Hi Charles, I use Chord QDB76 Dac, which is really excellent. Check my link:
YouTube - idiocratease's Channel
Hi, That's an interesting solution which I was not aware of. At 1st look it seems along similar lines to Room Correction. I see this being implemented using software on the PC, but I would not fancy this as I would like to get a clean unprocessed signal to the DAC in the 1st instance (I have played around with simulation plug ins, but always hear degradation).
I did own a Tact RCS 2.0S a few years ago specifically to do fine EQ and room correction, but I was run ragged worrying about getting the best response, and to be honest I eventually came to terms with the fact that it never improved the overall sound.
I guess where I am at now, is getting decent components, and playing with the sound as little as possible... Just enjoy what I get...
I would also re-state that I have seen a noticeable improvement with Win 7 and the Creative X-Fi Titanium set on 'bit matched playback'
Nice if a bit overpriced, very much like Chord power amps IMO.
Also I need AD as well as DA so I think I'll stick with my Echo Audio AudioFire 12 which gives me 12 channels of AD and DA for £350 and Echos software is rock solid, it only took me 5 minutes to get it up and running with my quad-core MacPro (2.66GHz).
Well, I can see what you mean with the room correction. It doesn't always make an appreciable difference. But, what the digital crossover does is removes all the passive music robbing components from the signal chain. You are using digital already- it would make a great deal of engineering sense to use digital filter slopes too.
It's one of those things that you have to hear to believe unfortunately. The main thing you would need is another 2 channels of DAC, preamps and amps. So with a system such as yours it wouldn't be cheap.
This site helped me set up my digital crossover system. If you ever get around to it you might find it interesting to try.
You could temporarily remove the passive crossovers from your existing speakers and put them back in if you didn't like the results.
Goldmund did this for a pair of B&W 800 diamond speakers. The results were said to be incredible. The Goldmund preamp basically does the same thing as what I'm speaking of. Obviously, with higher cost and better dacs.
They'll also work XP/Vista/7 32 or 64bit provided you got a FireWire port but they do PCi and cardbuss interfaces too. As far as I know the conversion is the same in all of them. Obviously I can't say anything about the software stability with Windows but I have heard nothing negative either.
Echo Digital Audio Corporation
The analog side of things may be upgradable with better opamps, haven't looked into that yet. Dirt cheap for the quality though.
Yeah, I googled that card after I posted. Seems it should work for me. Thanks for the link. Do you know anywhere I can get it for less than 600usd? Want to sell yours? I really like that it has 12 outputs. Good suggestion!
So you think that it's competitive (sound quality) with the Rosetta? I've used the Rosetta before. It's excellent.
No dropouts or bugs to report?
Best read through the link I posted on page 18 for sound quality comparisons.
IIRC opinions were pretty much split between what turned out to be the Echo and the Rosetta with the 3rd one a distant last. I've seen other shoot outs on other fora with similar conclusions but I can't seem to find them anymore.
I've never had any instability, drop-outs or bugs with mine. It's set permanently to 24/88.2 but as I said I only used it on MacOS 10.4 and 10.6. Set up could not have been easier, never even bothered with the manual, I just plugged it in, loaded the driver cd and told the computer to use it as default audio in/out. I've used it directly plugged into the computer and with a HD in between, both ways were completely problem free.
IIRC opinions were pretty much split between what turned out to be the Echo and the Rosetta with the 3rd one a distant last. I've seen other shoot outs on other fora with similar conclusions but I can't seem to find them anymore.
I've never had any instability, drop-outs or bugs with mine. It's set permanently to 24/88.2 but as I said I only used it on MacOS 10.4 and 10.6. Set up could not have been easier, never even bothered with the manual, I just plugged it in, loaded the driver cd and told the computer to use it as default audio in/out. I've used it directly plugged into the computer and with a HD in between, both ways were completely problem free.
I just read that entire test thread. Very interesting stuff. The echo is looking very good indeed!
Not that I can afford it but it would be interesting to see what the Echo would do against something like a Dave Lavry blue DAC. I'd like to see that test. Thanks a lot for the lead. Forums at their best. Great help!
Stored HTPC music files?
SB16? How did that sound? That's an old beast isn't it?
Have you compared stored music directly to CD?
If you rip it to the hard driver as full WAV file with no compression the Stored file actually sounds better than the CD does. Amazing...
I guess it has something to do with the optics? I don't know? Sounded better to me though. Could be placebo? I have heard that stored is better from other listeners too also.
Has anyone heard the Dave Lavry blue DAC output from a computer? Curious how good they are. I can't afford one... guess it doesn't matter. It would be interesting to know how different from the ECho audiofire 12 12?
SB16? How did that sound? That's an old beast isn't it?
Have you compared stored music directly to CD?
If you rip it to the hard driver as full WAV file with no compression the Stored file actually sounds better than the CD does. Amazing...
I guess it has something to do with the optics? I don't know? Sounded better to me though. Could be placebo? I have heard that stored is better from other listeners too also.
Has anyone heard the Dave Lavry blue DAC output from a computer? Curious how good they are. I can't afford one... guess it doesn't matter. It would be interesting to know how different from the ECho audiofire 12 12?
Yes, its very usable. Alsa v1.0.23 added support for USB audio class 2.0 in Linux. I'm using it under both Windows and Linux.
iPad Control of Windows Media PC
Hi, I thought I would update people on this feature of RDP using an iPad. Quite nice....
YouTube - iPad Control of Windows 7 HFX Media PC.mp4
Hi, I thought I would update people on this feature of RDP using an iPad. Quite nice....
YouTube - iPad Control of Windows 7 HFX Media PC.mp4
Sorry for waking up such a old thread!
I am looking to build a Music HiFi s using a AMD Fusion 350 processor motherboard and Asus Xonar Essense STX sound card after reading a lot about Xonar card. My plan is to store all my music, listen to internet radio etc. I hope to retire my popcorn hour which i was using for this purpose.
Looking forward to your replies...
I am looking to build a Music HiFi s using a AMD Fusion 350 processor motherboard and Asus Xonar Essense STX sound card after reading a lot about Xonar card. My plan is to store all my music, listen to internet radio etc. I hope to retire my popcorn hour which i was using for this purpose.
Looking forward to your replies...
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