flat6

computer audio's still evolving quite rapidly. unless there's a product that fulfills all my requirements (there isn't at the moment), there's no pt. over allocating funds on products that will become obsolete & depreciate quickly. in this particular instance, i'd be able to buy 2.5 Berkeley Alphas for the price of 1 Weiss Medea. if the Medea been a one box solution, i'd not hv had to waste time & money trying/buying digital i/cs, power cords, etc. (it would also take up less rack space), so the overall equation would prob. tilt in favor of the "simple & elegant solution" - even if it costs a bit more. having said this, the Berkeley is also a fine sounding DAC - one that i prefer sonically, over EMM Labs which i also currently own, dCS & several other very highly regarded DACs (i've done a fair amt of home demos prior to getting the Berkeley, but hv not had the opportunity to compare Medea & Berkeley back-to-back in my system). should Berkeley come out with a one box DAC with Firewire (or USB) input that equals or betters my existing setup, i'll be glad to "upgrade". hope this logic is not too "fuzzy".

i've had a similar experience & observation with regard to the Weiss Minerva/DAC2, except the comparison i heard was against the Weiss Medea (which i think is an exellent DAC). as much as i wanted to like the Minerva/DAC2, it sounded thin, flat & rather digital sounding in comparison to its bigger brother. i ultimately ordered the Weiss AFI1 as well as the Berkeley Alpha b/c Weiss does not offer the Medea/DAC1mk2 with Firewire input.

hi, i'm looking for a ref. grade AES/EBU cable to use btw Weiss AFI1 & Berkeley Alpha 1 DAC. am presently using a Nordost Odin XLR cable. i do like this cable (extremely high resolution, even tonal balance, etc.), but it's quite a waste as i only use a single cable (fm a pair). am not too keen on the Odin AES/EBU cable cause re-sale might be difficult (should i decide to get something else someday). the only other AES/EBU digital cable i've used was the Stealth Varidig Sextet. didn't really like this cable. wondering if i could get some other recommendations? thks in advance.

deleted

hi Chris, i was just experimenting with various sample rate settings on my Mac (connected to a Berkeley Alpha DAC) & find the "96kHz audio midi setting" sounds *significantly* better than the "44kHz audio midi setting". this is regardless whether i'm playing 16/44 or 24/96 files.<br /> <br /> this seems unusual to me because i'd imagine the computer is having to upsample the 16/44 files. anyway, was just wondering why this might be so, & if this is consistent with other people's experience?

hi Jens, i've got > 150 SACDs, so i certainly wish there was a way to acquire the "DSD layer" of these discs. unfortunately, data acquisition presents the greatest difficulty when it comes to DSD (as opposed to the conversion process). no way to do this once it's been transferred on to a SACD (as you've pointed out). although it is possible to acquire PCM files & upsample them to DSD using h/ware or s/ware (like Saracon), such files are like the 1st gen SACDs (i.e. they've already been compromised). i believe the only options aval. to end consumers are: (a) to purchase & download a native DSD file (if one is offered by a record company); (b) conduct your own live recordings; or © hack the "DSD encryption" on a SACD transport. with the proliferation of computer audio, perhaps Sony will someday realize they need to loosen their grip on these proprietary formats (& make DSD more assessible to all), but this is prob not going to happen anytime soon.

you could use the Weiss Saracon-DSD software (http://www.weiss.ch/p2d/p2d.html) to convert DSD to PCM or vice versa. the s/ware will work on PCs & Macs.

SACD transports & players like Esoteric, Marantz/Denon, dCS, etc. will only output "encrypted DSD" via IEEE or some other interface (note: this is part of Sony technology licensing requirements). to stream DSD (not a common interface), i was told one needs a Sony Vaio computer running Sony DSD player software. firewire connect to specific Sony DA converter with professional Audio Card (Merging Pyramix or Sony Sonoma). in other words, you'll pretty much need to go with Sony all the way...

i hv quite a number of SHM-CD rips. one is able to hear the diff after they've been ripped. as for the "quality" of SHM-CDs, i've found some SHM-CDs to be significant better, while others hv only marginal improvements (compared to their redbook counterparts). they differ title to title IMO.

Firewire & USB2.0 will play 24/192kHz files (but USB2.0 is not currently aval for Windows based PCs). some AES/EBU & SPDIF devices will play 24/192kHz files on a single wire, while others require a dual runs. USB1.1 & Toslink will only play 24/96kHz files.

wouldn't one also need to run long cables for video output & peripherals (to control the computer) if it's in another room?!

hi Steve, thks for the links & the extremely helpful reply. very much appreciated.

Beethoven: Sym.7 - Carlos Kleiber: Bavarian State Opera Orchestra (http://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Symphonie-7-Hybrid-SACD/dp/B000EDWLY6/ref=pd_bbs_10?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1232679394&sr=8-10) Beethoven: Sym.9 - Bernstein: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (http://www.hmv.co.jp/product/detail/2746905) Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.14 "Moonlight" - Brautigam (http://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Mondschein-Pastorale-Complete-Brautigam/dp/B000M4REYE/ref=pd_sim_m_7) Elgar: Enigma Variations - Boult: London Philharmonic Orchestra (http://www.amazon.com/Elgar-Enigma-Variations-Circumstance-Marches/dp/B00000DO96/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1232679487&sr=1-2) Wagner: Tannhäuser (overture) - Solti: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (http://www.amazon.com/Wagner-Orchestral-Favourites/dp/B00000422O/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1232681975&sr=1-7) will also 2nd some of the other recommendations - Ennio Morricone (very moving), Coltrane, Miles, Ellington (a diff. sort type of "moving"), & oh yeah... Led Zeppelin ROCKS!!

i've compared audio files in Apple Lossless & AIFF formats (both ripped fm CDs). couldn't really tell a diff.

considering the significantly lower production & distribution cost of music downloads, record companies should: (a) sell full 16/44 resolution albums for less that what it would cost to buy a physical CD; or (b) sell downloads at same price as physical CDs, but offer greater resolution (e.g. 24/96 or 24/176).