blaven

Love my digital and my vinyl for different reasons. I don’t see why one needs to choose one or the other. Leaving the sound differences to other forums, I love the tactile aspect of vinyl. I love the huge beautiful album art. I grew up w CDs and cassette tapes in the 80’s and still like the vinyl as much as streaming on Tidal or playing the 4TB of stored music on my Aurender. Both have their advantages. I will say 95% of my CDs are all in binders.After ripping them all years back I see no advantage to spinning them. I keep my SACDs and DVDA out for some odd reason - despite all being ripped. Ceding some privacy for the convenience of access to tons of great music seems to be a reasonable trade off w streaming media — for me at least.

Thanks!

I am looking to use my UpTone Ultracap LPS1 power supply in Sweden to power my Sonore UltraRendu via the Sonore DC 4 cable. I was just hoping to find a Walmart or other power cord with Schuko Plug to run form the Swedish 230V 50Hz power to the LPS 1. I tried to search for it in a few ways and did send a separate message to Andrew at Small Green Computer and UpTone customer support. I am curious if people here already know good options. 1. Does anyone know if the UpTone LPS1 can be used with 230V 50Hz power? 2. If it can be used, could someone recommend a few walwarts/cords that I could use please. Thanks!

Yes. To clarify, i’m referring to the Apple TV 4K hardware. $179 for an unobtrusive black hockey puck sized gizmo. Hopefully some of the images below clarify. The BenQ monitor has 2 HDMI and 3 Thunderbolt 3 USBC Ports. I run the Mac Mini to BenQ with a Thunderbolt 3 cable I run the Apple TV to the monitor with an Audioquest Carbon 48 HDMI cable. What you can see in the images below: —a screenshot from Interstellar running off the Apple TV —Settings off the BenQ monitor where you can see a picture in picture main and sub window options —ESPN Sunday Night Baseball off of Apple TV ESPN app with background of Mac mini in the lower 3/4 of the monitor screen with rune and the present thread seen (NOTE: One could argue that you can just stream much of this in an Internet browser so what’s the point. Well, lots of fun 4K content for one. And high quality streaming is not so as easy for out of market NHL and NBA games in a browser. Plus, outside of picture in picture sports, it’s honestly fun just to watch TV or the occasional movie off of such a high-quality monitor like many have or are discussing.) hopefully it helps bottom line is it’s a pretty fun thing that is reasonable to get for anybody considering nice speakers for their computer- hence why I added it to the thread

Again, not to derail the initial awesome topic of nearfield speakers, BUT, since the hobby ultimately is for fun or pleasure, I have a humble recommendation for anyone using this type of 2.0 or 2.1 Nearfield computer desktop setup. One of the most inexpensive shamelessly decadent purchases I would recommend to anyone with this type of setup is a desktop Apple TV. I use it for Picture-in Picture sports while working on the Mac and separately even watch movies and various shows with the kids in my basement lair- lots of 4k HDR content and its shocking how good a 2.1 setup can sound. There is a phantom center channel with perfect dialogue right behind my monitor, I'd swear it. Anyway, when considering the price of the Mac Mini, Monitor, Keyboard and Mouse/pad - its a relatively cheap, fun, no-brainer addition. So hopefully someone else has some fun from this idea. Have a wonderful Easter for those that celebrate it and an enjoyable Sunday for those that don't.

Also, regarding non-Apple monitors integrating with the Mac Mini, one thing that can be mildly frustrating is inability to adjust brightness. There’s a pretty cool application called lunar that can run in the background and facilitate this pretty seamlessly. Otherwise, there are no hiccups whatsoever and it is brainless and easy set up. the BenQ comes with this little 3 inch diameter hockey puck thing with a control dial that allows you to adjust brightness, volume, and that kind of stuff. but that lunar program works very well and allows you to control brightness from the Apple Bluetooth keyboard. That’s what I find myself most frequently using. dont want to derail the thread but this might be helpful for others. Sorry.

I’m using a BenQ PD3220U Works without a single hiccup.

