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What have you been listening to - and how? (Page 3)
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Spheric Harlot
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Aug 26, 2010, 02:24 PM
 
Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton View Post
What do you mean? The NS-1000 monitors aren't.

greg
He's wondering whether electrostats wouldn't be a good condo-compatible alternative for someone who actually wants really GOOD speakers.

I believe the fact that he mentioned the Rolling Stones makes him ineligible for electrostats, though.

Chamber music and jazz, sure.
     
BadKosh
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Aug 26, 2010, 03:20 PM
 
With a good transmission line type sub-woofer added, the electrostats would be very nice in a smaller place. A friend has a Quad 303 and 405 amps with Quad Electrostats. Not too shabby of a listen.
     
ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Aug 26, 2010, 03:36 PM
 
Yeah, jazz is as far as I go, pretentious-wise. (I actually do like lots of classical, but just don't listen to it much, if at all.) Mostly it's some combination of jazz, rock, hard rock and hip-hop.

I looked at some Magnepans and a pair of Martin Logans. Nothing available in my area, and I don't plan on being in the condo long enough to warrant a big investment. Oh, and the bottom end on my 22 Ref Cons has spoiled me a little, too...unless they're set up with subs, I find the flat-panels a little...thin?...in comparison.

greg
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ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Sep 20, 2010, 09:36 PM
 
Update:

Well, decided to keep the Yamaha NS-1000 Monitors for a bit anyway (my Energy 22 Reference Connoisseurs are in storage in another province) and picked up a Parasound Halo A 21 amplifier for them (paired with a NAD C 162 preamp...mostly because it has a great phono section that a lot of modern preamps don't have, at least at that price level).

It's a pretty good setup for the money I've spent on it. I've been listening to a lot of ISIS again lately. Panopticon remains my favourite heavy-metal album (if you could call it that) of all time, and it would definitely make my top-5 of all time.

greg
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ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Sep 30, 2010, 11:51 AM
 
To resurrect my own thread: does anyone use their computer as a source for their music system? If so, do you use a DAC?

I'm almost done turning my iTunes library into a lossless/high-bitrate MP3 gold mine. I'd like to output (USB or optical out) to an external DAC I guess, then to my preamp, then through the amplifier.

At the moment I can't afford something like the new Wyred 4 Sound DAC-2, so I'm hoping for something cheaper. Cambridge Audio has the DacMagic; PS Audio has the Digital Link III; etc. etc. It's a big market now it seems, and tech moves fast - I might as well resign myself to the fact that anything sub-$1000 will be obsolete in 2 years. Still, should be a damn sight better than just going audio-out through the headphone jack....

Anyone?
Greg
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macaddict0001
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Sep 30, 2010, 09:16 PM
 
Yes, No. Although my mac has optical audio out. My current setup doesn't have optical audio in.
     
ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Sep 30, 2010, 10:01 PM
 
Yes, well, you can just go through the headphone out for basic analog audio if you want.

The DAC is where things get interesting by all accounts - apparently much better than going audio-out straight from the computer. I guess I'll be going either optical out or USB out to the DAC.

greg
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BadKosh
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Oct 1, 2010, 07:59 AM
 
Naaaa, just a 3.5mm to RCA from my MacBook Pro to whatever preamp I happen to be using at the time. The room and other things make the cable differences almost moot.
     
ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Oct 1, 2010, 08:21 AM
 
You think so? By all accounts the outboard on these computers is absolutely shitastic when compared to the circuitry in good CD players or external DACs. From (at least) a technical standpoint, adding an external DAC and going out from USB/optical should make a difference.

Whether it will or not in real-world listening, I don't know - but people with more experience than I keep saying that it really does.

greg
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Spheric Harlot
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Oct 1, 2010, 08:47 AM
 
Originally Posted by BadKosh View Post
Naaaa, just a 3.5mm to RCA from my MacBook Pro to whatever preamp I happen to be using at the time. The room and other things make the cable differences almost moot.
"Other things" in this case primarily being the DAC in the MacBook.

When you're using that integrated 80¢ DAC chip, cable differences are indeed almost moot.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Oct 1, 2010, 08:55 AM
 
Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton View Post
You think so? By all accounts the outboard on these computers is absolutely shitastic when compared to the circuitry in good CD players or external DACs. From (at least) a technical standpoint, adding an external DAC and going out from USB/optical should make a difference.
I'll have to just bluntly agree.

It might be my preoccupation with the subject that makes it difficult to see how this could NOT be obvious.

Pretty much anything you can buy will make a noticeable difference over the built-ins, although older MacBooks apparently have slightly better DAC chips than the current generation.
     
ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Oct 1, 2010, 09:16 AM
 
Thanks for the heads-up.

This was brought to my attention when I compared playing a CD in my iMac to playing the same CD from a pretty good dedicated player in my system. I seemed to notice a difference in the sound.

That surprised me. I thought it might just be my mind at first, but it wasn't - music from the computer definitely had a "harsher" edge to it that I find is most obvious in very dense tracks (some of the songs on ISIS' Panopticon in particular). That's when I started doing some research and found out about the DAC issue.

From a convienience-to-price-and-performance ratio, I think playing music off a digital source is definitely the way to go...nothing better than making hundreds-strong playlists in less than a minute. Now to make it sound a little better....

greg
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ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Oct 1, 2010, 02:33 PM
 
*Dammit hate it that I can't use Flickr for hosting any more.*
( Last edited by ShortcutToMoncton; Oct 1, 2010 at 04:13 PM. )
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ghporter
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Oct 1, 2010, 03:07 PM
 
Your link to the Flickr page with image tags lacks an actual image file, so it doesn't work...

Here's your page link-it at least works to show off your speakers!
( Last edited by ghporter; Oct 1, 2010 at 06:41 PM. )

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
olePigeon
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Oct 1, 2010, 03:41 PM
 
What am I listening to: My neighbors doing karaoke.
How am I listening to it: Through my paper thin apartment walls.
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Shaddim
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Oct 1, 2010, 10:29 PM
 
I'm running about 50% vinyl now. I do buy some MP3s, but that's mostly just for iPhone use in the car.
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brassplayersrock²
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Oct 2, 2010, 02:15 AM
 
Originally Posted by olePigeon View Post
What am I listening to: My neighbors doing karaoke.
How am I listening to it: Through my paper thin apartment walls.
Not the walls fault the builders didn’t use good enough and/or enough insulation.
     
 
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