Computer Audiophile - Blogs

exaSound e20 DSD256 Update

musiclover — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:49:06 GMT

Originally Posted by musiclover

- After receiving my exaSound e20 Mk II DAC first thing I noted was is small size (almost size of my router)- yes I am used to larger and heavier HIFI components in my rack . Installing drivers and setup was a breeze no issue. I had downloaded quite a few DSD 2.82MHZ and DSD2x/DSD128 5.6MHZ files from various websites including DSDfile.com, blue coast etc in anticipation. Oh yes, this DAC comes with a very long USB cable A-mini which I swapped with wire world platinum 1 meter and plugged in factory sent 12V laptop style power into my Power cell 10 SE synergistic research conditioner. I also converted most of my high resolution PCM recording into DSD/DFF files through my Jriver software to compare them to high resolution PCM and 44.1 recording

I connected analog out of exaSound e20 Mk II DAC straight into my MC601 pair amplifiers and also compared it running through my Auxillary input of MX121 as pure direct using it for volume control purpose

After about 10-15 min of run in time I listened to some of reference recordings. Purity of presentation through exaSound e20 Mk II DAC was astonishing. DSD files which I had heard before as aggressive and somewhat bright through oppo105 now sound full, natural with inner details and smooth texture. Imaging was wider, with more space between instruments. yet music just did not seem to appear from speakers as most often the case when sound stage widens. Connecting exaSound e20 Mk II DAC to MX121 auxillary input and running pure direct, mid bass seems more pronounced with some loss of details in extreme highs.

Next comparing DSD 2.82 to 5.6MHZ file, transparency was more apparent with 5.6 file. To sum it up, DSD through exaSound e20 Mk II DAC seemed most "analog like" presentation I have heard in my reference system. I have just been exposed to a format which I never could imagined could sound so smooth and full. Well, I am not going back to dark ages again.....
__________________
Revel Ultima Salon 2, Voice 2, Gem 2, McIntosh MC601 Monoblocks, MC207 for center and surrounds, McIntosh MX121 , Oppo BDP-105, Interconnect- Synergistic Element Copper, Tunsten, Silver, Power cord CTS digital, Tungsten and Precision reference cords, JL audio F113, Music Vault Pearl plus with SOTM USB card, Screen Innovation Black diamond zero edge 106, Sound Anchor Subwoofer, stand, JVC RS-40, Wireworld platinum USB/HDMI

Audiophiles = Synesthesiaists ?

wgscott — Fri, 10 May 2013 05:27:38 GMT

I've pretty much come to the conclusion that audiophiles are either a bunch of pathological liars governed by mass hysteria, or they must hear things fundamentally differently from the way everyone else does.

I wonder if this is a form of synesthesia. Maybe not the extreme forms, like people who smell colors, but nonetheless, the experience is neurologically atypical. This would explain a lot of the frustration on both sides of the typical arguments about perception.

Semi-Customized DAC Part III - Success! (Provisional but sweet)

Jud — Thu, 09 May 2013 19:28:33 GMT

Having connected the output wiring properly this time (had wired my output jacks to metal-rimmed mounting holes near the contacts rather than the contacts themselves), I was eagerly awaiting the new transformer. It came yesterday. Like Christmas in May - which, having been raised Jewish, is saying something.

Soldered the transformer wires where they needed to go, hooked everything up, powered it on, turned on the amp, turned off the mute switch, turned up the volume, and - Music! Yee-hah! Unlike the initial run a couple of weeks ago, nothing overheated at all. (In fact I had the unit burning in overnight, and when I checked this morning, again nothing was hot.)

I played the first batch of songs using a normal garden variety fuse. In this first batch I included a DSD file, "We Belong Together," from the MoFi release of Rickie Lee Jones' Pirates, because I'd never had the opportunity to hear native DSD playback before.

Ho-lee Sh**t! Jaw-dropping. There's some really well-recorded percussion on this song, and the absolute slam! of it with native DSD was something I hadn't heard before outside of live concerts and high end shows. Nothing sloppy about it (I can't stand distortion), just good tight drum impact.

