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bite-the-byte

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  1. Hi Thunktank, I have a BDA-1 for sale if you're interested just contact me: [email protected] Paolo
  2. There's a well done pdf user guide in English after AVS installation. But basically what you need to do is to have the Soundflowerbed program becominig the audio router between your Weiss and iTunes. This way the stream played by your player goes through AVS via Soundflowerbed. Tell me if you have problem in locating the step by step user guide, I can send a copy to you. Paolo
  3. ...as it comes from Apple download page: About AVS 3D • VR Software realizes the US, EU, Int Pat audio system (retrievable on the web at “The NASA Astrophysics Data System, by Harvard, link on our andreavonsalis.com site) that improvesthe listening of all audio files (mono, stereo, surround, MP3, wave etc.) by upsampling to 192 kHz/32 bit float and allowing a perfect equalization with total transparent parametric filters that can be fine tuned in frequency, Q and amplitude. They don’t introduce any audible digital artifacts (dynamic compression, reduction of sound details, “plastification” of sound, reduction/alteration of the soundstage). In stereo you will perceive an evident increase of sound details, even starting from an MP3 file. This in stereo mode. In the AVS 3D • VR mode the effect is - without introducing “special effects” a dramatic improvement of the quality of reproduced sound in terms od wideness of the soundstage, 3D reconstruction of sound subjects (sonic holograms), increase of perceived details, increase of bass frequency perception without bass boost or subwoofer. The audio system disappears giving space only to the music. This mode needs 4 speakers and sounds in an excellent way also reproducing audio-video sources starting from the stereo track of a DVD for ex. Many more features Paolo
  4. Just submit to attention a new player solution, from a team of CNR (Italian National REsearch Institute), leaded by Andreas Von Salis (AVS Research) and including Simone Bianchi (Tengerine Tech), the head of Charon software I mentioned here sometime ago. AVS is not intended to be a bit-perfect solution, it includes room correction algorithms as well as advanced psyco-acoustics algorithms. It aims to deliver 3D listening experience, also with multichannel set up. Here is the web site: http://www.andreavonsalis.eu/ The price is Euro 350, from the web is possible to download a seven day trial demo, also directly from Apple: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/audio/avs3d%E2%80%A2vr.html Enjoy Paolo
  5. Hi emmodad, I'm using the Chiron AES/EBU between the DAC and the digital converter, I've tested XLO top of digital line and MIT proline, frankly I can by memory tell the diff. are subtle, I had the sense of slight better focus with Chiron, but I had to concentrate much to find it... maybe placebo effect? As the Chiron was the new investment.... Also compared with an LFD analog XLR (so no strictly 110ohm) the difference is not drammatic (that impressed me quite a lot). In general I think the Chiron are good quality cables at reasonable price, the comp mentioned are 3/4 times more expensive btw. Paolo
  6. bite-the-byte

    Amarra

    I would not give the wrong message iTunes is not good. I found better soundblade in my system, my sw, my room, my ears. But itunes really does a good enough job, I could live with it. What thrills me is to perceive the more and more sw r&d takes this seriously the more progress and improvements we'll get. Again, I fell like being still in digital audio stone edge. Paolo
  7. bite-the-byte

    Amarra

    Daniel, that's clarify finally, I missed a competent comment on that jitter speculation, and now I got it. BTW, just finished over one hour of comparison between osx iTunes and Soundblade. You know my disappointing to find Peak LE clearly worse than iTunes? Well now I can tell SB is definetely better than iTunes. No small difference, the sound presentation changes a lot. Music flows with much more sense of breath, and "analog" like natural density, definetely involves more, image is rock solid fix for all instruments and voices, putting them in more clear 3D stage. Some edgeness in attack and decay for percussive sound (piano, drums etc..) loose the artificial hyper edging and gets much closer to real live event. Voices, sax and trumphet solos are so organic and breathing I felt emotion running on my skin... So if Amarra is that, it brings a real value. To join the ranking group: if iTunes 6 to 7, than SB 9 All my test at 16/44.1 via firewire. Paolo
  8. bite-the-byte

    Amarra

    ....can you kindly share your technical point on this statement you provided: "For our Firewire DAC the software used to play back does not play any role when it comes to jitter (again provided there is no async SRC in the path) because the DAC is the master clock and the computer is slaved to it." I'm also thinking (but I'm less skilled than you) can't exist jitter due to SW routines of a player like iTunes, Jitter resides in the transmission. I hear to many comments about hipotectical more or less jitter thanks to one sw player vs. another., which I tend to think is a nonsense. Please Daniel shine your light over us.... Paolo P.S. Don't loose much time on the forum, BTW, as I ordered one new DAC1mkII and still waiting you to build it :-)
  9. bite-the-byte

    Amarra

    I'm repeating myself here, but it is as I feel to be the only one to have experienced it, IMHO in my setup iTunes delivers far superior clean sound than Peak LE. I just tried quickly at 44.1 (most of my database is ripped). No minimal differences, I was astonished on how compressed was the music through Peak LE compared to iTunes I'd just like to get somehow the prove iTunes on osx can deliver "bit perfect" stream, this would be my real reference to judge any other element in my audio chain. I wish to have a firm point where the sw player does nothing to improve or alter the bit stream... I hope someone with right skill and right test tools would make the mission... hopefully someone independent, not a vendor, for best impartiality. Tonight I'll download the sonic studio mastering tool demo sw and hearing test it too. Paolo
  10. bite-the-byte

