Erik333333

Dear nghk, I do not use the settings to max, because that would cause clipping (red light), either at the preamp stage in the duet and/or at my amplifier (and probaly resulting in destroying my ears and drivers!!) Some digital recordings are already inducing clipping as they possibly have been baddly engeneered and compressed to the extend of 0db (with no headroom) intendedly so they would sound LOUDER at playback. I sometimes have to set the "from software" sliders to -3db. If I get that clear, you are using the headphone output to feed your preamp? This output has been intended to power headphones and the impedance of this output is in a pretty different scale than what your preamp is intended for. Nothing critical here as you won’t damage your pre. The good news though is that if you find 1/4 to RCA adaptors of good quality and plug them at the white squid in the line outputs, you might just be blown away by the difference! For ERS paper, try http://www.partsconnexion.com/accessories_ers.html I Think they would ship international. I did try different firewire cables and heard no difference. The way data travels into firewire is through "packets" and there should be no jitter induced by the travel in the cable, only lenghts over 15 feet and interference in the power section should be a possible concern (I think… but I’m a just graphic artist so don’t take my word for it ) As for USB, it is about the same "architecture" of communication as firewire, meaning that it exchanges packets between external hardware (drive in your case) and the bus in the computer, still not supposed to unduce jitter or alter data. The "transfer" by firewire or usb is different from toslink (Patented by Toshiba) or S/Pdif (Patented by a Sony and Pioneer Partnership) as it is free from jitter pollution: the data should arrive at the DAC chip in a "Bit Perfect" condition. Having tried different dacs fed with either toslink or s/pdif (DIYed Monicas, Presonus, mAudio…), I felt that the firewire Dacs really rocks in comparaison. I sincerely hope you will find some time to give it a chance with the line output and the settings we discussed in this post, or at least, time to just listen to music to your liking! Take care, Erik. P.s.: What are you listening to, on your side of the ball?

Yep, that’s it! Just be careful with the "Out L-R" volume sliders: start at zero before you press play ;o) Of course, you will loose any remote control action (if any) on the volume though… I also use 96Khz setting with DVD playback (I’m not there yet concerning HDtv) As for forums, I stopped looking when I found this one: the Duet community was not really active when I got mine. Nice setup btw. I kind of miss the sub 35Hz with my Proacs. Erik.

I have no knowledge about firewire power disign. But owning a PowerPC G4 TI and a G5 Quad, one interresting thing I noticed is that the sound with the Duet plugged to the tower is more "magical" than when it is fed with the laptop. Could there be a difference in amperage or even power noise…? Though I don’t understand why, the difference is obvious to my ears: with the Titanium, there is less "you’re-there" factor. (A little bit out of topic here but I thought I should spread the word: Enybody interrested to mate a Duet with the first generation of MacbookPro should verify if the firewire bus is compatible with it. Apple made big efforts to produce laptops that where very frugal with battery power and went a little over board with firewire bus amperage limitation. I don’t have a ref link but a quick search will lead you to critical info.) Erik. _______________________ I’m having a BLAST with an Eugene Ormandy - Original Jacket Compilation

Hi Cubist, Just a couple of words from my sight. My lack of knowledge of opera genre has settled me to choose a ref piece that I like to use for comparing audio setups - "Giordano: Andrea Chénier - Act 3: La Mamma Morta" interpredted by the magnificiant Callas. Every time I used to listen to this digital recording I have been observing that the voice sounded strident, center constricted and was accompanied by a blunted narrow orchestra stacked on a back wall. There wes two distinc planes not sounding related, lacking dynamics and very uninterresting to listen to, but the interpretation of the diva. The first satisfying encounter I had with opera playback happened with the Apogee Duet. It was quite a shock. I was floored by the dimensions of the orchestra. It would still sound far behind Callas but felt like it is very wide, deep, detailed, layered with subtleties, dynamic and very dramatic. The way it was recorded really works at supporting the golden voice, just like a pedestal. The signer is, yes, centered and closer to the listener, but still very dimensional. Her voice could sound cristalline, very powerfull, constricted or cataclysmic. Actually, it follows her interpretation as she intends it to sound like! And hold on to your chair cause it is quite a ride! At the risk of being judged, I was exposed unaware of the shrills that were awaiting me. After just a few seconds she had begun to sing, my eyes were floating. After a minute or so, I was swimming in my own tears and convulsing in intense emotions, like a puppet under her control. I was instantly crushed. The power of her intrepretation was at least naively quite unexpected by me. ___________________ Of course the line-out of your mac won’t show what hifi is all about. None the less, it still can source music trough your system without an external DAC. After multiple attemps at DIY and several hundred bucks of investment in parts and mistakes, not even considering the time for the learning curve, a well engeneered DAC was the solution for me at the end. It was a GIANT leap forward higher fidelity playback. (Forgive me Yeo, though I really did enjoy dancing with your Monicas for years!) I could have picked another DAC than the Duet amongst a plethor of affordable devices. It’s xlr preamp was a no-brainer’s decision for my needs: portable, firewire bus powered, phantom power, stereo pre device with awsome converter. So… I tend to egree with what has been said earlier in this forum: Just pick one on your short list and it will give you plenty of what you’re looking for. It shure is wise to compare and try to reach the top investment/shine factor but we never know how it sounds before it is in line with our other components and fully implemented and burned-in. Of course This doesn´t add much to what i’m shure you already know, but I find it hard sometimes to comprehend how much efforts money and time audiophiles put into the great quest of the St-Graal of sound, just like I do. I know I don’t have the best playback setup yet, just like I shure will "need to upgrade" soon enough but I try to forget about it. Hey, if a simple Duet can turn me into crumbs, it is probably not sane for me to try anything better!!! ;o) I hope you will soon find a solution that will just let music stick to your soul, and forget about the rest. Erik P.S.: T’is funny how an intended couple of words tend to grow out of proportion.