After that, I decided it was time to try the Hi-Fi Tuning Supreme "Black" audiophile fuse. (The IEC inlet I bought incorporates a fuse holder, making changes a breeze.) And odd/dubious as it may seem, yes, I really think it improved the sound. Replayed "We Belong Together," and the slam! was still there, but also more subtle low-level detail, e.g., more instrumental technique audible and more prolonged decay of the piano chord at the end of the song.

After that I figured it was time for burn-in, so I loaded pretty much my entire collection of ripped and downloaded music into the latest Audirvana Plus beta and set it on shuffle. One of the first songs that came on was "I Will," from the Beatles' White Album. It sounded so good I thought it might be from the Love album, which I have as a 24/96 rip. Actually had to get up from the couch, go over to the computer and check to make sure - nope, "I Will" isn't on Love, it was my Redbook rip from the '09 remastered White Album CD.

At this point a reminder may be in order: I have Audirvana Plus set to do power-of-2 oversampling to the max the DAC will accept, which in this case are the 8x rates (352.8 and 384kHz). Those are the same rates the DAC sends to the D/A conversion step. In other words, with this setup there is no in-DAC oversampling. Any oversampling is done solely by iZotope, which is bundled with Audirvana Plus.

So far everything is sounding wonderful. Not the same, each track has its own distinct sound, but I'm hearing more from each track than before, to the extent some sound almost like entirely different songs. ("No Good with Faces" from Jack Johnson's well-recorded To the Sea is one I particularly remember thinking this about.) IMO this isn't a commentary so much on my prior main system DAC (Bifrost), which I still think is very good, but on the current combination of an improved DAC and excellent software-only oversampling. I'm eagerly anticipating trying some of the 2L 8x sample rate downloads, to hear what no oversampling at all sounds like.

So now everything's working well (or better than well), it's time to try to gild the lily. In the next few weeks I plan to get started with changing the point-to-point wiring to Omega Mikro ribbons, changing out the Radio Shack(!) RCA jacks for Omega Mikro, and putting all this into two maple cases with Mapleshade vibration control. My PCB supplier has also mentioned that some folks like to roll the output caps; might think about that at a later date, though all thoughts and suggestions here are certainly welcome.

I'm very, very happy with how it's going so far. Next time, we'll see whether there's any "burn-in" effect (whether the sound seems to change as more hours are put on the DAC); and I'll finally get around to letting you all know a little more about the chassis and who the CA forum member is who's said he'll step outside his normal line of work and fabricate them for me.

Easy covers for your cd / dvd based backups

souptin — Tue, 07 May 2013 22:08:58 GMT

Just throwing this out there.

I've gone with using cd-r and dvd-r to back up my music download purchases. No particular reason other than I like them fixed and offline, unlike (some?) hard disk backup methods. But I also like them to look pretty, so I came up with a template to print out covers on my desktop printer, using standard paper and not requiring glue, double sided tape or surgical scalpel skills to assemble.

You will need:

1. Some enthusiasm for origami (you'll either find this fun and relaxing or incredibly frustrating - you have been warned!)

2. A cover image, preferably cropped to exact square, and possibly in pdf format depending on which template file you use (most music downloads include an image that is perfect for the job as it is, but will often be jpeg so will need to be exported / res-saved as pdf). Apple's Preview will do the conversion (File.. Export.. from the menu), and I expect several cheap or free Windows programs can also do so.

Download links:

For US Letter size paper (8.5 x 11 inches):
http://rapidshare.com/files/11083919...LetterSize.zip
or DiscEnvelopes_USLetterSize.zip

For European A4 size paper (210 x 297 mm):
http://rapidshare.com/files/10026085...pes_A4Size.zip
or DiscEnvelopes_A4Size.zip

What they look like

(the scalpel is mainly for dramatic effect, though the blunt end of the handle can be ermmm... 'handy' for pre creasing your folds if you want to be super-accurate, as would be a blunt knife or letter opener)

How to use
If you are going to use the templates labelled as Illustrator or Photoshop, you don't probably won't need my advice on using the respective programs. You are welcome to change / adapt / distribute the templates in any way you wish.

