Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Missing the oomph
sosleepy;245532 Wrote: Thanks for the suggestions so far. I'll give the preamp suggestion a try when I get some free time in the next couple of days. My CD source isn't anything to write home about- a Marantz DV7600 DVD/CD/SACD player. It has more oomph than the squeezebox, but I know it isn't top of the line either. I use the squeezebox way more than the CD player, and generally use FLAC as my chosen source, though I don't discriminate against MP3.How would you describe the 'oomph', in terms of tonality? More pronounced bottom end maybe? I'd suggest that the difference you are hearing is almost certainly DAC related. I don't have any issues with the one built into the SB3, but choose to use a Shek D1 NOS unit, as I prefer a warmer, more laid-back sound. However, if I run it through my Beresford TC-7510 Mk6 DAC the combo sounds almost indistinguishable to my Naim CDX2 (sounds hard to believe but its true), which has been gathering dust since my SB3 arrived. I wouldn't view the SB3 as necessarily being the weak link in the chain, despite its budget status. I'd say you just need to find a DAC that offers the kind of presentation you like. -- david68 david68's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=12107 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=40581 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Distorted playback with 48khz file
Hi, I've just noticed that I'm getting some weird sounding high pitched distortion in the background when playing back a 48khz track. Its a high pitched whine that has a kind of echo/vibrato effect with it. It is present throughout the whole track, but seems to 'play along' with the music ie. it's not there during silent gaps. The same track has always played back fine before. Two things have changed in my setup since I last listened to it - 1: a new router and 2: a new Shek D1 DAC. Firstly I thought it might be linked to the router and so I tried connecting through an ethernet cable rather than wirelessly, but that made no difference. So my attention turned to the DAC and I tried using the SB3's analog outputs.fixed...no more distortion! So what's going on?!? Doesn't the Shek D1 like 48khz sample rate? The same track at 44.1khz plays fine through it. I was using a Meridian 203 DAC for a while, which behaved fine, and I'm pretty sure I would have tried that track with it. Any ideas? -- david68 david68's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=12107 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=36775 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Distorted playback with 48khz file
The file was something that I downloaded, out of interest, from Linn Records - one of their 96khz 'Studio Master' tracks. I converted to both 44.1 and 48khz using dbpoweramp. -- david68 david68's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=12107 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=36775 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Distorted playback with 48khz file
Veggen;214280 Wrote: Isn't the Shek on of those NOS type TDA1543 based dacs? In that case it is probably 16 bit 44.1kHz only.Thanks. Yes it is a NOS TDA1543 model. So that means it will only be capable of 44.1khz then? -- david68 david68's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=12107 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=36775 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Power supply upgrade for Shek D1
Hi, I've just taken delivery of a Shek D1 and was a little surprised at how lightweight cheap the power supply that is supplied with it feels. It's a variable output regulated / switched model that came preset at 12v. It may be great - I've got nothing else to compare it to - but in my experience the better power supplies are usually more substantially built. So, is the stock PS any good and if not can anyone recommend a suitable upgrade? NB: I'm in the UK, so maybe something that Maplins stock? Thanks -- david68 david68's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=12107 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=36613 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Power supply upgrade for Shek D1
darrenyeats;212757 Wrote: David, If a linear, regulated supply is what you want check out CPC who stock Stontronics power supplies in the UK. http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/Batteries++Power+Supplies/AC+to+DC/UNBRANDED/AD-12100R/displayProduct.jsp?sku=PW00188 I use the equivalent 5V supply for my SB3 which is 1.5A. I don't know if 1A is enough current for your Shek though. DarrenI must be stupid...I also bought that 5v Stontronics supply for my SB3 and didn't think to look on the CPC site again!! The PS that is supplied is 800ma so the 1000ma one should be fine. I've just ordered one. Thanks. -- david68 david68's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=12107 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=36613 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Power supply upgrade for Shek D1
