hi modder
For the time, forgetting about my AX-10's problems (it stays in the house because of the pristine 480i video, not audio anyways)
I've listened to many cd players at various shops, including Esoteric X01, X03SE limited, Accustics arts, Audionet, Audio Aero / Capitole, Cary 306, Metronome CD3, MF kw, CEC TX01, owned Sony 9000ES and finally decided a standalone SACD player is not justifiable for myself, because I demand that the SACD quality must be better than a good CD player. Turns out if the company did not make a renowned CD already, they will not likely make a good SACD player anyways
However personal tastes dictate my final choice of CDP, the best I've heard are Esoteric, AA and Burmester. Here AA leans to more tubey sweet (not entire neutral presentation), Esoteric tends to focus on individual sounds instead of being organic, and a bit clinical + dry for me. French machines have a non-neutral soundstage, they always sound like the same tube soundstage. So Burmester strikes the balance between preserving natural voice and capture of details, with the biggest and deepest soundstage I heard
That's why having decided the CD player (which has a DAC input), I go for the SACD output route, maybe it cannot work for my machine. However the output using an outboard DAC for AX10 is still better than the original (they used 30 pairs of Opamp for the DAC, sigh!) The board definitely make it possible to improve the sound (even the shop that did it for me agreed finally).
I will try to visit another guy who use a different card - taking the signal directly out from the DSD (of other Pioneer players), but that route is more expensive I think...
Let's not blame Charly for SACDs being not as good as CDs now
For the time, forgetting about my AX-10's problems (it stays in the house because of the pristine 480i video, not audio anyways)
I've listened to many cd players at various shops, including Esoteric X01, X03SE limited, Accustics arts, Audionet, Audio Aero / Capitole, Cary 306, Metronome CD3, MF kw, CEC TX01, owned Sony 9000ES and finally decided a standalone SACD player is not justifiable for myself, because I demand that the SACD quality must be better than a good CD player. Turns out if the company did not make a renowned CD already, they will not likely make a good SACD player anyways
However personal tastes dictate my final choice of CDP, the best I've heard are Esoteric, AA and Burmester. Here AA leans to more tubey sweet (not entire neutral presentation), Esoteric tends to focus on individual sounds instead of being organic, and a bit clinical + dry for me. French machines have a non-neutral soundstage, they always sound like the same tube soundstage. So Burmester strikes the balance between preserving natural voice and capture of details, with the biggest and deepest soundstage I heard
That's why having decided the CD player (which has a DAC input), I go for the SACD output route, maybe it cannot work for my machine. However the output using an outboard DAC for AX10 is still better than the original (they used 30 pairs of Opamp for the DAC, sigh!) The board definitely make it possible to improve the sound (even the shop that did it for me agreed finally).
I will try to visit another guy who use a different card - taking the signal directly out from the DSD (of other Pioneer players), but that route is more expensive I think...
Let's not blame Charly for SACDs being not as good as CDs now
great info re SACD
Pyro2006: great info re SACD. I had a listen the other day to various equipment. Linn SC into a Jadis preamp - CD sounded better than SACD !!
- not so strident and a smoother sound. SACD had more resolution bu the rest of the sound suffered. I prefer a sound where the timing is right and the whole note, beginning, middle and end is heard.
Digital processing of CD (upsampling, DSP etc), and of SACD, is very beneficial. I have a Meridian G91 which gives all of the above, but can it be improved ? What can a Wadia 27xi or Wadia 521 controller add ?
Very interested in your comments re SACD only being slightly better than CD. There is a little more resolution but not much. DVD-Audio is actually inferior to CD, in stereo at least.
So its back to vinyl .... do I buy a Phantom B44 ................ ?
Pyro2006: great info re SACD. I had a listen the other day to various equipment. Linn SC into a Jadis preamp - CD sounded better than SACD !!
- not so strident and a smoother sound. SACD had more resolution bu the rest of the sound suffered. I prefer a sound where the timing is right and the whole note, beginning, middle and end is heard.
Digital processing of CD (upsampling, DSP etc), and of SACD, is very beneficial. I have a Meridian G91 which gives all of the above, but can it be improved ? What can a Wadia 27xi or Wadia 521 controller add ?
Very interested in your comments re SACD only being slightly better than CD. There is a little more resolution but not much. DVD-Audio is actually inferior to CD, in stereo at least.
