Home Source Components

As someone who thinks standard 16/44 redbook sounds fantastic, I'm pretty skeptical about this whole hi-rez 24-bit movement. I did some blind testing with a buddy and I thought our results were worth posting. I'd love to hear what people think. TL:DR Folks: Just read the BOLD stuff. So my buddy and I conducted a few blind tests to see if we could hear a difference between 24 and 16 bit versions of the same tracks. We used two albums, the 24/96 version of Alison Krauss & Union Stations Paper Airplane from HDTracks and a 24/48 rip (using dbPoweramp) of Tool's Lateralus HDCD. Obviously using the same tracks but with different mastering jobs from different versio…

So they finally dropped the price on an Arcam FMJ CD36 in Canada. But... 1) Will there be a replacement soon for the CD36? 2) I'm still waiting for reviews of the upcoming Oppo DV-983 - it's supposed to have the same audio output section as the DV-980H. 3) Can a TweakAudio modded Oppo beat an Arcam flagship CD player? 4) Does an Arcam transport beat an Oppo transport? 5) The Oppo can play HDCD and SACD discs - does Redbook quality trump Hirez playback? 6) Oppo has video output - is it worth sacrificing great DVD upsampling video for brilliant audio? Also, I listened for about an hour this weekend to the $2,500 NAD M5 on a NAD M3 amp with (green) Audioquest …

Just got the PS Audio newsletter, an interesting product coming soon. Phono Pre and A-D Converter. Snippets: Info on digital output

Grado Sonata Reference VS. Audio-Technica AT440MLA VS. Denon DL-103 Its the comparison nobody asked for! Associated Equipment: Technics SL1200MK2 Grado PH-1 (on H gain for DL-103, L gain for AT440MLA and Sonata) Cambridge Audio 840A Stax SRD-7/Pro Adaptor Stax SR-007/Omega II Music used: Alan Parsons - I Robot Classic Records 200g Introduction Back when I started this hobby blah blah mikey fremer. The Rundown Highs Sonata: They're OK. Sometimes they are dull and wooly, sometimes the upper midrange must creep into the treble, because then it sounds bright, or maybe overly glarey. Could just be a tonearm mismatch. AT440MLa: The highs are …

I know that Audio Aero Prima SE and Opus 21 have it, but are there any others? Few others I've seen has been well over my budget. I can spend up to $3000, though less is always preferred.

Me again... So, I'm now looking for a decent phono stage. I've decided that I am going to place my turntable at the back of my room (17ft from front to back). Basically, I want to keep the analog rig far away from the subs etc. at the front of the room. The cartridge is a Clearaudio Accurate and here are the specs on that:

i'm assuming "home source components" qualify as anything that needs to be plugged in or is too heavy to transport...so i'll post here ) i used to own a lavry da10, feeding an hd650 balanced through a moon audio blue dragon. sold it off a while ago. it has always been my favorite headphone rig, partially for the transportability of it. i think i'm going to pick one up again... i fed the da10 with either a cheap dvd player via coax or an airport express via optical, depending on the situation. now that i have a macbook, i plan on using optical out of the laptop directly. just wondering if anyone has any experience using the macbook's optical out and how it compares a…

About three or four years ago, I laid eyes on this cute(at that time) disc transport and thought of how expensive and useless it was- yet there was something in me that yearned for it ever since. I finally found a mint one in original box with remote and literature and could no longer resist finishing my digital rig. The thing is not cute. It is much bigger than I had ever imagined. It was made before I began middle school. It is just shy of 15 lbs, and is about 14" wide, 6" high, and 9.75" deep. The front panel is clean, with power button, red fluorescent display and buttons made of "flexible aluminum membrane." The controls are very unique feeling. They are li…

Can find absolutely nothing else about this new hawt new box apart from the clip on Simaudio's own site, but thought it was worth posting just to give Dinny a stiffy. Looks dangerous, and expensive. But a kickass (universal?) player with properly implemented digital input would be pretty damn sweet. And eight 32-bit DACs per channel is, like, a whole bucket of bits man!

Last Tuesday DHL came to my door with heavy package, so, after two weeks waiting glad I was... I had day off from work, but was to busy with my son to set it up directly, however open up anyway to make first check. It was very interesting for my boy as well, cos he loves all that buttons. First impression wasnt shocking, cos I have seen this mashine in real life before, but getting one myself still exciting after all. Build quality is good, nothing fancy, just simply good. Metal case, massive metal front panel and some useful stuff on it, like display and buttons...:)Display light is not irritating at all, mild green color with quite huge indication of what happenin…

Well, the package arrived! Wuhoo! Unpacking... Hmmmm... What is it? The Denon DA-500 With its most important feature, to me at least... The ALPHA processor! I've long loved the Denon pieces as mid-fi sources. I like the smooth presentation and warmth that their DAC and ALPHA processors provide, and it's something I've kind of built my headphone and speaker rigs around. Unfortunately my luck with Denons as transports has been, well, horrible. And now they only offer the ALPHA processor in pieces well out of my price range. So I started looking for other options. I came across this, which I hadn't seen before and figured it was worth a shot. I was…

