Jump to content

sabocat

  • Posts

    20
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Country

    United States

Retained

  • Member Title
    Newbie
  1. Further revelations--Hooked the DAC directly to my little headphone amp just for kicks. Sunday morning, neighbors, etc. Jim included a volume knob on it for a little extra when he built it, but to be on the safe side I switched to software control of volume. Listening to Chucho Valdes grammy winning effort in 24/96 kHz is the best this little amp has sounded. At 15w per channel, I will now need to investigate a pair of efficient desktop speakers to go with it.
  2. I'm pretty much blown away even within the limitations of the optical out. At 96kHz, with my lifatec silflex mini toslink cable into a Neko Audio DAC mkII, my system is sounding pretty damned good.
  3. Am listening to a Bobby Hutcherson 24bit 96kHz download and it sounds amazing. One thing I like is the detail and presence at low volume levels. Whatever the jitter rate coming into the DAC, as Wesley Miaw has indicated to me, the Neko is durable enough to deal with it quite nicely. The audirvana software is also performing flawlessly.
  4. Thanks. The Neko replaced a rega. Had a chance to a/b through the neko loaner program. got the Neko for 1K and sold the rega for $700. not a bad deal. The Neko enhances the 3 dimensional soundscape of the JWN tube amp.
  5. Whew.. I think I will be just fine for a while with the 96khz limit and otherwise ripping my cd's. I'll also spend some time uploading vinyl. I'm impressed how ripped CDs sound just as good as CDs playing through my transport, if not better in some instances.
  6. On the other hand, I just went to system preferences in the mac menu, and deselected sound output for optical, opened up audirvana and cued up Chucho Valdes Chucho's Steps in 24 bit 96kHz, and I am getting a wonderful sound out of my stereo, whereas previously, with sound output for digital out on, it seemed a bit brittle and tinny in the upper register, with a lack of air. Now, the music breathes, has more texture, body, and heft. i think you may be correct it's just working...
  7. This is not system preferences for the mac osx, but rather preferences menu in the audirvana program itself. as the mac mini states, the optical out supports both analog and digital out, so it should be able to function in direct mode and read my DAC, which it is not doing. [TABLE=width: 100%] [TR] [TD]Headphone out/optical audio out port[/TD] [TD]The headphone/line out port accommodates digital optical audio output, analog audio output with a 24-bit, 44.1-192 kHz D/A converter, digital audio output up to 24-bit stereo and 44.1-192 kHz sampling rate and supporting encoded digital audio output (AC3 and DTS). For analog headphone / line output, use a standard audio cable with 3.5mm metal plug. For digital audio, you can use Apple iPhone headset with microphone or a standard TOSLINK cable with a TOSLINK mini-plug adapter.[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]
  8. WELL, just got an email from Damien in which he says my DAC should appear on the list of preferred devices when I press change under audio system in the audirvana program. As I replied, I get 2 options and 2 only--built in output and HDMI. The built in output is the internal apple dac, as indicated when i select the debug option. My DAC does not show up on the list AT ALL.
  9. Ha! There is indeed internal sound. got my grados plugged into the mac. Sounds very good. That is a very nice sounding internal dac. i'm now convinced i will need to go usb to run in direct or integer mode.
  10. You can see the pictures of my set up in my profile. I am using a silflex lifatec 1 meter mini-toslink cable running from the mac into my Neko audio DAC, and I run the dac into my cj preamp.
  11. hi Jud. What do you mean by internal sound? Should I plug my headphones directly into the mac to listen? In sound preferences, optical digital out port is selected, and yes it sounds awesome.
  12. Thanks. It seems to reinforce the idea that direct mode is not possible via toslink through the headphone out. I may need to get a usb converter. no big deal.
  13. sabocat

    My Sound System

    JWN Tube Amps--90w and 15w per channel respectively, in pentode with Jim Nicholls' modified see-saw circuitry. Neko Audio MKII DAC; Conrad Johnson PV-15 preamp; 2012 Mac Mini; VPI Scout; Cayin CD-t23 transport; Dali Helicon 400 speakers; Shure SRH 1440; Grado RS2i.
  14. Hello all!. Thought I would try here since the audirvana forum does not have many active participants. I have a late 2012 mac mini running a silflex toslink mini cable from the mac and into my Neko audio DAC mkII. The audirvana program does not seem to recognize the existence of my external dac through the headphone out, so will i need to get a usb/spdif converter cable like a musical fidelity v link in order for the software to allow me to run the mac in direct mode? right now it seems as if i am stuck with the default output. BUT, my dac does seem to be cleaning up the sound cuz it sounds very good. Can hear no difference between ripped cd's and cd's playing through the CD transport, while hd tracks sound exquisite.
×
×
  • Create New...