bigkid

What an absolute joy! Roland quad-capture took barely minutes to install and setup, automatically changes sample rate to match file being played (oh joy!), guitar plugged in via Line 6 POD 500X spdif and it JUST WORKED!! The amount of grief I have had with my old 1212 - grief I just expected was the way of things in the digital recording world. Apparently not. Replaced my Meridian Director, E-Mu 1212 and an SM Audio M-Patch2 with a single Roland device. Very happy camper.

Ha! Great minds...etc. ;-)

Yes, might thoughts too Budley. Just put the Meridian up on ebay and will turf the 1212. Have ordered a Roland Quad-Capture which should do the trick. Regards, Allan

Hi all. I've had no luck with this and have decided to look at USB interfaces as opposed to a standalone DAC. I've given up on the 1212/Meridian combination. Thanks to all who looked in on my post. Regards, Allan

Hi all. I have an old E-Mu 1212m PCI sound card in my computer. However, I recently started using a Meridian Director USB DAC for playback. The reason why I don't just use the E-mu is that I have music with a variety of different sample rates and it is just a pain (when using Wasapi exclusive mode) to switch session every time you change to a song with a different sample rate. And, in any case, I like the sound of the Meridian. However, I also want to be able to record guitar from my Line 6 POD-HD500X, or just play along with songs and have both music and my guitar come out my monitor speakers (which are attached to a passive mixer, which is attached to the Meridian) rather than crank up my tube amp. Since adding the Meridian though I can't monitor the guitar audio. Is anyone aware whether I can record using the E-mu but monitor with the Meridian? For example is it possible for the E-mu recording driver to pass the signal to the Meridian playback driver?? I'm afraid that the Patchmix software which comes with the E-mu is pretty much beyond me so some simple pointers would be most appreciated. Appreciate the help. Regards, Allan

Hi esldude. Spent yesterday afternoon testing a couple of cd rip files at 44.1 and upsampled variously to 88.2, 96 and 192 kHz. I could not detect audible differences in any of the files using the Foobar ABX plugin. No audible improvements but also no unwanted audible artifacts. I also tested for system induced IMD that may have been hidden by the music using the files on this page 24/192 Music Downloads are Very Silly Indeed and found no issues - the system seemingly does not produce inter-modulation of any ultrasonics which may be (or may not be) there on the higher sample rates. So, for me, it seems to just come down to file size, which 44.1 wins without argument. I shan't be upsampling my music files off line, and doing so on the fly seems a waste of processing power for my ears. Time to stop obsessing ;-) Thanks for the input. Hi alexwgoody. I have been playing with placement and made some substantive improvements. I'll have to look into some of the more subtle acoustic treatments, particularly as the better half has a lot to say about decor ;-) Hey, Dave. Oppo is on my future shopping list once my current player dies. Will keep this solution in mind. Is there any reason though why you couldn't just attach the usb drive to the Oppo? It is noiseless. I have a NAS in another room networked to the entertainment cabinet which is also a possibility. That said, the PC is very quiet. It has some fancy cooling system with copper pipe and multiple fans. Can't hear it at all. Background white noise is louder from my listening position. I should mention that the Chord DAC I bought has asynch usb (which I sought partly on the basis of your advice above - thanks for the assist). Very happy with it. Regards, Allan

Thanks esldude. Unfortunately the HT input is not an option as it is occupied by the L & R main pre-amp output of my HT amp. I have found an ABX plugin for foobar, which although not entirely 'blind' will give me an opportunity to hear whether there are any discernible differences between different sampling rates - although, as you suggest, I don't expect to hear any, more for peace of mind than anything (I do have a tendency to obsess ;-) I have been able to use dbpoweramp to make copies at 44.1, 88.2, 96 and 192kHz. (Although I've gone off 192kHz a tad, it blows out what was a 46MB file to 200MB! 35,000 songs'll amount to about 7TB) Yes the Chord upsamples at 24/384. I'll have a look at the other player options also. Looks like I have a busy day ahead of me. Thanks again for the detailed input. Allan

OK. I succumbed and went for a higher cost option, a Chord QuteEX. An, albeit subjective AB comparison in store with my current DAC gave me an improvement in sound quality that was significant enough to justify the expense. A couple of the dudes in the shop were banging on about using Sox re-sampler in Foobar to upsample 16/44.1kHz audio to 24/96 or 24/192 before it leaves the PC for the DAC. Esldude, based on what you and others say here, at Head-Fi and hydrogenaudio (if I understand correctly) is that going to 24bit is only useful in recording, as opposed to playback, and that upsampling won't improve the quality of the audio, and in fact can add distortion - which may, or may not be audible. So, to get the best out of my system I should not be 're-sampling' my 16/44.1 files on the fly? Is that correct? Would there be some improvement in going to say 16/88.2 rather than the higher rates - which I inferred from one of your posts elsewhere - either on the fly or off-line? Unfortunately, I don't really have any way of doing a genuine comparison as enabling and disabling the re-sampler involves a bit of faffing about - way too much time between switching. Appreciate your advice. Allan

