Still wondering what was ( is ) the purpose of that jingle<snip>
If you mean the FLAC I uploaded, simply, how does it sound?
Ok, so mine is not a Hi-Res streaming service. That's good news and bad news - my system will sound better with CD and high res, but the bad news is I am stuck with this.
I really feel my converted tapes will sound better than MP3. There is a tape deck that came with the Sony SS-333 better look into getting it working.
Sony TCU-30
I already have a tape transferred to CD by a professional recording studio, no wonder it sounds better. Playing it now. I prefer some boosting of the high end though for clarity.
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No Pandora... yet. Shoutcast is all mp3 or AAC, iTunes is not high res is it? I subscribed to iTunes once, but they dropped my favourite album.
There is this: FileNugget | Home
and
Maiden Voyage | HDtracks - The World's Greatest-Sounding Music Downloads
Nothing could be as bad as an MP3. But really, I played back the tapes the other day, and they sounded good. A little tweaking in Audacity and it could become Hi ResReally, why? Just because you feel it should?
Sure, keep drinking the Kool-Aid...Nothing could be as bad as an MP3. But really, I played back the tapes the other day, and they sounded good. A little tweaking in Audacity and it could become Hi Res
BTW has anyone gone insane in the pursuit of Hi-Fi?
The potential is certainly there.
Drinking the Kool-Aid - Wikipedia
I had to look that one up. I guess that means that I am not alone.
The potential is certainly there.
Sure, keep drinking the Kool-Aid...
Drinking the Kool-Aid - Wikipedia
I had to look that one up. I guess that means that I am not alone.
Signed up for Deezer, sounds clear. What is the format, surely not MP3?
-Wikipedia
Here Deezer - Wikipedia it's described as MP3 quality, and the bitrate depends on which service you have, look at the bottom of the page.
This Comparing MP3 Bit Rates is informative
This Comparing MP3 Bit Rates is informative
Unless you signed up for the HiFi plan, you are likely getting 128kbps MP3 streaming, which probably still sounds better than your casette tapes on the boombox.
"I'm guilty of that obsession / insanity"
Yet I find quietly listening to music to be metitative therapy.
Myself, I drank the koolaid so to speak on Siegfried Linkwitz theory of getting all of the spatial cues right, to the point that the speakers aurily dissapear.
I admit that phychoaccoustics come in to play here, but I'm not completely delusional, when I say, "My living room in an environment which makes it very very easy to get lost in the illusion of stereo, at such a depth that my internal debate becomes 'Am I in the concert hall, or are the instruments here?' ". This perception that the speakers have dissapeared is a very strong illusion that continues to amaze me. If you get a chance to listen you won't believe your ears!
This phenomenon is quickly perceived by everyone that comes over to listen to music. We'll almost everyone. I know a couple that are deaf in one ear,they only say it sounds good, but do not seem to be as 'Wowed' by the experience.
Listening to headphones can only get so close, but the image localizes inside my head, which is very different from the experience of having the instruments out in front of me.
In my living room with 2-channel stereo, I discovered that in addition to left, right and center placement of instruments on the soundstage, there is also height and depth to stereo. (Some recordings demonstrate this better than others)
A few points made earlier in the post I would comment on.
At Billshurv: nice system, I was following some of your posts when you were building. Regarding the 5 channel SACD,... I was not impressed with it, although my 5 channel setup was nothing close to ideal. My point is that in my experience it's easier to get it 'right' in the playback room when there's only two channels (L & R). It probably takes much more time, money, room treatments, etc to reach dreamy levels with balancing all 5 channels. When two channels are really done right, you'll often feel like you have at least three (or none)
At whoever said "You might focus on speakers". I completely agree. This was the biggest step forward for me in achieving sonic goal (which I would be at a loss to define other than describing the above illusion which makes the speakers dissapear)
Also someone said Piano may be most difficult to reproduce. I agree there, and I grew up with a piano in the house. I was also in choir and listened to band practice and recitals all the time as well. Anywho, what's interesting to me is that a recording I have from 1950's (I think) seems to do the best job of making all of the equipment in my living room seem transparent. It's Dave Brubeck album, Time Out. The new one has some previously unreleased live tracks. I believe that these tracks probably have the least amount of processing and added effects and they sound incredible.
