2. digital
  3. 129367-1630

Computer, software, USB cable or ?

Had some friends over for the holiday weekend and was playing a bunch of different stuff.  Started with some cable radio @ 48K via TOSLINK into my C50 DAC.  Sounded about as you would expect; good but not great.  Standard streaming, IOW.  Moved on to digital from my laptop via USB.  It's a MacBook Pro from 2012 with OS X 10.11.6 (El Capitan), 2.5 GHz i5 processor and 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM.  I have the audio MIDI interface set to upscale everything to 32 bit 192 KHz so I can use iTunes as the file serving app for both standard and hi-rez files.  The USB cable is a decent quality computer cable, not an "audiophile" cable.  The sound was again good, but not great.  All files are ripped in WAV at source resolution (e.g. 16/44.1, 24/96 etc.). Bluntly, it just doesn't compare to my MVP 881 BR disc player.

I'm not expecting my computer source to rock my world, but I am wondering if there might be some way to get better performance.  Thanks in advance and I'll look forward to your input!
effischer
effischer OP
477 posts
 
@williewonka - Just got done reviewing the user manuals for both the Node and the Vault.  Yes, indeed - they both connect to the network via WiFi.  That should solve just about everything, and I thank you for cluing me in.

One question I still have however, is about Internet radio.  90.7 FM out of New Orleans streams their broadcast, and it's one of several stations I like to listen to in this way.  Does the BlueSound control app allow streaming from these stations (sites) directly?

BTW, my buddy went from the Node 2 to the Vault because he had the same problem with playback of hi-rez files when using the Internet (he cut the telephone cord years ago).  He says it worked well.
williewonka
1,826 posts
 
Effischer - re:...
One question I still have however, is about Internet radio.  90.7 FM out of New Orleans streams their broadcast, and it's one of several stations I like to listen to in this way.  Does the BlueSound control app allow streaming from these stations (sites) directly?
I'm listening to it as I type :-)

Simply select "Tune In" from the controller app  interface and then select
- State
- City
- then the radio station from the list provided

There is also a "custom setup' facility for stations not on the list, but I've never had to use it.

I did not go for the vault because I wanted to implement a mirrored RAID NAS. 

In the event of a hard drive failure I simply plug in a new hard drive and the NAS copies everything from the mirror automatically.

Yes - my hard drive failed - so I have first hand experience of drive replacement - RAID makes life very simple.

Regards - Steve
   
auxinput
1,538 posts
 
@effischer - I just came across another re-clocker option.  Take a look at the Gustard U12.  You can get it for $169 at Amazon.  It uses TCXO clocks and had a much better power supply than the Remedy Reclocker.  I think it would beat the Remedy.  Gustard products have had excellent feedback.  I would use COAX digital output from this to feed into your C50.
enginedr1960
130 posts
 

The Singxer SU-1 and F-1 are at the top of the heap right now .

The group @ Head Fi have this topic covered .

There is much SQ in the choice of a good DDC

More to discover