Dynamics Increase of Compact Disc and Vinyl Media
Hi
Sorry for totally off topic regarding Shigaclone project, but this is very concernig to us CD lovers.
http://www.etheraudio.net/wire-house/etheraudio-invention-one/
Following and appreciating very much this thread
Hi
Sorry for totally off topic regarding Shigaclone project, but this is very concernig to us CD lovers.
http://www.etheraudio.net/wire-house/etheraudio-invention-one/
Following and appreciating very much this thread
This is actually my experience as well.
Quite for some time I was using Belkin Synapse 75R cable (promoted by Romy as his reference). Later, a friend of mine who builds cables (BlueberryHillAudio) introduced me to one of his sort of digital interconnect, but built exactly like his analog cables and since then it became my cable of choice. I couldn't care less now if the digital interconnect is terminated with BNC, RCA or soldered directly, although in a past I had quite an opposite view.
I add my voice to this opinion. A cable always has a sound of its own and it will not suddenly start sounding different just because it is used elsewhere in the system. Electrical aspects need to be taken into consideration, but should not be the only criterion.
I would go as far as to extend this opinion to other components - resistors in particular. When comparing resistors I have always found have exactly the same kind of sound regardless of whether I was testing them in a digital (Shiga) or analogue (preamp) attenuator.
Also, regarding:
Interestingly, my Invisistors are wirewound (strictly speaking, they are wire-based, but not wound per se). I certainly find them apropriate for output attenuator, and in fact would never consider anything else.
I have just replaced the motor 120VA toroid with an 120VA EI one...
New rounds of awesomeness... Even with the EI not firmly screwed in place the difference is more than significant.
The sound is more dynamic and more delicate at the same time. Really hard to describe the difference in descriptive words. Drums have much more impact and strength, while at the same time the metal rattling and their spatial decay is now very clear.
Mids seem to be the center of attention and seem to have gained significant bite. Their texture is still a bit off though. It could be the crappy CAT5 cabling in my DCB1. I need to work on it a bit too. It s falling behind by a large margin now...
I will screw it securely in place to strengthen its vibration damping and give it a few days to break in, but I am already ordering one for the digital part as well. I expect the difference to be quite more significant there. I just did not think about it much when I cut the old cabling, so I ended up installing it on the motor side.
New rounds of awesomeness... Even with the EI not firmly screwed in place the difference is more than significant.
The sound is more dynamic and more delicate at the same time. Really hard to describe the difference in descriptive words. Drums have much more impact and strength, while at the same time the metal rattling and their spatial decay is now very clear.
Mids seem to be the center of attention and seem to have gained significant bite. Their texture is still a bit off though. It could be the crappy CAT5 cabling in my DCB1. I need to work on it a bit too. It s falling behind by a large margin now...
I will screw it securely in place to strengthen its vibration damping and give it a few days to break in, but I am already ordering one for the digital part as well. I expect the difference to be quite more significant there. I just did not think about it much when I cut the old cabling, so I ended up installing it on the motor side.
I have now listened back and forth between the belden 75 ohm and the stealth audio IC as SPDIF connection between the transport and DAC and I keep coming back to the stealth Audio IC.
So we did a blind listening test between the 2 cables. There were 3 people involved in the listening test and all favored the stealth audio IC. Everything sounded almost the same but the the stealth audio is just livelier and more dynamic. So for now, i'll stick with it until a better cable comes my way.
So we did a blind listening test between the 2 cables. There were 3 people involved in the listening test and all favored the stealth audio IC. Everything sounded almost the same but the the stealth audio is just livelier and more dynamic. So for now, i'll stick with it until a better cable comes my way.
1694a is pretty low standard. It's plain copper, while its jacket is PVC which is crap.
Try 83264 instead. It is absolutely amazing. Silver coated wire and FEP dielectric.
You can get it here rather cheap, and it is properly terminated too
Belden 83264 75 Ohm RG179 RG 179 Mil C 17g BNC 59 Male to Male Cable 60" | eBay
Try 83264 instead. It is absolutely amazing. Silver coated wire and FEP dielectric.
You can get it here rather cheap, and it is properly terminated too
Belden 83264 75 Ohm RG179 RG 179 Mil C 17g BNC 59 Male to Male Cable 60" | eBay
Does this make sense to anyone? Im willing to try it but needs 2identical discs, one for control and one for testing. I might stop by a used cd shop and try this out.
This could actually have some merit. The disc would become inherently imbalanced, but the distribution of vibrations within the disc would be indeed altered, likely resulting in fewer and/or less concentrated vibration "nodes". Whether the result would be desirable, or even audible, can only be discerned in a listening test.
I don't think this method specifically requires a pressed CD though - CD-Rs have the same dimensions and are made with (mostly) the same kind of plastic, so any vibration-induced behaviour should be altered in a very similar way.
I got some progress on the blue led thingy.
