funkle

I was thrown by that at first as well. After you complete the transaction, you are directed to the download area of your account, where each download has a pulldown menu where you select from 3 formats: MP3, MP3-320 or FLAC. I think they need to change the wording from mp3 to something like "digital download"

I've just discovered that CD Baby has made all their downloadable albums available in lossless (44.1/16 flac). This is really great news for me. They have an extensive catalog containing lots of the obscure stuff I like. I'm sure I'll be dropping lots of money there. I purchases 3 albums yesterday, only to find the flac downloads were not immediately available. It seems they must rip the CDs as they became requested. They worked this morning. A little bit of a let down, but cool nonetheless. I hope this becomes less of a problem as more cds get transcoded.

Any thoughts on these from owners? I listened to the previous version and loved it. Though I felt it was more on the colored side than analytical & accurate. But is was the most involving (foot tapping factor) DAC in the store.

"for only 1500 euro the Mytek might well be the best currently available." Is it me, or do they pretty much say that about just about every DAC?

I'm glad you brought that up. The boogie factor as you put it is the most important quality in a DAC for me. That is what has drawn me to the Burson, that it sounds so alive and involving if not as clinical & resolving as other DACs. But I'm honestly having a hard time justifying a non-async DAC. It sounds great, but in this day & age, it seems silly to invest in a new DAC without it. It's great to hear the Mytek has the boogie.

I'm interested in that DAC, and I've tried to delve into that thread several times with no luck. Frankly I'm amazed that there is so little tangible information in terms of listening impressions anywhere on the web. Not sure if I would use the DSD capabilities, but it looks like it has everything I'm looking for in a desktop unit. I've been wavering back and forth between the W4S Mint and the Burson, but this Mytek really has my attention. I have a friend in pro audio who I just learned has the 8 channel version that I'm planning on giving a listen. I'm glad they came out with the "audiophile" version. The black one looked god awful IMO.

I'm in a similar situation. I have an older non-hdmi Denon, which I really like. I'm feeding the Denon with the toslink out from my ATV 3, but cant play digital on zone 2. If the receiver had hdmi, I could use the toslink to feed a stereo DAC > zone 2. Regarding the zone 2 thing, This is true of most receivers. I was told by a Denon dealer that it has something to do with digital rights issues. Quite annoying. I'm thinking of just using an airport express for multi zone stereo. It's a shame, because it seems like a duplication of what the ATV can already do.

Are they still not shipping?

FWIW, I was running my Virtue M901 on battery power, and while an improvement, it still exhibited the negative characteristics that I have associated with Class D (clinical & uninvolving) I have not tried some of the more recent, higher end class D amps that are being discussed, so take my comment for what its worth.

I tried placing some pillows on the wall behind my desktop speakers and I have to say the bass has tightened up quite a bit. I think I will buy some sound deadening board an line the wall with it. I was thinking of trying Roxul Rockboard 80 from atsacoustics.com. Anyone try this product or have any other recommendations?

I guess I have been forced into using a near-field desktop setup as my main listening system for several years now. This is primarily because I do most of my listening while I work at my computer in my home office. I love music, and listen most of the day, and I simply don't have the time to spend hours a day doing dedicated listening. I have a fantastic sounding headphone setup, but it gets a little fatiguing after several hours, so I prefer running speakers some of the time at least, even though the headphones ultimately sound better in my case. I too have done a lot of research and started some threads. You are right that there is not that much out there. I've just been experimenting. I started out with studio monitors (Genelec 1029), thinking that they would sound best, being designed for nearfield. But discovered that their main design goal is to provide an accurate, non-fatiguing representation of a recording to an engineer over long periods of time, rather than a pleasurable listening experience. I still use them for recording & mixing, but find them un-involving for music. There may be some studio monitors that excel for musical enjoyment, but I haven't really pursued it. I've since been through a bunch of smaller bookshelf speakers and various amps and other components, and nothing has really felt right to me. I'm currently using Era D5s with a REL subwoofer. The D5s seem to focus better at 5 feet or so, rather than the 3 feet I have them situated from my seated position. Soundstage is not that great and the bass is forced. Maybe a better setup would help. I think I'm trying too hard to make it sound like headphones or floor standers. I could continue fighting physics, but I'm starting to come to believe that a desktop nearfield setup is best used in conjunction with a second larger full room system as an alternative, more powerful in the room sound (the thing that has been missing from my listening experience) This way I could get that experience on occasion, and let the desktop system excel at what it does well - detailed lower level, non-fatiguing listening. Great imaging would be a plus. But I don't believe that a desktop system can provide quite the same experience as floor standers. FWIW I have a couple great pairs of floor standers already, I just need to carve out a space for them. I'm considering the maggie-minis for the desktop. The reported detail and soundstage is very enticing.

I keep drawing analogies with class D to LED lighting. I'm an architect, and have been watching LED closely, waiting for it to get where it needs to. The energy efficiency & life span are great, but there is something about the color that is not the same as incandescent, it may look close, but it is uncomfortable. Some people are OK with it, but I am sensitive to light. LEDs and fluorescents try to approximate the light frequencies in incandescent, by mixing frequencies & filtering. Even if it measures the same it still cannot fool the brain. Incandescent light may not be close to sunlight, but thousands of years of light from fire have conditioned our brains into being comforted by it's reddish glow. There are a few products which are close, but very expensive. LED has come a long way but it is not there yet. It is close, and I believe it will get closer because of marketplace demands & legislature. I'll probably start using them more, but I'm not sure if it will ever be the same as incandescent.

I just started working on a spotify playlist. It is comprised mostly of jazz, bossa nova, world, some classics and some off the wall stuff and a little fusion (bella Fleck & Steve Lukather) Spotify link: spotify:user:phunkle:playlist:1Zr9AqNkVseh1JeisbKcCT URL: http://open.spotify.com/user/phunkle/playlist/1Zr9AqNkVseh1JeisbKcCT

Thanks, I think I'm focusing in on either the iNova or a Bel Canto DAC2.5 with a separate power amp. Either one would be compact & elegant enough for the desktop. The Bel Canto would be smaller (if I place the power amp out of sight) would be more flexible (could use the DAC in other systems, and have control over the power amp choice) and probably a better DAC. But the iNova would be true all-in-one, and has the tube buffer. Time to go do a little listening...

Linn Majik DS-I April Music Eximus