So its back to vinyl .... do I buy a Phantom B44 ................ ?
quick comment from Charly which agrees with some thing said by another long time audiophile :
The single box Bumerester 061 is optimized for its own transport and DAC (using XTAL clock), so when a foreign input like the Pioneer AX-10 with 24/96 comes, maybe it cannot quite benefit from it.
A fairer comparison would be to use an external DAC that would react more consistently to both CD 44 and the 24/96 Khz streams. I don't know what DAC would do this...
One thing is clear, that the AX-10 's own DAC out is easily beaten by a external DAC like MSB using the same SACD tracks according to the shop; but I don't have easy access to this DAC
...turns out also the shop was using the clock native on the PCB board
will post more later
The single box Bumerester 061 is optimized for its own transport and DAC (using XTAL clock), so when a foreign input like the Pioneer AX-10 with 24/96 comes, maybe it cannot quite benefit from it.
A fairer comparison would be to use an external DAC that would react more consistently to both CD 44 and the 24/96 Khz streams. I don't know what DAC would do this...
One thing is clear, that the AX-10 's own DAC out is easily beaten by a external DAC like MSB using the same SACD tracks according to the shop; but I don't have easy access to this DAC
...turns out also the shop was using the clock native on the PCB board
will post more later
Hi there,
I have a question concerning the sampling rate of the normal coax spdif connection (I have a 696AV). Is it right that the sampling rate is 44,1kHz when playing normal audio discs?
I ask this because I have a DAC that does reclocking (but only for 44,1kHz signals) and therefore produces dropouts, clicks, pops, etc. when fed with a >44,1kHz signal.
Next question: How is s-rate determined when playing dvd-audio? I have some discs that i created myself from audio-cd data. The audio is 44,1kHz - now does the player upsample or not? Reading the description of the mod it says that dvd-a output is always 48kHz (without the mod).
And if yes: If I mod the player, would it still upsample?
Thanks,
Tobias
I have a question concerning the sampling rate of the normal coax spdif connection (I have a 696AV). Is it right that the sampling rate is 44,1kHz when playing normal audio discs?
I ask this because I have a DAC that does reclocking (but only for 44,1kHz signals) and therefore produces dropouts, clicks, pops, etc. when fed with a >44,1kHz signal.
Next question: How is s-rate determined when playing dvd-audio? I have some discs that i created myself from audio-cd data. The audio is 44,1kHz - now does the player upsample or not? Reading the description of the mod it says that dvd-a output is always 48kHz (without the mod).
And if yes: If I mod the player, would it still upsample?
Thanks,
Tobias
spdif
I read somewhere that a SPDIF connection is always 24 bits (8 of the might be zeros though ?). The clock rate is just a clock rate - the data read stays the same.
There are various upsampling algorithms (see Foobar 2000). Some are better than others. What happens is that the "step" in the sound (as defined by the bits/sec) is made smaller - so the waveform is smoother.
How does one make DVD-Audio disks ? (from WAV files). Or is it in fact a DVD-Video disk with 24/96 encoded audio ? The sound file has VOB format and goes into the Video_TS folder.
I read somewhere that a SPDIF connection is always 24 bits (8 of the might be zeros though ?). The clock rate is just a clock rate - the data read stays the same.
There are various upsampling algorithms (see Foobar 2000). Some are better than others. What happens is that the "step" in the sound (as defined by the bits/sec) is made smaller - so the waveform is smoother.
How does one make DVD-Audio disks ? (from WAV files). Or is it in fact a DVD-Video disk with 24/96 encoded audio ? The sound file has VOB format and goes into the Video_TS folder.
Re: spdif
First of all the sampling rate of the spdif does matter. I have a Philips DVD-player that does output only 48kHz signals, even when fed with material that is originally 44,1kHz encoded, like audio discs or MP3s, OGGs, etc. - this player always seems to upsample the data on the coax output.
So can anyone answer this question about sampling rate?
Thanks,
Tobias
I don't think so. This would be a waste of bits and therefore bandwith.modder said:
???modder said:
First of all the sampling rate of the spdif does matter. I have a Philips DVD-player that does output only 48kHz signals, even when fed with material that is originally 44,1kHz encoded, like audio discs or MP3s, OGGs, etc. - this player always seems to upsample the data on the coax output.
But the fact is that upsampling ALWAYS results in a degraded audio quality. If you don't need to upsample, then just don't do it.modder said:
I'm using DVD Audio Solo ind combination with GEAR Pro Mastering Edition (GEAR only to add some files to the resulting image). And NO, the disc is a DVD-Audio, there is no data inside VIDEO_TS - the disc doesn't even play in a device not supporting DVD-A.modder said:
So can anyone answer this question about sampling rate?
