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g0rf

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  1. Good post, but... "Few audiophiles would countenance buying an amplifier or loudspeakers (for example) without having at least a minimal scan of the specifications, thereby putting a degree of reliance upon 'the science bit'." Disagree. If you let me try 3 amps (just say) I would test them and keep the one I felt sounded best to me, in my system, regardless of specs.
  2. No, the Beresford DAC is absolutely not fatiguing. It is in no way the last word in hifi reproduction, but it is very smooth to my ears. The thing I found strange was the fatigue induced by the far better headphone output of a rather expensive headphone amp. In this case a Harmony EAR90. As I mentioned the sound was on the face of it quite stunning, but I found long listening was tiring. I am now using an Argon HA1 at just under a fifth the price, and while it isn't in the same league, I prefer it over long periods. Just to clarify my 'headphone' system is PC /FLAC -> Roland Edirol UA 1EX -> Beresford DAC -> Argon HA1 -> Senheisser HD595 My main system is Squeezebox FLAC to Harmony DA9 DAC to Lyngdorf SDAI 2715 amp to Dali Ikon 6 speakers. I am using a £16 ebay (Van damme) balanced lead from the Harmony DAC to Lyngdorf amp, and it is wonderful. My main system speaker cable is NVA LS3.
  3. I would just like to add one point to this very interesting and remarkably restrained thread if I may... First off, to re-iterate my standpoint on cables... I am a skeptic, that believes there ARE differences in cables, but that the differences are very small, and certainly have been exaggerated by the cable companies AND the mainstream Hifi press. I run some NVA LS3 cables and have no intention of any further upgrades. However, my point is one that sort of sides with the cable lovers. And I am amazed people rarely mention it. It regards ABX testing. Often people on my side, or complete disbelievers say "Blind test it then...". The problem here is, that often 2 components whether cables, or electronics cannot be easily blind tested. I bought a new DAC, and upon first listen the improvement was very minor. I think often it is only when listening to a new component for a while (a week say) that you really start to benefit what are often very small changes. I think I can ABX it now, but it takes a while. The improvement is subtle, but shows itself very clearly through headphones when listening for extended periods. The sound is less fatiguing, easier on the ears, and mind. Reverting back to the older system isn't an immediate degradation, but consistently is more tiring. This type of improvement is definitely there, but is hard to quickly identify. So ABXing cables has got to be pretty difficult, especially if you are comparing 2 sets of decent cables. Yes, I believe they will be different, but not enough so that an excerpt from a piece of music repeated for each is going to prove anything. Another point... Higher fidelity isn't always better... I tried a new headphone amp, a £500 one, and it was immediately fantastically detailed...An ABX on it would have been easy for a partially deaf individual... the sound was stunning, running from FLAC to DAC to Headphone amp...But after 20 or 30 minutes I found it VERY fatiguing. I couldn't put my finger on it. It was more detailed, better soundstage, better sound in every department, but in the end I preferred the softer, less detailed, less hifi sound of the beresford DACs headphone output! I have since bought a very cheap £80 headphone amp, which isn't close to the expensive one I tried, in quality, but gives me the extra detail, without the fatigue.
  4. I really must comment on the 'who cares?' (what other people spend their money on) I care. If they are spending money needlessly. If they are being 'conned'. Just like I care about elderly people being fleeced out of their savings for 'security systems', or whatever by dodgy firms. When anyone takes advantage of the trust of another, to their own end, then I care. In my not so humble opinion, many of the purveyors of hifi related goods are doing just that.
  5. I tend to agree with Ashley on this one. I do think that Darwin's theory is as good as proven now. And as for Xians, or any other religions followers, Darwins theory does not in any way discount the existence of one or more supreme beings, or in fact provide any serious offence to any rational being. As far as HiFi and snake oil, whilst I accept that certain things may make a difference, that I can't quantify just yet, I do like to see the snake oil fought. Too many companies are essentially making money from almost nothing. Outside the 'audiophile' world, many hifi enthusiasts are openly ridiculed. No wonder with some claims for some equipment, so ridiculous that they wouldn't look out of place in a Harry Potter novel.
  6. I'm using the edirol in my headphone system and it does the job pretty well. I wouldn't worry about jitter, the Benchmark should be able to handle it pretty well!
  7. I have a PS3, and can confirm, that it feeds a DAC very well. The sound quality through first my cheaper Beresford DAC, or my better Harmony DAC, both are very good quality, and of no discernable difference to any other source through them. I do agree that it is a little too noisy for serious hifi though. The lack of real FLAC support is an issue for me too.
  8. What I am listening to.................... Artist: David Gray Title: A Century Ends Genre: Folk Rock? Good song to sample: Any, but the first track "Shine" is as good an introduction as any. Similar artists: Come and go. Interesting notes: Born in Sale near Manchester, only made it big outside Ireland with 4th album "Whiteladder" Recording quality: EAC FLAC from my CD Comments:
  9. It is possible that properly cleaning a CD will benefit playback in your CD player. But. For ripping, if you are using the right software. EAC on the PC, dont know about Mac, then you can guarantee a 'bit-perfect' rip. Again a cleaner CD may rip quicker, but if the software reports a good rip, then comparing the 2 rips is pointless. Do a file compare, they will be identical, so any comparison will a waste of time.
  10. Probably backup. But have had a few networking problems recently, and while I can always sort it out, it's a right royal Pain in the bum when I settle down in my listening sofa, and I have to go sort out the network for 20 mins or whatever. I quite like the idea of being able to simply switch to a solid, 100% reliable source. It does mean having the TV on, but thats ok. I would have used the PS3, but it is a little too noisy, has an awful operating system for music media control (large numbers of files take an age to list), and more importantly, doesn't support FLAC.
  11. I am using a Squeezebox duet at the moment, but I would like a decent backup. The popcorn hour looks a possibility. I am not bothered about the video side, or even networking it. I would simply stick a 500GB quiet drive in it and copy all my collection on to it. Has anyone tried this with an external DAC?
  12. Are you for real GSL? What has jitter got to do with a secure rip? I can't wait for the day hard drive, or better still solid state drive completely replaces optical disc, and then foo products such as this will dissapear. Unless you want to try making a hard drive platter cleaner from whatever random ingredients you come up with.
  13. Yes, I guess so. I would only contemplate this sort of thing after a bad rip. And my solution works really well anyway
  14. I use EAC in secure mode with Accurate rip. If a rip is flagged as no errors, and high confidence, then there CAN BE NO BENEFIT from any treatment whatsoever. In fact, I have had a couple of CDs recently unable to rip perfectly because of small scratches, so I treated them (to some funiture polish), and they worked just fine
  15. Its also beyond the capability of your ears. I think what you have is plenty good enough.
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