cons debated elsewhere) for my main stereo system which is downstairs. Music server pc is upstairs. Currently the SB receiver is downstairs connected via wifi using analog out to my amp. Is it better to have 1) wifi to downstairs receiver, 1.5m digital coax to dac, dac analog out to amp, 2) cabled ethernet to downstairs receiver, 1.5m digital coax to dac, dac analog out to amp, or 3) cabled ethernet to receiver upstairs, long run of digital coax downstairs to dac, dac analog out to amp. I guess the real question - is cabled ethernet any better than wifi (wifi connection is very good), and if so, should the long cable run be ethernet or digital coax? Thanks for the help. Chris The connection between the PC and the SB3 doesn't matter. You can use wifi or wired ethernet. Wired ethernet is preferred only if you have interference issues with other wifi networks or other RF sources and it causes sound dropouts (like a CD skipping). Personally I would put the SB3 near the stereo downstairs and use a 1.5M cable. -- SuperQ SuperQ's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2139 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=63782 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Is Slim Server Bit Perfect?
Thanks for the reply. I guess we are at the same point with sound reproduction that we came to with timepieces about 30 years ago. Around that time, it became possible to buy a ten dollar digital watch at a kiosk in a mall that kept better time than a multi killobuck swiss mechanical watch. Evidently the same thing is happening with the front end of audio playback. I can remember when magazines like TAS told us the only way to get first rate sound was to buy a $30k turntable, a $10k isolation base, a $5 k phone cartridge, a $10k tonearm, $10 k phono preamp, and $5k worth of cables to connect it all together, plus make room in the house for a couple thousand pieces of vinyl. Today all that can be replaced by a $100 external storage hard drive, a laptop using slimserver and employing EAC, a $40 wireless router, a $300 Squeezebox (or similar product), and (if you wanna get perfectionistic, a good DAC like the Benchmark). All in all if you buy it new it can cost less than $2k. The best part about all these developments, besides the price, is the capability of our digital world affords us to dispense with hundreds if not thousands of Vinyl and or CD's which you have to dedicate storage space to. Thanks to this and a Digital Book reader, I can get rid of thousands of books and records. It's also possible to do this with movies, given the advent of 2 tb storage drives and the proliferation of HD Media players which will play DVD files ripped to them. All in all it's great to be able to take all the stuff that used to practically need a warehouse and be able to fit it into a space the size of a shoebox. Ah progress! -- Phoenix Phoenix's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=30484 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=63646 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Is Slim Server Bit Perfect?
probedb;426008 Wrote: Do you have a link to the article/issue? I'm going to be interested in the developers response when I post the link. It does amuse me because they're trying to confuse people by going on about mathematics. Pro software will work at 32-bit precisionas does any other decent free or otherwise software. It is all mathematics but they're implying that somehow free software developers are stupid and can't do maths. It's in Issue 41 of Positive Feedback Online, it seems like more high end upselling. One of the developers interviewed has a player which only works with Firewire which sells for $1400 and interfaces with a firewire DAC he sells for $5-6K. Cosmetically, the stuff looks absolutely gorgeous, and I'm sure great pride of ownership attaches to possessing it, but based on what I'm reading here, it wont outperform squeezebox with a good $1k dac. -- Phoenix Phoenix's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=30484 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=63646 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Anybody have experience with passive preamps?
Shortly after I bought the VTL I took it back to the dealer to try it in his system. The noise wasn't nearly as pronounced through his McIntosh amp and BW 800 speakers. I had to put my ear right up to the speaker before I heard any noise. From that demo I concluded that my preamp wasn't broken, but my system was somehow more sensitive to the noise (possibly a low input impedance of his amp vs. my 100 KOhm amp??). In looking for another preamp I've been shying away from tubes because of the noise problem I'm currently having. Going to a dedicated stereo system is not practical in my house. But I like the idea of trying an upgraded VTL preamp. It would tell me if I need to just get a better quality tube preamp, or move to solid state. From the comments you've given me it sounds like passive preamps are not for me. You mentioned the Ayre preamps. Can you describe their tonality (i.e. compared with your VTL or with other solid state preamps)? The Ayre K-xr is out of my league, but the K-5xe has a surround bypass and is within my price range. -- duke43j duke43j's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=15911 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=63739 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Is Slim Server Bit Perfect?
