Thread: What's your system?

Posts: 74
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Post by AmonRa January 9, 2015 (41 of 74)
We have 4 cats, and actually a dash of cat's urine on the wet string clears up the highs a bit, maybe also gives greater depth to the image. Have to conduct a double no-smell tests sometime...

Post by rammiepie January 9, 2015 (42 of 74)
AmonRa said:

We have 4 cats, and actually a dash of cat's urine on the wet string clears up the highs a bit, maybe also gives greater depth to the image. Have to conduct a double no-smell tests sometime...

As Pop Diva Madonna once remarked on one of the talk shows....urininating in the shower is good for curing athletes foot.....but doubtful a fix for achieving perfect sound forever.

I only have one cat and she loves resting atop the amp in the winter to stay toasty warm. And doubtful she'd appreciate a switch to those cool running Class D Amps.

Post by soundzgood January 10, 2015 (43 of 74)
Primary multi channel system:
Harman Kardon "AVR-3600" -> 4X JBL Northridge E-60 (F & R), 2 X JBL Northridge E-80 (RS), 1 X Infinity Beta 40 (C) & R.Audio 8" 125W Sub.

Sources:
Oppo BDP-103,
Cisco HD digital cable PVR,
Sony Vaïo (i5, HDMI, BluRay)
WD "TV Live Hub Media Center 1TB" #1 -> 2 USB Hard drives (1.5 & 2TB)



Secondary multi channel system:
Harman Kardon "AVR-144" and HK DVD-47 -> 2X JBL S38II, 2X R.Audio R50s, 1 X R.Audio C550.

Sources:
Sony BDP S5100,
Western Digital "TV Live Hub Media Center 1TB" #2 -> 2 USB Hard drives (2x 2TB)



Stereo system:
Harman Kardon "HK 3490"
Vintage Pioneer rondo turntable (mid 70s)

This one's sound is fed to the main AVR using the tape stages, but is mostly used with my Sennheiser headset.

Post by windhoek February 5, 2015 (44 of 74)
My plan to use a computer as source for stereo and m/c SACD ISO playback has finally materialised because I bought a Mac Mini which arrived today and after installing JRiver 20, m/c audio was up and running via HDMI to my AVR without any issues whatsoever. It was literally plug and play! Admittedly I had to set the audio output as 24/88.2 because the Mac Mini won't output anything higher than 24/96 (that's for both stereo and m/c content) and select m/c content in Jriver, but this took all of 10 seconds, so it's almost plug and play :)

I can easily recommend the Mac Mini as a small-form media source for m/c audio if you're planning on hooking it up to an AVR via HDMI and unless there's a big uptake in support for m/c audio via Async USB by AVR manufacturers, I think I've pretty much got stereo and m/c audio using a computer as source sorted.

Fwiw, I bought a 2012 Mac Mini refurb from Apple in case I wanted/ needed to increase the RAM from 4GB to 8GB or even 16GB (2014 Mac Minis are sealed units with the RAM soldered on, so that's not an option on the latest version), but 4GB seems perfectly adequate as there haven't been any issues with excessive buffering or such like, just plain smooth playback :)

My setup is now...

Digital (2.0):
Mac Mini (JRiver)>Marantz NR1504>Teddy Pardo i80a>ATC SCM7

Digital (4.0):
(f): Mac Mini>Marantz NR1504>Teddy Pardo i80a>ATC SCM7
(r): Mac Mini>Marantz NR1504>ATC SCM7
(c): no centre
(s): no sub

Post by Deribas February 5, 2015 (45 of 74)
windhoek said:

My plan to use a computer as source for stereo and m/c SACD ISO playback has finally materialised because I bought a Mac Mini which arrived today and after installing JRiver 20, m/c audio was up and running via HDMI to my AVR without any issues whatsoever. It was literally plug and play! Admittedly I had to set the audio output as 24/88.2 because the Mac Mini won't output anything higher than 24/96 (that's for both stereo and m/c content) and select m/c content in Jriver, but this took all of 10 seconds...