If you are using the template labelled Acrobat: First I recommend you try using Adobe Reader to open them. Other pdf readers (eg Apple's Preview) may or may not fully understand the editing permissions within the file, although it will likely do no harm to the file if you want to try them.
Adobe - Adobe Reader download - All versions
Click on the "Artist Album Filetype" text and key in your own choice of information, and click on the blue square labelled "Cover" to bring up a dialog to choose your cover art (remember it should also be in pdf format, see above). You will be able to save your edited version. Probably best to also make the printout from Adobe Reader as well, sometimes other programs will not print out the form fields (ie your added text).

Top tips for origami
Don't try to create really sharp creases, they will tear the paper, if you can try and make a more rounded fold. Plain photocopy weight paper is easier to work with than the thicker specialist photo papers. Also (as stated above) a blunt knife or similar can help to create creases to help with the folding.

If you are an eeeevil pirate planning your next car boot sale escapade
Not for you! If you insist on using these to try and legitimise your bootlegs, please first report to your local police (preferably in full pirate costume) and have your parrot discuss the matter with the desk sergeant. Also please upload a video copy of the conversation to youtube for our general amusement.

Attached Files

Audio Engine A5+ v's KEF X300A

jasonovic — Tue, 07 May 2013 12:01:45 GMT

Hi Im new to the site and live in the UK. I currently have an iMac to play all my apple Losseles files through iTunes. This is connected to a Music Fidelity V-DAC which runs 2 ROKIT KRK5 active monitors. I want to improve the sound as the monitors are not giving me what I want, I find it a bit sterile. I am used to listening to HI FI separates through some floor standing RUARK Templers that are in my living room. I appreciate I am not going to get the same through my iMac system but I am willing to spend up to �600. As I am already using a good DAC I could just get the Audioengine A5+ active speakers as they dont include a built in DAC, but then I read the KEF X300A reviews that have built in DAC's and as a result I am unsure. I can get a demo of the KEF's but not he Audioengine. Can anyone point me in the right direction or give me the benefit of personal experiance? Anything would help.

Semi-Customized DAC Part II (in which we hit a roadblock and ask for help)

Jud — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:44:21 GMT

Disappointing news from the trial run (no chassis or ribbon conductors, just everything laid out and hooked up with regular wire for testing):

Everything is soldered and connected, with a 1A fast blow fuse in the IEC inlet. When I plugged it in this morning, the transformer (an R-core transformer I purchased separately from the boards) got piping hot to the extent that I smelled plastic and was afraid to leave it plugged in long enough to listen to anything. One thing I did, though I am guessing it wouldn't cause this, is that I twisted the secondaries of each color together before soldering them individually to the appropriate contacts on the PSU PCB.

The fuse is intact and all the lights on the PCBs still went on the second time I plugged it in (though the solder contacts under at least one of the PSU capacitors also got very warm, and a capacitor or two was also warm). But the transformer again got way more hot than I think it should be, in half a minute or so getting so hot that after I unplugged the power it was still too hot to comfortably touch.

I'm supposing this is (very) wrong. Any notion of what I might have screwed up?

Converting among lossless files preserves the data

wgscott — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 03:32:17 GMT

Originally Posted by wgscott

I used xdl, converted from ALAC -- > wav --> ALAC --> wav

The two wav files are in two different directories.

zsh-% md5sum *.wav
e9b48a469feff84092293186eff04e6c 04. Flume.wav
zsh-% md5sum ../*.wav
e9b48a469feff84092293186eff04e6c ../04. Flume.wav
zsh-%

The corresponding alac files differ, presumably because of the tags:

zsh-% md5sum *.m4a
43ee81e94b567157cdd4d9cbfd6d9082 04. Flume.m4a
zsh-% md5sum ../*.m4a
aa7d7481ea5582ebda3f027b9eb9c3b8 ../04. Flume.m4a

