Digital Music.

jon_mendel said:
Sure - sorry if I misunderstood. Were you saying that online MP3 stores re-master files so they're even 'hotter' than before, then :(

And yeah, I'm quite happy to accept that some people can hear the changes caused by even high bitrate MP3s (and apparently those who can't can be trained to do so). Glad I can't, anyway - makes things much easier :D

Not really. It's more down to my preference in music I guess :rolleyes: For example Prodigy's 'The fat of the Land' sounds good and I love the album. My RCS indicates that it clips at source which tells me that it's been compressed dynamically to increase bass at cost to overall dynamics. I could of course be wrong and it hasn't stopped me playing it but it's there to be seen electronically. Missy Elliot's another one whose albums (shop bought and not downloaded) are almost always seen to be clipping. On top of this, if you're downloading from Napster or similar at 128 then that's simply another reduction in quality which IMO all adds up. Having said all that, I can prove this electronically but while my ears also tell me the same it's not such a big deal because I'm used to it :D
 
welwynnick said:
Steve Nugent of Empirical Audio has been quite convincing in promoting computer audio as better than CD players for a while now. Anyone come across him?

Nick


Yes, I bought his Off-Ramp Turbo, if you've got a DAC it's a nice bit of kit, the SuperClock 3 in it lifts it's performance (S/PDIF) above an SB3 but it doesn't quite match an SB+.
 
GaryG said:
Yes, I bought his Off-Ramp Turbo, if you've got a DAC it's a nice bit of kit, the SuperClock 3 in it lifts it's performance (S/PDIF) above an SB3 but it doesn't quite match an SB+.
Thanks GaryG,

That's the first mention of the Off-Ramp Turbo I've heard that hasn't been an unqualified recommendation. Many people have suggested a PC and an Off-Ramp Turbo could be the best source at any price, at least with an I2S interface to the DAC. What DAC do you have?

Cheers, Nick

Edit - Oh look, one more post to go to the big 2G!
 
Nick

I used to have a modified Wadia 27ix and a modified Audio Synthesis DAX Decade, both of which I've now sold and replaced with a single box player, I suppose I ought to make an effort to advertise the Off-Ramp Turbo as it's no longer used.

You might find the following link of interest, it's nearly a year old, but it covers my experience with the Off-Ramp Turbo against a CD transport, it also covers testing an SB2 against the same transport.

http://www.meridianunplugged.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=000945;p=1
 
GaryG said:
Nick

I used to have a modified Wadia 27ix and a modified Audio Synthesis DAX Decade, both of which I've now sold and replaced with a single box player, I suppose I ought to make an effort to advertise the Off-Ramp Turbo as it's no longer used.

You might find the following link of interest, it's nearly a year old, but it covers my experience with the Off-Ramp Turbo against a CD transport, it also covers testing an SB2 against the same transport.

http://www.meridianunplugged.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=000945;p=1
Thanks Gary, a very interesting thread indeed, and it ought to be compulsory reading for any audio sceptics. Now I see where you're coming from as well, so that qualifies your remarks about the Empirical converter.

I'm not familiar with some of the kit mentioned. What does a (Meridian?) 518 do? Is Big Ben an spdif to spdif de-jitter processor? It sounds like that's the key to a lot of improvements.

I'm trying to find a way to get audio from my PC to my digital amp over i-Link, an IEEE1394/firewire interface with A&M isochronous protocol. That's tricky, but spdif might still work OK.

Cheers, Nick
 
Thanks Gary,

I notice the Big Ben has a word clock output. That is presumably meant to relieve the DAC of the duty of recovering the sync/clock from the audio data stream. Do you know if that is a proprietary interface, or can it be used with other DACs that have I2S or word clock inputs?

Cheers, Nick
 
Nick

As far as I know the word-clock output is industry standard and will work with a suitable DAC, it worked fine on an Esoteric X-01 CD player.

I don't know if the Big Ben could be modified to work with I2S, maybe you can get some information if you post a question this thread:

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=24800
 

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