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Mallette

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  1. But for most of the good (M-Audio and up) DAC's and soundcards the difference to most of us is measurement rather than audible. As the owner of two main and three smaller but still formidable audio systems I can state that without shutting off my pleasure centers and concentrating on looking for issues I find no significant audible differences between my M-Audio Audiophile USB and my Card Deluxe...or my OPPO player. In fact, even the one system with an Audigy in in is more than adequate. A common thread on this site is measurement vs. experience. I've long since tossed measurement to the engineers. I don't want to pay for measurements...just great music. Dave
  2. Many folks are quite happy with mp3, especially if they are mainly into pop/rock/rap, etc. In my case, I do not see the need for compression and cannot tolerate the sound of it. I can smell an mp3 a mile away on acoustic music of any kind. IMHO, there is no substitute for lossless. OTOH, if it sounds good to YOU, that is what you should go for. An awful lot of newbie audiophiles get way too hung up in various philosophies and such. Just go for it an let your ears be the judge. If it sounds good to you don't let ANYONE say it sux. If they persist and try to explain the awful things you should be hearing, drop kick them through your front door, grab a beer, and enjoy the music. Dave
  3. "Do I simply use a top end internal sound card? If so which brand?" For you're stated aim, you will exceed your expectations even with the on board Intel HD audio chipset found on many motherboards these days. In fact, AC97 found on most all of them exceeds that. Any M-Audio card and any Creative card Audigy or above will do so as well. "Do I need a software program like Winamp to convert MP3s to lossless files for better sound? Or is there a better program for a windows system?" No digital file can have any better resolution than it started with, so the basic answer to that question is "no," and since you are looking for simple here, I'll just leave it at "no." "Do I need any external components? DAC, Headphones, Amps, EQs, speakers,,,,,,,,?" To keep it simple, once you get to the line out on your MB or soundcard, you need precisely what you need for an FM tuner, a CP player, or a cassette deck. One thing I will add: simple logic dictates that your system will sound precisely as good as the loudspeakers and no better. Hope this helps... Dave
  4. I guess I've just never run into the problem so see no need for a solution, but, hey, why not. I suppose a confidence que is fine if it doesn't cost anything. Dave
  5. ...is like listening about painting. Why do you need to SEE something to verify SOUND quality? I'd ignore a visual indicator if my ears said it was good. Dave
  6. ...except all the way to the bank. I have a reputation for insisting on quality all the way. But quality=dollars. DAC's are not preamps, phono cartridges, etc. You almost have to go out of your way to build a really bad one these days. As it says below...if it sounds good, it IS good. Dave
  7. ...it's crap. Enjoy, and don't worry about it. Some young folks hear out to 22k or better. I did, but even then I don't recall recoiling from any decent system in horror. Dave
  8. ...but let's see what the others here have to say. If I think I can help you with that end I'll jump in. Most of my systems consist of legacy components which I patiently waited to get good deals on. I have one pair of Frazier speakers that would cost 10k if purchased today that I paid 400.00 for, along with a Soundcraftsman amp, preamp, and tuner. As to "new" stuff, I am not terribly up to date. Ashley makes good stuff, so I am told. Dave
  9. I usually leave these for the old timers on this list, but I am going to jump in here because I am an "old timer" in this area. From your post you appear to be very new indeed to these matters. You are going to be deluged with advice, some of it apparently conflicting. Make it easy on yourself. If you are build a PC, just make sure you have a motherboard with the Intel HD audio chipset. It is good enough for all but the most fastidious audiophile and a perfectly good starting point. As to tubes, they are the subject of much debate. I love them, but many advanced audiophiles are quite happy with SS or Class D. Here again, I'd stay with what you have at the moment and deal with one issue at a time. You can become very confused by changing several playback chain components at once as you may have a hard time determining just what is an improvement and what is not. Stick with what you know. Add or alter one thing at a time. Regards, Dave
  10. I had not really thought about that. I've never noticed any degradation from one player to another, but, I may be deaf as I always say. Does anyone have data on various players that documents this phenomenon and provides info on the the delta between input and output from them? I'd certainly be interested. Dave
