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davidl10

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  1. Thank you all for the advice, It is really appreciated. I am going to try a converter. I am looking at the singxer, gustard and matrix. I am reading reviews now. I like the idea of the Mac for stability and a good Converter for now and the ability to add a clock later. I have a CAPS 3 to compare, that should be really interesting to see the differences in sound. CAPS with AQ Diamond USB, Mac with Converter, and finally CAPS with converter.
  2. Appreciate the advice. I am open to either approach, but what would have the best sound ? Thanks
  3. Hi, I am putting a system together for the basement and a small courtyard backyard. It will do 50/50 movie/music. I have a projector for the yard and not leaving anything outside overnight. I have an Audiolab 6000A DAC/AMP with no USB Input to the DAC only Optical or SPDIF and need a Roon endpoint. It is paired with Kef Q750's. I have a spare IPAD and or a Mac Air(2015 no toslink) I can use as an endpoint. I have 2 options: 1. Use the Ipad or Mac into a USB to SPDIF Converter. Any recommendations? 2. Use a streamer such as a IFI Zen, Bluesound Node, PI/ Allo Digi One, or any recommendations Which one would have the best sound and be the most reliable with the fewest dropouts? Budget is max $500, but be happy to stay cheaper. Depends on value of return. I still need to but all the cables too. :) Thank you for your help Dave
  4. Thank you guys for all your help. I have increased the toe in and put a temporary curtain across the back wall. That seems to have made a world of difference. I am ordering bass traps and going to treat the back wall with something more permanent. I will probably sell the speakers and replace them with something that fits the room better. I have been itching to upgrade the speakers anyway.😁 Thank you again for all the great suggestions.
  5. I just bought a townhome intown and I am downsizing. My new listening room is getting a lot smaller and more difficult. I am using a guest bedroom that is 14'x9'. I set it up the long way. One end is a large bay window the other side is a bathroom and closet. The only option I really have is to place the speakers by the windows. The other issue is it has hardwood floors. I purchased thick heavy curtains and a large wool area rug but can not calm the room down. The room is very live. It has a big dip in the middle and big spikes towards the walls. The speakers are probably too large to go the short way. I have Vandersteen 3A floorstanding speakers. I currently have the speakers positioned 36" into the room and 30" from the side walls. My seat is 34" from the bathroom and closet. This has been the best placement so far but I am still not satisfied with the sound. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Dave
  6. The problem for me is how little music is available on SACD or DVDA and then reduce that even further by how many are mixed and recorded well. I have never watched a DVD live concert and felt I was there so I am not comparing DVD concerts. 99% of my music is in stereo and therefore stereo will always dominate my listening habits. To be fair it is impossible for me to do an apples to apples comparison. My movie theater is a 7.2 setup with an Oppo player, Onkyo amp, 5 Klipsch speakers and 2 HSU subs worth approx $3,000 and is designed and voiced for movies. My stereo system consists of C.A.P.S Media Player, ARC DAC and tube amp, and Vandersteen speakers and is worth four times as much. The only 4 albums I have in both HiRes and SACD/DVDA are Dark Side of the Moon, Madman Across the Water, Hotel California, and Rumors. Of these the Dark Side is amazing in multichannel but is the only one I would prefer to the stereo version. Once in a while I love to listen to music in the theater especially when I feel like cranking loud rock music. This has more to due with the 2 subs and solid state amp and I usually turn off the multi channel and go back to stereo anyway. I have never thought to myself on my drive home I can't wait until I am home to hear that system but like most of us here I am usually thinking of getting home to relax and listen to my two channel system. So I voted for "I have auditioned multi-channel in my home for at least a week, but will stick with Stereo"
  7. Chris Thank you for another great review. It brought back great memories. I had KG 3.5's in college and upgraded to 5.5's right after college. I purchased an Oppo Sonica about a year ago for $299. It is very similar to the Klipsch Three and very portable. It was recently stolen by my wife for her office I was about to buy a second one but now you have me considering the Klipsch. I do have one concern when you said it is not a true DLNA. Did you try to connect it to JRiver as I often listen to the Oppo with JRiver doing the streaming? Thanks, Dave
