mike_in_nc
Responses from mike_in_nc
| Why does USB feature so much in discussions about DACs when the newer HDMI seems better? The best connection is the one supported both by the streamer and by the DAC. Some manufacturers have their own connections (like Auralic’s Lightning Link) or use I2S, and many say that the sound is best if those are used. I have no experience wit... | |
| Why does USB feature so much in discussions about DACs when the newer HDMI seems better? Most computers have several USB ports, so one is likely to be available for digital audio output. On the other hand, not all computers have HDMI, and the ones I have seen have only one HDMI port, intended for the monitor. All that makes USB a usef... | |
| Dirac without losing resolution Dirac needs to work in the digital domain . . . that’s why it’s called DSP (digital signal processing). That kind of processing is not feasible in the analog domain. Until recently, processing typically was done at 48 kHz or 96 kHz, so 192 kHz is ... | |
| Analog stereo to Bluetooth Speakers? You can buy Bluetooth transmitters from Amazon. They are relatively inexpensive. However, using Bluetooth is not likely to give you the same quality of sound as a wired connection. The signal will be converted to digital by the transmitter and th... | |
| Schiit Loki Max? @firstonetallguy It was a while ago, so I don't remember all the details. I wound up returning the knobs to DigiKey. They were more legible, but maybe not enough so, and they were sized enough differently that I didn't like them. Mike | |
| Need recommendation Right. Bose and Sony are the two most often recommended, at least in the comparative reviews I've seen. | |
| Need recommendation @hifinut51 - I assume that the Sonys will connect to an iPhone just fine. What it means is that it won’t connect using LDAC, but it will connect using the best Bluetooth codec that the headphones and the iPhone have in common. Since there are so m... | |
| Need recommendation Don’t overlook the Sony WH-1000XM5. Excellent noise cancelling and very good sound. I’ve had a pair of the WH-1000XM2 since those were current, and I’ve been very pleased with them. The Sonys support probably the best bluetooth codec out there, L... | |
| Tube Amp or Tube Pre Amp As noted, tube amps are considerably more expensive to keep up (and in power consumption) than tube preamps. Another factor is that tube amps usually to have higher output impedance (lower damping factor), which means that system matching is more ... | |
| Magnepan LRS+ resistors on the tweeters… which? I think @snapsc has the right idea. Have a range of values to swap in and out. Listen and possibly even measure to get the sound that is most pleasing to you. | |
| Roon isn't stable and they edit their forum to hide it >> I've built maybe 10 different Roon servers/cores, possibly more. Some Windows 10/11, some Ubuntu. << Understood. I've seen at least one post by a user who found many problems went away when they used ROCK on a Roon-approved NUC, i... | |
| Roon isn't stable and they edit their forum to hide it Equally, when you're the one who encounters a problem, it looks like it's a terrible coding job, whereas you may be running into some kind of platform-specific edge case. Unfortunately no software is completely free of bugs. I hate running into bu... | |
| Need suggestions on preamp Depending on your location, you might be able to find a used Benchmark LA4 for about US $2,000. I'd consider that a strong contender for detail and exceptionally low distortion. | |
| How to set up volume control on a DAC without a preamp For a DAC with volume control, don’t overlook the Benchmark DAC3B combined with their LA4, which together will set you back less than some of the DACs mentioned here. The combination is exceptionally transparent, if that’s what you are looking for... | |
| Digital Reclockers are they worth the extra Effort - IMO YES IME, results with reclockers has been quite dependent on the source and sink of what is being reclocked. So, I think it's a bit of an overgeneralization to say that they will help all systems in all cases. |