shadorne

Responses from shadorne

Does a new cd transport require break-in time?
@geoffkait Ok so now faced with evidence directly from Oppo contradicting your statement, you run off on a tangent from break-in to wires, fuses and directionality?Clearly that snake oil is slippery stuff. 
Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD
@audioengr It is a simple matter to use upsampling so that a gentle linear phase anti-alias filter can sit far away from the audio band and where it won’t be audible. There are ways to trick most DAC chips to employ this solution and avoid or bypa... 
Does a new cd transport require break-in time?
@geoffkait Quote directly from Oppo website:""Break in" is a process of accelerated aging for mechanical, electronic, and acoustic components. By exercising the components for a period of time, early component failures can be weeded out and parts ... 
Oppo Vs Esoteric
Good choice of speaker. I don’t think the latest ESS chips sound digital harsh - I think it is more analog sounding than previous generations but with a remarkable clarity. I don’t know about the Oppo implementation but based on their track record... 
Does a new cd transport require break-in time?
I  would give a hour or two to warm up and you are good to go. If a solid state device drifts audibly in performance over 50+ hours then it will probably never stabilize reliably and you may as well return the faulty device. 
Oppo Vs Esoteric
@milpai With all due respect what speakers are you getting? I think Esoteric is waisted on anything other than SOTA top of the line speakers (between 5 and 10 times the cost of the source). I am trying to tackle your "is it worth it?" question....... 
Best DAC for my situation...Read on!
@audioengr "IMO, there is no such thing as a jitter immune DAC. Never heard one, never tested one that proved to be. It’s the cable.Therefore, I submit that the jitter of the source ALWAYS be considered important.Steve N.Empirical Audio"So presuma... 
Best practices when conducting a DAC comparison
With Roon it is easy, just play the same track to two grouped zones (two DACs) and then switch inputs on a preamp to hear either one. Just make sure you level match with test tone. 
Schiit Reference Sytem review: Freya into Yggdrasil, into Vidar
@gdhal It is good marketing I have to admit. Claim that your competitors are all "guessing" and yours is the world’s only DAC that doesn’t "guess". It would be nice if it were true. No well known DAC competitor is actually guessing. Honestly I hav... 
Schiit Reference Sytem review: Freya into Yggdrasil, into Vidar
@ghosthouse The 20 bit thing is not on the whole a big deal. I think Stereophile was wrong to say that.However to truncate or simply round the 24 bit incoming data shows total ignorance of 20 years of best industry practices for reducing bit depth... 
NEW!!! Wilson Alexia MkII listening session
Another winner from Wilson! 
Do you listen mainly to Audiophile CDs and records?
For classical I like Telarc, Naxos, Chandos, Hyperion and Mercury Livinvg Presence.Like all forms of music jazz, pop or rock, the performer is key - I like Benjamin Zander, Lorin Maazel and Sir Chris Hogwood in particular. 
Schiit Reference Sytem review: Freya into Yggdrasil, into Vidar
I am all for the latest round of Giant-killer DACs. I think it is wonderful that the kind of performance that only Meitner and a few select offered over 15 years ago is now quite widely available in $2000 range. Technological progress and competit... 
Magico S5 vs KEF Blade 2 vs TAD Evo One vs YG Kipod II Sig w/pwr bass
@csmgolf All good points. Though I am not trying to insinuate anything. To be clear, IF Magico indeed takes more than 600 hours to break-in (which I doubt for such a seriously well engineered speaker) then this is actually a poor design IF the des... 
Magico S5 vs KEF Blade 2 vs TAD Evo One vs YG Kipod II Sig w/pwr bass
@csmgolf Good point. However, would you not agree that at 40 Hz the acoustic suspension should dominate the overall response in a well designed box.