#21
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This has been chock full of interesting information and solutions. I'm tucking this one away as it may come in handy in the not so distant future.
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McIntosh MA8000; McIntosh MC1502; Canton Vento Reference 1 DC; E.A.T. E-Flat; Soundsmith Paua Mk II; Technics SL 1210 MK5; Audio Technica AT-150 MLX; Tascam BR-20; Teac X1000R; Pioneer RT-707; Oppo UDP 205; Denon DCD A-100; HP All-In-One Touchscreen Server; JRiver MC 28; Woo Audio WA6; Shure SRH 1840; SVS SB 1000; Jolida 502BRC; Jolida JD9; VPI 16.5 RCM; Wireworld Oasis 8 Speaker Cables; Audoquest Columbia 72 DBS IC's; Panamax PM-5400 (source components only) |
#22
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I would not sweat the wireless bogeyman too much with 1 caveat. As someone that built and shipped millions of high end enterprise wifi access point, I would have no worries that a good wifi implementation will not negatively impact sound quality.
There lies the rub. Wifi technology is always evolving, always in motion. There’s new major standards coming continuously, a wifi link can easily be faster than a 1G wired connection and with this magic comes complexity. If you are a vendor of hifi gear, what do you actually know about the wifi technology? Well, nothing. So you’ll buy the whole stack from a vendor and integrate this with the device OS, likely linux. There are many pitfalls there especially if the hifi vendor tries to cheapen out, which is likely in a product that sells for 500$, where the total part cost has to be around $100 To be clear I know nothing about the blusound wifi. For me I would keep the Mac and spend the 1K on a DAC. Good wifi first. But then i am of the unpopular opinion that fancy streamers is the last place to spend cash. In my setup I have a bricasti M3, a semi fancy DAC. I have the network interface so I can feed the DAC from a) Ethernet, b) Roon nucleus to USB c) a Naim ND5 XS2 through SPDIF. I can guaranteed that I have ears and there isn’t much difference at all between those 3 setups. Much much less than changing the filter in the DAC, or any other fiddling with components… |
#23
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And, it sounds...fabulous. As in....REALLY good. 'Course, a Constellation integrated amp doesn't hurt one bit, either.
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Lumin P1 streamer/DAC/preamp, Constellation Inspiration integrated TT: Michell Gyro SE MkII, SME V, Koetsu Urushi Vermilion, EAR324. Harbeth 30.2s, REL R-305, Shunyata Alpha V2 ICs, Alpha V2 SPs, Sigma XC, Sigma NRv2, Omega QR-s & Alpha NRv2 PCs, segmented Altaira SG stack w/ Alpha & Omega CGCs, Everest 8000 PD. Remote Server Room: Uptone EtherREGEN, AfterDark Master Clock & LPS, Alita, Battle Angel, (Akasa NUC Roon Core), iFi DC Purifiers (for SMPS used for Alita & router), Shunyata Gemini combo power distributor & Altaira-type CG GP-NR hub, Venom & Alpha CGCs, Shunyata NRv14 power cords for digital components. Last edited by Puma Cat; 02-12-2022 at 03:37 PM. |
#24
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Plus he can get both Atmos and Spatial Audio from Amazon if he cares to. |
#25
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Part of my decision is based on taking some load off of my computer which is always being used since I am on several forums, some of which i sometimes moderate
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#26
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#27
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I am going to reiterate something Puma Cat has been preaching on. I am also in a position of being budget conscious- not as much as some and way more so than others but I digress. A dirty record played on a $100,000 totally tricked out turntable isn’t gonna help that TT sound its best. The signal coming into your streamer is what contains the music. If it is a “dirty” signal your streamer is going to have to.. well, you know the saying “garbage in garbage out”. Now good streamers can do some cleaning up but the cleaner the signal the better whatever goes from your streamer to your dac all things being equal. I just got myself an Uptone Audio EtherRegen switch and 2 Wireworld Starlight Ethernet cables, 1 meter and 3 meter(the WW courtesy of Ivan right before the price change— great deal, great price, great service- great transaction— and within a vey tight budget at that moment). The 1 meter goes from the ER to my Bryston BDP-3 and the 3 meter to my 65” LG OLED tv. I didn’t know really black blacks could get noticeably blacker (the TV) and this really crisp picture crisper but not in an artificial way. The music- not to be cliche, but blacks blacker- listening to something like Jen Chapin or Sinne Eig and Thomas Fonnesback, the spaces between notes are noticeably quieter and the listener (me), more there- not so much like the performers are more in my room but It is more like I am in the performance space. You can get certainly get your signal cleaner where it makes a significant difference using Shunyata Sigma or Omega caliber cables, etc.. But if you can’t afford that like me (and I am not pleading poverty here, I just have two adult kids who are not fully independent yet), you can still get a great headstart on cleaning up your signal by running that fiber Puma Cat mentioned to an EtherRegen (about 600 bucks) or running Ethernet from an Airport Express to an EtherRegen, and then from the EtherRegen a meter of WW Starlight or Shunyata Venom if your budget can handle it… and you won’t have difficulty noticing the difference. If you drink really good single malt with one ice cube, do you make your ice (to have for drinking the scotch) with tap water?