Thanks,
Tobias
Great news !!
Thanks so much for your quick reply. Unfortunately I can't email you directly as I'm new at this site and they say I must post a few messages first... can you email me ?
thoppa@hotmail.com
I have Paypal ( email : tom_funetics@yahoo.co.uk )
Cheers,
Tom
Thanks so much for your quick reply. Unfortunately I can't email you directly as I'm new at this site
and they say I must post a few messages first... can you email me ?thoppa@hotmail.com
I have Paypal ( email : tom_funetics@yahoo.co.uk )
Cheers,
Tom
Tent Labs XO connection
Hi,
I got your kit yesterday - wonderful ! The PCB is very high quality. Thanks !
I also got all the other components quite easily. I'm using OSCON electrolytics and I found a very low noise 3.3v regulator too so I'm really hoping for an almost jitter free output.
I have soldered on the two surface mount chips ok - not easy but with a hot air soldering gun and very fine solder I think I have done ok.
I'm going to wire up a couple of DPDT switches to the jumpers so I can switch between fixed 96Khz output and original source frequencies just by flicking both switches on the back of the unit.
I need your help with one thing - I got a Tent Labs 24.576 oscillator for it but I don't know the pin connections to match to the board. Your board has a rectangle oscillator, but the Tent Labs is square so it can fit in the DIL socket in many different ways... can you help me identify which pin goes into which socket location ? I have looked through this post and your website but I can't find any information for this.
Many thanks,
Tom
Hi,
I got your kit yesterday - wonderful ! The PCB is very high quality. Thanks !
I also got all the other components quite easily. I'm using OSCON electrolytics and I found a very low noise 3.3v regulator too so I'm really hoping for an almost jitter free output.
I have soldered on the two surface mount chips ok - not easy but with a hot air soldering gun and very fine solder I think I have done ok.
I'm going to wire up a couple of DPDT switches to the jumpers so I can switch between fixed 96Khz output and original source frequencies just by flicking both switches on the back of the unit.
I need your help with one thing - I got a Tent Labs 24.576 oscillator for it but I don't know the pin connections to match to the board. Your board has a rectangle oscillator, but the Tent Labs is square so it can fit in the DIL socket in many different ways... can you help me identify which pin goes into which socket location ? I have looked through this post and your website but I can't find any information for this.
Many thanks,
Tom
Tent Labs XO
Hi,
Can anyone help me ? I have a tent labs xo - their site says it has three connections - basically an in, out and ground. No problem. The Hi-res kit PCB seems to have two grounds and either two ins or two outs (they are connected on the PCB). Does anyone who has built one of these kits know how to connect up the XO ?
Thanks,
Tom
Hi,
Can anyone help me ? I have a tent labs xo - their site says it has three connections - basically an in, out and ground. No problem. The Hi-res kit PCB seems to have two grounds and either two ins or two outs (they are connected on the PCB). Does anyone who has built one of these kits know how to connect up the XO ?
Thanks,
Tom
It lives !
I have no idea what was up with it, but I left it switched on for a while and it kicked into life !
It produces a nasty output pop when the player is turned on but otherwise it's working perfectly - upsampling CD player, full resolution SACD and DVDA.
I'm so happy ... ... isn't DIY just FANTASTIC !!!
I have no idea what was up with it, but I left it switched on for a while and it kicked into life !
It produces a nasty output pop when the player is turned on but otherwise it's working perfectly - upsampling CD player, full resolution SACD and DVDA.
I'm so happy ...
... isn't DIY just FANTASTIC !!!Talking to myself
A : So what was the problem mate ?
B: Well, I dunno really mate, but I drilled some holes in the chassis to let the kit cool off more and this seems to have fixed it.
A : Nice one mate ! Did the geezer who sold you the kit ever reply to your emails ?
B : No mate ! Took my money and disappeared. I got the one-yard guarantee mate !
A : Well no worrries, it's working right mate ?
B: Like a charm mate !
A : So what was the problem mate ?
B: Well, I dunno really mate, but I drilled some holes in the chassis to let the kit cool off more and this seems to have fixed it.
A : Nice one mate ! Did the geezer who sold you the kit ever reply to your emails ?
B : No mate ! Took my money and disappeared. I got the one-yard guarantee mate !
A : Well no worrries, it's working right mate ?
B: Like a charm mate !
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.