aleisend

Guru's Jazzmatazz Vol. 1 and 2

Sonos and call it a day! Not as fun but it will get the job done well! Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

Sorry I have been a bit absent! I put the system back to the way I originally had it wired and added the two shielded power cables and plug them into the same outlet and it sounds even better than before! Thank you guys for your help and recommendations! I think I'm going to wait a while before adding another component! :-) Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

@One and a half - Ok something is definitely going on here, and i'm even more confused. I set up the tape monitor per your instructions above now i get sound out of the Little Dot (and control the volume from there too) and nothing comes out of the NAD. HOWEVER, there is almost ZERO hum or crackle! And interestingly the soft clipping light on the NAD has now gone on, which hasn't happened before. Maybe I should start over. And per the original intention of this thread, the thought of adding another component at this point is looking less exciting by the minute! : )

Moving the power cables to the same outlet definitely helped. It's not 100% but way better than before. I'll order the cables tonight too. You mentioned hooking it up to the Tape Monitor to switch between using the Tube Preamp and not using it. What would the wiring configuration be for that? It would be great to compare the "pure" hi-fi sound with the "remixed" sound. As for using plugins to emulate the tube sound, i admit part of me really really likes that idea. Seems like a lot less hassle, though it does take some of the fun out of the hunt for the perfect sound (for me). As I mentioned in earlier posts I'm only using iTunes now since it makes it really easy to take my library with me in my car, etc...though i still can't stream it to Sonos. Is there anything like that for iTunes? I realize staying in the Apple ecosystem has it's plusses and minuses, but so far the benefits outweigh the negatives for me at this point.

Wow @One and a half- that seems like a relatively logical and easy fix. I'll try it and get back to you! Thank you for the advice!

Well, I've spent some quality time listening to my revised set up, and I can definitely say it sounds a lot worse. The static and hum from the Little Dot is SUPER distracting. I turned off the Little Dot and sure enough the buzz/hum/crackle goes away. I'm tempted to go back to my old set up, putting the main/pre jumpers back and: Macbook Pro -->(USB)-->DAC-->(RCA OUT)-->Little Dot MkII -->(RCA OUT)-->NAD CD/MP Input.

I like messing around with stuff to find the sound I am happy with. It might be a bit Frankenstein-esque but I want to see what the tube preamp sounds like in the mix. Up until now I've been happy with the warmth the tubes have added but I'm not loving the hum. How would i find the ground loop? I'll try messing with the volume knobs too and see if that does something. What would the more "hi-if" approach be? Computer to DAC to Amp? Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

That works! And I get the tube flavor through the NAD, as before, BUT with a cleaner path, correct? However, now I hear a hum through my speakers/headphones from what I guess is the Little Dot.

Except where does my DAC fit into it? Do I just have the macbook pro go from the dac and the dac to the NAD?

Yes! That is exactly what I want to do. I want to use the Little Dot as a preamp!

WWALDMANFAN- Thank you for the tactful response : ) At this point I'm a little confused about what the most efficient setup would be. I thought everything was obvious, but clearly i am missing something. What would you (or another CA members) recommend as the best set up with my equipment?

I switched the input from MP to the Main, after removing the jumpers and now i'm not getting any sound from my NAD, on any of the inputs. I do get it from my Little Dot MKII, however. It seems now I've removed my NAD totally from the setup, which i don't want to do. I want to use my Little Dot as the preamp then go into the NAD and get the output (both the headphone and speakers) from there. What am I doing wrong?

I see Chromebooks are pretty cheap these days. Maybe one of those, a NAS drive and vortexbox could be a solution? Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

You might find this funny, and this probably not the slickest way to set this up, but actually the way I have it hooked up is a straight line through. From my Macbook I have a USB to the DAC and using the output coax from the DAC to the the Little Dot MkII and another coax from the Little Dot MkII to the MP input on the NAD. It sounds great, and I know I'm skilling the actually Pre Inputs, but I wasn't quite sure the best way to hook that up.