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mrmb

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  1. Thanks for the Ahmad Jamal's Alhambra recommendation. Being a fan of Jamal's work, I have several of his albums, but not Alhambra. That oversight will be shortly remedied -- the HDTT version it will be!! Cheers, -Mike
  2. Quote

    I run a NUC10i7 with 32gb RAM, 500gb NME SSD (system and Roon db), and 4tb SSD internal storage (music). I have it in my office away from my listening room. One advantage of running a standard NUC is you can set the BIOS to use the CPU's maximal speed - it will result in the fan running at times. This is useful if you're using DSP (eg I upsample and do DSD>PCM in Roon when sending to my Schiit headphone DAC/amp). Setting the NUC to high speed makes it run hotter which will make it throttle down in a fanless case. I believe the Nucleus BIOS is not set to run at max speed.

    Hi, miguelito,

    I'm setting up Roon-NUC 11 i7 with ROCK with the 32GB RAM & M.2 SSD (but the music library will be on an USB 20TB HD.

     

    In addition to tweaking the fan setting, did you disable any BIOS options in order to throttle back CPU needs?  But more importantly, did you disable any BIOS options that seemed to improve the sound?  If so, what were they?

     

    Cheers, -Mike (mrmb) 

    1. miguelito

      miguelito

      Just saw this...

       

      I in fact made sure the BIOS settings are for max performance. My NUC is in my office so there's no electrical noise anywhere close to the audio system. The fan runs when it wants and that's alright.

       

      I have tried to hear differences from servers running over the network over RAAT, and I have never heard a sound difference. 

       

      This is different if your NUC is close to your stereo and you're using USB to play - in this case there are a lot more subtleties.

       

      As for networking, I have a dCS Rossini Apex+clock. It is connected to the network via an Ethernet-SFP (ie optical) bridge, with the bridge powered by a linear power supply (and Ultracap LPS-1). 

    2. mrmb

      mrmb

      Hi miguelito,

      I just noticed that I failed to reply to your kind response.

       

      I did get my NUC up and running quite nicely.

       

      I've enjoyed reading you posts and threads on the dCS forum.  I too owned a Rossini.  However, I went in the opposite direction that you did.  Specifically, I moved from dCS to EMM Labs and a DV2 DAC. 

       

      While auditioning a Rossini master clock, I learned of the new Apex upgrade to the Rossini. The clock added sonically. But it wasn’t what I would term a huge step-up -- i.e., one that I just couldn’t live without. At that point, pricing became paramount!

      In round numbers, the Rossini master clock was a $10K upgrade and the Apex was similar in price. For me, adding $20K to a $20+K DAC was at best, questionable. I coupled this pricing, with the fact that the Rossini was beneath the Vivaldi stack both price wise and apparently sonic wise. This fact left me wondering what I would be missing by not owning the dCS flagship!?! I did however know that I wasn’t missing the the cost of doubling a $46.5 K Vivaldi DAC, by adding the Vivaldi master clock and its upsampler & cabling!

      With those facts in mind, I learned of the EMM DV2 DAC and the EMM NS1 streamer. I contacted the dCS distributor and borrowed a NS1 and DV2. After the A/B audition with my Rossini & clock, I kept the EMM combo and jettisoned the Rossini.

      Whether my EMM combo would have beat the newer Rossini Apex upgrade, I don’t know. More importantly however, I didn’t care.

      Not dumping another ~$20K on a $20+K DAC, let alone contemplating more than doubling that amount on the flagship Vivaldi stack, left me and my wallet happy.

      Additionally, I am really enjoying the EMM combo. It provides what I would describe as a very listenable and muscial middle of the road between my previous Lampizator DAC's (the Big7 and Golden Gate) and dCS.  Whether my EMM combo can be beat by MSB, dCS, Lampi, Wadax, Linn et al., I don’t care. Because, I’m happy to get away from the DAC add this (clock/upsampler/power supply) and doubling the price of the DAC itself et al. conveyor line; as well as the (Lampi) Tube DAC hassles of trialing and finding and rolling very costly new tubes, that I found to have premature failure rates.

       

      I'm pretty sure I read of your problems with EMM and the DAC you owned.  Hopefully, I continue to have great luck with my DV2.  I do however, miss the dCS forum and you and the other great, helpful folks on the site.  EMM Labs has nothing like it and their attention to their customer base doesn't seem to equal dCS's.  For me, time will tell however....

       

      Thanks again for your assistance!