zanash;212791 Wrote: I've built about four of these for different people ...a decent linear will give great performance for the nosits the size of the transformer ie va rating thats important..look for about 30va as the best compromise between sound and size. I tried a 300 va but it had little extra over the 30va A good digital ic is also neededHmm the one I have for my SB3 says 7.5VA on it. Now that's a 5V supply so I don't know what the 12v one I've just ordered for my Shek D1 will have as a VA rating. I'm quite interested in what you say about having built some linear power supplies for people before. If you fancy any more custom then please PM me. -- david68 david68's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=12107 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=36613 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Power supply upgrade for Shek D1
Phil Leigh;212818 Wrote: If you are only using the digital out of the SB into a DAC the basic Stontronics linear is just fine... IMHO it's only worth investigating more exotic supply solutions if you are using the analogue SB...and you'll need to disect the internal supplies to do so which is not trivial.Hi Phil. I already have a Stontronics for my SB3 and it is feeding a Shek D1 DAC. It's the DAC power supply that I'm referring to in this thread. I've ordered a 12v linear Stontronics one, hoping that I will hear an improvement over the 'budget' one that came supplied with the DAC. -- david68 david68's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=12107 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=36613 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] NAD 3020 variants
swhite58;211519 Wrote: I'm looking for a cheap used amp to replace my aging (and dying) Luxman L4. I don't want to spend much money as I'm saving up to buy myself some more serious gear for my 50th birthday next year. I thought what about an old NAD? Currently, there are three different NAD 3020's for sale on eBay Australia: 3020e 3020i 3020 series 20 They'll probably sell for a similar price. Doesd anyone know whether there are any significant differences between them?Why don't you look at the 3130's as well. Very similar presentation to the 3020, but with a little more power. I believe they were very highly thought of too. -- david68 david68's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=12107 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=36468 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Newbie looking for some advice
Hi, I've just ordered a SB3 and intend to copy my favourite CD's to my PC so that I can stream them to my hifi. If I'm happy with the results then it means my Naim CDX2 CDP should end up doing a little less work! What I don't want to do is copy say a hundred CD's and then discover that I could have done it better for optimum audio quality. So I could do with some advice... I currently use itunes to feed my ipod and have imported my CD's as 320kbps MP3's. However, it looks like Apple Lossless would be the best way to go for streaming to my hifi. So, would you recommend re-importing into itunes using Apple Lossless, or (given that I'm going to have to import my CD collection again anyway) would you suggest looking at using different software? I notice that a lot of people seem to prefer EAC, which I think offers FLAC. Also, do you audiophiles out there with ipods store two copies of each CD, one in lossless for your hifi and one in a lossy format for your ipod? -- david68 david68's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=12107 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=36362 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Newbie looking for some advice
Yes Evert, that helps a lot, as that is what I was hoping would be possible. Thank you! So, to clarify just a bit, you can have more than one library in iTunes 7 and you have it setup so that your ipod only sees the library containing your MP3's. Then, when you are streaming it is the other library that is in use? -- david68 david68's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=12107 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=36362 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Newbie looking for some advice
Audiotic;210714 Wrote: That is certainly possible. Since I started this process before iTunes 7 (so before more libraries were possible) I have created a Smart Playlist where the bitrate is 300, and my iPod is syncing with that playlist. For streaming I use the 300...Thanks. I've just upgraded my iTunes to version 7 and can't see how to setup separate libraries, but I'm sure I'll be able to work that out sooner or later! Failing that, I'll just try the Smart Playlist method that you describe. -- david68 david68's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=12107 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=36362 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Newbie looking for some advice
Thanks Adam, you are right..I do take music reproduction pretty seriously. I just don't want to over complicate matters if I don't actually need to. However, if, as you say, iTunes doesn't necessarily result in an accurate rip then I will need to look at alternatives. I'll look further into EAC and try to get an idea of what settings I'd need to be using. By the way, I notice you are using a Shek D2 DAC. That's on my shopping list now along with the D1. I already have a Meridian DAC, but don't rate it as highly as some other do. -- david68 david68's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=12107 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=36362 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
