Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Once again - does wav sound different than flac?
I know there are some streaming plays that have very limited CPU power and memory. One these WAV would be better because the CPU could get CPU or memory bound with FLAC but on all modern players with plenty of CPU and using the latest FLAC decoding library there should be no difference. I have tested this on an Audiophile VortexBox using and SOtM card to attach the DAC and squeezelite 1.8 as the player. I could not tell the difference. rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=104227 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] What Would You Replace a Transporter With?
An Audiophile VortexBox would be a good replacement. http://shop.smallgreencomputer.com/Audiophile-VortexBox-vbAudiophile.htm This will get you CD ripping, music storage, and the latest LMS. Then you just need a good USB DAC and something to control the system with like an iPod touch What does a Transporter have that the Audiophile VortexBox/USB DAC does not? - That cool VFD screen! What Audiophile VortexBox/USB DAC have that that Transporter does not? - 24/192 support (36/384 support if your DAC supports it!) - DSD support - CD Ripping and storage - All in one solution (no PC required) - Still being sold and supported by the manufacture The cost would be around $675 for the VortexBox + $200 to $1500 for a good DAC. So your total cost could be less then the original transporter depending on the DAC you select. rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=100948 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Which one sounds better - Windows or Linux?
I like to age my kernel in a french oak cask for about 2 months. It not only sounds better but tastes better as well! You get those great earthy notes! agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=98298 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Support for 24bit/92/192khz...?
LMS has logic that knows the max resolution of each player attached to it. If you try to play a file that is higher then the max sample rate of the player LMS will down sample it and send the player a version that is at it's max rate. The Touch can send 24/96 out its SPDIF port unaltered. If you want a higher sample rate then 24/96 you'll need to use something like VortexBox player that can support higher sample rates. agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=96438 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Inguz on Vortexbox Appliance
Inguz works great on VortexBox. I had some complex filters running and it only used about 15% CPU load on my VortexBox Appliance. Setting it up is easy. The directions are here. http://info.vortexbox.org/tiki-index.php?page=Inguz+DSP agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=90789 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Is there a device to make internet radio streams sound better?
I have played around with upsampling to the max resolution of my DAC. That does help. You can also use a streaming service like MOG that uses 320k streams. They sound WAY better then 64k streams. -- agillis rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=93155 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Forget 24/192 how about 24/384?
ralphpnj;674709 Wrote: So big deal. If the 24/384 releases are anything like the brickwalled, dynamically compressed turds that are being released by the likes of HDTracks then who cares. Remember a polished turd is still a turd. In other words, bigger and much more expensive files which sound NO better than 320kbps mp3s. Yeah that's for sure. Hopefully companies will start releasing studio masters and music that is worthy of 24/384. -- agillis rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=89733 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Forget 24/192 how about 24/384?
I have 24/384 working through Logitech Media Server now in VortexBox 2.0 I know the consensus of this post is that 384 doesn't really matter because you can't really hear the difference between 24/384 and 24/192 but there are a lot of new USB DACs like the Buffalo III from Twisted Pear that support 24/384 and if you have 24/384 support in your DAC it's good to have support for 24/384 in your audio server. It seems more like geeky bragging rights at this point but I think we will see more 24/384 releases in the future. -- agillis rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=89733 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Forget 24/192 how about 24/384?
rroselli;657955 Wrote: so, I've read the article on the net from the dac vendor that talks about configuring mpd for bitperfect output but I was under the impression that mps was only capable of 24/192; am I off base here? If mpd is bitperfect and what resolution it's capable of have a lot to do with the OS your using, how it's configures, and the hardware you have. The point of my original post was to say we do have it working on VortexBox at 24/384. -- agillis rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=89733 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Forget 24/192 how about 24/384?
Mnyb;656264 Wrote: Fs=1/Tp call it Fp Tp= planck time http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_time ;) now where done in the time domain this is the shortest unit of time that is meaninfull to physics. wonder what the spl of perfectly still cold air still in it's gas phase is ? ( the air molecules moves around, this can no be silent ) Hmm I bet this would sound really good. The problem is 96 bit samples at 1Tp intervals for 1 second would create enough data to fill up 10^30 1TB hard drives. Don't think we will be storing music at that resolution any time soon. That's a lot of hard drives for 1 second of music! -- agillis rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=89733 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Forget 24/192 how about 24/384?
Mnyb;655516 Wrote: DAC's that works at high fs , well thats not bad a high fs helps them to perform better depending on desig many have internally 128 times oversampling etc . good old oversampling is they key here, no need to have it done at the record company and caried on your file or disc ? Yes you hit the nail on the head with this. We have been experimenting with some software oversampling that works really well. So until 32/384 recordings become available we can up sample the ones we have. Fun stuff. -- agillis rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=89733 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Forget 24/192 how about 24/384?