Hmmmm. Paul, probably not the most spouse friendly alternative. With limited space in a small old semi-detached, there are limited places in which I am permitted to put gear! Me, I'd have no problem ditching one of the lounge chairs to make space for gear ;-) Thanks, but I think it'll be a logistical nightmare. Allan

Thanks esklude. Good quality recordings sound fantastic - Me'shell Ndegeocello's Peace Beyond Passion, for example, is insanely good. Some rock recordings from the '70's can sound brittle particularly at loud volumes, however, in light of the performance with good recordings I suspect the source material as being problematic rather than poor re-clocking in the DAC. I just listened to some tracks from a couple of UFO albums, and the sound quality is appalling. So I'm thinking the DAC is fine, what I am hearing in the brittleness is not system induced jitter, more likely just rubbish source which may have originally jitter prone or just EQ'd (really) badly in subsequent mixes. As to the speakers, while not from his best range, they were from John Dunlavy's 'Duntech' here in Australia (before he moved back to the US and started Dunlavy Acoustic Labs) and they are pretty well regarded here. I like 'em ;-) I'm having no dropouts on the unpowered usb drive. So, what do you think? Rule that out for any potentially noticeable improvement? Thanks again. Allan

Thanks Dave. As a DAC designer and audio engineer I assumed he knew what he was talking about. Perhaps I misunderstood or only heard the bits I wanted to hear in an otherwise highly technical, one sided conversation. Nonetheless, I'm pretty happy with the DAC. I used to use it with an Esoteric P700 Transport, which was subsequently sold when I couldn't detect any audible difference between CD/Esoteric/Elektra DAC and WAV/PCH Media Tank/Elektra DAC in, albeit subjective, testing. Unfortunately I haven't been able to do even subjective testing to compare the PCH as source and the HTPC as I couldn't get rid of the damn PCH quick enough following endless trouble with its software. Piece of junk. Tackling the power supply, however, is beyond me. Stripping wires, soldering etc are not things I want to get into. I am really only up to simple plug n play changes that might lead to improvement. I should note that the Shuttle is very limited in its internal connectivity. There is only a half mini-PCIe slot for wi-fi and a dual mini-PCIe/mSATA slot for the SSD. Nothing else. No scope for a separate USB card etc. I'm stuck with mainboard USB. The Shuttle runs on a laptop style power supply with 19V DC 4.74A output. I'll have a look at Asynch USB and DLNA further and the Windows optimisation discussed above further. Thanks again. Allan

Hi Davide256. Thanks for responding. I'll have a search on the optimization of Windows 8. Should keep me busy for a while ;-). I understand that much of the argument for asynch USB/SPDIF centers around the possibility that SPDIF originating from a cheap motherboard be more prone to jitter. I see there is quite strident argument on the topic here: Computer as source vs. Dedicated CD Player - Page 2 In any case, I should have mentioned that I have been told by the engineer who designed the Elektra DAC that it re-clocks the digital signal. Based on my reading on this forum, and the arguments for usb vs spdif, this seems to be unusual in non-usb DACs. I understand that the clock was specifically developed for this DAC and that the jitter is very low. He mentioned -98dB and some other figures that I don't recall in a conversation that was otherwise above my head. Either way, seems very low and way below audible. That said, given that well regarded converters can be had for $30 it might be worth trying some time. I'd be interested in peoples thoughts on the unpowered usb drive - is it likely to impact quality, or is the checking that goes on with file transfers sufficient to eliminate audible faults. Thanks again. Allan

Hi cjf. Thanks for that. I have a dedicated 20amp supply to my HT gear. As it turns out the amp and the DAC are on that supply and the PC is connected to a different power circuit. I can't claim that the latter was done on purpose - more just good luck ;-) I have adjusted the speaker positions to improve alignment - they weren't accurately aligned. I'll give the system a workout this afternoon and see how it goes. Thanks again. Allan

Hi all. Recent lurker and first time poster. I am currently using a Shuttle xh61v Windows 8 PC connected by optical spdif to a locally made Elektra 24/192 upsampling DAC and on to a Musical Fidelity A5 and a pair of Duntech Sapphire mains. The Shuttle is a very small form factor PC with no space for an audio card so I am limited to the spdif on the mainboard which is running an i3-3225 Intel processor, Intel H61 chipset and Realtek ALC662 audio codec. There is nothing special about the Windows 8 installation. The Shuttle is also used as a HTPC and has VLC, MPC-HC, Firefox and Picasa installed and not much else. The DAC does not have a USB input, just optical and coaxial. All of my music files are in FLAC format and contained in a USB drive (running off usb power) attached to the Shuttle. I use MediaMonkey and the WASAPI output plugin in exclusive mode for playback for apparently 'bit-perfect' output. I am not sure I buy into the whole marketing hype around cables however I have got low to mid-range optical and other cables throughout from Supra, Tara Labs, Blue-Jeans and Audioquest. The USB cable is nothing special - may have just come with the drive. I am limited to the mainboard optical output, and I don't plan on getting a new DAC. I am pretty happy with the sound quality but keep wondering (particularly over the holiday season when I have time for such things ;-) whether there is scope for some modest improvement. I suspect a powered USB drive might be a place to start. I'd appreciate any advice whether a change in drive might assist and on other weaknesses that could use some attention. Thanks. Regards, Allan