Home Source Components

Techmoan buys 3 video disc players to see how well they function as CD players, and creates a spreadsheet to evaluate them.

Edit:

I have a DAC1 USB to a Luxman P1u to a pair of HD820. Should I do better than the DAC1? I have limited space. Probably pointless to upgrade. Wish I had a DAC still that would not fit there:

Bit of a link bait title, but I'm glad we're well clear of the lossy compression era in hi-fi CD players - I always turned skip protection off. The test album was Goldfrapp's Head First - pure synthwave ear candy. Head First is an almost entirely electronic album, with heavily-processed real sound from Alison Goldfrapp, a guitar, bass, and drums on selected tracks. I read that Will Gregory and Alison Goldfrapp were somewhat unsatisfied with the results of a rushed production process, but to me, it's a perfect gem. The anthemic, insanely upbeat pop tracks are well balanced against the more relaxed ambient instrumentals. To me, it's a touchstone, both a microcosm and a…

So I have been running Roon as my go to audio software for listening to my digital library and integrating it with Tidal and Qobuz. The software works very well and they have kept upgrades. I have been using a 2018 Mac mini to run my Roon server and it has worked very well though not without a few hiccups in keeping it running on a continuous basis. A picture of that setup is below. It consisted of the mac mini and a 10 TB USB disk to hold my library and Roon backups, a 27” monitor, wireless keyboard and mouse. The previous generation of Roon nucleus appliances were quite pricey compared to the Mac mini so I never really considered buying one. However when they…

I have a friend overseas whose previous old Aune DAC (limited to handle 24/48 PCM) stopped working. Due to lack of most other products availability in his country, he has purchased the Ifi Zen DAC V2. First impressions were not good, but with some tweaking on Windows configuration and playback software he got it working kind of OK. He has found out that Foobar and AIMP (which for some reason he loves) can't deliver to the DAC the files at the same sampling/bit depth that they originally have. They go up or downsampled according to the settings he chooses in the player software, but he can't get the system to send the audio stream thru USB at its original bitrates automati…

Indie bands have been releasing cassettes for a few years, but now a new cassette player has been released. I was cleaning my place and stumbled on some old cassettes... taking some time to listen through all of them (especially since many of them are unlabeled/mislabeled) on my ancient Walkman. Unfortunately, this new player doesn't measure or perform very well, but perhaps it will stir the big players into producing something better. https://www.wearerewind.com

Not sure if this is the right forum for this, as it's not a source component... but then again it doesn't really fit anywhere else. I'm sure you know Jan Meier and his work. He just released an interesting new product, which - if anything - is certainly innovative. An external DSP box for headphones and speakers, with digital ins and outs, and an analog section with headphone and line outputs. All controls happen with physical buttons but on the digital realm, with an EQ, crossfeed (as expected), and then a number of more unique features I haven't come across before. More details here. I've been following the development of it via his newsletter, it's …

I've had the Maverick Audio TubeMagic D2 DAC for a while and I've been going back and forth between using LM4562 Opamps and the OPA627 Opamps that came pre-upgraded with this unit (each two single OPA627 OpAmps on an adapter board to create a dual opamp). Each had it's pros and cons but neither really seemed to be giving me everything I wanted. The OPA627 seemed more smooth, but almost too smooth, to the point of lacking texture in some cases. The LM4562 had more of the texture that I preferred, but can also be just a bit harsh, especially for long listening sessions. The tube output, using a Sylvania 5670W tube, did help, but only so much. http://gotnorice.com/B…

Interesting that PS Audio is still putting money into SACD at this point. I wonder if they are planning to release a new DAC as well:

Okay, I'm behind the times, but needs are simple. My analog and limited physical media needs are met and otherwise only stream Tidal/Qobuz. No need for everyones favorite Roon at this point or support for media stored on a HD. Used an Airport Express to get a digital signal to a DAC until Apple retired and it eventually became a little flaky, then Chromecast Audio until Google retired and it eventually became a little flaky. Just looking for a simple way to stream audio over wifi (ideally with Airplay2 support) to a digital out. Know Audioengine has a similar device, though next to no specs. I'm sure there are Raspberry Pi options as when are there not? Anyone have a reco…

I learned a few things... I assume SACDs are similar to regular DVDs.

