Chill3 Posted January 23, 2019 Posted January 23, 2019 (edited) So I have not had a digital source of any note for about 12 months so thought might try a Blusound node 2i with Tidal Masters. Not big money but well reviewed and so tempting all that music for only $25 month. So It sounds bloody good, play Muddy Waters Folk Singer and in isolation near faultless. But After a month of listening and enjoying was time to do some vinyl comparisons and Sorry but loses on all aspects, HiFi and musical ! So Its a keeper for exploring music I do not have or can’t justify buying on vinyl, but remains second choice for any real session. Edited January 23, 2019 by Chill3 4
metal beat Posted January 23, 2019 Posted January 23, 2019 You clearly need to spend more on a streamer and dac Endless merry go round
Chill3 Posted January 23, 2019 Author Posted January 23, 2019 Yep perhaps a Chord Dave and M scaler or not 1 1
t_mike Posted January 23, 2019 Posted January 23, 2019 50 minutes ago, metal beat said: You clearly need to spend more on a streamer and dac every second week Endless merry go round There, fixed it for you. 1
Guest Posted January 23, 2019 Posted January 23, 2019 Ah c’mon, it’s only every third week in reality
reeza78 Posted January 23, 2019 Posted January 23, 2019 Out of curiosity what DAC are you using? I’ve been trying out Tidal also and my vinyl sounds better, however my DAC is crap... but my turntable isn’t anything fancy either.
Chill3 Posted January 23, 2019 Author Posted January 23, 2019 24 minutes ago, reeza78 said: Out of curiosity what DAC are you using? I’ve been trying out Tidal also and my vinyl sounds better, however my DAC is crap... but my turntable isn’t anything fancy either. Just the built in DAC, it’s supposed to be quite good and does MQA. MQA was what I was interested in, gave up on CD “ quality “ long ago. I do like well done SACD but hard to justify with so few disks avalable my TT is fair, Yamaha GT2000 with Ortofon Jubilee 1
reeza78 Posted January 23, 2019 Posted January 23, 2019 I’ll probably cancel Tidal after the 3 month trial, it does sound good but in reality most things I want to listen to I have on vinyl and FLAC or buy. However; I do believe a good dac could/would make a massive difference. It’s just trying to find that one DAC that is right I guess. I know between my Yamaha WXC50 and ifi iDSD nano the ifi sounds so much warmer analogue sounding and these are both cheap as DACS. I can only imagine a well implemented DAC.
maximus Posted January 23, 2019 Posted January 23, 2019 @Chill3 You can't expect a Blusesound circa 1k against the Yammy/Ortofon combo at 6-7k to get near it sound quality wise. As @metal beat said, get a better DAC i.e. Gieslier/Hugo 2, then musicality will be restored, not taking away anything from the Blusesound, it's a great product for the money. 1
Chill3 Posted January 23, 2019 Author Posted January 23, 2019 5 minutes ago, maximus said: @Chill3 You can't expect a Blusesound circa 1k against the Yammy/Ortofon combo at 6-7k to get near it sound quality wise. As @metal beat said, get a better DAC i.e. Gieslier/Hugo 2, then musicality will be restored, not taking away anything from the Blusesound, it's a great product for the money. Yep, or use the Bluesound for non critical listening and music discovery and invest in vinyl for the good times the main issue with the bluesound for me is lack of timing, leading edges, prat and that can’t not listen quality that I find in vinyl. MQA Masters through the Blusound does have a musical non fatiguing sound that’s dry listenable. I think my next spend will be a Dynavector 17D for old time sake 1
maximus Posted January 23, 2019 Posted January 23, 2019 I guess it comes down to affordability and how much you value SQ. In your case @Chill3 best you invest in your vinyl setup as the Dynavector should add a sizeable increment fidelity wise. Better the devil you know, last thing you'd want is a hefty investment in digital that didn't come up trumps, you'll be ruing that day..etc, etc.
