micksa

I wonder if Wap is still following this thread. I'm hi-jacking it to see if I can find anyone happy with passive, stand-mounted speakers in a small space... ideally from behind. I've been experimenting with 'music from behind' in the rental I currently occupy. I work at a 27" iMac in a fairly large (18'x14'), musically non-ideal room. The acoustics are *bad* with a nasty resonance that I've half-killed (in a non-destructive way, of course Mr Landlord) and yet despite the room size it's impractical to have speakers anywhere but behind. There are doors to the side and I certainly couldn't face the speakers with this huge panel in front of me. I've got used to the unusual stereo... music is still hugely enjoyable. But this is all about to change. We've bought a house, and I've been given a much smaller room (12'x8.5', but with a very nice view..) to work in. My main system will be elsewhere, as ever. The good news is I can mod the hell out of this room: it's mine. But I'd like to use the old office system I'm using right now. I play vinyl on a Yamaha GT750 and fire 24-bit stuff at a Caiman DAC, thru a nice old Denon integrated into some quite large, front ported Mission 770s. I might be upgrading the dac but (for now at least) my budget is likely to be restricted to that and some enthusiastic DIY acoustic room treatment. I have no idea where to start. I like my bass but the 770s will need to be up against the wall. It's an attic room with a fairly high, symmetrical sloping ceiling and glazed doors along one side. I'm initially thinking of the speakers-behind thing again, closer together (which seems to suit them) and hoping I don't get convinced by someone on here that I do in fact need to swap them out for wall-mounted actives... If you're still around Wap, how did your experiment work out? Mick

I think most vinyl-rip newbies just want a clean, jitter-free sound at the end of the digital chain. The nuanced differences between one and the other, while interesting (and noted!) are secondary to the fundamental question: 'how much do I need to spend to get the output to sound like the input?' From my investigations so far, having auditioned a couple of contenders, I'd say it was around $500, although there are one or two options at half the price. Given the above debate, I'm tempted to spend the extra mostly because this purchase is also a DAC upgrade. These were on my shortlist: Roland New Zealand - Vocalist » QUAD-CAPTURE (UA-55) PreSonus ..but I'm now thinking of splurging on one of these: http://www.furutech.com/download/ADL%20GT40_News.pdf Interesting that the cheaper Roland is the only 192kHz one there. I hear the argument for extra headroom in post-production, but i'm unconvinced I'll miss it with a mere 24/96er. Also interested to hear of the attenuation issue. Is this a tweak you normally have to deal with, or are there 'dials' on some ADCs for the purpose? Mick

Thanks guys, some very interesting leads there I've heard good things elsewhere about the Fireface 400 but it's well out of my pricerange, even used. That GT40, on the other hand, is seriously likely to eat up my beer budget. I had no idea Furutech even got out of bed for less than a thousand bucks. I can feel myself falling deeply in lust with it... the only issue might be getting hold of one. I'm in New Zealand and there's not a sniff of one anywhere (online) and getting this sort of thing from foreign suppliers can make things tricky and potentially (even) more expensive. I'll probably try to hold off until I can track one down here, find the money, and/or become so obsessed that money becomes no object. Still very tempted to grab at the quick/cheap option of the Roland Quad. Even though it seems I'll get less bang for my buck, I will be able to get straight on with my ripping and still sell it on easy enough if it's not performing so well as a DAC. Either way I'll definitely post back when I make a decision. Thanks again for all the pointers. Mick

Thanks John, I was wondering about the optical connection & from your experience sounds the likely culprit. I have SPDIF and coaxial inputs only. I've heard of good USB>Coaxial adaptors but they're around $150 bucks, which I'd rather not spend. Pretty sure I can (cheaply) adapt the MacBook optical out to coaxial, but not for 24/96 playback. Unless you know otherwise?

I suppose the crux is: if these units are rated highly for transparency, low-noise, etc as ADCs, does it follow they'll be good and neutral as DACs? Or is this different circuitry we're talking about for the analog > digital conversion?

Thanks for the reply Chris. I should have been more specific: it's a 'gatorized' Beresford Caiman http://www.beresford.me/PP/Gatorized_Caiman__DAC.html I'm really not sure if the chips/opamps etc in there have been improved upon greatly in the last year or so, in DACs at this price point, or in ADC gear that might house something comparable. I realise all DACs sound different and often 'better' could be a thousand bucks away from where I am. I've toyed with the cheapo gamble on an eBay special, in fact I was about to press the button on an older Presonus for around the $100 mark. Just thought I might save some messing about by asking here first...

I upgraded w/o problems too Unsure if this is the right place to bring this up, but I've been trying for some time to find the source of a disconcerting noise that occurs only while using A+ to play 24-bit files, in both standalone and integrated modes. iTunes on its own plays the same files without problem, and 16-bit stuff in both iTunes, standalone and integrated plays without the noise. There's a quiet, single 'pop' immediately before the start of a 24/96 album, At the end of the album, or when clicking the 'stop' button on the A+ interface, I get a much louder double-pop which actually makes the bass drivers on my speakers pump outwards a little. Right after that, A+ displays "Releasing iTunes playback..." and there's another quiet 'pop' similar to the one at the start. Playback of the tracks is faultless, no popping or clicking at all. I've learned to pause playback instead of hitting the 'stop' button. The workaround in general is to never play albums, just keep iTunes playing through a playlist and pausing to stop playback. But I'm thinking there's a simple solution here, somewhere. I'm using a Gatorized Caiman DAC with an optical connection to my 2008 C2D MacBook. It's a dedicated set up, with only A+ and iTunes running, 4Gb RAM, everything appears to load and play effortlessly. I've had every possible number of permutations of A+ preference settings, but may well have missed something... Any ideas?

Hi, thanks for taking the time to read this. For a good while I've been enjoying a toslinked Caiman DAC with my 2008-spec MacBook. Fingertip-control 24/96 playback has spoilt me, basically. I want to rip my vinyl into this format, not just for convenience but as a viable backup to my collection. I'm currently looking at a way of affordably upgrading the DAC to something like (as in, "cheaper than") an Apogee Duet2 that lets me rip and playback thru the same interface. The search has taken me into unknown territory – pro audio – where there's a baffling array of options, brands I've never heard of, spec I didn't think I needed to know, and still don't... I think I do need (balanced?) RCA or TRS inputs and can use either Firewire or USB I/O. Essentially, it's like this: I'm happy to trade in the Caiman to fund a DAC/ADC unit, as long as I'm trading up to something at least as well-specced as the Caiman for playback. I'm thinking things have moved on some in the 2 years since I bought it and I should be able to do this quite cheaply... ideally with something left over to afford a cart upgrade for my TT. Including eBay trade-in of the Caiman, this would mean I have the princely sum of $300 to squander. Is this wishful thinking? Can anyone suggest an improvement over (current picks): Roland UA-55 http://www.roland.co.nz/products/productdetails.aspx?p=1166&c=458 Presonus 22VSL http://www.presonus.com/products/Detail.aspx?ProductId=63 E-MU 0404 http://www.creative.com/emu/products/product.aspx?category=610&pid=15185 ? Any/all suggestions welcome, including the default, 'do nothing'! and the dreaded, 'you need to spend twice as much'! Thanks Mick