In xld the flac conversion has a variable compression rate, and I need to read the instructions after I am awake. Edit: Ok, I did it and it worked. It adds padding by default, and I unchecked that box, and generated a flac file from the wav, and then went back to the wav and get the same checksum:

zsh-% md5sum *.wav
e9b48a469feff84092293186eff04e6c 04. Flume.wav

In summary, I did this:

alac --> wav --> alac --> wav --> flac --> wav

All of the wav files are identical:

zsh-% md5sum **/*.wav
e9b48a469feff84092293186eff04e6c 04. Flume.wav
e9b48a469feff84092293186eff04e6c temp/04. Flume.wav
e9b48a469feff84092293186eff04e6c temp2/04. Flume.wav

Also, using the flac utility (installed via fink on os x), I get the same, using the same procedure as miska:

zsh-% md5sum *.wav
e9b48a469feff84092293186eff04e6c 04. Flume.wav
e9b48a469feff84092293186eff04e6c 04. Flume_orig.wav

Semi-Customized DAC

Jud — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:19:25 GMT

A very nice person has provided me some DAC innards, which will give me the opportunity to put together a semi-customized DAC that employs some thoughts I've picked up from various smart people along the way. Said nice person has requested that his/her identity and that of the innards remain confidential. Out of respect for that request, I'd ask anyone commenting as this project proceeds to please refrain from speculating on those points.

The thoughts I'd like to try to put into operation:

- Vibration control and (two) chassis from maple - see the discussion from Pierre Sprey of Mapleshade here: Maple Isolation Platform

- Internal cabling (if and where possible) with Omega Mikro ribbons - here's a photo from a Positive Feedback article on the Walker Proscenium turntable:

- The minimum number of sample rate and format conversions necessary, and where they are necessary, done by means of software I can control, rather than a chip programmed by someone else. Thanks to PeterSt, Miska, Damien, and the iZotope developer for essentially opening a new world to me in this respect that I hadn't known existed. The parts I have will allow me to play my DSD files natively, so no need to convert to PCM (though Audirvana+ does a very nice job in this respect with my present DAC). For PCM material, I will be able to use software to convert the input to the same resolution at which the DAC chip performs D/A conversion, eliminating any need for internal upsampling.

Right now this is at the stage where some internal parts have arrived, and I'm awaiting the rest. Then after preliminary testing to make sure everything works, it will be time to get down to chassis design and fabrication, as well as ordering the Omega Mikro parts (ribbon and RCA connectors).

Watch this space....

ISO/USB-Key Installer with preconfigured and stripped down "audiophile" Version of Windows 8 Pro (including JRiver & Foobar)

Shiggy — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:08:02 GMT

abrusc,

Thank you.....
Although I instaled Windows 8 JD under Boot Camp (Mac Snow Leopard), but I can not deal with problem-registration.

regards

shiggy

Rehab in the listening room

wgscott — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 23:46:42 GMT

The latest addition to my "listening room", which everyone else calls the "living room" and insists upon sharing, is my mountain bike.

I bought a fluid trainer to put it in:

Although quiet by bike trainer standards, this does nothing positive for the noise floor. The simplest solution: turn the volume up. Way the hell up.

Nothing like high volume music when you are pushing through pain.

I'm now walking again, sort of, after busting my ankle Jan 1st and having a bunch of metal stuff (wood screws and plates) put in later that day.

You might think being laid up like that might be a good chance for some music listening.

It was not.

But I find I really appreciate it now that I am trying to recover, and a standard CD-length recording is a nice metric for timing a workout. (Accumulation of pain, sweat and stench provide a great reality check as well). Anyway, I find this somehow much easier than watching the clock, and somehow having the music on, loud, helps, as does the silence afterwords.

Now if you will excuse me, I have some writhing in agony to do.

Remote Control, Part III: Custom interface for RedEye Remote device

wgscott — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 17:58:15 GMT

One of the low points of the Redeye Remote system (see Remote Control, Part II) is their clunky web interface software. In case you haven't noticed, impatience and irritability are my two most attractive and dominant personality traits. Waiting for the interface to load so I can turn down the volume or mute the system really annoys me.

The underlying IP/IR command system is actually quite fast. There is very little latency when I issue a url command from the terminal of my computer, so I decided to make some custom web interfaces. I showed something similar to this in Part II, but I have since improved it a bit.