I though all you guys would get a kick out of this. We have been testing VortexBox player running on a Sonore VortexBox with 24/384 music using a MSB Signature DAC, which supports 24/384 via USB. It seems to be working well. http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/First-Report-Sonore-Server-24384-Playback We have been using the direct interface to VortexBox Player not using it in SqueezeBox emulation mode. I have already modified the SqueezeBox Server that comes with VortexBox to support 24/192. I guess I could also get it to support 24/384. Not sure if anybody is really interested in this though. How much music is really available in 24/384? -- agillis rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=89733 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] How to keep lossless and compressed libraries
What we do with VortexBox is rip everything to FLAC then mirror to mp3 and ALAC. The mirroring process keeps the other file types up to date so if you make changes to your FLACs (id3 tags, cover art, etc) the mp3s and ALAC files will reflect the changes. Keeping everything synced makes it much easier to keep everything organized. Also because everything is running on once box that's on all the time you never need to have your computer on. -- agillis rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=81007 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Beresford Caiman DAC arrived!
magiccarpetride;543352 Wrote: I understand what you're saying, and in theory, I tend to agree. My only reservation is this: previously, when I would upgrade a component in my audio chain, the improvements would invariably be overwhelming on all accounts. Like when I switched form CD player to Logitech Squeezebox Duet, it was a thumbs up improvement all the way, even before any burn in occurred. This is the first time ever that, after springing for an upgrade, I am of a divided mind -- some improvements that Caiman brings I simply love and couldn't live without, some I am upset about (like, the muffled, rolled off highs). DACs use a combination of oversampling, analog and digital filters, and a few other trick such as low loss coupling caps, op amps, etc. To create their unique Sound. Have you tried other DACs? Maybe there is another one that is more to your liking. -- agillis rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=78291 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Why cannot you make Transporter support 176.4 and 192Khz/24?
The only player that can do 192/24 and works with Squeezebox Server is VortexBox player. We have gotten some amazing results using a high end sound cards with it. -- agillis rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=76496 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Why cannot you make Transporter support 176.4 and 192Khz/24?
The only player that can do 192/24 and works with Squeezebox Server is VortexBox player. We have gotten some amazing results using a high end sound cards with it. -- agillis rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=76496 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] VortexBox Player now has better support for 24bit USB DACs
mpd (the underlying technology of VortexBox Player) now supports S24_3LE encoding. This should make 24bit USB DACs work better because now ALSA doesn't have to do the S24_3LE conversion. Testing with a Wavelength Proton shows improvement. You can read more about it on Computer Audiophile. http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/New-mpd-feature-cleaner-signal#comment-37606 -- agillis rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=74972 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] NAS questions
richardw;511518 Wrote: thanks so much for all the reply s! great forum. i have been inspired by some of your comments and am going to mess with a couple of old pc's i have. one will run vista, the other i may install vortexbox on. a few questions: is it possible to run an old pc with vista headless (via ethernet to router) with sbs running and use my laptop to control it? if so...is it possible to install an internal 1tb hd or does it have to be external usb? If i do the other route with vortexbox on the pc that will not start windows (password issue, long story but a great machine) can i just rip the vortexbox download to a cdr and then start the pc with the disc? A ReadyNAS Duo has a small process or and very little memory. It's designed to serve files and not much else. Even you old PC will be much more powerful than a ReadyNAS Duo. VortexBox is a self contained OS (Operating System). I can be installed on an old PC or a new computer without an OS. Once you install VortexBox you can connect to it via a web GUI so you no longer need a monitor or keyboard on your old computer. You can auto-rip CDs. Play wma files. etc. -- agillis rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=74591 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Optical TOSlink opinion - which to buy??
You will get less signal loss over glass but at less than 30m it won't make much of a difference. -- agillis rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=70806 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Optical TOSlink opinion - which to buy??
