Explorations concerning computer-based audio

[kaka]

dbPoweramp seems to add some tags somehow, it adds "Edit ID-Tag" to your right click menu in the file explorer, and that reveals these on .wav files

 

Artist

Title

Album

Track

Year

Genre

Comment

Album artist

Disc

Rating

...

[Gary.M1553552674]

I'm not really keeping up with this stuff as I figure its in such a state of flux that I'll watch from the sideline until it all eventually settles down.

 

I do though have a loose connection with MSB Tech in the USA, and I am aware that they recently released a USB option for their DACs that does bit-perfect at 384k.

 

http://www.msbtech.com/products/usb2.php

[Electra]

 

Gary.M;138466 wrote:

 

I do though have a loose connection with MSB Tech in the USA, and I am aware that they recently released a USB option for their DACs that does bit-perfect at 384k.

 

 

Terry Humphries has some of this gear in. Nice sounding in my brief listen ( was running some active SGR's ) but FUGLY!!!!

[nixon76]

 

too_tall;138474 wrote:

Terry Humphries has some of this gear in. Nice sounding in my brief listen ( was running some active SGR's ) but FUGLY!!!!

 

Scarily, they are good looking for MSB gear (IMO) :eek:

[aarond1553552714]

 

Antipodes;138457 wrote:

Thanks Kaka - I have been using 24/88.2 AIFF files and will have a crack at WAV. Not sure how I will cope with the lack of tagging.

 

I wasted a couple of hours of my life in utter frustraton trying to apply cover art in Itunes to an album until I was reminded on here about the lack of tagging for wav. files and sure enough the album was ripped in wav.

 

BTW, I''m finding the Amarra Junior + Mac Mini + Wavelength combo very satisfying. Sold the CD player and won't look back.

 

Plenty of upgrade options there as well.

[kaka]

 

Gary.M;138466 wrote:

I'm not really keeping up with this stuff as I figure its in such a state of flux that I'll watch from the sideline until it all eventually settles down.

 

 

 

I do though have a loose connection with MSB Tech in the USA, and I am aware that they recently released a USB option for their DACs that does bit-perfect at 384k.

 

One of the experts who uses the Metric Halo ULN8 dac for what it was designed for (recording), had this to say about 24/192 :

 

 

 

For a while, I used the ULN8 at 96k, which is how I was recording for years. At the first experiment with 192k, I was sold. For the very first time in my experience, I felt like I was listening directly to my mic feed. I'd never felt this before with any digital or any analog recorder I'd ever used.

 

 

 

Further, even with the best 96k I'd heard, I still maintained some reservations I've had for years, where I felt the best analog does some things better than the best digital. With the ULN-8 at 192k, those reservations have evaporated.

 

Perhaps 192 is enough.

[nixon76]

Ah, but Kaka, if you wanted to listen to those (oh so common) DXD 24/352.8 recordings* you'd have to downsample

 

* like from 2l.no

[Gary.M1553552674]

Was it the old school MSB stuff (which was very bad looking) or the new ones in the designer suit?

 

 

 

too_tall;138474 wrote:

Terry Humphries has some of this gear in. Nice sounding in my brief listen ( was running some active SGR's ) but FUGLY!!!!

 

[nixon76]

 

Gary.M;138585 wrote:

Was it the old school MSB stuff (which was very bad looking) or the new ones in the designer suit?

 

The new ones.

[Antipodes1553552706]

You can tag WAV files but there is no standard for tagging them so what works in one app will often not work in another.

[stuarth]

I've had the HDTracks 24/96 download demo for a while. Nice mixture of orchestral, female vocal + guitar, blues, jazz combo etc.

 

Having (until this week) a playback device that only did 16/44 Redbook audio, I could tell that the demo album was well recorded, but that's about it.

 

On Monday I took delivery of an Audio-gd NFB1 DAC with the matching USB> SPDIF converter, aka Digital Interface.

 

Last night I played the demo files through the new gear, which is still running in, but I was impressed. The orchestral pieces especially, it didn't all turn to soup in the loud passages.

 

I am experimenting with settings in Foobar to address some playback issues which may be PC related.

[coleus]

 

horn-loaded;138743 wrote:

I've had the HDTracks 24/96 download demo for a while. Nice mixture of orchestral, female vocal + guitar, blues, jazz combo etc.

 

 

 

Having (until this week) a playback device that only did 16/44 Redbook audio, I could tell that the demo album was well recorded, but that's about it.

 

 

 

On Monday I took delivery of an Audio-gd NFB1 DAC with the matching USB> SPDIF converter, aka Digital Interface.