Phil Leigh;425957 Wrote: Settings - player - audio on the Web UI. Be warned - you won't hear any difference (unless you use the volume at low settings). timequest;425961 Wrote: Thanks. Regardless, I want to be sure that I have bit perfect quality. Ah a true Audiophile -- 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=63646 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Is Slim Server Bit Perfect?
Nonreality;426855 Wrote: Ah a true Audiophile Ridiculous isnt it!? -- timequest timequest's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=25640 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=63646 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Why Reclock If Using Low Jitter DAC
There are a couple of threads here, and many elsewhere, regarding re-clocking - specifically, the Empirical Audio Pace-Car. My question has to do with an external DAC and the role it plays with reducing jitter. If you have a good DAC with very low jitter measurements, doesnt it already do some correcting/or eliminating of jitter fed to it by the transport (i.e.: SB Duet receiver)? I assume a re-clocker is installed before the DAC? Is the theory (reality whatever) that re-clocking the signal greatly reduces the jitter, even more than a good DAC? I see by the articles that Ive read that the Pace-Car was being utilized in conjunction with an external DAC, fed by SB ?? -- timequest timequest's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=25640 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=63796 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Help - distorted sounds!
Phil Leigh;426726 Wrote: You definitely need to get the TP swapped for another one. Definitely. Agreed, this is definitely not normal. -- agentsmith System 1: Transporter+Hi-Line RCA-DIN, Naim 202/200/Hicap+Powerline/NAPSC, Naim NAT03 tuner, Harbeth Monitor 30 System 2: SB2 or Airport Express connected via TOSLINK to a Meridian F80 Headphone: Naim Headline+NAPSC and ancient Senn HD580 agentsmith's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=1838 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=63669 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Anybody have experience with passive preamps?
A couple of thoughts: 1) You shouldn't get audible hiss from 9ft away at normal listening levels from ANY amp 2) the hiss reduces with new valves then quite rapidly comes back (2 months?) 3) the output impedance of the 2.5 is 200 ohms, the input impedance of VTL's own power amps is 100k 4) hissing noise is not due to impedance problems IME - and according to the specs you shouldn't have a problem anyway if everything is working properly 5) I suspect that you have a faulty resistor or capacitor in the pre-amp - or possibly a fault in the valve heater circuits. New valves cause a change in bias conditions but over time the underlying fault causes the new valves to deteriorate. I've seen this in valve guitar pre-amps. 6) It is possible a fault is damaging the valves - do you have an old set? - swap them out with the current set and see if the old ones immediately hiss. H 7) How does the hissing change with the volume and mute controls on the pre-amp? is the hissing identical on left and right channels? 8) You commented that the top end sounds rolled-off... but the specs say the preamp goes to 60kHz -3dB... that seems odd. Finally, try this. I believe your preamp has two 12AU7 and 2 12AT7 valves - try swapping the valves of the same type with each other. It's very rare for more than one valve to develop an identical fault at once in a pre-amp. If the hiss stays the same I'd strongly suspect a faulty resistor. It's hard to diagnose/suggest further without a circuit diagram. I urge you to get the pre-amp serviced professionally. -- Phil Leigh You want to see the signal path BEFORE it gets onto a CD/vinyl...it ain't what you'd call minimal... SB3 (wired) - TACT 2.2X (Linear PSU) + Good Vibrations S/W - MF Triplethreat(Audiocom full mods) - Linn 5103 - Aktiv 5.1 system (6x LK140's, ESPEK/TRIKAN/KATAN/SEIZMIK 10.5), Townsend Supertweeters, Blue Jeans Digital,Kimber Speaker Chord Interconnect cables Outdoors: Boom Phil Leigh's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=85 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=63739 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