Thank’s Kal. One other thing I learned on the forum is that if you set the sampling rate at 88.2Khz in the AudioMidiSetup for the Duet, sound will just get better. Tried it and it reallly makes the highs and mids smoother ;o) Enjoy! Erik

Hey there, (It’s v’been a while since I looked around on the forum) I brought my satisfaction a little further with some software config. Instead of using the wheel as volume control, I managed bypass a stage somehow: In the Maestro Mixer window, select the Out L-R option for the "TO HARDWARE" slider. This slider is going to be your volume adjustment tool. So TURN IT DOWN NOW, otherwise your amplifier will be fed with full preamp output. Then go to Maestro Control window and slect the "INSTRUMENT AMPLIFIER" option in the output section. Then back to the mixer and gently slide up that volume gain slider. Voilà! More dynamics, more musical, greater space, it sound’s more natural and with even more details. Impressive difference! Can’t explain why. Seems like this bypasses a stage (resistor attenuation? software attenuation?) but it sounds like the sound is less filtered and more attrrrractive! Another fact I’ve read somewhere and tried: In the audio midi setup, set the properties for "BUILT-IN AUDIO" at 24/44.1 instead of 16/44.1. Darker background and better dynamics!!! Enjoy and let me know your findings/likings. Thank’s. Erik

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The most tricky part is to first get the firewire plug out. The pictures marked with X are where I had put some ERS but then noticed some faint digital errors. The complex ICs don’t generally like that treatment. Had to take it off… But the Duet has been working flawlessly for the last 3 weeks, and since I’m working from my home office, it only gets some rest when I do. As Stillpoints is going out of business, I remember reading somewhere on the Altmann BYOB DAC a similar product called the Tubolator, no longer distributed. It was some kind of ferrite goo you had to brush on the IC (scary!).

Hi djn04, Just to let you know I own a PowerBook AND a G5 Quad tower and even though I give them the same settings as to get a bit perfect signal to the Duet, the G5 sounds better. It must have something to do with the power fed through the FIREWIRE bus… but the Powerbook sounds a hint harsh (battery or AC). Good to know before purchase!! Don’t know with a USB device… Erik

Hey El Duderino,<br /> <br /> I know what limited budget can bring to in terms of musical fun. Hang in there: Forums are sooo rich as references, and this one is taking the lead with «source» computers (whiche almost everyone happened to have these days). <br /> <br /> What computer do you use?<br /> <br /> Erik

