dreko

Dalethorn, Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. Sounds like one should max the OS volume as well as the Playback software volume, and then just use the headphone amp's physical volume control, yes? I'll keep an ear out for those instances you mention.

Hi Guys, Just received my Woo Audio amp. I've got it hooked up: Mac -> Dac -> amp -> headphones I use foobar on the PC boot, Audrivana on the Mac boot. Is this correct: I keep the software playback audio levels to maximum, then I just adjust the amp's volume knob? On the PC, I keep foobar to max levels, but there's also the OS volume controls. Should this be maxed out too? On the Mac side, I keep the OS volume levels at max or very close to max, then I adjust the Audrivana's volume knob. Sounds silly, but I just want to make sure I'm not getting any degradation in quality by adjusting the wrong volume controls... thanks

Hey Jud, For sure, the Ultraconductor saga seems to warrant disbelief... yet part of me believes there must be advances going on in materials sciences... Did you read that link on Graphene? A atom thick layer that exhibits all kinds of amazing potential. Could Ultraconductors have been exploring a similar area, but with polymers instead of carbon? Meh, this is all way above my background, and I struggle between the belief in progress, men in black suits, and the men wearing tinfoil hats...

I'll just add some random thoughts to this... and would love to keep these ideas/thoughts going.... http://www.superconductors.org/ultra.htm These guys have won contracts from the Pentagon for their claims of a room temperature 'superconductor' they name Ultraconductor. I've been looking into this for a while, they haven't contacted me back... The link also has the patent number. (A extremely thin polymer material?) For an ideal speaker wire... would we want almost zero resistance? We'd have infinite conductance, all of our amps' power would reach the speaker voice coil... no cable 'filter' to change the sound in our audio.. that many people hear... yes???? Sidebar: Graphene coated cables will be coming at some point http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-10-graphene-copper-crystals.html

Hey Chris, I think you are thinking of this plugin for ITunes. I bought it, and it did allow one to adjust the psychoacoustics for detail, bass, soundstage, etc.... It was pretty cool, but once I left ITunes for Audirvana, no more itunes or iWow... It was pretty inexpensive if I remember, 40 bucks I think?? Andre

I thought the specs did look good... I wish it wasn't so expensive... 32 gigs does seem weak... but, reviews from the mentioned member??? god no

Not sure where to post this, just saw the blog entry on the Gizmodo site... never heard of this company. Specs look good, I guess the inventor is really trying to build a "HiFi player' http://www.gizmag.com/colorfly-pocket-hifi-music-player/20597/ A bit pricey, no availability in the USA... but what do others think of the specs on this??? Andre

To Charles Hansen I'm just honestly curious... Are you a salesman of AV products? or audio engineer? Thanks

I'm in N. Manhattan near the GWB. I have a Wavelength Proton and a M Audio Transit... (Keeping an eye on this get together) Andre

Just found this DAC via google... was a bit puzzled with this design. Any members using this or have heard it? Manufacturer's website says "The Chime is very accommodating to tube rolling so you can tune sonics to your taste." I'd love to hear what other's think about a design like this... it just seems very different to all the DAC's I've researched here...

Wondering if you can daisy chain inexpensive DACs to improve their performance level? Like running very bad vodka through a brita filter a few times... I ask because I may purchase another inexpensive DAC, would like to hook it up to my MAudio Transit...

Thanks for commenting. I guess I'll look into foobar and tweak it's settings for Vista64. Reading up a bit, it seems like it will play 'better' once tweaked... I've just been reading up on how jitter affects our digital music. I guess I should find a DAC that has the lowest amount of jitter produced. Does this sound correct? I'll hope to find one in USB More suggestions and advice eagerly awaited

Hello forum, this has been a great resource as I've moved into the world of computer audiophile setups Here's my workflow, I know some of this is preferential , but if there are any glaring obvious mistakes, please let me know -CD ripped with Exact Audio Copy (saving as flac) -Upsampling with r8brain (96, 24bit, very high quality) -Playing with Media Monkey -USB out with M Audio Transit (output 24bit, 88.2Khz ) I'm reading up on good DACs here on CA... there seems to be many... I'm on a budget, so I'm looking over at Audiogon. Should I be purchasing a DAC that can support 24/96? Would a DAC that's 16/44 be 'clipping' some extra quality? Benchmark DAC? or Cambridge DACMagic? (which will upsample my already upsampled music) Is this bad to do??? Valab NOS USB Re-Clock DAC Low Jitter Dual 1ppm TCXO (no upsampling on my upsampled music) better??? I'm using a Altec Lansing 2.1 setup for my amp. So I'd like to upgrade. The reviews here on the Peachtree Nova or Decco seem promising. It seems like a ready to go solution. But can I daisy chain their DAC to an above DAC? Is this a bad thing to do? Or should I find a nice tube amp? speakers are PSB 92dB sensitivity 4ohm speaker, so I guess the amp doesn't need to be too severe. 16-80 watt range. Thanks in advance for the hand holding/advice!! Dreko

So just out of curiosity, I decided to listen to my mix of music (AAC, Lame insane MP3s, AIFF) on Itunes with Vista 64 on my 8 core mac pro w/16 gigs of ram. I'm using M Audio transit dac usb out , PSB Alpha, altec lansing THX 2.1... Ok, the difference in quality is shocking I'm running SRS Labs iwow on the mac to improve soundstage, bass, etc I've fine tuned Itunes on both platforms... but this is only difference for Itunes. There's no improvement with iWow on or off on the mac side... still sounds average I think Snow Leopard isn't taking advantage of the M Audio transit DAC.... at least that's my thinking... Even though driver is installed I played Ben Rizzi's Ultimate CD, there seems to be phasing issues when played in Snow Leopard and yet zero speaker phasing issues in Vista64. It's really strange, I've checked all the wiring... so that's good... SO I think I'm going to be listening to my Itunes via Vista! Maybe try another player too... Any feedback or suggestions appreciated... Thanks Dre