TerryO Posted January 23, 2019 Posted January 23, 2019 (edited) 10 hours ago, Chill3 said: Yep perhaps a Chord Dave and M scaler or not Your correct Chill3 how far do you go. I use Tidal and have the previous Node2 and at best, even with a GroB DAC and Kraftwerk PS, it is still used for back ground listening, it’s sq does not compare to vinyl or even CD in my system. I’m sure if I spent heaps I could make Tidal sound as good if not better, but why bother if you have a system your already very happy with? Tidal is a great service for finding new music and convenience but for me it is my third medium of choice. cheers Terry Edited January 23, 2019 by TerryO
barn door Posted January 23, 2019 Posted January 23, 2019 Yep, or use the Bluesound for non critical listening and music discovery and invest in vinyl for the good times [emoji3]That’s the beauty of any streamer/tidal setup, discovering new music without the hefty price tag of physical media. Having Tidal has opened access to new music genres, and has allowed me to discover artists that I just would have never heard had I stuck with only CD and Vinyl.Pretty much all of my favourite music over the last 12 months has been discovered via Tidal. For me, that’s far more important than worrying about critical listening all the time. 6
Volunteer sir sanders zingmore Posted January 23, 2019 Volunteer Posted January 23, 2019 8 hours ago, Chill3 said: think my next spend will be a Dynavector 17D That’s what I have on my gt750. Nice
Wimbo Posted January 23, 2019 Posted January 23, 2019 9 hours ago, Chill3 said: leading edges, I find all digital has this problem.
bhobba Posted January 23, 2019 Posted January 23, 2019 (edited) Having done a number of listening sessions with MQA, what people prefer is all over the place. I like MQA Tidal, but some do not. Forget the hype about MQA, both technical and otherwise, and just listen. I haven't done a direct comparison to vinyl, but the best vinyl I have heard, purely from memory, eats MQA. Only one thing I know can really take on hi end vinyl and that is a master tape machine playing the original mater tapes. So far nothing has touched the master tape machine I heard, but I have been assured very high end vinyl can take even that on. Why is it? I personally think its to do with the recording. I know of a listening session where the output of a master tape machine was converted to DSD then 44.1/16 via Saracon and played back using a high end DAC I will reveal if people really want to know - but the DAC is a bit controversial in certain quarters and I do not want the thread derailed. The master tape was better - but evidently there was not much in it. Strange. Personally though I am quite happy with the sound quality of Tidal MQA through a good DAC. And as time goes by IMHO it will only get better. Thanks Bill Edited January 23, 2019 by bhobba 1
Volunteer sir sanders zingmore Posted January 23, 2019 Volunteer Posted January 23, 2019 10 hours ago, Chill3 said: that’s dry listenable. What does that mean?
Chill3 Posted January 23, 2019 Author Posted January 23, 2019 11 minutes ago, Sir Sanders Zingmore said: What does that mean? Means I should spell check after auto correct - quite listenable 1
wolster Posted January 23, 2019 Posted January 23, 2019 I now look at this with a different slant. Having sold my LP12 turntable two years ago, I now really enjoy the sound of Tidal, including MQA through my Node 2, as well as my extensive library of FLAC files plugged into my Node 2 using my modified Chinese DAC. I have no doubt that another good vinyl rig would sound better but I am happy with what I have and, as others have said, enjoying all the new music. Thanks for a good thread, @Chill3. I have always admired those great Yamaha TTs.
Chill3 Posted January 23, 2019 Author Posted January 23, 2019 2 hours ago, Sir Sanders Zingmore said: That’s what I have on my gt750. Nice Yep 17D is a good thing and very different from the Jubilee, not better or worse just different . I think thats one very interesting aspect of vinyl, with good systems you can have different TTs, Carts and Phono Stages, that all retain the fundamental musicality of vinyl but have have vastly different strengths in that way they present.
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