  11. I don't really follow that, unless it is a check on the DAC itself. As I said, a computer drive either delivers garbage or bit perfect output. As I have found them overpriced and no better than top of the line sound cards, I've never used a stand alone DAC so I am not familiar with them. However, I've been using computer based sound since before the PC era, so I am pretty familiar with that, as well as how data storage and retrieval systems work...or don't. My comments on ripping were to provide confidence that what is on the drive is as good as it can be. If that is the case, then the output will be precisely that unless the drive is foobared. Dave
  12. Yes. If your computer crashes, it's not producing bit perfect output. What I mean is that computer drives are either bit perfect or it's complete garbage. Whether it is music, a spreadsheet, or an executable there is no margin for error when executed. There are those who may cloud this, but it is basic truth. As to getting music files to your computer as perfectly as possible, Exact Audio Copy is the best I am aware of and it is freeware. Redbook is not a data storage system like an HDD or a data CD, and does often contain errors that may degrade playback if not correctable. EAD can be set to try, try again until it constructs the best possible digital file from the CD. I've let it go for hours on badly damaged kids CDs and resurrected them. Both of the above are a simplification, but a functional simplification. I've not seen a Mac in probably 10 years so I can't comment on what might work for one, though there seem to be a lot of Mac users here. Perhaps they can help if you are of that persuasion. Dave
  13. For 2 channel, I've been using Card Deluxe since 03. As it seems to do it's job with complete transparency I've not been tempted to check into anything else. After all, what else is there? At the time, it was reviewed in $tereophile and the reviewer compared it favorably to a 15k Mark Levinson DAC. It doesn't cost 15k, needless to say. For 8 channel, I use an ESI Pro WamiRack and have been very satisfied as well. I don't think they are still being made, though. Except for the most fastidious, I think most anything with the 1701D Intel chip set will satisfy. I am extremely impressed with it. For building music servers, one of the new Epia fanless MB's with this set running embedded Media Linux approaches perfection. No moving parts if you build it with wired or wireless LAN to connect to a RAID NAS or server, which is really the most secure and cost effective way to store media files anyway. Dave
  14. Chris, it is hard to overstate how good this thing sounds. All I can say is that it is better than any commercial station I've ever heard and I listen mainly to classical and jazz stations that are quite fastidious about their signals. Granted, when your sources are "audiophile" good that helps, but I am really amazed at how little degradation there is. Two of the systems I send it to would qualify as "high end," one with a Soundcraftsman tuner and another with a high end Denon receiver. To be able to so easily and inexpensively distribute LP's. computer playlists, CD's, or whatever throughout the house and have independent volume control at each point is just great. I am surprised it is so rare, other than that good ones are hard to come by. In fact, Ramsey is about it as far as I can tell. I'd tried others, including the highly touted "Whole House FM transmitter" and they failed pretty miserably, mainly in range, but also in quality. The Ramsey could be tweaked to cover a couple of square MILES, but I have it toned down to a few blocks around the house. Of course, I carefully chose a frequency that was not in use so as not to step on any stations. Here's a link to a good deal on fully wired and tested: http://diamonddann.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=3377296 This is a link to Ramsey. They have a really great forum there on their products. http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/ Dave
  15. ...to that, Ashley. Early in my career I was Director of Sound Production for a company that made sound filmstrips for education (yep, that long ago!). My first act was to upgrade the entire production chain. My boss was reluctant, saying "We filter out everything below 150hz (due to the 50hz auto filmstrip advance tones) and there is nothing much in the players beyond 5k. Why do we care about quality?" I explained to him that no matter the end playback, the better you start with the better it will sound. Once the new stuff was in they were amazed at how much better the end product sounded. Whether cheezy boombox or multikilobuck system, quality of source material remains the most critical component. It's not just a good idea, it's the LAW. Dave
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