chrisf

And why is my favourite Springsteen album "The River" only at 24/44 ?

Quick question - does it support DSD ? Looking at the product page at Meridian, it only mentions 24bit/192KHz - nothing about the file formats.

My current setup is a MacMini, V-DAC connected via optical, old Audiolab amplifier and Monitor Audio speakers. I also have some Sennheiser HD-650 headphones which are often used, played via the Audiolab amp. Whilst I'm quite happy with this setup, I'm increasingly feeling that I should upgrade the DAC and to one that has a dedicated headphone amp. The two I seem to be gravitating towards are the Meridian Explorer and the new Benchmark DAC-2 (probably the digital only one). I know that the Benchmark is >$2000 compared with the $250 for the Meridian (and so on paper should be better ?) and I don't mind paying that. The concern I have is that will the rest of my setup justify the expense of the Benchmark ? If not and I go with the Meridian, is that a step up enough from the V-DAC ? I know there are others out there and I will look at them, will actually audition the benchmark / Meridian etc - this is more just to gauge what level I should be looking at. I do like a very crisp clean sound and prefer a tight midrange than having lots of bass. Listen to a wide spectrum of music, with probably most on the emphasis on blues and classic rock (Pink Floyd, Kate Bush, Genesis etc etc). I do have 24/96 and 24/192 material on the MacMini. Any thoughts ? Any other suggestions ?

I can't see that particular recording on Linn or Highresaudio sites, only the Boston Symphony Orchestra's version.... Linn Records - Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra / Holst: The Planets B&W Society Of Sound still have Sir Colin Davis / LSO recording as one of their back catalogue items for the subscription download here... http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/Society_of_Sound/Society_of_Sound/Music/Holst-The-Planets.html You can usually get around the HD Tracks geographical restrictions by using PayPal - set up an account, put your country as US (no other details needed) and then choose PayPal when you check out.

Interestingly, when I import this to iTunes (Apple Lossless converted from the downloaded FLAC using XLD set to "same as original" on sample rate), it states that its 24 bit / 96kHz and the bit rate suggest this also (~3000kbps). Is this a case of the album being provided as 24/96, but HD Tracks telling us that its only really 48kHz so we don't all cry foul when looking at the graphs ?

Here's mine.... Dusty Springfield - Dusty in Memphis 24/96 - HD Tracks (downloading as i type) Rush - 2112 24/96 - Linn download (doesn't seem to have appeared anywhere else) Ray Charles - Genuis Loves Company 24/88 - HD tracks The Band - Last Waltz 24/48 - HD Tracks I know that's four albums, but the last two were bought together taking advantage of the HD tracks 15% off coupon.

I see on the Music Analysis forum debate on the Led Zep BD and whether the audio is 16 or 24bits. Again, is there anyway to definitively determine this ?

I generally use DVD Audio Extractor to rip audio from blu-rays, which works fine. Question is related to the bit depth of the audio being ripped - is it always 24 bit ? Per the settings on DVD Audio Extract, whilst the sample rate can be set as same as source, the bit depth is a choice of 16 or 24 bits. Is there anyway to determine that it is 24 bits - some list as 24/96 PCM, but I find most blu-rays do not.

Isn't it the case the B&W have both a 16 bit FLAC and a 24 bit FLAC for each of their releases ? Isn't it then possible that they simply screwed up the files rather than this being deliberate ?

I see that the latest Rolling Stones compilation, Grrr.., has appeared on the Linn music store (at $55!) and believe is due on HD Tracks anytime soon. Per Linn's music store its 24bit/88.2KHz, which suggests that its the same sources as the Stones stuff already on HD Tracks. I already own the "Singles Collection : The London Years", which covers over half of the tracks on this 50 track new compilation. Couple of questions though.... i) The London Years collection are all in mono - any idea if this new one is stereo or mono ? ii) Any new remastering / etc etc on this new compilation ? Thanks

For my current setup I use the iMac (2009 vintage) with the optical output to a V-DAC (1st Gen) and then to my amplifier / speakers (Audiolab 8000i / Monitor Audio). All my music and video is stored on an external Drobo connected via FW800 and managed using iTunes. Along with the direct connection for music, the video and music is streamed to a couple of AppleTVs. Whilst this works pretty well, I am looking to offload the iTunes library from the iMac as this is our main home computer and its starting to get used more and more by the kids. Couple of options I am thinking of.... i) Get a Mac Mini and basically replicate the above setup (connection via V-DAC, stream to ATV etc) on that, basically offloading the server management to a separate computer. This would then cover both the music and video requirements. The problem I see here is that the "inconvenience" of using the Mac mini. I don't really want a separate monitor and so would need to access via screen sharing or the iphone remote app. Whilst this is not too difficult, it seems to me that it takes away the immediacy of access to my music library (the video is not a problem as that is via the ATV). Also, I'm not so sure about initial setup as I know my iMac does not accept video input and I believe you can't do screen share until its configured ;-( ii) I'm planning to upgrade my MacBook Pro in the near future. so am thinking of leaving the may iTunes library on the iMac / Drobo for streaming to ATV and then using my old MBP with an external drive holding just music and connected to the Hi-Fi via the optical / V-DAC. This would solve the inconvenience issue with the Mac Mini as it has a built in monitor. However, I see most comments here talk about using the Mac Mini - how is the MBP in terms of sound quality ? There should not be any difference in the optical out should there ? (its about a 5/6 year old MBP). This does mean a second setup, but I'm not too bothered about that and anyway, would isolating the music be better anyway ? Would appreciate any thoughts / suggestions as I really can't figure out what to do. I would like to stick with an Apple setup as thats my current infrastructure (i.e all my files are ALAC). I do play 24/96 downloads so want that capability, but as can be seen from my amp / speakers, I wouldn't class myself as high end audiophile - I just want the convenience of digital at a good quality (I did think of abandoning the mac approach and get something like the Linn Klimax, but then I saw the price !). Thanks Chris