Article: Reference Recordings HRx Review

[Spike]

Did you connect the Minerva DAC to your Macbook pro via firewire?

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hey Spike - Yes, I used FireWire with a 6pin to 6 pin <a href="http://www.monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=2885">Monster Digital Firelink Cable</a>.

[VincentH]

Hi Chris, did you by chance also try listening with your Grado RS1 to these HRx recordings through the Minerva? As an RS1 owner looking for a hi-res DAC I'm very interested in how well the RS1's can reproduce all that hi-res goodness.<br />

<br />

Thx, VincentH

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hey Vincent - I didn't try any headphones with the HRx & Minerva combination. I will give it a shot and let you know what I think.

[PNCD]

Chris<br />

I have just received my Minerva, but without any software drivers. My dealer tells me no drivers are needed but my dedicated Vista system will recognize the device but not its audio function.<br />

Did you receive drivers? If so, where can I get them?<br />

Like you, my goal with Minerva is to get high quality high resolution replay from all the new formats that are out there.<br />

Thanks, Peter

[The Computer Audiophile]

The Minerva comes with a software CD that you should have received. I'm not sure if this is available on the Internet or not. Let me contact Daniel Weiss and I'll let you know.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hey PNCD - I talked to Daniel Weiss who reiterated that software is indeed require for the Minerva. The disc should be in the back of the manual connected to the inside back cover. Let me know if you don't find it there and I will upload the disc to the site here so you can download it.

[PNCD]

Now I feel dumb! I had shaken the manual when looking through the stuff and did not find it stuck to the back cover.<br />

I will now try to get it working with Vista and my various programs.....that is the BIG downside of computeraudio.<br />

Thanks,<br />

Peter

[TheRocker]

<cite>Apple Corp. claims its Macs support up to 24/192 through the built-in optical outputs. This would be a fairly good option for listening to HRx releases through a wider array DACs, but to the best of my knowledge nobody has been able to adjust the Audio Midi settings above 24/96.</cite><br />

<br />

Chris, I have come across this limitation too, maybe Mark can jump in here and let us know how the RME FF400 handles this?<br />

<br />

<br />

<cite>The people at Reference Recordings strongly suggest using a computer with the Lynx Studio AES 16e PCIexpress card connected via AES/EBU to a Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC.</cite><br />

<br />

I assume that the only Mac that can achieve this is a Mac Pro, or can a MacBook Pro do this via the ExpressCard/34 slot?

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hey Peter - I think mark can confirm this as I asked him about it a few weeks back. I wanted to make sure his pro audio components had the same fate as my consumer products. We'll see what he has to say here though.<br />

<br />

Of course the Mac Pro accepts the Lynx card. If you want to use the Lynx card on a laptop you can purchase an ExpressCard to PCI/Express adapter. Like you suggest, you put the card into a little box that has a cable into your ExpressCard slot.

[markr]

I can only confirm that with the FF400 connected, that both the control panel for the FF and the Audio Midi utility will allow me to select 192 kHz. - or any other setting I've yet heard of up to that. The FF user's manual states that ADAT and SPDIF operation is switched down to a reduced channel count (never less that 2 channel digital out) as the sample rates rise. That has to do with operating the hardware at higher multiples of standard frequencies - it is called bit splitting or S/MUX -. The analog output sounds perfect to me at 24/96 (the point where S/MUX is switched in for the digital outs) I cannot confirm the analog playback quality of higher sampling rates at this point. I need to get some HRx tracks music to confirm this. On a side note, the FF manual mentions that Core Audio begins reducing it's available channel count as the sample rate climbs as well.<br />

<br />

As for Core Audio supporting 192kHz without an external DAC, I don't see it there. 24/96 is the best my MacBook Pro will do natively. It isn't one of the newest ones though, it is from the last generation of MBP's.<br />

<br />

markr

[The Computer Audiophile]

Before we take this one further I have to make sure we are all talking about the same thing.<br />

<br />

I was referring to the built-in optical output of Macs and their inability to go beyond 24/96.<br />

<br />

With the Minerva I can certainly go beyond 24/96 connected via FireWire.

[markr]

... while you were posting your request for clarification - I realized that I hadn't answered the question fully. AFTER the post. 8^)<br />

<br />

markr

[The Computer Audiophile]

Cool. I thought we discussed this one a few weeks ago! Thanks for the edit!

[TheRocker]

Thanks Chris and Mark!

[jxo]

Chris: what is your guess on whether an XP based computer plus the Lynx will really improve matters over what you heard with a Mac and a simple firewire connection to a decent 176.4 capable DAC?<br />

This really has me re-thinking my hardware approach. I am beginning to consider going Mac... finally... if XP plus Lynx does not represent a serious improvement over your setup. I guess the options are limited, if the Minerva is the only firewire DAC that will get the job done (or, as you point out, the optical connection is fixed to do 176.4).<br />

<br />

Second question: can these HRx WAV files be accessed wirelessly without loss of sonic quality? Specifically, if I were to go with a laptop (whether Mac or XP plus a Lynx) and use it to connect via my wireless router to a networked drive containing the HRx files, will I be able to play back these hi rez wav files without problems or sonic degradation? assuming, of course, that the laptop is connected to the right DAC (either firewire from a Mac or AES/EBU from the Lynx on an XP laptop),<br />

<br />

Lastly, what software player did you use?