I’m not entirely sure. I suspect so, but I have been thinking about getting a pair in blue and periodically I check on Amazon and they will suddenly have 30 available. I have no idea what warehouse is secretly discovering a lost stash or what is going on, but you definitely can still get them knew through a number of outlets. Even Crutchfield up until recently but I think they’re still on Amazon. I really love the Nearfield listening experience. It’s just nice to have a different set up compared to 5.1 and two channel where you were further back. I’m really surprised by how much I enjoy listening to music there and how great it sounds from a relatively simple set up. It’s almost a headphone like experience. I can only imagine what those Dynaudio’s sound like thanks for all your work on the site Chris. I’ve been on it since the beginning and it’s such a wonderful resource. big fan of the site and the location (dad grew up in St Louis Park) Congratulations on all your life and site successes my computer rig. such a fun hobby. Thanks for contributing so much to it

Super cool article. I just started a desktop set up about a year and a half ago with a Mac mini purchase. Had many of the same desires you did and, having already been very pleased by the KEF LS50 wireless was definitely looking at the LSX, Magnepan, and others as well. I ultimately settled on a different KEF product: KEF Egg. So, just trying to be helpful as the KEF Egg is another alternative for those who might be looking. It’s supports 24/96, has USB plug-in that can go directly out from the Mac mini for all computing sound, looks great, and uses that same coaxial driver technology as their other speakers for their “house sound”. I later spent a little bit extra on a used REL T0 sub and it’s amazing. Very different than my other set ups. Nearfield listening is truly unique but rather enjoyable especially as we spend so much time in front of our computers in general. I’m more just throwing us out there for anybody who might be in a similar position who is looking for a style friendly product that accepts USB straight from a computer. it’s brainless turnkey solution and sounds great with or without a subwoofer. Thanks for another great review!

Well, 90 seconds later, here is the solution for anyone else having the problem: Go to apple system preferences-->Security and Privacy, then in general, it will show you that it was blocked, and you can override Hopefully it helps someone

I also have the same problem and have tried to download from 2 sites now, I can download, but then every time I try to open it I get an Apple System Popup Alert that reads: "XLD" can't be opened because apple cannot check it for malicious software. This software needs to be updated. Contact the Developer for more information. Not sure if I can get into the security settings and somehow force apple to allow it as a "safe" application. Never had this problem until Big Sur though. Thanks for any help

As a follow-up, due to space constraints, I ended up getting KEF Eggs and then found a used REL T-Zero Sub. I'm loving life. These things baffle me how well they image - voices coming straight out the center of the monitor. Have a built in DAC, etc, etc. Don't want to derail the discussion, just following up, bringing up another cool desktop option, and of course, emphasizing that its a good time to be a computer audiophile :) Happy Thanksgiving everyone

I have the original LS50W on stands in a rather large room with 22 foot ceiling and they sound amazing. They worked quite well with Roon and an Aurender. I will say, they stopped working when I changed to an Eero mesh WiFi system 4 months ago. Just all sorts of issues, but in short, I cannot get their app to even recognize the speaker, or in occasions when I can, it does not show up as a Roon endpoint and I have just streamed Tidal from the KEF app. I have worked with their tech support and been told, in short, that it does not work well with Mesh networks. I was told to try and assign a fixed channel (36,40 or 44), set a static IP to the LS50W, and for the Eero to push WiFi to the LS50 only on 5GHz but could not figure out how to do all of that in Eero app. I then got separate tech support for the Eero and was told it cannot do that and the IT person thought that the problem might be that the Eero will flip back and forth between 2.4 and 5GHz ultimately looking for the cleanest channel and he could see how that could be a problem for the speaker. Very frustrating as Mesh networks are really not anything new. My situation is either change the network or only use the Aurender (which I hope to sell). Even when I tried hardwired ethernet connection with KEF tech support it did not work because the speakers ultimately need be controlled through there app which is of course needs the WiFi. The Eero works great BTW- not a single bug or hiccup besides this My hope, and prayer, is that the LS50 V2 plays nice in the proverbial sandbox with Mesh networks. The KEF support person I was working with thought that the V2 will work with Mesh networks and I had word from my dealer that he believes it should work with Eero - but no solid confirmation. So, I am more sending this out as a FYI, as I am assuming others have similar not works and, there is a fairly high likelihood that others use Eero. I don't think it is unreasonable to expect a WiFi product at this price range to work with a mesh network, and Eero is a rather popular one, so hopefully that is corrected in the LS50 V2. Otherwise, besides this frustration, it is an amazing product. They sound great, and image on par with almost any speaker I have heard. Wishing all the best of health and happiness in these unique times - have a great weekend

I have had the same fan problem with nearly the same Mac Mini - maxxed out on performance. I have also read that there have been some problems with fan running and Apple recommends shutting down, pull out power cable x 15 seconds, plug back in, wait 5 seconds, hit power button. Works every time, then 2 days later, fan blowing constantly - it is rather frustrating for near field listening at the computer desk, but does not seem to affect performance at all. If I am listening in my other rooms obviously the fan noise is not an issue.

I have a 2018 one with no problems to date - except that the fan really is blowing. lot and a bit noisy - id love a better fan and power unit, hopefully Uptone or someone comes up with one. But no drop outs - I am running Roon Core off it without any trouble