Hey there, Just few simple tweaks for avoiding a precoce upgaditis with Proac’s magic. Try this if you dare: With spray adhesive, laminate THIN felt to THIN cork sheet or THIN expended polyester sheet. Find your way to precisely cut holes for tweeter and driver. Apply double sided tape sparily and place on the front side (felt side towards listening position). As the tweeter push forward HFs, there is a ringning effect in the air right in front it. The air is the transmitter from the tweeter to your ears but also acts as a reflective matérial and makes high frequencies bounce backwards. Damping a LARGE area in front of the monitor reduces this polluting effect. THE RESULT: A waaaay better pinpoint image and softer on your precious ears. Another one: Biwire!!! As the signal travels different conducters for the different drivers, it is less affected by the impedance of each driver. For some it works, for some not. Make your search. For me it’s a MEGA WIN situation. I use IXOS biwire bulk cable bare at binding posts (the purple sleeved one, 3.5 meter on each channel). "Sameness" issue is far from beeing present in my setup: every recording has it’s very own caracter and even if Polygram (for exemple) has it´s flavour, every produced album sounds unique in quality. THE RESULT: better tones, better dynamics, unveiled. Phase shift: I read somewhere that some manufacturers connect their tweeters phase inverted. I don’t pretend that it is a fact at Proac. I DON’T KNOW. But it made me wonder if some do it, it’s probably not dangerous to try (yes, I’m quite naive at times). So I did and the whole world came inside out!!! THE RESULT: Before, I was listening to music from inside a globe (hard to describe…) but the staging was surreal. Now, I’m in middle row of an IMAX theater. I’m tilting over sharing: My sand filled stands are topped wit a home made hardwood 10 degrees slopes that are screwed to the stands and the monitor (It was heart crushing to put screws in the latters but since my 3 years old swigned the guts out of my Tannoys…). Sandwich everything in blue tack before making this permanent. THE RESULT: physically aligning the position of the drivers has an effect on phase and liberates the inroom projection of the performance - i.e.: the we are there, or there in the room factor. My two cents is that it also has someting to do with surface reflexions of sound waves. Since the waves are being misaligned to the perpendicular of walls, there is less mirror refexions in the room. If Reference 3a is doing so, as they are soooo holographic, I decided to try it. An other numbing tweak. All this is shared for the benefit of those who think they can help darn good products sound better, without any pretention other than that these tweaks worked for me, even if I can’t explain it in a scientific way. I’m just having a blast. Hope you’re havin’ fun too :oP Erik

Hello evryone, New member here. Great site! Lastly I ended up with an audio setup the quite impresses me. Just switched my Moon i5080 for a Quad 303. I know it’s an old peice of gear but Jean Desrochers (owner of Planabox) upgrades them with up to date and better suited parts, and with a few simple tweaks the old fart REALLY shines with my Proac tablette 2000 (see thread on those if you own them). It shines so much that the rest of the setup began to show it’s flaws. The Duet is the end of the road for me as I needed a very good mic pre and I’m not willing to spend thousands on equipment anymore. But the Quad allowed the Duet to show a little edgy temper. I’ve been DIYin’ for a couple of years and learned a lot, mostly from the Monica DAC from DIY Paradise and from many other diy sites and forums. So now is my turn to get involved at sharing the knowledge that keeps this hobby exciting, beside spending money end agonising after sleepless nights. So here´s the tweak, if you got the guts. This is probably voiding the warranty, so be aware. You’ve got 4 screws at the bottom to get access to components. Gently pull out the top (I didn’t need any tools to seperate top from bottom) You need about 3 sq.in. of ERS paper. This is EMI and RFI isolation laminate made from what seems to be ferrite streaks and polyester whool, available at Parts Connexion. Touch a grounded appliance before touching anything inside the DUET: this baby is static sesitive without it’s shell. Spot every opamp on top and bottom of the circuit board. I don’t remember how much there is but there is at least 15-20 of them. Using tiny pieces of ERS paper custom cut to fit on top of the opamps, stick them in place using toothpicks or better anti-static tools. NO METAL TOOLS. Avoid covering caps, diodes and complex ICs (the big ones with legs all aroud). everything in there is surface mount so make shure you know how to differciate bits and pieces. Usually 8 prong ICs are the ones in there. They vary in size. Put back daddy in mommy and you’re done (snug fit in there so be careful as suface mounts plugs are fragile when not in position). The result is a difference in the range of listening to redbook vs. 24/176.4 recordings. Added to that the fact that sibilliance is dead gone. The sound gained weight, the strereophonic image has grown in every dimension and pulled back a little. I now feel the vertigo of true émotions. When critics and reviewers talked about magic, I couldn’t really understand the meaning of it, until I came up with this tweak. I spent three days sitting on a stool, curtains closed for better room treatment, forgetting to eat and procrastinating everything else. The presentation is no more digital. It’s v’been a couple of weeks and it is still freaking me out. I use Itunes with built-in audio set at 16/44.1 and Duet at 24/88.2 I’ve tried upsampling in Audacity with shaped dither at 24/96 and 24/88.2, but it lacks magic. As for the Quad, Jean told me it would come to it’s best in about 6 months of use. Futile it is to say that I can’t wait! Let me know if you try it, anyway, that ERS paper has always served me well on simple DACs and opamps. Hear you later Erik Update: Added pictures for the voyeur en vous. refs for ERS paper: http://www.stillpoints.us/ers_fabric.html http://www.partsconnexion.com/catalog/accessories.html Please be reassured that this is no publicity. I have no interest in those parties but as a happy customer ) Message from Parts Connexion IMPORTANT NOTE: Stillpoints, the distributor for ERS in the audio market, has just informed pcX that this may be the very last production lot of ERS available. The recent severe economic downturn has effected the factory which makes this material....most, if not all, ERS offerings will cease production. As a result, pricing from Stillpoints is going up (effective immediately - Jan 21st, 2009).....see below.