I’ll thank you for putting me right off streaming forever
+1 on the “adventurous recommendations”To the OP...
Easy,l
Get a PC with Linear power supplies with separated to all critical subsystems. then get either the Laufertek Memory player Software suite, or if you are more adventurous (and for cheaper, but only forum support), get Win Server 2016 with AudioOptimizer and Roon/HQP (Fidelizer Pro process lasso optional). In both cases you need to tweak the BIOS. Make sure to play back from internal SSDs with the latter and from the "slot"in the former.
Thank me later.
I’ll thank you for putting me right off streaming forever
My attitude towards high end is pragmatic, not dogmatic. What matters most is sound quality and enjoyment, not old beliefs.
+1
This thread is again highly off-putting to me in terms of computer audio, since again it highlights all the complexities and details that need to be right to make computer audio work properly. So many pitfalls. Computer audio is clearly not a mature technology yet in the sense that it is plug-n'-play. And, regardless of what Steve N. or anyone else claims, I have yet to hear a computer audio system that is better and more resolving than my CD transport driving the DAC through a high-grade AES/EBU cable.
IMHO when we categorically say we have yet to hear something better it mostly means we have not listened to everything ...
For me it is a question of my priorities in my system. I feel that a SGM server, as used by Mike Lavigne, would sound significantly better than my current server. But considering the limited use I give to the computer system, I am postponing considering such experiences with expensive servers until they have a mature ethernet server ...
+1
This thread is again highly off-putting to me in terms of computer audio, since again it highlights all the complexities and details that need to be right to make computer audio work properly. So many pitfalls. Computer audio is clearly not a mature technology yet in the sense that it is plug-n'-play. And, regardless of what Steve N. or anyone else claims, I have yet to hear a computer audio system that is better and more resolving than my CD transport driving the DAC through a high-grade AES/EBU cable.
How many high-end shows have you attended?
If you notice, the vast majority of rooms use computer audio of some sort.
You just have not heard decent computer audio yet. Get a Sony HAP-z1es and get your feet wet. Simple to operate and load up with music.
Again, those audiophiles who try to tell us that any old computer system will beat any transport, just based on questionable "jitter measurements", are unserious salesmen of snake oil. I just know better.
Yup, and the vast majority of rooms also don't sound particularly good, or with highly resolved sound.
Great, and no output to external DAC. No, thanks.
Really? Well what about these people:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=154039.msg1651590#msg1651590
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=154039.msg1655541#msg1655541
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=154039.msg1658094#msg1658094
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=105049.msg1200553#msg1200553
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=105049.msg1159717#msg1159717
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=95464#msg960567
It's not computer audio that is the problem. It's the equipment and vendors you are trying.
Steve N.
Empirical Audio
You must have missed the part where I was saying "any old computer system". Also, who knows how good those transports compared to were.
You must have missed the part where I said "I have no doubt that computer audio can be done right."
I guess so...
My point is that either the transport or the music server can sound excellent and have low jitter. Jitter is literally the ONLY consideration in a transport or a music server driving a DAC, assuming that they don't change the data. If they are both playing 44.1 tracks using the same S/PDIF cable and have the same jitter, the transport will sound identical to the music server.
If one wants to stick with a transport and is happy with 44.1, then just add a reclocker to get low jitter.
If one wants hi-res playback, then get a server or make a computer your server and add a reclocker to get low jitter.
If you want to play hi-res DSD disks with low jitter, then you must spend the big bux on a CD player.
If you want to play DSD with a server with low jitter, then you must spend a lot more as well.
Steve N.
Empirical Audio
Actually the Sony HAP-Z1ES had a firmware update quite a while ago which added support for its USB output to connect to an external DAC. At the same time they added support for a USB hub so that you can connect any combination of an external HD, DAC, and CDROM drive (for direct ripping) simultaneously.Great, and no output to external DAC. No, thanks.
True certainly in my case, but my experiences so far are what I have to go by. I have no doubt that computer audio can be done right. Yet I am greatly put off by the hassle usually involved, and this thread again shows all the pitfalls and the fine details that have to be right, far too tedious for me. Again, those audiophiles who try to tell us that any old computer system will beat any transport, just based on questionable "jitter measurements", are unserious salesmen of snake oil. I just know better.
The expensive server route would be my preferred way to go. I would be considering a Baetis server with AES/EBU output, would I want to venture into computer audio. More hassle-free, but not quite. You still have to get (the connection to) the external storage right...
You must have missed the part where I was saying "any old computer system".
Curiously symmetrical to the reasons why I avoid vinyl.....
I know vinyl can be sublime....and that temptation musters a doleful interest
but the prospective tedium of getting there ( ymmv) renders the path one for others...not me.
Congratulations Al!
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