JRiver's Gizmo android amp provides total control and accurate selection (down to the track level) of all the music on the server - from the phone - in the house or over the internet. Pretty slick.
Thanks - I'll give it a try eventually. Meanwhile, here's a link to an Indie label that has some superb hi-res audio tracks for download in one combined demo/sampler at a very nominal price:
MoonJune Records Sampler - 2 Dollars for 7hrs of Music | MoonJune Records
There's lots of different genres included, and many of the tracks are perfect for auditioning or show-casing the MyRef or DAC or any other part of the audio chain.
Yup, good idea. Track 5 on the MoonJune sampler ("Glass Cubes") is particularly nice for the upper mids and highs - particularly definition and imaging, but there are a number of jazz and fusion tracks that are showpiece/demo quality (actually, my download died about midway, but I managed to recover about 30 tracks from the incomplete zipfile. I'll retry the download late-night). If you have the bandwidth, go with the FLACs. I chose AAC (.m4a) to conserve bandwidth, and they're still very good.
I listened to the 1812 Overture immediately after downloading it, but not with the present MyRef setup with the LF03s instead of the LM318 - it's just a few days since it has become stable. "Hunting Wabbits" is another very useful reference track - thanks.
Great Minds.......
That track is also one of my favorites. Only heard parts of some tracks - but they all see to have something to offer. Glad you posted as I missed the format selection after purchase completion. I now have mp3s and flacs - but at the price it's still a great get. Thanks for the heads up.
That track is also one of my favorites. Only heard parts of some tracks - but they all see to have something to offer. Glad you posted as I missed the format selection after purchase completion. I now have mp3s and flacs - but at the price it's still a great get. Thanks for the heads up.
Last edited:
Phew! I just finished reading every post in this thread, took a couple of days and now I cant wait to get building. I have a couple of the DACT type 21 miniature attenuators in my parts bin, the ones Dario recommended a few weeks ago. I got them for a passive tone control circuit which I scrapped because it sounded very poor. The trouble is they are 50k so I don't think i can use them either in a passive preamp or in my JC-2 clone which I am told was designed with a 10k pot in mind. Any opinions on this would be welcome folks.
Davy
Davy
Since you have time before boards will be shipped... you can read all threads linked on the GB opening post...
Particularly the design thread and the Beta build one, you will have great insights on BOM and other interesting bits.
That was going to be my next novel, you must be a mind reader
I just checked and the DACT type 21 pot's I have are actually 100k, I can think of no use for them now at all.
I have a 10k and a 20k Tocos pot, I suppose either would do but I might order another DACT 21 if you can advise which value would be best.
Cheers
Davy
I just checked and the DACT type 21 pot's I have are actually 100k, I can think of no use for them now at all.
I have a 10k and a 20k Tocos pot, I suppose either would do but I might order another DACT 21 if you can advise which value would be best.
Cheers
Davy
Hi Davy
''Particularly the design thread and the Beta build one, you will have great insights on BOM and other interesting bits.''
Good advice
I had a good read around the older posts and they came in pretty useful in preparation for my build.
Especially the posts on fixing common faults and such like.
Good luck with the build.
''Particularly the design thread and the Beta build one, you will have great insights on BOM and other interesting bits.''
Good advice
I had a good read around the older posts and they came in pretty useful in preparation for my build.
Especially the posts on fixing common faults and such like.
Good luck with the build.
Hello,
I've finished to put the PCBs in a case and I'm enjoying a lot the results!
The ampli is dead silence with no music and very detailed with well-recorded music
I bought for few euros and adapted the case of a commercial amplifier with good heatsinks and shape. The pictures show the "before" and "after" stages I did it this way in order to 1) have a good WAF 2) have adequate heatsinking 3) lower price
Finally, I'm very satisfied with the final result! Thanks again to Dario and all the people involved in the development of My_refs. This amp is a beautiful beast!
Daniele
I've finished to put the PCBs in a case and I'm enjoying a lot the results!
The ampli is dead silence with no music and very detailed with well-recorded music
I bought for few euros and adapted the case of a commercial amplifier with good heatsinks and shape. The pictures show the "before" and "after" stages
I did it this way in order to 1) have a good WAF 2) have adequate heatsinking 3) lower priceFinally, I'm very satisfied with the final result! Thanks again to Dario and all the people involved in the development of My_refs. This amp is a beautiful beast!
Daniele
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Hi Davy
''Particularly the design thread and the Beta build one, you will have great insights on BOM and other interesting bits.''
Good advice
I had a good read around the older posts and they came in pretty useful in preparation for my build.
Especially the posts on fixing common faults and such like.
Good luck with the build.
Thanks Shaun, I have started reading the Beta build. Although I have built quite a number of kit's over the years, this is my first group buy, it is nice to be part of a group, I have not had this kind of support before - ever!
Even although this is not a commercial kit, the build instructions are far better than I am accustomed to (thanks Dario) and having the good people here available for help is a real bonus.
Just finished my second FE, and it's playing beautifully.
