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piers

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  1. Hi, No experience with macs, well at least for audio, but have tried CA Dacmagic and Beresford with a pc and a couple of laptops and they both provided a huge leap in sound quality. DACs will be subject to the law of diminishing returns just like any other component but I can't tell you where the sweet spot might be in their pricing. Piers
  2. There's a good chance that this won't be news to anyone but a quick google search last week bought up a 3,000,000 track, DRM-free, WAV file download site: http://www.mobiledjdownloads.com/index.php I downloaded some tracks last night and the quality seems good. Piers PS I emailed them to enquire whether they might offer 24/96 tracks in the future and they said it was something they were considering...
  3. Been skimming through some of the audiophile download sites Chris lists in the music section with a view towards trying some 24/96 flac files but haven't yet taken the plunge. Will post if I do.
  4. Fair play... Personally, from pretty much the time I started thinking about 'hifi' computers I've wanted to separate music replay from my gaming/work/everyday usage so I'm loving my little dedicated machine.
  5. Yeah, familiar with budget and space issues myself... Interesting idea using HDMI for audio, haven't really come across that kind of usage, wonder how it might compare sonically to optical/usb. Doesn't appear as if prices are out for the EeeBox yet but I would expect you could maybe spec-up a custom HTPC for around the same cost. A possibility which would be attractive to me as it would allow for (easier) future upgrades and a more 'hifi-ie' case. Plus things like the size/type of the HDD could obviously be matched to system architecture.
  6. Pretty pokey for such a dinky machine. You'd want to go the receiver route for multichannel sound?
  7. Wouldn't something like the G51VX be a little over-specced as a dedicated music player, assuming that's your intended use. According to the task manager my little ASUS is only using a fraction of available performance so wouldn't a faster processer just suck more juice and run hotter? The heat issue was one of my reasons for wanting an SSD for OS and player software with music on seperate external HDD. Anyway, it's been on all day and really doesn't feel too hot at all. Certainly the toshiba I'm typing on now is much hotter.
  8. Hmm interesting. Not really all that that technical but my music files are CDs ripped to WAVs and the player is set to output at source bitdepth and sample rate so I don't think any upsampling is going on. The Asus comes with Super Hybrid Engine software (which I haven't removed) and which I had already set to the low power setting which I think underclocks the processor. Certainly the high performance setting overclocks it. Anyway, it seems to run pretty cool to the touch.
  9. XP for the time being. Might go windows 7 tho. Wanted the s101 for its SSD drive although I understand that its a relatively slow drive compared to the fastest available. Might have been more sensible to wait a few months and get a different machine with win 7 and a faster drive but I wanted to get it sorted out quickly and the price was good.
  10. Hi all, Emailed Beresford about their DACs and received a reply from Stan Beresford. After a few more emails I ordered a Bereford TC-7520 that Stan would lightly tweak according to my music and sound preferences. The unit's had about 100 hours run in time now and is sounding very good to me. Compared to the Dacmagic (which had about the same run in), and of course according to my ears and with my system, the female vocals on the Beresford are sweeter and the treble's a bit more rounded (and less fatiguing at higher volumes over longer listening periods). As I remember it, in other respects, such as depth of bass and perhaps clarity of sound, the Dacmagic had the edge but for me the Bereford produces a sound I can happily live with. Piers
  11. Just to complete the story in case it has relevance to anyone else. I went ahead and purchased the Asus Eee PC S101 Mini-Notebook, slotted in the 2GB RAM, stripped out as much software as I could, installed J.River Jukebox and ASIO4ALL, connected external HDD and DAC and can report that it all works a treat. Not sure why I was concerned, been running a similar set up for a few years, but there we go...
  12. Hi all, I'm looking to buy a new laptop which I will use as a dedicated music player and would appreciate your views. I'm considering an Asus Eee PC S101 Mini-Notebook (Atom N270 1.6 GHz , 16 GB SSD HDD, XP OEM) which I would upgrade to 2GB RAM. My music would remain on my usb-powered external HDD and ouput would be via usb to my dac. I believe that this might be my best option for £300 (especially as i think it should be pokey enough to handle a possible future upgrade to Windows 7?) but before I jump, I wanted to check to see if anyone: - could suggest a better option at this price point? - could reassure me that there shouldn't be any usb-port issues with this set up (I think Chris- doffs cap- mentioned in an earlier thread that sound drop outs have been known with similar arrangements)? Any comments, tips, suggestions would be gratefully received. Piers
  13. Hello, Not really got any experience with active gear but your statement "I think i need to run that to a DAC then to an amplifier then to the speakers/sub if i use passive speakers or from the DAC to the speakers if i use active speakers/sub" is correct. There's also the the option- already mentioned- of using a DAC/Preamp unit in to active speakers (I think!) or in to power amp(s) in to passive speakers. Depending I guess on your budget, Beresford DAC/Preamps are worth considering for this purpose. Very low post count myself but hope that helps. Piers
  14. I am in the UK but yes, ideally I'd like to get it right this time. Thanks again for your suggestions. Piers
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