  8. Franz159 Thank you very much that was very helpful.
  9. I am getting ready to take on the challenge of building a server for the basement. I am a complete amateur and probably over my head but that's how you learn (with the communities help). I am using a Peachtree Audio IDAC I have laying around and also have a Halide Design USB/SPDIF Bridge if needed not being used. It will also have to stream on Wifi. Not really worried about a few dollars difference in cost or size. I will be using a MAC to write to the Micro SD card. I am also planning on using an IFI Ipower supply. I have four questions I would like to ask: 1. What would be the best PI to use the RPI3 or a Nano PI Neo? Are they similar sounding? 2. I have read about pops and noise thru USB. Would it sound better with a SPDIF out or USB fed to Halide Bridge? IDAC sounds better thru SPDIF. I am ok with 24/96 max with bridge. Would you recommend a Jitterbug or Regen instead? 3. Is Linux 4.7 now supported or am I better off with the older version or Ubuntu? 4. I could not find any detailed install instructions for the NAA renderer for HQ Player running on a PC with Roon and Tidal? Any help would be greatly appreciated and detailed instructions would hopefully benefit a lot of people looking to CA for help. I have never used Linux before so copy and paste scripts or downloads are essential. I did see Chris has posted a link for the Ubuntu and older version of Linux but have not seen any for 4.7. If there is already a post that covers this and NAA renderer I apologize in advance I could not find it. Dave
  10. Thank you for all the advise. I have a feeling Ecwl is right about the room acoustics. I should have been more specific with the room and meant to say an unused bedroom. The room was terrible for sound when I first set it up. It is 11x14x8 and the height I believe is a problem. I have spent a lot of time improving it especially with the help of Barry in an old thread. I added base traps, pictures on the walls a plant in the corner a book shelf along the opposite wall of the rack and moved my listening position in. A thick rug on top of the carpeted floor in front of the speakers also has helped. The room used to echo badly. I have the tweeters on the Vandy's tuned down to the 8:00 position or they get very bright. I also have them towed in just slightly and tilted as recommended by the setup guide that came with the speakers. The speakers are positioned 33" from the back wall and 36" from the side walls measuring from the center of the speakers. This seems to be the "dead spot". Switching rooms might make a big difference if I can sell it. The theater has 9.75 ceilings and 14x17. The studs are offset and it was double sheet rocked with 1.5 and 1.25 boards one vertical and one horizontal. It also has a dedicated 20 amp outlet for the amp. I built it with the intention of moving the audio system in there. If the speakers weren't so heavy I would carry them down 2 flights of stairs and see how they sound but that is not practical. I would just wind up carrying them back up in a week. I am currently sitting about 8 feet from the speakers not sure if that would be an issue with these big speakers? If I stay in the smaller room is there anything else you would recommend to improve the acoustics? Based on the recommendations above I am definitely going to start with two steps. First: I am going to start with Ecwl suggestion. "OP's computer audio setup is already ready for DSP for the bass. It comes down to going out and buy something like XTZ Room Analyzer II Pro or going with the free REW and miniDSP UMIK-1 microphone and measuring the system to see where the bass resonances are and then tuning them out within JRiver with parametric EQ. My strong suspicion is that this step alone will give OP a lot more mileage." Second: Jud, the only decision I have already made is to switch DAC's. It does not work with Linux or HQplayer. As far as not liking its sound, I would guess you were using a Mac. In my experience it sounds much better with a PC for some reason and it is not even close. That's why I was thinking of designing the front end around the Yggsdrasil. I have no idea what to use as the server though. I would love any suggestions to pair with this DAC. I would also love to hear SS monos and the 30.8 in my system to directly compare to the VSI60. I have listened to Odysseys and they sounded great. I also found a pair of Mccormick DNA 750's for $3000 although that seems like overkill. Who needs 750W? The 30.8 seems like a wild card. I fear it would not be an ideal match. Sbank I do not know much about Nola speakers but they look excellent. Thank you for the link and for the lead on selling the Vandy's. After reading all the advise above I think addressing the room and the front end has to come first. I would not be surprised if I wind up holding on to the Vandy's. Thank you everyone for all the help. It is greatly appreciated.