  3. For those interested in the subject, the following post on the Roon forum may be helpful: Use Roon to stream music to Amazon Echo speaker Note: The ability to perform this function was made possible by the fairly recent release of WiiM devices. Thereafter, the ability was codified by Roon, when it made the WiiM Pro: "Roon Ready Certified".
  4. The reply volume to this thread is interesting. If I were to guess, the firestorm herein, possibly defines why Chris came to the conclusions he did. In the early years of such forums as this and in general, in an effort to help each other, hobbyist cited their experiences, shared their personal knowledge and provided their opinions. Folks with technical experience and listening experience helped those without. We all learned from each other. There wasn’t much sniping, and finger wagging based on I’m right and you’re not. As with all information that comes into our purview, it was understood that some information was, or may be incorrect, some was pretty accurate and other information was downright crazy (and an almost infinite amount of variance between these 3). As with all things in life, the researcher/reader (human) must make decisions and conclusions for themselves. Why should I try to tell someone -- especially in a very subjective pursuit such as a live performance recreation in our homes -- they can’t be correct because of this, that or the other thing!?! I may think it and oftentimes I do. But what would be my motivation for pointing out to them what is to me, the obvious? And herein lies the crux of the issue. Slowly but surely, what seem to be I’m right & you’re not chest-pounder's and activists began seeping in and popping-up (perhaps the devolution over the years, of our on-line discourse experiences). Their motivation for posting implied that they wanted to warn of wrong-headed bias and as such, save the uninitiated from self-serving vendors, but essentially themselves, or make it easier to conclude what to buy etc… For example, “Danger...Will Robinson….Danger”: Logic and "facts" dictate you can't be hearing what you believe you are and here's proof! Beware, this, that, and the other....is snake oil. You must be educated upon statistical and research bias (which of course assumes you are not) – e.g. recall bias, confirmation bias, I spent big bucks for it, so it must be good, et al. To be believed, double blind listening tests need to be conducted, your hearing needs to be bat-like and your room must be an ideal listening environment (https://www.amazon.com/Master-Handbook-Acoustics-Alton-Everest/dp/0071603328)….but more importantly, measurements must prove your conclusion....ad infinitum. So, the bottom line is a reversion to measurements (so called facts) and science. Only these aren’t the end all, be all either, especially if they are not repeatable or peer reviewed, or proven to be 100% correlated to the ways we process auditory input. It’s interesting that when I read a subjective pronouncement, I weigh its value and make conclusions about it, knowing I’m right/wrong, partially so &/or otherwise. I very rarely have seen the need to post a judging rebuttal. What would be my motivation? But then again, the question of my motivation, is something that I constantly attempt to ask myself when it comes to all, but such things as autonomic reflexes. One can learn a lot with that sort of introspection. However, when someone begins making pronouncements of right, wrong, citing so called facts based on this, that or otherwise, my back bristles. Especially if they begin on the bias routine which I’ve understood and personally fought-against for far too many decades to recount (much to my chagrin, sometimes I win, sometimes not, I'm only human). There are liars, damn liars and statistics. By its very nature, science constantly revises facts. Maybe not today, tomorrow or in our lifetimes, but we know from history, that “facts” will and do change. Too believe otherwise, is far too godlike to contemplate. Here’s a clue, we all biased in far too many ways to count. So what, it’s the human condition. Deal with it or not, whatever the case may be. I don’t, can’t care! I only care if I believe that the performance-recreating-illusion occurring in my 2-channel listening room is enjoyable, exciting, makes me happy etc. I can cite what equipment I have and state my musical and recording studio bonafides (which I don’t have by the way) in an attempt to convince or convey why I’m correct because of this, or that fact and you must not be correct etc. But again, what is the point, the motivation? To troll or not to troll, that is the question. If one posts to be helpful, so be it. But it appears that is becoming less and less often the case and it seems that Chris may somewhat believe likewise.
  5. It's Chris' forum and obviously his rules. What's to discuss? Read and post if you like; if your don't like the forum or its rules, don't read and post.
  6. Thanks Vincent1234, 150-300 hours has been my experience with other CDP's and DAC's. So, yeah, I was thinking about a week, give or take. I'm just anxious to hear just what to ultimately expect from the Rossini. I traded a darn good balanced tube DAC of essentially equal value for the Rossini. And right-out-of-the-box, I was liking what the Rossini was doing. I especially liked how quick and easy it locked on to my Roon Core. Albeit subtle (which I expected) filter changes have also been interesting. I assume as the DAC runs-in, these will be slightly more discerible. It is nice to parse a network streamer (another variable) out of the system and directly connect to ethernet.
