Cubist

It occurs to me that if one were in the position of running a computer audio web site one might join up with some like-minded members of the community, engineers, notable audiophiles etc. to draft some standards and a logo certification programme for high res music downloads. Producers/publishers would need to demonstrate that their releases were in compliance. There could probably be a PKI mechanism devised whereby 'trusted' publishers could digitally sign these downloads and embed a hash in a header so that the Amarras and Channel 9s of the world could implement a logo indicator that would display on the player when such a recording was being played.

"Do you like it?" My expression answered her question before I could open my mouth. I didn't want to leave our cozy three-story in the cool part of town for this much larger more suburban, lawn-emcumbered pile that was to her "a real house". But as they say: "Happy wife, happy life" Sensing my lack of enthusiasm she added: "That front room could be your den, your... (she searched for a term she had heard) ...your listening room" Four years later that room is many things to many people, but it is not a listening room. Too many windows, too much noise, and too much an office when people need one. My solution: Move my modest gear downstairs to a disused junk room. Perfect? No. It's cold, it has a six foot wide closet with sliding doors on the left side, an entry door at the rear, another door on the right. The walls are finished in 1960s? era plywood paneling. The floor is aging adhesive-smeared department store tile over concrete. On the positive side, it is very quiet, has but one small window and nobody comes down there. On the basis of the dimensions - L=15' 2" W=9' 10" H=9' 10" it appears not to be optimal. The (http://www.bobgolds.com/Mode/RoomModes.htm) room mode calculator indicates it has a "6th best" Louden ratio" and fails two of the three BBC Walker metrics. Schroeder threshold is at 139Hz. I figure step one is to empty the room of the metal filing cabinets and glass covered book shelves that currently reside there. Then I'll set up my system as best I can and take some baseline measurements. Any cautions, obvious problems that stand out?

Thanks John. I am intrigued and slightly unsettled by tubes. I worry that they become and obsession in themselves. I've stayed away from vinyl too precisely because it would give me too much to fret about. (That, and the wife said "No.") Your point on DACs seems like good strategy. This thread and some of the reading I've been doing have caused me to review my whole approach. I think the best thing I can do right now, is look at the room. Getting the fundamentals of the room right, getting it quiet, neutral, balanced, comfortable and served with clean dedicated electricity conveyed by high quality electrical wiring and receptacles will, in my view, pay dividends when I begin to evaluate and upgrade components, a valve amplifier for example. Thanks to you and the others who contributed. I will post shortly about 'the room' in whichever of the fora seems appropriate.

Thank you for your thoughtful response. I do not wish to get into an audio arms race with myself either. And I agree that we are trying at great expense to attain something that is very likely unattainable. However, I do get, from time to time, glimmers of good-enough that make me think that with a few augmentations I could reach a consistent state of good-enough. On the PrimaLuna, (and I'm glad there is good news) I'm a bit surprised. In relative terms, I rank my Primare integrated as the second highest-end component in my system. (the Mac Mini is the highest, becuase it is the one component that is common to systems costing 20 times what mine did) My DAC on the other hand is as cheap as borscht. I will check out the PL though, because it is always interesting when someone feels strongly enough about a product to recommend it by name.

No I just mean that I can plug an ethernet cable into my Airiport so that I have wired rather than wireless access to the drive at the cost of a (cheap) USB enclosure. If that solution proves lacking then I can get a (more expensive) firewire enclosure and plug that directly into that Mac Mini. In either case my future USB DAC will have exclusive use of the Mac Mini's USB.

Well it does seem logical... I guess one option I had not conisdered is to hang USB(?) drive off my Airport Xtreme and connect the MacMini by ethernet.

I'm still mulling the options DAC-wise. In the meantime, I decided that with the good deals on Friday to max out the RAM and buy an SSD to replace the stock drive in the Mac Mini. The original drive will go in an enclosure and become a dedicated data (music files) drive. I'm going to do a bit of googling into the following question: Is there merit in getting a firewire enclosure for the data drive so that the USB circuitry can be dedicated to the DAC? It seems like good isolation measure, but I have no idea if it truly matters. Same question with respect to the USB mouse and keyboard - I could (and have) run the Mac Mini headless.

Thanks Barry - lot of good stuff there. This weekend I moved my audio downstairs to an altogether more suitible location. In general I've decided to decouple the audiophile function from the audio wallpaper function. The latter will be a Sonos fed by ALAC.

It does seem to be a moving target, but at some point if you want good sound you kind of have to jump in. In some ways I'm glad I didn't drop a load of dough on the new QB-9 back then, but at the same time, I know I've not been enjoying the sound I might have over the last three years, and it's not like I'm going to get those opportunities back. Thanks for your insights.

Musico, I've read about the DACs you mention here and all I can say is 'wow'. When I bought the $100 used DAC in 2009, Ayre was just about to release the QB-9 and the posts in which GR explained async USB were pretty recent. I wanted it, but the price of admission was high. What a difference 3 years makes! Now may be my time. Any points of view on Concero vs MyDAC?

Many thanks for the suggestions. I will review.

I thnk I need to remain in the 3-figure range. And I value singularity of purpose over flexibility. If a USB DAC, then a dedicated USB DAC that does nothing else than be a USB DAC.

Yes I see what you mean. I'm not sure I can put it in those terms. This will sound trite and soft-headed, but it is the truth: When I close my eyes I want to be able to imagine that the musicians are right there in front of me. I want to feel in my gut that sustained E flat chord that opens Das Rheingold. I want Nestor Torres' flute to flutter over Israel Lopez's bass. And I want to be drawn in by that first stark cymbal strike in Tom Waits' New Coat of Paint. As it stands now that sense of 'being there' is lacking.

Well, since Mayhem13 mentions a sub, I have to agree that bass is lacking. Subwoofers have always struck me as unorthodox, but maybe I need to give one a try.

You are correct. I've edited that signature.