  11. I forgot probably the most important part. I listen to acoustic, guitar, jazz, country and classic, indie, alt, and hard rock. I love the musicality of the Vandy's but would like more detail and resolution but in no way want clinical and boring. I want the speakers to disappear and the music to come alive. I prefer not to add subs they never seem to be coherent. I have 2 rooms it could go into one is 11x14 and is an extra bedroom.The other room is 14x17 and is the basement theater I built with SQ in mind. My wife hated the speakers coming 3 ft in from the back walls and the stereo was exiled to an used bedroom. I would like the system to work well in either room. Thanks
  12. I joined Computer Audiophile 4 years ago and have learned a lot from the community here. Thank you to everyone on their advice and to Chris and staff for all the great reviews and how to articles. Four years ago I knew nothing about computer audio. I went from a Toshiba laptop running ITunes and a USB external hard drive to a CAPS 3 Carbon with NAS and linear power supply running Fidelizer extreme and JRiver. I am getting ready to upgrade my entire system and was looking at the Schiit Yggsdrasil. I have read several recommendations to use AES/EBU balanced inputs. I have 2 questions with this DAC: 1. What server would you recommend or would you keep the CAPS 3 and add a converter or just use the USB input? My budget would max out at $3000 but less helps with preamp/amp and speakers . 2. Do I need a Preamp or can I connect the DAC directly to an amp and control the volume with JRiver or Roon without hurting SQ? I am looking at several amps depending on speaker selection but none of them are integrated. I love the sound of the Pass Labs XA30.8 but I have not heard any of the speakers that would really thrive on 30W such as Devore O/93's. Short list of speakers all used or demo's are KEF Blade2, Wilson Sasha 1 or Sophia 2 or 3, Rockport Atria, Focal Sopra 2, Vivid B1 or TAD's but you hardly ever see them used. I would like to stay around $10,000 for speakers but will stretch if warranted, around $5,000 for the amp, probably Monos. I really don't want to spend a lot on a preamp but do not want it to be the weak link. Any advise on the new system or equipment you want to part with is greatly appreciated. If anyone is interested I will be selling my ARC VSI 60 (4 years old but just ordered all new tubes Direct from Audio Research), ARC DAC 8 (3 years old), Vandersteen 3a Signature (6 years old). They were all purchased from an authorized local dealer Audio Alternative now HI FI Buys and I have all boxes, manuals and receipts. I am the second owner of the Vandy's, the ARC gear was all purchased new. They are well taken care of. I would also sell the CAPS 3 Carbon from small green computer if I upgrade the server. Thank you for any suggestions.
  13. Don't know if this is related but I am having trouble streaming from my Synology on my Mac since El Capitan. It is ok until I try to play 24/96 or larger files. I have tried Roon and JRiver and connected a PC next to it in the same setup. No issues when using the PC. I found a forum on Synology and ran a command to stop the MAC from writing .DS files on the Mac which helped increase speeds to allow streaming smaller files under 24/96. Before this I could not even stream small FLAC or WAV files. Is anyone else having a similar problem or found any solutions? Thanks, Dave
  14. I am looking at both also but I don't know how you can compare them. One has a built in dac and the other requires one. Also one has a built in 2TB hard drive the other requires a NAS. I borrowed the N100h to listen to in my system from my local dealer but it would not work with my DAC 8. My DAC is not compatible with Linux. Do you have a DAC or a NAS device or would you have to buy them? If you are buying a DAC anyway I would listen to the T1 if you like the sound that would be an excellent choice. If you don't love the wolfson DAC then you need to go with the aurrender and add a DAC you like. If you add a NAS I have a Synology and would highly recommend it.
  15. One other suggestion is the lumin S1 and t1. They combine a music server and a dac in one and have received excellent reviews including here by Chris. They start at $5,000 for the t1, and $12500 for the s1. Be careful of DAC's with the Aurrender, I borrowed the N100h from my local dealer only to find it is not compatible with my DAC 8. It is Linux and my dac only works with a pc or Mac. Here is the link for the review of the A1 which is almost the same as the t1. Only difference is the chassis and no hdmi on T1. Computer Audiophile - Lumin Network Music Player Review
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