I went through a similar experience recently, although it was with a MacBook Pro running JRiver 20. I was, in fact, comparing the sound of multichannel .iso files being output via HDMI into my Marantz 8801 processor to the same files output via USB to the Exasound e28 DAC. The comparison was actually more complex than that because it also involved permutations of Dirac Live on the MBP vs audyssey xt32 on the processor. The actual comparison is not the point here (the convenience of Marantz 8801 and HDMI won over the minuscule sonic advantages of Exasound and USB).

The point is that file-based mch playback is still in its infancy. Halfway through the comparison, JRiver for Mac issued its routine update that, unbeknownst to its authors, killed the .iso playback. I struggled for days to figure out what I was doing wrong, only to have the problem solved by the 0.64 update. I'm sure glad that I still had my sacd player and hdmi prepro, or else silence would have descended over my household. So, it's not quite as routine and plug-n-play as the shiny disc playback

Post by windhoek February 5, 2015 (46 of 74)
Deribas said:

I went through a similar experience recently, although it was with a MacBook Pro running JRiver 20. I was, in fact, comparing the sound of multichannel .iso files being output via HDMI into my Marantz 8801 processor to the same files output via USB to the Exasound e28 DAC. The comparison was actually more complex than that because it also involved permutations of Dirac Live on the MBP vs audyssey xt32 on the processor. The actual comparison is not the point here (the convenience of Marantz 8801 and HDMI won over the minuscule sonic advantages of Exasound and USB).

The point is that file-based mch playback is still in its infancy. Halfway through the comparison, JRiver for Mac issued its routine update that, unbeknownst to its authors, killed the .iso playback. I struggled for days to figure out what I was doing wrong, only to have the problem solved by the 0.64 update. I'm sure glad that I still had my sacd player and hdmi prepro, or else silence would have descended over my household. So, it's not quite as routine and plug-n-play as the shiny disc playback

Very interesting Deribas, very interesting indeed. So far I haven't encountered any issues with playback, although I just might because I'm currently ripping my first m/c DVD-A to see how that fares with playback via the Mac and although m/c SACD ISO playback works well, it remains to be seen how a m/c DVD-A rip will fare. I'm hopeful there won't be any problems, but as you say, m/c audio from files is still an emerging playback option, so I don't want to speak too soon and tempt fate as it were.

Equally interesting is what you say regarding the Exasound/ Dirac combo versus HDMI out from the Mac because the former was/is a potential option farther down on my m/c roadmap, but if I can get stable and satisfying playback via HDMI into my AVR, I might just stick with that until AVR's start sporting Async USB inputs with support for m/c audio. Anyway, so far so good with m/c playback from the Mac :)

Post by Disbeliever February 6, 2015 (47 of 74)
rammiepie said:

As Pop Diva Madonna once remarked on one of the talk shows....urininating in the shower is good for curing athletes foot.....but doubtful a fix for achieving perfect sound forever.

I only have one cat and she loves resting atop the amp in the winter to stay toasty warm. And doubtful she'd appreciate a switch to those cool running Class D Amps.

Your cat may catch a cold if you let her sit atop a cool running Class D amp, she will probably not like the sound.

Post by Iain February 6, 2015 (48 of 74)
windhoek said:

... but if I can get stable and satisfying playback via HDMI into my AVR, I might just stick with that until AVR's start sporting Async USB inputs with support for m/c audio. ...

This is what I'm waiting for; gapless multi-channel file playback via USB on the top-end Denon AVR.

Until that happens, if it ever does, the Sony flagship BDP-S7200 has this readily available now, and has been for the past year.

These are the file types it will play:
Codec Extension
MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer III) .mp3
AAC/HE-AAC .m4a, .aac
WMA9 Standard .wma
LPCM .wav
FLAC .flac, .fla
Dolby Digital .ac3
DSF .dsf
DSDIFF .dff
AIFF .aiff, .aif
ALAC .m4a

... which has been cut and pasted from specifications section on page 41 of the EU BDP-S7200 user manual.

This is quite simple and relatively inexpensive to implement, considering the currently available alternatives.

