Pars

I've decided to go an entirely different route... how about a Macbook, perhaps a refurb from, oh, lets say... the Apple store?

Noise. You don't want to put digital electronics (like a DAC) on an analog amp's PSU(s). The B22 will be running on +/-30Vdc... the DAC is going to need +/-15V probably, as well as +5Vdc I would guess. You could do it, but IMHO it's a bad idea. The Pedja Rogic DAC I'm building uses 7 or 8 PSUs in it (transformer has that many sets of windings). A bit overkill, but they are there for that reason... noise.

I didn't bother with Applecare on my home machine... this I might however.

Any time there is SPDIF, there is jitter, and usually lots of it. Whether you can hear it or not is debatable, so we won't go there. Hook it up and see how close to matching the CDP->amp you get. As for building a DAC into a B22, I personally wouldn't simply for flexibility reasons. You are going to want to have separate PSUs for the DAC anyhow, so the only cost you are realy saving would be the case. The times I have seen peeps do integrated stuff like this, they have always wound up ripping it apart. Case in point: Strohmie's CDP / Dynahi.

Thanks. The Apple Store refurbs the way to go for this? I bought my PowerMac G5 desktop there and have never had a bit of trouble with it...

Sorry if this has already been posted... My oldest son is starting college next fall and we need to get him a laptop, preferably a Mac. I don't need a $2K PowerBook Pro or whatever, just something decent. I'm not opposed to used also, although it would need to be something reliable. Thanks for any suggestions, Chris

Speaking of toast, I had used this years ago and always liked it. Would it be worth buying Toast8 off of ePay for ~$20 or so? I realize 9 is the current version, but usually latest isn't always worth paying for...

I don't so a moot point... maybe it would be a good time to buy one

Some interesting follow-up discussing Machina Dynamica and Geoff Kait http://www.diyhifi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1529&start=30 peufeu pretty much nails it: The marvilous thing about this guy is that each of his "products" pushes new "limits" and creates a new "paradigm" in the ways of fucking with what remains of the buyer's mind.

The m4a is lossless (I configured it in Max). The aif files are larger. Both CDs work in the player and I've listened to most of the aif one. I'll have to compare them and see if I hear any differences. Pretty good NIN. My favorite is still the And All That Could Have Been DVD, middle tracks. I suppose a computer and preferably an external DAC is the choice if you want to use the high rez files? How exactly is that done? Will they work over SPDIF or does it have to be a different connection? Sorry for the noob questions...

Enjoy your leave!

The Apple lossless files came over as .m4a... is this alac? That is what screws me up the most is figuring out what is what in the file formats... Initially, I burned a disc converting the flac to aiff (.aif), linear pcb big endian 16 bit... it works, but now I grabbed the apple lossless version from bittorent and am burning it directly (.m4a which is MPEG4?). We'll see. One of these days

Got em, but probably not the easiest process I don't have Toast, but I do have Max as well as SimplyBurns, which is what I usually use for CD burns. Thanks for the help.

OK... stupid non-computer music user question: If my end goal is to burn an uncompressed CD of this, which one do I download (on a Mac)? The Apple lossless? or the FLAC? And anything special I need to do to get it onto a std. Redbook CD?

Really nice job on the cups. Is this the lathe you just bought, or am I thinking of someone else who just bought a new latheh?

Ahh... thanks.

Nice... what arm is that? Clue from pic link; Vestigalar? Sounds vaguely familiar...

Yeah, they did pull it as far as I can tell... arsewipes

The K271s, particularly like Thrice posted, would be good. Or velour pads for the AKGs he has, if you can get them. The 271s aren't real hard to drive... I use a pair at work with a Dynalo, but have listened to them straight out of a Sony D-33 PCDP which drives them almost as well (course it's headphone out is pretty stout).

Made a pair of interconnects using some UP-OCC 22ga I bought from Nate. I modified Chris VH's silver IC recipe, using a core of 1/4" polyethylene tubing, and spiraled the wires on 2" turns, wrapped it with teflon tape, then some techflex I had laying around. They are actually more flexible than I though they would be (not bad at all). Dayton locking RCAs which I also had on hand... I'll probably change these to Neutrik ProFis or something down the road.

Oh shit!! Don't touch anything electric at Smeggy's place

Better offer him the PSU PCBs too... oh wait, after the Menace, he can just P2P those

Well Nate, fortunately, you've buried the "no stats in '08" thing

People recommend the Hakko Dash if you can find it for a decent price (simple pencil 25W iron IIRC). Not sure about the Xytronic that Naamanf is using, but that might be worth checking into. Fry's does carry Hakko tips in stock, so if you got something online that could use Hakko tips... http://www.tequipment.net/HakkoN454.html

x2 on the tips suck, even when new, even when taken care of. You're on the west coast? No Fry's around? They carry Weller and Hakko and probably more. Home Depot or Lowes might have something in the 25W or so range (Weller probably)? I'd try to get anything other than ratshack if I were you.