Almost didn't make it. Broke a tap off in the heatsink resizing the hole for different mounting bolt, so now I'm using a bar to clamp the chip unstead of a through bolt. Hooked up the transformer wrong and blew the fuse instantly at first power up. Apparently no damage, as swapping leads and a new fuse fixed everything.
After all that, measured offset at 12mV, already considerably lower than the first one I built in what I thought was the same manner. This one uses Dario's recommended Riken resisitor at R10 instead of my previous reference Shinko tantalum. Everything else is identical between the two amps: True Copper, BG Std, naked Z-foil Vishay, blah blah. Haven't listened critically yet, but there is no difference apparent from first casual listening.
Now that I have a pair, I do hear more inner detail and depth from the FE compared to the Rev C it replaces. Tonality seems similar between the two, with perhaps just a bit more realism of instruments and voices from the FE, possibly due to the amount of detail (but NOT brightness).
I'm in the new group buy for another pair.
Peace,
Tom E
Almost didn't make it. Broke a tap off in the heatsink resizing the hole for different mounting bolt, so now I'm using a bar to clamp the chip unstead of a through bolt. Hooked up the transformer wrong and blew the fuse instantly at first power up. Apparently no damage, as swapping leads and a new fuse fixed everything.
After all that, measured offset at 12mV, already considerably lower than the first one I built in what I thought was the same manner. This one uses Dario's recommended Riken resisitor at R10 instead of my previous reference Shinko tantalum. Everything else is identical between the two amps: True Copper, BG Std, naked Z-foil Vishay, blah blah. Haven't listened critically yet, but there is no difference apparent from first casual listening.
Now that I have a pair, I do hear more inner detail and depth from the FE compared to the Rev C it replaces. Tonality seems similar between the two, with perhaps just a bit more realism of instruments and voices from the FE, possibly due to the amount of detail (but NOT brightness).
I'm in the new group buy for another pair.
Peace,
Tom E
I assume the "so many amps" question was directed at me.
I now have two pairs of monoblocks, one pair of Rev C's that I run full range for my basement workshop speakers, and this new pair of FE's that power the midranges and tweeter of my actively crossed over main speakers.
The next pair I build will be for a friend who has an obscenely expensive surround system. He has heard the MyRef's both in my system and with his Eggleston Andra ($16k the pair) speakers. He has not yet heard the FE's, but I have persuaded him to try a pair to use in a passive bi-amp along with his Aragon 8008BB for the bass. There are lots of complications to implementing such a system, but he is committed to achieving the best possible sound. One pair of his IC's cost almost as much as my entire system. Since I began DIY in earnest, I no longer subscribe to that approach, and I have opened his eyes and ears to the disconnect between outrageous price and extraordinary performance.
Before I started writing this, I sat down for a critical sampling of the new FE amps. With an above average but not outstanding modded Sony SACD player and a decent autoformer passive preamp, the depth of image and sense of space around instruments is indeed startling, surpassing any other amplification I have ever had in my home, including some very big and expensive tube amps. The system is utterly silent between tracks. There is still some excessive brightness and sharpness from the new channel, but it has already improved a bit after just a few hours of playing. I expect it will completely settle down in a few days. I will then pass judgment on the Riken/Shinkoh variable.
I have not tried the Mundorf MLGO caps yet, but I hope to convince my friend to pay for them for his amps so I can finally hear them. I will also attempt to install a balanced input stage, but I'm not yet sure how. I am really stuck on what to use for C9, since BG's are practically unobtanium. Of all the caps I tried there, nothing else came close to BG level of performance, and I'm using only the standard version.
Peace,
Tom E
I now have two pairs of monoblocks, one pair of Rev C's that I run full range for my basement workshop speakers, and this new pair of FE's that power the midranges and tweeter of my actively crossed over main speakers.
The next pair I build will be for a friend who has an obscenely expensive surround system. He has heard the MyRef's both in my system and with his Eggleston Andra ($16k the pair) speakers. He has not yet heard the FE's, but I have persuaded him to try a pair to use in a passive bi-amp along with his Aragon 8008BB for the bass. There are lots of complications to implementing such a system, but he is committed to achieving the best possible sound. One pair of his IC's cost almost as much as my entire system. Since I began DIY in earnest, I no longer subscribe to that approach, and I have opened his eyes and ears to the disconnect between outrageous price and extraordinary performance.
Before I started writing this, I sat down for a critical sampling of the new FE amps. With an above average but not outstanding modded Sony SACD player and a decent autoformer passive preamp, the depth of image and sense of space around instruments is indeed startling, surpassing any other amplification I have ever had in my home, including some very big and expensive tube amps. The system is utterly silent between tracks. There is still some excessive brightness and sharpness from the new channel, but it has already improved a bit after just a few hours of playing. I expect it will completely settle down in a few days. I will then pass judgment on the Riken/Shinkoh variable.
I have not tried the Mundorf MLGO caps yet, but I hope to convince my friend to pay for them for his amps so I can finally hear them. I will also attempt to install a balanced input stage, but I'm not yet sure how. I am really stuck on what to use for C9, since BG's are practically unobtanium. Of all the caps I tried there, nothing else came close to BG level of performance, and I'm using only the standard version.
Peace,
Tom E