I bought two blue wide angle, non-clear leds to try and they actually seem to work. The sound is a more dynamic with the two leds shinning on the bottom of the CD towards the laser lens. Previously I had used two clear ones with narrow beam and there was virtually no change. But the ones I got today seem to do a very clear difference.
Still I have not done much listening and A/B testing, and I still have to get used to the new sound because of the EI trafo, but I am quite positive about the blue led thingy.
I bought two blue wide angle, non-clear leds to try and they actually seem to work. The sound is a more dynamic with the two leds shinning on the bottom of the CD towards the laser lens. Previously I had used two clear ones with narrow beam and there was virtually no change. But the ones I got today seem to do a very clear difference.
Still I have not done much listening and A/B testing, and I still have to get used to the new sound because of the EI trafo, but I am quite positive about the blue led thingy.
I did some more listening...
Weird... Listened to some Jazz... the sound seems not that well focused with the leds. It sounds more aggressive, but I do get more feeling without it. I can almost see the drummer moving his hands on different spots on the cymbal without them. With the leds this seems to dissappear...
I think I will forget it for now and revisit it after I have addressed all other issues on my to-do list.
Weird... Listened to some Jazz... the sound seems not that well focused with the leds. It sounds more aggressive, but I do get more feeling without it. I can almost see the drummer moving his hands on different spots on the cymbal without them. With the leds this seems to dissappear...
I think I will forget it for now and revisit it after I have addressed all other issues on my to-do list.
I got some new tools today, so I decided to try them making a puck out of sipo mahogany.
Diameter and height is 4cm and weight is 15grams including the metal axis. Sonically I could not hear much of a difference from my aluminum one (I did make a big change on my DCB1 though which still does not sound very nice), but as expected, the problem again seems to be the relatively low friction for its weight. The puck seems to spin a bit on the CD.
Possible solution would be to cut it and make it 1 or 2cm in height, hoping that the friction would be enough to overcome the inertia of the 4 or 8 grams.
Alternatively, I may try to make its diameter bigger, although the increased mass will make it more sensitive to centering and balancing imperfections, and would oppose what Jarek and Igor have noticed about extra mass.
Anyway, tomorrow I will try to do some more trials on the mahogany, and probably make more out of wenge, maple and ebony to try.
I also thought of a nice way to make the axis out of wood as well.
Diameter and height is 4cm and weight is 15grams including the metal axis. Sonically I could not hear much of a difference from my aluminum one (I did make a big change on my DCB1 though which still does not sound very nice), but as expected, the problem again seems to be the relatively low friction for its weight. The puck seems to spin a bit on the CD.
Possible solution would be to cut it and make it 1 or 2cm in height, hoping that the friction would be enough to overcome the inertia of the 4 or 8 grams.
Alternatively, I may try to make its diameter bigger, although the increased mass will make it more sensitive to centering and balancing imperfections, and would oppose what Jarek and Igor have noticed about extra mass.
Anyway, tomorrow I will try to do some more trials on the mahogany, and probably make more out of wenge, maple and ebony to try.
I also thought of a nice way to make the axis out of wood as well.
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I am still amazed how paramount a proper 5 volt and 8 volt supply is working miracles with the PiTbull.
So today I ordered a Dexa LM7812 which I will test in a Pre Reg situation.
I think this will also be interesting for a lot of you since implementation will not require skills...just an exchange
So today I ordered a Dexa LM7812 which I will test in a Pre Reg situation.
I think this will also be interesting for a lot of you since implementation will not require skills...just an exchange
Or sandpaper the bottom of your puck with grain 40
Jarek, rosin is weird. If the weather gets too hot or too moist it can get sticky and leave residue on the machine or the CDs.
Erik, I plan on sanding and finishing the pucks with Tru Oil, and I hope the nice surface will do the trick. BTW 40 grid is a bit coarse... You proposed it to make the surface a bit rough? I don t think that will work with mahogany. It is very dry and I think that it needs more surface touching the CD to make it work.
I think wenge, maple or ebony will be a better choice for the puck.
Anyway, it was just a test
I am still amazed how paramount a proper 5 volt and 8 volt supply is working miracles with the PiTbull.
So today I ordered a Dexa LM7812 which I will test in a Pre Reg situation.
I think this will also be interesting for a lot of you since implementation will not require skills...just an exchange
My only concern is that the 630mA max current will not be enough for the motors.
During start and stop it will be pushed way over its limits, and during normal playback it will work very close to its max rating.
I have 3 of Dexa"s (2x5V, 1x3,3V) in my Opus DAC, very good stuff, I really like them. Recommended to buy it from partsconnexion. Your stuff does fit the max currentload, what is 630 mA only? By the way, do you know, what is the max. current load of the 5 V section of orginal shiga? I am planning to try separated power supplies (8V, and 5 V).
I am still amazed how paramount a proper 5 volt and 8 volt supply is working miracles with the PiTbull.
So today I ordered a Dexa LM7812 which I will test in a Pre Reg situation.
I think this will also be interesting for a lot of you since implementation will not require skills...just an exchange