 

 

 

Last night I played the demo files through the new gear, which is still running in, but I was impressed. The orchestral pieces especially, it didn't all turn to soup in the loud passages.

 

 

 

I am experimenting with settings in Foobar to address some playback issues which may be PC related.

 

what issues do you have , skipping etc , or other ?

[Beeman]

I have been downloading Hi res files the last few weeks to play through my new Antelope Audio Zodiac + dac.

 

The results from different suppliers has been interesting. The HD demo is fantastic but then went to purchase some discs & they dont sell outside USA - bugger.

 

The Naim site is good and the Phantom Limb album in 192 is an absolute stunner - this is what I have been waiting for

 

The B&W site - signed up & have been happily downloading albums - hmmm is it just me or do they sound flat/dead - lacking the depth & sparkle of other sourced downloads? I would be interested in others thoughts.

 

Linn site - nice classical but very limited range of styles. The one 192 album I have so far is fantastic.

 

Has anyone found a site that has the kind of range as HDtracks that we can buy from? cheers :rolleyes:

[davyboy9]

I was told that for the HD site you can just invent a US address but you'd need an email address that doesn't give the game away ie gmail.com.

[kaka]

 

beeman;138779 wrote:

.... The B&W site - signed up & have been happily downloading albums - hmmm is it just me or do they sound flat/dead - lacking the depth & sparkle of other sourced downloads? I would be interested in others thoughts ....

 

I've been member of B&W for 18 months or so, and things have not been as good in the last 6 months. Lots of LSO, whereas there was a wider range earlier and enough of it got multiple plays that I resubscribed.

 

Grindhouse, Gwyneth Herbert, Trio Goya, Julianna Raye, Little Axe, David Rhodes, Charlie Winston all appealed to me, this time around not so good.

[batdan1553552684]

 

beeman;138779 wrote:

 

The B&W site - signed up & have been happily downloading albums - hmmm is it just me or do they sound flat/dead - lacking the depth & sparkle of other sourced downloads? I would be interested in others thoughts.

 

 

Have enjoyed The Apples and also Speed Caravan - both these sound very good to my ears

[stuarth]

 

coleus;138758 wrote:

what issues do you have , skipping etc , or other ?

 

Just random 'dropouts' where the audio mutes briefly for a microsecond.

I may have half an hour of flawless sound, then have two dropouts in 5 minutes.

 

Have been experimenting with Foobar buffer lengths. I checked XP's Performance Tool during playback, CPU is barely working at around 3-4% but lots of memory activity.

 

1.6G Atom CPU, 2GB RAM, Win XP SP2, FLAC files live with the O/S on a 60GB SSD.

 

Possibly my USB wireless mouse is getting in the way - I got some crazy glitches when I forgot to remove a USB flashdrive from the PC. Alas there is no PS2 port on this m'board.

 

Kernel streaming is the next thing to try - unless I move from XP to windows 7 but that's expensive.

[kaka]

I've had the mac lapbook + Amarra Mini 2-Offramp-Altmann dac-headphone amp setup going tonight and it wasn't great with Amarra Mini playing in conjunction with iTunes. The presentation was rather flat - things that should have soared out of the mix didn't.

 

So I installed the full Amarra 2.0 and fired it up with its own playlist player, without using iTunes at all. A stunning difference, a lot more definition, dynamics and separation.

 

Amarra 2.1 is due out this month, and is reputed to be better again.

[coleus]

 

horn-loaded;138903 wrote:

Just random 'dropouts' where the audio mutes briefly for a microsecond.

 

I may have half an hour of flawless sound, then have two dropouts in 5 minutes.

 

 

 

Have been experimenting with Foobar buffer lengths. I checked XP's Performance Tool during playback, CPU is barely working at around 3-4% but lots of memory activity.

 

 

 

1.6G Atom CPU, 2GB RAM, Win XP SP2, FLAC files live with the O/S on a 60GB SSD.

 

 

 

Possibly my USB wireless mouse is getting in the way - I got some crazy glitches when I forgot to remove a USB flashdrive from the PC. Alas there is no PS2 port on this m'board.

 

 

 

Kernel streaming is the next thing to try - unless I move from XP to windows 7 but that's expensive.

 

Reckon its something to do with the USb / USB hub , try no other USB devices , I use WASAPI in foobar via digital out , works great , may wanna by-pass windows if possible , I gave up on USB based devices just wasnt a fit for my computer set-up , More ram would help , also check all background operations ,

[stuarth]

 

coleus;138989 wrote:

Reckon its something to do with the USb / USB hub , try no other USB devices , I use WASAPI in foobar via digital out , works great , may wanna by-pass windows if possible , I gave up on USB based devices just wasnt a fit for my computer set-up ,

 

Last night I unplugged the USB mouse after I set the playlist running. That did not fix the problem.

