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Dave Clark

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  1. Hey Chris, nice seeing you in the elevator. We also had a room at the show (the Positive Feedback Hospitality Suite) that featured a computer-based system which sounded quite nice indeed.<br /> here is a link... http://www.stereophile.com/content/positive-feedback-online<br />
  2. Furutech is a great cable as is the Cardas.
  3. Clay let's agree to disagree ...though you will not get much of an argument on some of what you suggest above. Anyhow more important things are in need of my attention so enjoy the evening. Oh, but I will say that the best I can do is simply and honestly report what I hear... same with Andy and any of our other writers.
  4. "One of my pet peeves is people promoting (including in reviews) and selling uber-expensive digital cables, e.g. $2849 for a single 3foot USB cable, or $999 for a single 3 foot Firewire cable. " Why is that Clay? Somethings simply cost more because they either cost more to make, are of a limited quantity, or are in demand. In the end it is up to the end-user/purchaser to decide value, worth and or benefit. You don't and yet others do... why is that an issue with you? Based on what you are suggesting one can then question uber expensive... well, anything, no?
  5. Based on the great disparity in audio, I guess it does vary. There are no absolutes in audio - different wants, needs, preferences, interpretations, reactions, etc. In the end, to each their own. "I've always had a tough time figuring out why anyone would want to spend so much money on connecting a "legacy" DAC to a computer." No doubt cause they prefer it to whatever else is out there for a myriad of reasons...
  6. The new Diverter will do 24/192 and feature async. I guess these two features should quiet the critics as well as those who must have either regardless. As to 'needing an uber cable' for some reason, well I have yet to hear 'any' converter or DAC that does not benefit from a better cable, YMMV.
  7. As to NAS storage solutions... 1. Anything can fail in some form or another whether it be drives or the actual NAS itself - the Drobo FS included. 2. No 'one product' is perfect nor universally 'right' for everyone. 3. The Drobo FS is very quiet, though I have mine in a a closet away from the system. Yeah, I can hear it ever so slightly late at night when 'everything is asleep', but sheesh it is WAY quieter than my Thermaltake NAS. Since it is a network storage solution I use it that way, but then that is me. No need to have it 'right' next to the system since I wanted it accessible by all the computers in the house so it is where that is easiest. 4. I am using iTunes 10 and the latest versions of both Amarra and Pure Music, and none have had any issues or experienced any 'bugs' with the files on the Drobo FS. No lag, no drops, no snags, nothing that I am ware of...
  8. Except this noise is only 'audible' when you use the PD at full-output (no preamplifier) via its analog outputs with say Amarra or the computer to control the level of the input? If so, would not other DACs, CD players, or sources also have a residual noise as well? I never use the volume on the computer or any program to control the input to the PD... not sure I would ever want to either. Via my system when I turn my Cary SLP-05 tube preamp up all the way (with no signal via the PD... yikers!) the speakers are relatively dead quiet from an inch or so away. Zero at a foot or more. I am sure that if this noise that you have shared with Andreas is an issue, he can potentially address that in the next firmware update. Assuming of course it is an issue as it is his product and your use is an exception. By the way, since you have talked extensively with Andreas you know that he is very concerned with specs and what he can do to make the PD the best he can at the price. I have had many a conversation with Andreas and he is not one to take the easy road in anything he does... always pushing the envelope in his designs and endeavors. He is a real fanatic on anything he does. Any how this is not my fight or product to defend... so let's move on.
  9. With out a doubt your modification have improved the performance of the PD - your own ears tell you that. The issue is that you are not using the player under typical conditions, meaning that what you are experiencing is so far from the norm that for Andreas to build the player to that level and still make it 'affordable' would be rather implausible. His efforts were spent where they would matter most and at a price pint that would make the player approachable for more music lovers. Perhaps you should go into the business of either consulting for Andreas or modding the players... I see no need to take this any further.
  10. Let me see if I got this right... you bought a $15k (or $10K as a DAC) player to use as a headphone amplifier (of which it has no headphone output though obviously one can take the analog out to some headphone or whatever) and you run it full output and then use Amarra to control the volume? And you question any noise when used this way? Really? You aren't serious are you... I mean what device would not have any noise when ran like this? Not really sure if Andreas ever envisioned the player to be used this way so casting criticism on its design/performance in this case is rather questionable. Not that there isn't any noise, but your use is rather unique is it not?
  11. I doubt that anything on the PD was due to oversight, more likely as with any item being produced, cost/practicality became an issue and one has to draw the line somewhere. As to USB, yeah Andreas and Jonathan would agree... hence something is in the works. As to ordering by preference... sorry, not so sure I could do that as I see each being a sure bet based on different preferences, wants or needs. Not so much a cop-out, just a reality. Each is fine depending on what you want to spend along with what you want in terms of options or ease of use.
  12. Just sharing some observations by Tim. And yes, I agree with the jitter issues... ever visit audioevo? http://www.audioevo.org/
  13. Tim de Paravicini was here after CES and he and I were talking about distortion and how various amplifiers that claim zero distortion across the board (Halcro for example) tended to sound dry and analytically over-the-top. No life or bloom to the music. He said that too many designers have no real idea as to which distortions are bad or good so they attack any and all as being evil - more about marketing than getting the most musical sound. He said many of his products will measure poorly in some areas and great in others - those are the areas that either don't matter or do, and vice versa... if you get my drift. That is some distortion is needed and some is not... some good and some bad. I wonder if any of this will ever relate to jitter? Some being moot and some being important? Or is all jitter as you suggest bad?
  14. In talking to various people in the know, jitter is an interesting thing and so any one measurement does not tell the complete story. Sort of like distortion in an amplifier - some is okay, some is bad, and some is irrelevant. Josh Heiner has been working on a white paper... should be an interesting read. But back to converters, why any of these sound different (and not night and day) or should sound different is something way out of my realm of knowledge, though I recall someone stating that any signal, be it digital or analog, is still an electrical signal... no? Anyhow thanks for reading. See you at RMAF and I'll buy!
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