Simon M.

So I've ran across two questions in testing so far: 1. I seem to be able to change the volume with both the itunes slider and pure music buttons even when "all dsp options disabled (except up sampling, invert polarity)" is selected. Anyone else able to reproduce this? I'm using a proton with HW volume control (enabled). 2. I would love I someone would make an easy to use walk through of how to set up playthrough. I have it working, but it won't upsample and I'm not convinced sounds as good as it should. Also what options do I need set for it to work (ie it doesn't work if you have hog mode set to yes) SQ wise - sounds good to me. But I thought the previous releases were already fantastic - if I can get playthrough to sound great it would be my player of choice. Thanks!

Chris, As soon as I saw you tweet that you were using the hassy for show coverage I was stoked. There is just something about a large square negative (especially in monochrome) that gets an emotional response from me. Needless to say you did not disappoint - wonderful images that really go a long way to showcase the equipment and more importantly for me - the vibe each manufacturers room had (e.g. Wilson feels very formal, while the Ayre room is more rebellious teenager). Great work and well worth the wait. Now how about sharing some of the images that "didn't quite work out" ;-) Cheers, Simon

Just a quick update with respect to integer mode on my system. I did a clean install of Maverics, updated iTunes, and a clean install of the most recent PureMusic (1.89g R3). I can select integer mode in the preferences of PureMusic, but when I do I get no sound out at all even though it looks as though it is playing and has "Non mixable integer stream" in the metering window. My system is a MacBook Air 4,1 feeding a Wavelength Proton. I will try to get in touch with Rob at channel D to see if this is expected behavior or if there is something I have set up incorrectly. Thankfully the music sounds wonderful (don't know if that's due to the clean install and clearing out the cruff, or due to Maverics) even without integer mode working. Cheers, Simon

I believe I have the most recent version prior to the 10.9 release. Perhaps 11.1.1? I'm unsure if there was an iTunes update included in the mavericks installer. I may try a fresh install of mavericks to see if that solves any of the issues. Will post back here if I make any progress.

I would not call BitPerfect stable in integer mode on my system (Air -> Wavelength Proton). Random stutters, or not playing music at all. I will ensure I'm up to date and send the log to BitPerfect tonight if it still isn't working, hopefully this is an easy thing to be resolved.

Ran into the first issue last night. Integer mode with PureMusic doesn't seem to work on my system, same goes for in BitPerfect. Direct/Integer mode is working in Audirvana. I haven't tried decibel yet, but will later today. Any thoughts? System in MBAir -> Wavelength Proton (which should work in integer mode I think) Thanks, Simon

Thanks Bill, I'll play around with xld to see if I can get it to do what I want. Off the top of your head (or anyone's) do you know if I can load the music folder into xld, rather than specific albums, and have it convert only aif files (within the sub folders). Thanks! Simon

Hey guys I'm looking for a bit of help. My library consists of a mix of aif and alac files, and honestly I hear no difference in between these files on my system (YMMV - but please no arguing about the best format in this thread). As I'm starting to run low on hard drive space I would like to convert the aiff files I have to alac. Is there an easy way to do this? I would love to point a program to my music folder and tell it to convert all aif to alac, but leave other files alone. Possible? Keeping the tags and artwork would be a huge bonus. Not having to rebuild the iTunes library I use would be amazing but likely not possible, the files are changing after all. If it matters I'm on a Mac, and have max and xld - but don't know how to configure them to do what I want (if they can). Thanks! Simon

I would agree with Chris that things aren't as bleak as they seem. I definitely fall into the millennial demographic (born 1985) and most of the people I know around my age have some type of music system at home. It may not be the absolute in fidelity, but they all have something and it's almost always playing. With music on all the time I feel that most of us will end up with dedicated audio systems in our living areas. Now probably not $40k+ systems, but I expect that the peachtree/sonus faber system (~$5000) Chris reviewed or something similar will end up in most of my friends houses. Simon Edit - just to add reference that my current system is mac->proton->audiolab8200A->custom speakers. This is not the highest fidelity system of my friends, but it is one my wife and I can easily live with in our living area (of course there are always questions about smaller speakers...might be looking at some mini monitors soon)

Hey Chris, Just wanted to drop a quick note and mention that this article was the most engaging and fun read I've had on your site. I would go one step further and say across the entire audiophile press it ranks up there in the top 5 reads. Well done - and looking forward to many more of these creative pieces! Simon. PS - looking to simplify right now and the peachtree/sonus faber system looks mighty tempting... time to arrange an audition.

Just a quick update based on what I'm using here and some of the settings I'm using and how much of the resources are being used. MBA 11": OSX 10.8.4, 1.6GHz i5, 4Gb memory, 124Gb SSD no special set ups or other tweaks Audirvana+ 1.5.6 with iTunes integration: Interger mode 1, exclusive access, direct mode, 1024mb memory allocation, all system optimizers maxed out, no other options enabled, DAC volume only. Playing a 2min 54sec 24/96 file: Audirvana+ uses 0.6% of CPU load and 280Mb of memory. iTunes uses 1.1% of CPU load and 141.5Mb of memory. Hope that the above can help anyone make a decision if the MBA is enough of a computer for their needs. Simon.

I'm currently using Audirvana+ (no up-sampling or AU plugins, but most other options enabled, iTunes integration for the remote app) or Decibel. No issue with either of these and the CPU load and physical memory usage stays low. That being said most of my music is 16/44.1 and none is greater than 24/96. I have also used Pure Music, Amarra, Bit Perfect, and a few others without issue - but my preference in my system is Decibel then Audirvana+ for most music, with the edge going towards Audirvana+ with iTunes integration for ease of use from my listening chair. I have not tried Audirvana+ without iTunes integration but might at some point in the future. When I get home tonight I can check to see exactly how I have Audirvana+ set up as well as the exact specs of my machine (I believe I have 4Gb of memory and 256Gb SSD running latest OSX) and post them so that you have some real numbers to work with and not just my anecdotal report. I can also check the CPU load and physical memory usage while playing some 24/96 files. Cheers, Simon

I'm currently using an 11" Air as a music server. Works flawlessly and met one major requirement for me that a mac mini didn't - it has a screen for navigation of the library when you don't have an iPhone or iPad handy but is still small enough to not draw attention to itself in our living room. I wouldn't worry too much about the clock speeds or memory if using only as a music server - I rarely run at more than 5% CPU load, and have never filled the full 4Gb of memory (but I suppose if I did that paging to the SSD would be relatively fast). I'm set up as follows: HD -> usb -> MBA-> usb -> dac I've also tried and could not notice a difference in sound quality (YMMV): Network -> ethernet/thunderbolt adapter -> MBA -> usb -> dac Based on what Gordon from Wavelength has been saying my next test will be direct attached thunderbolt storage. Hope that helps. Simon

Great review Chris, Curious if you could touch on how the DF compares to the Wavelength Proton. I currently use a Proton in my main rig and was considering an upgrade and then moving the Proton to the office for some headphone use - but if the DF offers most (or all?) of the performance of the Proton in a smaller/cheaper package I may need to more seriously look into it. Any thoughts or preference between using a DF or Proton with headphones? Does the preference change when used in your main rig? Thanks, Simon

Lots to consider, thanks for the welcome and replies so far. This DAC is definitelly a bit of an experiment (adding the computer along side the turn table...) and I have no doubt that I will want to move up to something pricier at some point. Just currious for oppinions about how much I would need to bump the price range up to be getting really great consistent sound from a usb dac? Is the minimum in the $2.5k range? It may also help to know that about 70% of my listening is orchestral and classic/piano jazz.