  7. Can anyone comment on the length of time the Rossini takes to burn-in? BTW, Chris, thanks for you review of the Rossini. And for the most part, I enjoyed the comments it elicited. But it is always interesting to read negative comments about cost as it generally relates to the high-end audio products; alluding to how misguided we audiophiles all are. They're as helpful as negative (1-star) reviews on sites such as Amazon regarding an item that was received damaged. In both cases, animus drives the post. Neither add a whit to the discussion; nor are they obviously meant to.
  8. The PS Audio Sprout 100 is an integrated amp with a DAC and phono, priced at $599. PS Audio pairs the Sprout with Elac’s B6.2 speakers for $899 https://www.psaudio.com/products/sprout100-elac-system/. I've not heard any of these components. But reviews, especially at the Elac's price, point are superb! Of course, the Sprout 100 could be paired with any speakers.... I've been looking for these sorts of components for a friend that is new to computer audio and on a limited budget. The Sprout and B6.2's both for their price and company's pedigrees, seem to be almost incomparable; making for a good primary system for some and a great secondary system for others.
  9. Thanks for the review link. However, Sterophile's review left me wondering. Wondering how the contents of the review turned the Project into a class "A" rating? Wondering if the Project actually bettered the AQ DragonFly Red, or whether overall they were equal with perhaps the AQ bettering the Project? The review revolved around using the Project with headphones. While speakers seemed to be used, I found no listening comments specific to their use. I don't doubt that the Project at its price point is a superb DAC. I just don't know how the review I read, translates into a Class A rating, unless of course the value-to-performance ratio skewed it in that direction? At any rate, the devil is always in the details and for me and for my 2-cents, Stereophile's review goes wanting.
  10. Re. the Pro-Ject Pre Box S2A : Out of a small number of Amazon Verified Purchaser Reviews, several cite build quality issues. Especially those involving either power port's/USB port's "breaking"/"falling-off". I'm always wary about purchase reviews especially on Amazon. But there appears to be far too many of a limited sample, "verified" purchasers with the same issue. So, at the very least before purchasing, I would want to delve into this issue more to confirm that either the reviews on Amazon are abnormal, or Project has fixed the problem.
  11. At university, my learning of the scientific method struck a significant and notable chord. I embraced it with a passion. Thus, I l understand conformation bias Et al. Bias is with us every minute of every day -- optical illusions are simple but significantly potent examples of how constantly and consistently biased we view the world. We learn to view the world as we learn everything else and oftentimes we simply get it wrong. Life is constant learning if we doing as we should. There are few givens and even those are subject to change as we progress as a species. As it was important to me, I have worked 24/7/365 towards an objective way of looking at the world. Can I perfectly do this? Heck no, NEVER! After many experiments and more years than I care to count, mental bias is maintained as a given and is always a possibility. So what?!? It isn’t a bad or good thing, it just is. There is no right, wrong, component or rig here. How can one quantify beauty? Yep, it is in the eye (or in this case, ear) of the beholder, NOT in a measurement!! I treat this hobby as a way to relax and meditate, not one where I must continue to browse and analyze charts and graphs. As important as these are in other instances, my subjective music reproduction appreciation has not been biased by these, unless of course an audio designer of my components has used them to enhance and voice their products as I imagine some have. The very premise of this hobby is an illusion. We're trying to recreate a performance in our personal environment that occurred at some other time and place. During the best of times, we may lull ourselves into thinking we have done this. Being able to do this repeatedly has been my goal. To my satisfaction and pleasure, it works very well. But listening to my system, would it be that way for anyone else? Who knows and why should I care? Many years ago while he was taking percussion lessons, I took my son to his first symphonic performance. I asked him what do you think. He said it sounds like your stereo. Was he biased by the way I asked the question or what he thought I wanted him to say? Maybe or not! But at the time, my rig sounded pretty darn good when compared to a live performance or a solo instrument. It is even better today. But no system today (at least) can replicate a single live instrument, let alone an orchestral crescendo! With the former, we can get pretty darn close and I suppose that is what we’re seeking. At any rate, my son as I, is now an avid audiophile. His first job after graduating with a computer science degree was with a major and historic audio equipment manufacturer. He had the pleasure of taking our hobby into his work by being involved with many double-blind listening tests; providing the engineers with several of my so-called audiophile recordings. He learned a bunch about bias and himself, but more importantly his audio tastes. Yes we all have them or should if we’ve spent enough time “educating” ourselves to our preferences by listening to as many different and divergent types of equipment as we can (not by analyzing measurements). My son and I do listen and compare and contrast what we’re hearing. We only do so separately and without prejudicing each other with our thoughts or conclusions before conveying them. Does this remove all bias? Of course it doesn’t! But we’ve ended up with pretty darn satisfying results via the various systems we own – none of which relied a wit on our analyzation of scientific measurements. My son has his audio priorities and I mine. Sometimes they overlap; other times, not so much. Does that make one of us right and the other wrong, heck no. What it means is that he enjoys what he does and I enjoy what I do. But all of our various audio and video systems make each of us smile, no matter whose system we’re listening to, when. But in absolutely NO instance have measurements evoked that smile or goose bumps or even the tears upon hearing a beautiful instrument, voice, or a never-to-be repeated performance…. It is unimportant whether anyone else obtains the same result as we. We’re not seeking a peer reviewed consensus or a replication of our personally satisfying conclusions – just beautiful, blissful recreations of memorable performances....
