musicresearch

Oh wow. This is awesome.

Thanks, Robert! I am trying to track down the cables now. At the moment I am using the Marantz as a power amp and it's ok, but having the extra output would be good from time to time. If I had my time over I would have bought a dedicated poweramp, but the Benchmark was a recent addition and I'm not feeling enough to replace the PM7004. 80% of the time I'm using headphones, so it's not a big problem.

Hello all! Maybe I'm having a daft day, not sure, so hoping someone can help me out. I have been using my Benchmark DAC2 as a preamp, going into a Marantz PM7004 (Power amp direct in). For some recordings though the volume is too soft, and I have to turn the dial pretty much all the way up. But if I connect the DAC to the Aux input on the amp I have a loud volume with the amp dial at 50% or less (Benchmark in HT mode). Why such a difference in sound level? What can I do about it? Thanks!

Thanks all. You convinced me. I went with the Aperta.

Thanks for the link. I should have said that I am looking for some stands to lift the speakers about 20cm.

Hello All, I need some speaker stands. I am bored of having them sitting on piles of printer paper! What do you use? IsoAcoustic Aperta look ok, and about the right height I think (8"). Are they good and sturdy? Thanks!!

Yesterday I signed up for the streaming service. I want to like Tidal, but this is much better. The SQ is amazing, and there is an 'advanced search' function! And booklets Rather annoyingly I do like some of the labels that Naxos doesn't work with. And my wife gave me that 'oh not another monthly payment' look when I told her I signed up. I'll enjoy it for a month and make a decision. Hmmm.

I thought I ought to come back and finish the story. I ended up buying the Benchmark DAC2. I'm very pleased with it, and it works so well with the HD800s. I often find myself focussing on the small details, and it makes such a difference having this setup. I'm thoroughly enjoying listening to everything with fresh ears! I really can't recommend the Benchmark enough.

Returning to the metadata problem... Why Can't Streaming Services Get Classical Music Right? : The Record : NPR

This is probably my biggest complaint, now that I've been using it for a month or so. I have to search three times for many of the recordings I am looking for, and I have very little sense of how big their catalogue actually is. Searching with standard spellings often returns only one CD, but searching by a movement title, say, returns three CDs, and then searching for specific artists often reveals yet more recordings, all of the same composition. It's not a problem I ever encountered with Spotify. An 'advanced search' option would be useful, but so too would a much better search algorithm, and, as you say, a thorough approach to library management. I am also finding quite a few recordings that are not hifi, and I don't know why they aren't hifi. There seems very little pattern to this. Generally, I'm noticing more and more that recordings have slight static, which is entirely absent from the CD copies that I own. I haven't had any dropouts, and my internet connection is very fast and very stable (major university), so it's not a problem at my end.

It is. That's a recent change for here, as I don't remember that being an option last I checked (a while ago). I still get some crackles and noise from Naxos that aren't on the same CDs that I own. I haven't made a side-by-side check with Tidal. (BTW, one of the CDs I've compared is one I produced, and although there are 192/24 files, Naxos is working with the CD...)

I'm enjoying the Tidal subscription. But I often can't find the music I want. Sometimes because their search function isn't good (or perhaps their metadata management isn't good), or because it's not there. I often am looking for a particular recording of a particular composition, and Tidal tends to have one or two of some of the music that I'm looking for; it's a bit of a lucky dip if they have what I want. There are also quite a lot of older recordings that sound very poor. The HIFI letters tell me it's CD quality. The sound tells me its very low quality mp3 - I wonder where they get these recordings? I have found that quite a lot of the time youtube offers better sound quality than, say, a recording of some violin music from the 1930s. As for Naxos. My university subscribes, but the SQ is not good, and the interface is cumbersome, to say the least. It is very useful for the range of recordings...

Thanks for the info! How does it compare to the Oppo you were using?

The SPL has to be one of the best looking pieces of equipment around.

Good idea. I listened to the Oppo HA-1 and it did sound good. And it's much cheaper than the Benchmark... M