    Amarra

    Winning my lazy attitude I quickly downloaded Peak LE demo to test against iTunes (macMini). Well to my surprise Peak sound really bad, compress and muddy compared to iTunes. Sometimes there's also a little brack in playing. Probably there's something to play around with the sw, but in any case it looks too complex apps just for play. In my setup I have the X32, which implement it's own FW driver (with it I change bitrate without close and reopen iTunes, for instance). Again, this is not scientific test, just a quick one, but it's interesting how my outcomes differ from some others... I also was surprised on watching the Amarra pdf... for my ears judgement, believe me, my setup based on iTunes and the rest of the chain is top performing, better than Esoteric UX-1 I have. Is the dig out driver, maybe, in my case the key element for the good performance? Paolo
  11. bite-the-byte

    Amarra

    we all are speculating a lot without having yet real experience about Amarra... for the pricing I would not say more than if it cost too much for my (poor) commons sens, then I cannot buy it, and if it really works improving even a little my today iTunes osx plain player...well, I'll miss it. But I learnt not to judge, especially in fields where I'm most ignorant. I know there's a free market and Sonic Studio can make the price they think is good for them and for the market segment they wanna address. Don't forget that going into the gross sw market needs to have in place the right support organization...think about the many calls the users will place to get help on something not working installing and configuring... any company has it's core business and target customer segment. Then jumping from the commercial aspect to the technical... I also (my ignorance again) don't know why the standard operating system wouldn't be enough on carring the exact bit from the HD to the computer dig. out, (well we know some "creative" driver bottleneck, especially in WIN) but there are plenty of replacement drivers out on the market to send thrugh FW, SPDIF or USB. As well there are many audio recording/editing/play sw either for pro studios or passionate folks. And from my reading all along the PC audio forums I've been... all al them sound just the same for about 50% od forumers...or always with quality sonic differences for the other 50%.... well... damn confusion, isnt'it? It seems also quite difficult to make assessment... it seems be must relay only on ears... mesurement cannot yet help. Infact, if we make a test, we can only check if any bit is lost or errored from HD to dig output path...and I'm damn sure no one is affected in a proper configured system. Then many call to blame jitter, but someone should explain me what impact can a sw driver, handling just registers of bit, on jitter. (do really memory buffers effects jitter in a digital-to-digital communication?) ...where's the clock reference in a sw routine? Now just flying into a future vision.... I see in 10 years or so a standardisation of few sw players, and I guess the actors name would be microsoft, apple, adobe, sun etc... and plenty of plug-ins to let us play with sound flavours... like the amplifier sw emulation available today for music players. Maybe you like to listen to your audio tracks like they played by an old first generation Philips cd driver....or a NOS zanden player....or a belt drive CEC or a DAT....or (I see horrified faces) like a thorens TD-160 turntable with stanton cartridge ...or whatever emulated analog player... thermoionic tube sound emulation... taste a 300B WE or a Telefunken 6922 ... or you can get 128bit DSP perfec emulation of the La Scala concert hall ... or woodstock playground, right in your room. I'm having fun with the imagination... but I do feel we are still at the digital audio stone age. Paolo Paolo
  12. I'll go on Amarra website and check the news. I'm curious to know your insites about TC and Weiss... are they sharing R&D? I currently own a UX-1, very little difference with X-01, but the advantage to play anything, I know the Esoteric top line quality (but not directly of your D-05). I'm waiting a Weiss DAC1 mkII as a BDA-1 replacement, that's the main reason I bought the X32. IMO this is a serious step forward outbeating in my environment all the digital (and analog ;-) ) sources I experienced up to now (well I decided for it after the medea test.. this gave me the flourish of the DAC1..). Anyway... not for all, but for most parameters I preferred the Macmini+X32+BDA-1 to my Esoteric... Paolo
  13. I went for the X32 for the following reasons: - time: too much to wait to get an AFI1 demo (even if the local distributor was very supportive and got Daniel Weiss kind availability to ship a demo to Italy) - flexibility: with X32 I have all sort of digital in/out to be routed as you like and even an analog monitor port and even an headphone plug. I like to link my SAT receiver, DAT or any digital source I wanna run. I can also use it patching signals for digital recording. - performance: the X32 has indeed a great jitter specs (less documentation available for AFI1) and at my home test was immediately delivering improvement over direct DAC toslink (apart unlocking the 24/192 streaming). - price: I got the X32 at 1.1kE vs. AFI1 1.5kE price list. I knew only later Amarra will be supported by AFI1, but I wanda why shouldn't it work with any firewire devices? Price for Amarra is also another wondering... I think, generally, that AES/EBU has been up to day the reference digital interface, the one the most experience and efforts have been put by manufacturers. I do not know if it has an intrinsic design advantage over toslink and SPDIF, but for sure it has been the first and safiest to run PCM streams above 96KHz. I always been a fan of Esoteric, on paper the D-05 looks to me as the top and most advanced Esoteric design today. Can you spend two words on it? How did you come to choose it? ..last thing, cabling does make a difference, not night and day but noticeable. I experienced differences playing with different AES/EBU and power cords...not done any FW comparison yet though. Paolo
  14. Hi Jeff, I join the cue... and also very curious to know your exactly recording/mastering technics, dynamic compression? What de-henphasis algorithm? etc... Paolo
  15. I still have to try with DRC, my room current plain response it is not so bad to me, and I'm waiting to have the equipment setup finished and optimized before starting to play wiht it. I know in OSX environment is more tricky than WIN, I just saw this guy sucesfully implement it: http://www.duffroomcorrection.com/wiki/User:OlafMarzocchi The key is to properly redirect the music bit to the convolver before they goes out the mini. Did you experienced the tangerintech sw? I see you play with Genelec, didn't they have the room correction SW tool for your speakers? Paolo
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