  12. In the range you're considering, not a bad way to make a selection. In fact, several decades ago -- minus the need for measurements -- I relied upon similar logic. However, with the advent of audio forums, professional reviews are now very minimal place holders (if at all) in my audio product selection process and measurements are irrelevant. As a previous poster suggested, my ears are the ONLY measurement devices I require; pleasing them is my ONLY goal -- why I am in this hobby. I ONLY want to know how a product sounds in my system. I don't care about its component parts, its aesthetics, etc. How does it sound and does it please me is the only question I want to know the answer to? Not does it have appealing charts, graphs etc.? Imaging, soundstage, the-you-are-at-the performance illusion can't be answered by measurements. If for example, the questions: of does a trumpet sound like a trumpet, or more importantly, how well does a component recreate a performance could be answered by measurements, forums like this wouldn't exist and we would all be procuring the components that manage to spit out the absolute best measurements -- i.e., is this one 0.001% better here and there, than its competition? Maybe a place to start, but hardly the place to end; unless of course, one is more concerned with being "right" as opposed to being personally satisfied by the end result -- allowing lab measurements and the conclusions of others to be the zero factors they should be. Once I got away from professional reviews, because information was so available elsewhere, I discovered several amazing boutique products that rarely, if ever, make it to the pages of advertising containing publications. Some of these are sold direct and the only way to learn of them is reading, sifting.....reading, sifting etc. Yeah, it takes thousands of hours; but after putting in the time and effort, one finds information and poster's that ring true, because you can manage to ascertain that their listening priorities are similar to yours etc. However, at a price range of a AQ DragonFly Red, periodical reviews are a good way to initiate painting a picture, along with doing what you've done here. With all angst aside, you probably can't really go wrong with whatever you choose....
  13. For our newly constructed house, i recently installed a Ubiquiti Router (USG-Pro-4), 24Port POI (Power Over Internet) Switch (US-24-250W) and (1) Wi-Fi AC (Access Point; UAP-AC-PRO-E). So far all is well. Including the walk-out basement, we have over 5,000 sq.ft. under roof. The single Wi-Fi Access Point is ceiling mounted upstairs and centrally located. We probably could use another, but this one A/P has a pretty impressive range and is taking care of our household by itself. So, yes, Ubiquiti is pretty hard to beat and is one of the best for security. As mainly business class products, Ubiquiti updates their firmware quite frequently to get the jump on new viruses and one can create VLAN's (Virtual Local Area Networks) to isolate IoT (Internet of Things) devices from ones main hardware. From a security perspective, Pepwave routers have been mentioned here in the C/A. Deciding between Pepwave and Ubiquiti was difficult. Both are geared to SOHO (Small Office Home Office) use and would be hard to beat, especially with the usual consumer type hardware.
  14. Several years ago, I found quite negative and decisive information similar to the poster's recent experience. Delivery delays and excuses from the seller abounded. After wading through all of the information available, my conclusion was this was systemic and business as usual, as opposed to being an aberration and I elected to look elsewhere for PSU's. So, years later, this post is anything but surprising -- it's just business as usual....
  15. Not limited to a budget of $5k, but nevertheless one of the best DAC's posts (with over 4k replies) I've followed is this one: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/absolute-top-tier-dac-for-standard-res-redbook-cd?sort_order=desc If anyone here hasn't seen this, it is a good read.... Unfortunately, for the most part, this quote is a theorem in this hobby as with most others, where the question of price verses performance is concerned. I say unfortunately, because my wallet wishes it weren't so. For most of my audiophile life, I didn't delve deeply into the very high-end cost wise. But once I crossed a particular milestone, I realized I wasn't getting any younger. So, I began thinking that if I didn't extend my budget then, I may never have the opportunity to. Hence, while my overall health and more importantly my hearing acuity were as good as they would ever be, I jumped into the very high-end first with amplification and later with other components and have never regretted it. But I do totally agree that price and results are oftentimes anything but correlative, which I suppose is one of the main reasons why we're involved with and interested in forums such as this. Lastly, Austinpop, I look forward to reading what you uncover on your quest, thanks for sharing....
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