Several threads up, someone said something about having a real high fidelity system is a bit like Pandora's box. Not sure what they meant by that, but it's true for me that it becomes pretty quick to decern the difference between something that was recorded well and mastered/mixed well -preserving as many dynamics as possible, vs something that was just squashed in the studio, and designed with the intent of sounding good and loud on a car stereo or boom box. -So for me the search of good recordings has become a bit of an obsession as well. Lots of fun!
Oh, and I have a phone app, SPL meter. I doubt it is very accurate, but I tried listening at 83dB (peak) yesterday. That's moderately loud! I sometimes crank it up like that or a little more, but I have no problems with experiencing plenty of bass, tactile vibrations in the floor, etc at only 60dB or more. BTW, my room in silence is 40dB. Is that good? Sometimes I think persuing making the room quieter might be fun, or is it even possible?
Cheers!
Alex
Making the speakers disappear is the next thing for me, I am getting closer with my nearfield mini monitors here. There was an RMAF video on getting the setting up right, with proper inward angling of speakers as well as upward tilt of the speakers to give the impression of height.
I intend to keep working on my speakers, amplifier: next thing is to fix the BA 5406 amp circuit I have and get some more power.
I have to learn to stop and enjoy each step, or plateau on the way, without trying to rush towards perfection.
40 dB seems low, in my car with all the windows up and the engine stopped that's about what I get.
Making the speakers disappear is the next thing for me, I am getting closer with my nearfield mini monitors here. There was an RMAF video on getting the setting up right, with proper inward angling of speakers as well as upward tilt of the speakers to give the impression of height.
I intend to keep working on my speakers, amplifier: next thing is to fix the BA 5406 amp circuit I have and get some more power.
I have to learn to stop and enjoy each step, or plateau on the way, without trying to rush towards perfection.
40 dB seems low, in my car with all the windows up and the engine stopped that's about what I get.
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Yes, LX Mini plus Davey's subs. Room is set up with speakers about 6 feet from back wall, and about 2 feet in from side walls. The subs are right next to side walls, but I was thinking that could help bass response, not sure if that helps or hinders, but I am pleased with the result.
The room is a big rectangle, and from the photo you can not see that 2/3 of the room is behind the listening position (open floor plan - no division between kitchen and family room) Also this photo makes it appear as though the green sofa is right in front of the sub on the right, but there's actually 2 feet of open space in front of sub. The sofa is a WAF compromise, and a very good one. Sounds very nice from kitchen too, stable image from back there, though not nearly as focused as is at the listening chair.
This arrangement seems to focus the image Behind the speakers, and helps with the depth I perceive. At our old house, speakers were right near rear wall. Sounded excellent, but didn't seem to have the same depth I have now.
Speakers angle is toed in a lot, so much that the listening position is not on axis. If I scoot forward a little (so I'm sitting on axis with speakers, at the top of triangle if you will) might be a little brighter sound, but I think I get better image being a foot behind the head of the triangle. Maybe because everything I hear, be it from the speaker, or a reflection from wall,.. everything at listening position is off axis when I'm just behind the top of triangle? Not sure why, just sounds good, and wife is happy.
I've never played much with di-poles, other than these LX Mini, but I guess they are more of a cardioid.
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Yes, very important to stop and just enjoy the music.
Funny story about rushing,.... about a year ago, I started building another amplifier, which will make all six channels amplification identical. Had to put this project on pause for about a year.
Got it out last week, just need to finish up some wiring etc. well I was feeling over confident, rushing, and having assembled four other identical boards.
Anyway, I reversed polarity on the wiring between powersupply and amp, sparks and smoke were the result!
Now have to eat humble pie while waiting for new voltage regulators.
Hoping for sonic improvement when finished, but that may be minimal, it's only the bass channel amp. This is really more of an asthetic goal, to get rid of the ugly amps on the bottom shelf. They were my first diy-Audio project, never got a proper chassis, and look like Frankenstein.