Well my Northstar M192 MKII arrived today, took a little while to start using it though as I was having problems with my Squeezebox. So for now I'm using it with the EMU 0404 USB via foobar and ASIO output. I'm using the rca outputs till my new balanced cables from Nate arrive . I'll post pics later but here's some early impressions: detail retrival is good resolution and extension are very good tonality seems pretty accurate soundstage (especially depth) are excellent That's about it for now I'll add more as time goes on. Hi-rez pics here 1280x1024 pics are attached below

I'm contemplating picking up a Transporter (which I can get a discount on), but would consider other options up to $1400 (to then use with a Squeezebox). All my music is streamed and it would be to the Extreme Platinum and/or srm-007t in my sig. Any other DACs you would recommend? Had the DA10 recently, and while I liked its signature, looking for something new.

Yet another futher different dac. Seems like a decent product, the Joloda Glass FX tube dac. I agree, the name is a little pretentious. I have a Jolida tuner here somewhere, the JD 402. (Out of production now.) After digging around, there were a few places for a while that offered some upgrades to the unit, which caught my attention. And when I got inside it myself, I saw that yes, there were some obvious things to change that would be both easy and useful. For starters, caps, wiring, wire routing, tubes, etc. So on to the tube dac. A standard round of questions apply. Anyone heard it? Anyone have one? Anyone think this is a great/crappy buy? I'm asking …

I need to get a new DAC after damaging my E-MU 0404 USB dac. There are nice new (used) DACs out there for about 200 euro, the E-MU, the V-DAC, and the cambridge audio DAC magic. But there are also vintage DACs, like this ADCOM 700 (that someone seems to have done some strange mods to) [ATTACH=CONFIG]2965[/ATTACH] or the Parasound D/AC 1000, or this Orelle DAC [ATTACH=CONFIG]2964[/ATTACH] What do you people think? Should I go vintage or almost new?

Hey guys, Recently I have been considering this... www.lessloss.com ...as a replacement for my Lavry. Any thoughts? I am undecided right now, mainly due to the cost. - Jay

So, I'm looking to grab some sort of external sound card for a number of purposes. My requirements are: PC based External >= 24/192 I need to be able to use this with RMAA, SpeakerWorkshop, LSPCad, etc. hence the PC requirement. The 24/192 is a requirement on the analog inputs for things like RMAA and needle-drops eventually. Budget is flexible One that caught my eye so far is the Edirol FA-66, but I'd be interested in seeing what else would qualify.

If I were to but the new Ayre DAC (with Wavelength tech.), what advatage does playing from my Apple hard drive (Apple Lossless) vs. a red book CD in a Marantz SA11S2 modified?

This one, "Taralabs"... Native 24bit 96k USB to Spdif I2S Converter for DAC - eBay (item 270517709517 end time Feb-17-10 17:30:38 PST) ... but I read "Teralabs". Whatever, it does use the Tenor chip, like the Prodigy Cube I am using now, but it is a simpler desing (no DAC inside so no line outs and no headphone out) with the option of off-board power supply. I am happy with my unit (does native 24/96 and changes the sampling frequency on the fly with foobar) save for a problem with some 24/88'2 files (does not recognise the 88'2 fq). But "no drivers" makes me happy... Anyone to test it? Padam were you not looking for something like that?

This could be end up being a nice solution for some. http://store.acousticsounds.com/d/94817/Sony-USB_Hi-Res_DAC_System-DA_Converter_or_Processor

Anyone have any thoughts on this battle? Have the opportunity to pick up a Transporter discounted, but curious if others have compared?

I just paid DigiPete for his SACDModded Denon 3910, and damn, I am itching to try all my SACDs out.

Ok, after the wife of all people told me to get the records and turntable out, not used since the 80's... here is where we stand, remember this was bought on a high school/college student budget... Technics SL-D3 mechanically still works Cartridge: ADC PSX-30 stylus is slightly bent Denon 3806 Receiver has phono input (MM type?) Where do I start to get going fast, and get the most improvement for the least $$ ?? I am thinking a new cartridge may be the first step.... Suggestions?? New name (analPete??)

Hi Guys, Just venturing into sacd and have the option of buying either of the above. Not into video side just Audio. All comments appreciated. Budget limited at present. The s2000 came out in 2007 and the age worries me. Valid or not?. Technology changes rapidly these days. Thanks Les

In all honesty, I had all but decided to snag an Apogee Mini-Dac for the office setup but was having little luck finding one at a price I could live with. Not sure why, but I began thinking about a piece of gear that had really excited me when it first came out. Just had other things more pressing so I didn't pull the trigger then. This time I just couldn't resist it. Didn't really need it, but darned if I'm not tickled that I have it. Best purchase I've made in quite some time. I'll get around to listening to my FLAC files sooner or later, but right now, I'm just loving the Internet Radio! What a big ol' world we live in!!