It should be possible to create a proper Cocoa OS X application to do this, but I can't program my way out of a wet paper bag. Besides, a web-based application has two advantages: (1) it speaks HTML, and (2) it will also work on my iPad.

The idea is this:

Create an HTML web page with a bunch of links in it. Load the page in your browser, click on the link, and the url command is issued, the RedEye sends an IR signal, and you are done.

A few things can make this experience more pleasant.

A. You have to reload the web page every time you issue a command. This becomes increasingly annoying when you realize (for example) you have to click the volume 12 times to adjust it.

I found that the web-based interface will behave a lot better if you replace the standard URL link syntax, i.e.,
Code:
Link
with a form "input" command, i.e.,
Code:
where in this case I have defined a Javascript function PowerToggle() in the header, i.e.,
Code:
	function PowerToggle()
	{
	var xmlhttp;
	xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
	xmlhttp.open("GET","http://redeye_f0123-456789.local:8080/redeye/rooms/0/devices/71/commands/send?commandId=65",true);
	xmlhttp.send();
	}
This way I can click on the link repeatedly and the web page just sits there and takes it. (I don't know anything about javascript either, btw, so there may be a better way to do this.)

B. Instead of a pile of links, I created an image, sliced it up in Adooobie Photoshop/ImageReady, and mapped the bits of the image corresponding to individual buttons into the link, which is what the
Code:
 type="image" src="images/remote_nova.001_68.png"
part is all about.

C. I was able to make this into a stand-alone OS X application using the free version of a program called Fluid. The result is shown in a screen-shot below:

Here is the default RedEye web-browser interface that I made with their software, rendered in Safari. It took about 90 seconds to load. The corresponding iPad/iPod/iPhone version is a bit slicker, but the load time is similar.

Checking 16 vs 24 bits on a Mac

wgscott — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:55:57 GMT

Originally Posted by bottlerocket

Is there an easy way to check for 8 wasted bits on 24 bit files on a Mac? Based on the Joni Mitchell thread, I want to add this to my routine when purchasing 24 bit files.

I am looking for something simple and I do have access to Windows too if necessary.

Thanks in advance.

The original source: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f1...24-bits-13901/

Originally Posted by wgscott

If you expand this at the root level, it will populate /usr/local with the needed files:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/5420586/src/fbits_etc.tgz

Then you can invoke it on the command line with

/usr/local/bin/fbits/*.flac

To do this:

1. sudo mv fbits_etc.tgz /.

2. cd /.

3. sudo tar xvfz fbits_etc.tgz

4. Issue the command

/usr/local/bin/fbits *.flac

Use AU plugins for free with any Apple audio software

wgscott — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 21:26:52 GMT

You need two downloads, each of which is free:

1. Soundflower. Download Soundflower for Mac - Allows applications to pass audio to other applications (beta). MacUpdate.com

2. AU Lab: http://images.apple.com/itunes/maste...ocs/au_lab.zip

Install, reboot. For use with iTunes, you need to select Soundflower 2.0 as the (virtual) output device.

Open AU Lab, and set the input device to Soundflower 2.0, and the output device to what you really want (your dac, bridge, etc).

Click the "Create Document" button. Then select what AU interface you want. For example, this is the parametric equalizer:

You can save it if you want a permanent filter.

Voila!

You aren't restricted to Apple's plugins, either. Eg, the tube amp you always wanted as a room-heater:

The iFi iUSB Power Supply - Neat Tweak & Upgrade for USB DAC

puzzlinghobby — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:58:14 GMT

Hi guys. Newbie here. Just bought a ifi iUSBPower yesterday at the montreal son&image show and am very happy with all it brought to the table. Since i use it connected to a SOtM USB PCI card i assumed that switching off the power switch on the PCI card would have been benificial or at least wouldn't have made any difference since the iPower is supposed to provide the power. But to my surprise leaving the power switch on gives far better results. Wanted to know if some of you with a similar setups experienced the same thing. thx :)

Women Kept Guitars Strumming During WWII

curmudgeon — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 21:40:36 GMT

In a recent piece from the Voice of America ...