 

I also downloaded and installed the Kernel Streaming component for foobar: http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_out_ks

 

When KS is first selected as an output device in Foobar (playback > output devices), a pop-up window warns of potential instablity and advises switching back to the primary sound driver in that event. Well, in my case KS did not allow playback at all (yes I restarted Foobar and even Windows to be sure). So scrub that idea.

 

Latest experiment (and one I should have tried earlier): changing to a different USB port for the USB audio out. But it was getting late by then - more testing tonight.

 

If problems continue, try some testing on a different PC, by installing Foobar on my partner's laptop (don't tell her)! .

 

 

 

More ram would help , also check all background operations ,

 

2 GB is as much as this m'board allows, and most sources seem to think this is adequate for XP (but perhaps not optimal)

 

I have disabled many un-needed services as per advice from the cics site:

http://www.cicsmemoryplayer.com/index.php?n=CMP.07Optimisations

 

Never had these dropouts with my HRT MusicStreamer. The new USB > SPDIF converter has changed something (but I don't blame faulty hardware, it was used by the vendor for some weeks in his system, with no problems).

 

If I had another option for connecting PC to the DAC I'd be trying that now, but my wee server is very limited in its options. I think it's pretty neat though and want to make it work!

[Antipodes1553552706]

 

kaka;138986 wrote:

I've had the mac lapbook + Amarra Mini 2-Offramp-Altmann dac-headphone amp setup going tonight and it wasn't great with Amarra Mini playing in conjunction with iTunes. The presentation was rather flat - things that should have soared out of the mix didn't.

 

 

 

So I installed the full Amarra 2.0 and fired it up with its own playlist player, without using iTunes at all. A stunning difference, a lot more definition, dynamics and separation.

 

 

 

Very interesting.

 

 

 

Amarra 2.1 is due out this month, and is reputed to be better again.

 

Have you tried Autopilot, and if so, does that sound as good?

[kaka]

 

Antipodes;139025 wrote:

Have you tried Autopilot, and if so, does that sound as good?

 

No, I hadn't and of course iTunes is useless now that I am using .wav files (it doesn't understand the artists/albums with the files I have got).

 

I am loading straight from the directory structures (I use a directory per artist, sub-directory per album, which I would think is pretty standard)

[Antipodes1553552706]

I just had a try using playlist in Amarra versus Amarra/iTunes and there is a significant improvement using Amarra only. With Amarra/iTunes there is more strain, the loudest sounds tend to saturate what you hear, losing inner detail and musical nuance. A good example of an improvement in dynamic linearity. I thought I noticed a downside auto-loading from iTunes as opposed to auto-loading from files - but I will have to try that one again later. Also, it appears that when dragging into the playlist window you can drag files but not folders. Is that true?

[kaka]

 

Antipodes;139041 wrote:

.... Also, it appears that when dragging into the playlist window you can drag files but not folders. Is that true?

 

Yep, and it has quite an assortment of bugs too, but the sound makes it worth coping with the foibles while the wait for 2.1 continues

 

The Hackingtosh and Metric Halo out perform the macbook+Altmann significantly, so a longer Oyaide firewire cable is on the agenda. I will use the dac in two places, running off the hack.

 

BTW I'm going to try a σ11 power supply on the Metric Halo, there are conflicting views on whether you can do better than the switched mode supply.

[Blackrazor1553552694]

Figured since this thread was here i'd avoid making a new one.

 

Although I'm reasonably up with the play with conventional home audio and car audio, i'm completely out of the loop with regards to audio on the PC.

 

What I'm looking to assemble is a relatively basic audio solution on my Windows 7 powered PC, using a tube amp (most likely the entry level Yarland one). So the plan at the moment is USB DAC -> Tube Amp -> 'Bookshelf'/Monitor Speakers.

 

I will likely use headphones off it, but never for serious listening, mostly only when the wife is sleeping and I don't wish to wake her. I'm also realistic about my usage - 'hard out' audio listening will still be on my conventional system, i'm just looking for a step up from my Creative Labs Xfire sound card piped through some Logitech Z-series 2.1's. Audio usage on the PC is about 65% gaming, 35% music.

 

Can those of you more in the know please suggest for me, if I have a $1500-2000 budget in total for this (inc amp)... :

• A decent, simple, no frills but good sounding DAC.

• An indication of what type of speaker I am good to look at? I know literally nothing about the intricacies of speaker choice for situations where you're sitting 50cm from the speakers...