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serengetiplains

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  1. Time for me likewise to exit this website.
  2. Steve, my Amarra listening was done entirely through firewire to a Weiss AFI1. No reclocker. Tom
  3. He's drawing inferences from listening tests. My own listening experiences support what he has said. iTunes sounds flat. I discovered this not only by recent comparisons to Amarra, but two years ago when I compared to PC with Foobar, which sounds more like music. I'll even hazard the speculation that what I now hear with Amarra is what I heard with PC/Foobar. How's that for proof, ey?
  4. Gordon, re your comment regarding reclocking the Wadia unit, I own a Wadia iTransport I use in one of my systems. The system comprises the Wadia as source, a Lyngdorf digital amp driving Acoustic Energy AE1 III speakers, and an Accuphase power conditioner. The amp, speakers and power conditioner are generously supplemented by teflon capacitors as bypass or replacement capacitors. There is one other component in this system, a Empirical Audio Pace Car reclocker. My experience is that reclocking the Wadia output via the Pace Car considerably improves the sound of this compact, high-rez system. I agree that the Wadia is a mediocre transport. I would put it on par with my laptop's optical digital out, either of which sound quite decent on their own in this setup. Adding the Pace Car rendered the system competitive with, perhaps overall better than, my main setup. This is not something I cared at first to admit, as my main system is considerably more expensive. The Pace Car noticeably improved, among other things, clarity, tonal purity, instrumental body and decay, microdetails and sense of timing. These are for me the more important sonic variables. And FWIW, I expect to improve this setup by replacing the small switcher supply feeding the Pace Car with a high quality supply, either linear or battery.
  5. Eloise, Boz was the brains behind the original Tact. He's a DSP guy. Lyngdorf is a sales guy. I own Lyngdorf myself, but I suspect Tact has the sonic edge, particularly with room correction and crossover functions.
  6. Gordon, did you ever make yourself a Mac Mini power supply? I've found what I can on the internet regarding this supply ... 18.5VDC at max 4.6A, with a max 2A draw thereabouts. One thing I don't understand is the trigger. Is this something you can advise me on? Looks to be a 1.33VDC trigger or something. Tom
  7. You mean another Windows-based DRM flameout? Say it isn't so.
  8. Peter, I suspect in the case of Amarra, compatibility has to do with the DAC's ability to accept, and on the fly adapt to, multiple data frequencies (44.1K, 96K, etc.). Plus the DAC has to be firewire.
  9. Harry, I was just kidding about the break-in comment.
  10. Opus, I second what Voltron says about how Amarra sounds. On a sufficiently resolved system, these differences are quite apparent. iTunes sounds duller by comparison, a little flatter, less resolved, less air and decay, less room and instrument information.
  11. Dennis, my experience is that compared to Amarra, iTunes sounds a touch boring, just like you describe about about a wet blanket, though with directional arrows pointing away from Amarra. I wouldn't go so far to say wet blanket with iTunes, but it clearly lacks low level detail, among other things, compared to Amarra. I heard this difference in 20 seconds. In other words, iTunes sounds comparatively boring. I don't use EQ. My system comprises Hansen speakers, Lyngdorf Millenium IV amp, Weiss AFI1, Accuphase power conditioners (two in series), another passive conditioner feeding these, all modified by moi.
  12. This Amarra software is actually sounding better with a little break-in time.
  13. I'll see what I can do, Bruce. I have Windows on my Mac and might be able to arrange a comparison. From memory, I heard these very differences comparing iTunes on both Mac and PC to Foobar. In both cases, Foobar was the clearer, better player. But that comparison was two iTunes versions ago.
  14. To my ear, Amarra has greater low-level detail retrieval and better high frequency playback, imparting greater realism to the music. iTunes in comparison sounds, as I've remarked in comparison to other pro players, veiled, like I'm listening to speakers through a sheet of cotton. In my audio lexicon of value, music's moving qualities reside in low-level detail, which for instance is the first thing masked by noise and why noise is so distracting to musical enjoyment. Amarra's more faithful rendering sounds as though a layer of noise has been removed.
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