Anyone listened to one of these? It ticks a few boxes for me and would be curious to find one on the used market to play with - let me know if you happen to run across a listing.

It seems like I've been trying to do this for years and WFH may finally force the issue enough into the forefront that I do something. So, what I'm basically looking for is a stand-alone music server, with onboard storage capacity, decent library management tools, and a reliably updated GUI. I'm not against the obvious Mac Mini choice as I have external DAC options that make that doable, but would be interested in hearing folks other thoughts on this. Budget is not unlimited and the Brooklyn solutions of the world need not apply. I've looked and can't really find anything that gets me very excited.

I was talking to my dad this weekend and he wanted me to investigate a DAC/front end for his stereo system. His current source is a Technics 5-disc CD changer from the 90s, amplification is a Technics surround sound receiver of the same vintage (early-mid 90s), and no-name cables. I was thinking a Schiit Modi 3 might be a good start, but the system would need more smarts, so maybe something with streaming/network capability and DAC would be better. He does have music files stored on a bunch of hard drives, so maybe one large 6-8TB hard drive to consolidate them along with a wifi + interface head? He has an Android tablet, so maybe he could use that to control the ste…

My son is getting into vinyl and I'm not much into it myself so I don't know what a good entry turntable is. Any good suggestions?

For anyone curious I just put an order in for the AudioByte Hydra Vox dac a Romanian manufacturered component and sister company of famed Rockna Audio . It’s a interesting dac , it’s configured to stack with separate power supplies, yes plural and soon to be released server named the Hub . The dac is FPGA based , pure one bit and no dac chip and much more including a superb purpose built headphone input. I believe M***.com is the US distributor and ***.com a dealer where I placed my order I’m sure there are other dealers however I found Vlad owner of *** out of Minnesota to be fabulous to deal with.

My Linn Classik appears to have died and is throwing an error code (might try to get it fixed but Linn no longer fixes, likely a bunch of failed capacitors). I would love a direct replacement with tuner, cd and amplifier but honestly we don't listen to the radio anymore and I have sources for everything else. The only think that has all that is the Denon CEOL RCD-N10. Looking around it seems like the Yamaha Integrated amps are my usual "wire with gain" type of thing so I was looking at the Yamaha A-S801BL. There is also an interesting NAD device but their software might have issues and not sure of sound. Any recommendations or experiences?

Found this Techmoan video on MQA-CD when I was checking out Meiko's latest album from Chesky Records, Playing Favorites: I'm going to sit this one out for a while. It seems to be a Japan-only phenomenon for a while, and there are no mainstream players.

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-airist-audio-r-2r-dac/talk/2101227?utm_source=linkshare&referer=TYMJB2 On the left, sosolar's design since 2015, on the right "Massdrop Made" by Airist audio. That's a new low for Massdrop.

Has anyone had any experience with these? https://www.vinshineaudio.com/denafrips

Have you tried this DSP software bundle with calibrating interface? I just saw it advertised on a HDTracks newsletter. https://www.theoretica.us/bacch4mac/CheskyLanding16.html I think it's very expensive and the charge for annual tech service seems... ludicrous? yet if it really works well it could be interesting for headphone listening or even speakers 3D enhancement.

NAD's Hybrid Digital DAC Amplifiers, especially the 388 look awesome. What do people think of them? https://nadelectronics.com/product/c-388-hybrid-digital-dac-amplifier/

I`d appreciate some help I am looking for a usb powered 'dac/amp' to feed a pair of srh1540 headphones, low volume listening, no background hiss and sounds good with linux (youtube, podcasts, radio, cd`s ripped to flac/wav). I currently use the motherboards onboard audio which is a 'TI ne5532' amp chip. This does well with very low background noise but audio could be bettered. have just been using a soekris dac1101 but find it to have audible background hiss when outputing audio (this cuts off shortly after no audio is being pushed). budget of $800 or less top of my list to try currently is an 'IFI Micro iDSD Black Label', thoughts on th…

I tried to take every detail. I still have some photos if someone need more details. Overall sound is good. This dac runs warm. Quiet curious about the buffer design. comments plz @kevin gilmore