I have been using a Changzhou Yafei cable. $6.99 but it's very well made. s/pdif is all digital so as long as the connection is good you will get good sound. You don't really need to be to picky. -- agillis rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=70806 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Transporter quality Stereo into a Home Theater Setup
My recommendation would be a VortexBox appliance as a server and a low power PC running XBMC, connected to your TV, as a player. VortexBox supports Simplify Media out of the box so streaming to your iPods is no problem. XBMC plays ripped Blue ray movies very well and has a great user interface. It interfaces well with VortexBox for movie storage. -- agillis rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=67446 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] DAC comparison
If you like the sound your getting from your DAC it's good :) VortexBox is a self installing ISO that is based on Fedora 10. You can not run it on other Linux systems. No way around the DRM problem. VortexBox only plays DRM free music. That's funny I was just looking at the OMEGA STRIKER yesterday. It has very impressive specs for the cost. It uses the maudio chip so my guess is it works very well with Linux. I was thinking of buying one to test it. -- agillis rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=62642 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] DAC comparison
The DAC you have is still good and your correct you don't need a squeezbox. Just connect your DAC to your VortexBox using S/PDIF. You can use your iPod to control your system. It works great. -- agillis rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=62642 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] DAC comparison
I thought you were talking about a VortexBox not a Linkstation Pro. VortexBox runs SqueezeSlave be default. If you connect a USB to S/PDIF converter to it you can play audio directly to your DAC. I have some example setups on my site. This example is for a Home Theater setup but it's very similar to what you want to do. Just connect VortexBox - USB to S/PDIF converter - DAC - Receiver http://vortexbox.org/documentation/low-cost-home-theater-and-music-system/ -- agillis rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=62642 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Transporter with aftermarket power cord
I have never understood how a fancy power cord helps. The electricity is traveling hundreds of feet from the transformer on the road to your house then through the walls then to a 50 cent power plug in a 50 cent power box. How does using a $150 power cord for the last 3 feet help. I can see using a power conditioning systems to reduce spikes and noise but I can not see how an expensive power cord would make any difference. -- agillis rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=62241 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Luddites, er I mean audiophiles
I just posted a response over there. It seems like the users over there are thinking of a computer transport as playing wav files out of a PC sound card. Not as a SB/NAS solution. This is the response I posted over there if anybody is interested. Everybody in this forum already knows most of this. Hi everybody, this is my first post to this forum. So I figured I jump right into a heated discussion. I have been running a computer based transport for about 5 years. I also build and sell a computer based transport system. So Ill get right into what I have learned. 1. Computer based transports sound better a transport that is working correctly has nothing to do with sound. Its job it to get the digital music off the CD and into the DAC without mucking them up. The DAC, amp , speakers, etc produce the sound. With a mechanical transport there are many things that can keep this from happening, a scratch in the CD, mechanical vibration causing skipping, etc. With a computer transport all the data is stored in a file so it is much easier to get it to the DAC intact. If you have a $20,000 CD player, and you clean your CDs before you play them then you also should not have a problem. Its just easier and cheaper to do it with a computer. Also a note on file formats. I use only FLAC file. These are lossless so you get the same bits that were on the original CD to the DAC. 2. Computers are can get viruses and the software can get mucked up This is true. That why you should have a dedicated server for your music. The server runs an embedded operating system such as Linux so it cant get a Virus. I sell the VortexBox appliance just for this purpose. It has software to rip music to the hard disk and stream it back. Very simple software on an embedded system equals few problems. 3. Hard disk fail, what if I rip all my music and then lose my hard drive? Your CDs are also prone to failure not only do they scratch by the plastic they are made of degrades with time. CDs are designed to last 30-50 years then they start to fail. A computer hard disk is designed to spin for 5 years continuously before it should be replaced. It should last at least 10 years but the MTBF ratings are usually based on a 5 year replacement cycle. So if you are 30 now and live to be 80 you will have to replace your hard disk 10 times over your lifetime. Of course this is a moot point because 10 year from now they will have solid state storage that exceeds 1TB so it wont be a problem. 4. Backup? You bet! You should backup all you computer data. Buy a USB hard disk and copy all you music files and all you other computer data to it. Then disconnect it and put it on a shelf. 90% of computer failures are caused by electrical surges. RAID wont help you if your computer gets zapped. 5.I love the ritual of playing a CD yup, and I think nothing will ever replace Vinyl either. There is something about the smell of a Vinyl record and the cleaning solution. M But hay times change. My new ritual it controlling my music using a SqueezeCenter remote from my back yard. It can see the cover art, lyrics, etc all from my lawn chair. One ritual I dont miss is sorting all those CDs or trying to find the one Im looking for (I have over 1000) 6. Are there things that you can with a computer transport that your can do with a mechanical one? Yeah lots. Like setting up a 200 song playlist for a party. Or searching for your music by year, artist, album, etc. 7. So this sounds really cool but isnt it expensive? Its actually very inexpensive thats the best part. First you need a server like VortexBox ($359) then you need a player like the Logitech Duet ($327 on my web site). Thats $686 for a complete system. Including the full color WiFi remote. Thats not to bad compared to the cost of a good CD transport. -- agillis rip, tag, get cover art All you do is insert the CD! http://vortexbox.org agillis Lead Developer VortexBox agillis's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21140 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=61715 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