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Office/Music Room Dynaudio Heritage Special. Uptone Audio EtherRegen Ethernet Switch. Akasa NUC 10i7 with Roon Rock. Bryston BDP-3 Digital Music Player (with 4 Tb Internal SSD and Synology DS920+ NAS)-->Holo Audio May Kitsune Edition DAC-->Shunyata Sigma USB—>Gryphon Diablo 120 Integreted Amp w Transpatent XL PC. Oppo BDP-105D and BDP-203. Power: Shunyata Hydra Sigma S12 PD. Additional Cabling: WW Silver Electra PC, WW Electra PC, Shunyata Venom 3 PC. Digital: WW Starlight Ethernet, WW Gold Starlight AES-EBU, WW Platinum Starlight USB. IC and Speaker: WW Eclipse 8. Bedroom System Ipad with MusicStreamer App-->Schiit Jotunheim DAC/Amp—>Audeze LCD-XC, Focal for Bentley Radiance HO, Massdrop E-MU Teak HP. AK SE 200 DAP. Mobile Survival Kit Astell & Kern SP1000M. Noble Kaiser Encore IEM with Double Helix Balanced cable, Westone W80 IEM w ALOaudio Ref 8 cable, Westone W60 IEM, Shure se535 Ltd with Westone Bluetooth Wireless cable-amp. Mark Levinson No. 5909 Wireless HP. |
#28
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Far more adaptable and versatile for digital music. Last edited by eljr; 02-13-2022 at 01:45 PM. |
#29
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You guys have now succeeded in hurting my head. I hope you're happy.
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McIntosh MA8000; McIntosh MC1502; Canton Vento Reference 1 DC; E.A.T. E-Flat; Soundsmith Paua Mk II; Technics SL 1210 MK5; Audio Technica AT-150 MLX; Tascam BR-20; Teac X1000R; Pioneer RT-707; Oppo UDP 205; Denon DCD A-100; HP All-In-One Touchscreen Server; JRiver MC 28; Woo Audio WA6; Shure SRH 1840; SVS SB 1000; Jolida 502BRC; Jolida JD9; VPI 16.5 RCM; Wireworld Oasis 8 Speaker Cables; Audoquest Columbia 72 DBS IC's; Panamax PM-5400 (source components only) |
#30
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At least as to my dissertation I’ll make it really simple. Do you have vinyl? If yes, do you use a RCM or otherwise clean your records before playing them? If yes, you would probably do that whether you had a $2000 Clearaudio or $20,000 VPI or $200,000 whatever; and whichever of those categories you fall into you would invest different amounts as you deemed appropriated, proportional and affordable. The signal that comes into your streamer (or computer that serves as one is the record. The cleaner you get it the better it will sound no matter what you are playing it on/with. Puma Cat mentioned a fairly inexpensive way or ways to do that. I mentioned a slightly less expensive way that I just started using to great beneficial effect (IMO). I spent $800 (excluding the cable to my tv) and it made a very noticeable difference. That covers my part in this discussion.
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Office/Music Room Dynaudio Heritage Special. Uptone Audio EtherRegen Ethernet Switch. Akasa NUC 10i7 with Roon Rock. Bryston BDP-3 Digital Music Player (with 4 Tb Internal SSD and Synology DS920+ NAS)-->Holo Audio May Kitsune Edition DAC-->Shunyata Sigma USB—>Gryphon Diablo 120 Integreted Amp w Transpatent XL PC. Oppo BDP-105D and BDP-203. Power: Shunyata Hydra Sigma S12 PD. Additional Cabling: WW Silver Electra PC, WW Electra PC, Shunyata Venom 3 PC. Digital: WW Starlight Ethernet, WW Gold Starlight AES-EBU, WW Platinum Starlight USB. IC and Speaker: WW Eclipse 8. Bedroom System Ipad with MusicStreamer App-->Schiit Jotunheim DAC/Amp—>Audeze LCD-XC, Focal for Bentley Radiance HO, Massdrop E-MU Teak HP. AK SE 200 DAP. Mobile Survival Kit Astell & Kern SP1000M. Noble Kaiser Encore IEM with Double Helix Balanced cable, Westone W80 IEM w ALOaudio Ref 8 cable, Westone W60 IEM, Shure se535 Ltd with Westone Bluetooth Wireless cable-amp. Mark Levinson No. 5909 Wireless HP. |
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