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hey Jim - Good questions. I would not expect a Windows XP machine with a Lynx card to sound better than my Mac with the Minerva FireWire DAC. Windows has so many variables and tweaks with each playback application that I would be willing to put a Mac with the Minerva up against any Windows setup any day. In my opinion the Mac/Minerva combo would come out on top every time.<br />

<br />

The HRx files can surely be played in all their glory with a wireless NAS drive containing all the tracks. I use a NAS drive connected to an Apple Airport Extreme which wirelessly send the data on my MacBook Pro music server. There are no issues doing this because the data flowing via wireless is pre-iTunes and the MacBook Pro processes the data just like it was coming from the local hard drive. It is a different story if iTunes is sending the data to a wireless DAC. The state of wireless DACs is subpar in my opinion and limited to lower resolutions. So, to answer your question straight forward :-) there is no sonic degradation by accessing your music files via wireless router connected to a network drive. Just dont send your music to the DAC via wireless (yet).<br />

<br />

I use iTunes. Bit perfect on a Mac right out of the box.

[musicalsound]

I wonder how the sound of Mac -> Minerva will compare if these wav files are used to create an DVD-A disc and playback using a DVD-A player such as an Esoteric SA-60... For those who don't want to invest in a separate DAC just yet.

[jxo]

Chris: have you spotted an adapter for a laptop to accept a pci soundcard like the Lynx card? all of the adapters I found were for use in a pc to enable them to use laptop express cards. Am beginning to think about an XP laptop, Lynx soundcard, new DAC with wireless file access. I have not been able to find the necessary adapter so a laptop can use the Lynx card.<br />

<br />

Second, would the Benchmark DAC1 connected to a Lynx soundcard via AES/EBU resolve the RR HRx recordings at full 24/176.4 resolution? am hoping it would do so with an XP laptop running iTunes.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hey Jim - Forgive me if I've already sent this one to you but sometimes I can't remember what I did an hour ago much less a week ago! This adapter should work just fine http://www.magma.com/products/pciexpress/expressbox1/index.html . They have PCI and PCIe versions.<br />

<br />

The only thing your laptop needs is an ExpressCard slot.<br />

<br />

Let me know if I'm not following the question here :-)

[The Computer Audiophile]

According to Benchmark yes this would allow you to play the HRx albums at full resolution. I have not tested this personally but I see absolutely no reason why this wouldn't work.

[jxo]

thanks Chris. you answered the question but the price on these adapters look a little steep.

[audiozorro]

Chris, how are you bringing the RR albums into iTunes? Originally I had just copied the RR WAV files from the CD into my Music Directory and I was using Cog to play back the WAV files. Later I decided to import the WAV files into iTunes so I could use the Apple Remote and Front Row. But then I had to type in some of the typical track info I get automatically when ripping my CDs into iTunes. Anyway the bit rate for the WAV file shows 8467 kbps and the sample rate shows 176.400 kHz in iTunes. I then converted the WAV file to AIFF so that I could add the artwork supplied on the RR CD. That worked fine except that the files size decreased and the AIFF files shows a 5644 kbps bit rate and the sample rate shows 176.400 kHz. I didn't expect the bit rate to change so I will probably forgo the artwork and just leave the files as WAV files rather than risk downgrading the files. I thought you might know the best way of minimizing effort and maximizing playback quality or have you been just enjoying the music like me and not caring about these little details. iTunes is so damn easy and, at least on the Mac, so good that I wish digital providers such as RR and Linn would offer AIFF files in addition to the WAV or FLAC files they provide, even if there had to be a slight surcharge.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi audiozorro - first I have to say that music sites offering AIFF would be a fabulous thing. HDtracks is the only one doing this at the moment.<br />

<br />

When you converted the wavs within iTunes the files went down to 16 / 176.4 that's why you saw the decrease to 5644 kbps. <br />

<br />

I am listening to the HRx albums in iTunes as AIFF files with the full 24 / 176.4 resolution. Here is how I did it and the best way I know of. Use the Max application to convert from wav to AIFF. Make sure you have the Max settings correct of course. Then add the AIFF tracks to your library and you'll have them in full resolution. I'm pretty sure I had to enter all the information about titles and track, but there is at least one shortcut that I know of. I may be the master of the obvious on this one but here it goes anyway. Highlight all the tracks on an album. Select Get Info. Set all the fields that are the same for all tracks. So, Album title, Artist, and total track number. The Get Info for the first song. Ad a number 1 in the trak box and change the name of the song. Then just hit the next button and you're on song number 2 without any hassle. You probably knew this already, but other people reading the thread will hopefully benefit from the explanation.<br />

<br />

Is the first part about using Max clear? I also tested the AIFF tracks for bit perfect output and they are all perfect. Let me know if you still aren't getting the full resolution.

[audiozorro]

After I posted my message I noticed that I have a few tracks from a Redbook CD that show a bit rate of 2116 kbps and sample rate of 44.1 kHz. I assume I must have ripped these tracks in Max to playback in Cog but then I later imported them into iTunes. When I directly rip my Redbook CDs into iTunes they show a bit rate of 1411 kbps and sample rate of 44.1 kHz. I assume there is no good reason to rip Redbook CDs to anything higher than 16/44.1 and that ripping to 24/44.1 is a waste of disk space.<br />

<br />

Fortunately iTunes plays WAV files so I believe I will leave the RR HRx tracks as WAV files with a bit rate of 8467 kbps and sample rate of 176.4 kHz. Being able to add or retrieve artwork for AIFF files is cute but sonically irrelevant. And horrors of all horrors I noticed that my iTunes library had a few albums that had been ripped to low resolution (128 kbps/44.1kHz) lossy compressed audio files. These albums will have to be re-ripped.<br />

<br />

I see that I could have set my preference in Max to automatically add the output files to the iTunes library. You learn something new everyday, which is so great about your site. Other sites may give you informed/uninformed/biased/unbiased opinions/info and reviews. Your site seems to bring over more of the positive and almost none of the negatives of these sites, but more importantly your site seems responsive and dedicated to finding solutions.