doggiehowser
Responses from doggiehowser
| Speakers with their own amps The buzzing was apparently a result of lack of negative feedback and impedance and not just an impedance mismatch issue. Impedance mismatch would normally just give you a rolled off frequency response. | |
| Speakers with their own amps This was the feedback I got from Ayon. They implement no negative feedback and as a result, there was quite an audible noise from the Ayon as a preamp when I used the Solo. Using a SS preamp fixed that. | |
| Speakers with their own amps I had a pair of Focal Solo 6 Be and I have to say they were phenomenal. It doesn't have the nice piano finish of the Focal Electro 1007/8Be but it has the important guts where it matters. W woofer and Beryllium tweeter - trademark of Focal's high ... | |
| MacBook Pro or PC soundcard Yes USB is not perfect. It was not designed for audio.But how could one get audio from PC? With an internal soundcard? That's an even worse solution due to the EMI inside the PC. With a PC's SPDIF output? That meant you used optical (higher jitter... | |
| MacBook Pro or PC soundcard *sigh*USB is a PC based protocol. A transport is NOT a PC. On the PC, you merely use the USB connection to provide an isolated SPDIF/I2S interface (depending on the implementation) as well. Just that it is further away from the noise of the PC.FWI... | |
| Ipod/Itunes commpression settings I rip all my CDs to AIFFs so there's no loss of information.On iTunes, there's an option to DYNAMICALLY create AAC versions of the full resolution AIFFs when transferring to an iPod/iPhone/iPad etc. So I use the maximum setting 256kbps. This way, ... | |
| CD player with XLR's and volume control ? Oppo 105 is just a bit pricier than your budget but a second hand 95 might fit your requirements. | |
| Locus Design Axis USB or ??? I have the first gen Cynosure but I think there are some IMHO saner priced products out there. If you can get a Revelation Audio Labs dual headed one, it's well worth a listen. | |
| MacBook Pro or PC soundcard Actually most high end CDPs don't use SPDIF exclusively. A number use I2S or use their proprietary connections with separate word clock. SPDIF can sometimes result in bad jitter control. FWIW, USB is really about sending SPDIF data over a USB cabl... | |
| Possible Desktop Speakers? You'd need to get some really solid speaker stands. Think MapleShade? makes something for the Strada.The Strada needs to be properly braced for the bass to come across. I found the desktop stands to be wholly inadequate for that purpose. Best if y... | |
| Ayre MXRs/Thiel 3.7s The Ayon CD5S has an AMP Direct mode and a Normal mode (which assumes it would be used with a separate preamp or integrated) like their own preamps. I think Absolute Sound did a full Ayon (CDP/Pre/Power) combo review before. | |
| MacBook Pro or PC soundcard It is better than what you are suggesting though (an internal soundcard).I've found that a Mac with Audirvana Plus and a decent USB interface is now very close to a disc spinner. | |
| Possible Desktop Speakers? For the money, I find it hard to argue with active powered speakers.Dynaudio Xeo 3 or better yet the Focus 110A. They also have a range of studio active speakers BM series? I thinkThe Focal Solo6Be (similar to the 1008Be but cheaper by a fair bit ... | |
| Ayre MXRs/Thiel 3.7s If you like the Thiel sound, I'd say keep it. And the MXR. As I mentioned, have a friend who uses that combo and it is pretty excellent. Trading down to an Arion HS500 with a tube buffer seems illogical.If you want a more "tubey" sound, I can thin... | |
| Best music player for MAC I too find INTEGER/Direct mode on Audirvana to make a difference provided your DAC supports it. If you like the W4S, they have an upgrade path for the DAC2, to convert it to support DSD and has a new async USB interface that is INT mode compatible... |