Methinks someone has put the cart before the horse WRT multi-channel file playback hardware : )

Post by Fitzcaraldo215 February 8, 2015 (49 of 74)
windhoek said:

Very interesting Deribas, very interesting indeed. So far I haven't encountered any issues with playback, although I just might because I'm currently ripping my first m/c DVD-A to see how that fares with playback via the Mac and although m/c SACD ISO playback works well, it remains to be seen how a m/c DVD-A rip will fare. I'm hopeful there won't be any problems, but as you say, m/c audio from files is still an emerging playback option, so I don't want to speak too soon and tempt fate as it were.

Equally interesting is what you say regarding the Exasound/ Dirac combo versus HDMI out from the Mac because the former was/is a potential option farther down on my m/c roadmap, but if I can get stable and satisfying playback via HDMI into my AVR, I might just stick with that until AVR's start sporting Async USB inputs with support for m/c audio. Anyway, so far so good with m/c playback from the Mac :)

I think you might find several things to be true at the current time, though nothing is forever when it comes to computers in general and computer audio, specifically.

1. The Mac seems to be popular, but also seems more problematical currently in achieving the best in computer audio, particularly Mch. The PC/Windows approach is more straightforward, has more player software, etc. choices, and might even sound better.

2. Audio via HDMI from a computer into a prepro/AVR can be quite good. In my experience and those of friends, it can and does sound slightly better than from a silver disc player. For those of us who insist on room EQ, that difference becomes magnified by the use of Dirac Live in the PC vs. Audyssey XT/32 in the processor. Dirac Live gets a big thumbs up from me.

3. Unlike Deribas, but like Kal, I did find the Exasound e28 to be a really big sonic improvement. I believe that using well implemented asynchronous USB vs. HDMI is part of that advantage. But, I think its isolation from PC noise, etc., as well as its superior DAC chip and analog circuitry makes it capable of much better sonics than via even a very good prepro. Sonically, I consider it state of the art, based on alternatives I have heard.

4. There may come a day, as seems likely, when prepro's/AVRs can support Mch audio and video even via Asynch USB or ethernet. But, we do not know if or when. There are licensing concerns about the lack of copy protection via USB (unlike HDMI) that might delay that. It is curious and complex, but it does not interfere with the ability right now to use HDMI with un-copy-protected media from the PC. That works fine, really. So, why not USB or Ethernet?

5. I am delighted with using a plain vanilla PC with JRiver software and its JRemote iPad interface for library search and playback control. Sonically and in terms of convenience, I am at new, really high levels of enjoyment. For audio purposes, it really presented no difficult technical setup issues. (Video was much more troublesome.). At the same time, the cacophonous world of PC audio in numerous online threads implies that one must go to ridiculous extremes in PC customization, OS modifications, specialized and radical player software containing "special sauce", fancy cables, power supplies, etc., etc. No measurements or other solid evidence is presented for the benefits of any of this. It is an audio tweaker's world run amok based on nothing but totally uncontrolled, anecdotal listening summaries ("even my wife heard the difference", etc.). I avoid that nonsense, and I strongly recommend others do so as well. Maybe the world of PC audio will grow up someday. However, using the best aspects of it sensibly can deliver the best sound I have heard to date.

Post by windhoek February 8, 2015 (50 of 74)
Thanks Fitz :)

I went for the Mac Mini only because of its small form-factor (meaning I can fit it on my hifi rack) and the fact it does m/c audio via HDMI whereas finding a PC with similar form and function at a similar price proved tricky because none seemed to offer m/c audio via HDMI in a small box unless I spent considerably more: wait, it sounds like I'm saying a Mac product was cheaper than a Windows alternative, now there's a first!

It turns out has my Mac Mini has experienced a few freezes when playing m/c audio, but the cause is as yet unknown. I reckon it's because either my Mac Mini needs more RAM or because JRiver is less stable on Mac in general. I've ordered 8GB RAM and will see whether the jump from 4GB makes a difference. Or I suppose, it might be Mac just isn't friendly to this sort of thing.

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