The Dark Side; Digital audio equipment recommendations and setup.

Ed Selley said:
I decided to go from Roon evangelist to Roon zealot;

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It's a standard Nucleus. As I still have to test non Roon compatible stuff, I haven’t installed an internal drive so it can access the Melco (and, non Roon stuff can access the Melco directly). It does mean that my ‘front end’ before decoding is now three boxes worth of faff but it means the PC is no longer part of the process and it is dead silent.
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Very nice! Looking forward to hearing what you think of joining the realm of the zealot. Was there any decision to be made in choosing the Nucleus vs other cores, like a NUC or sonicTransporter?
 
wooha said:
Very nice! Looking forward to hearing what you think of joining the realm of the zealot. Was there any decision to be made in choosing the Nucleus vs other cores, like a NUC or sonicTransporter?
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In this case, the decision was pretty straightforward. This is a hardware purchase for review use and, as such, is tax deductible. This being the case, the extra cost of the Nucleus wasn't really an issue, and additionally, it was purchased at trade via the UK distributor. I know the mechanics of building a NUC but if it goes wrong it is my problem whereas if this does, it is somebody else's. I don't believe it has any performative advantage over more affordable Roon cores- indeed, the major difference between it and this laptop that was my Core before I installed the Nucleus, is that the laptop runs better as a result.
 
HiFi Guy said:
Congrats! regarding shipping, is that what the shipper said? Given the situation, I’m thinking a couple of weeks is fast.
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I ordered from Apos Audio, and they told me that their fulfillment center in Shenzhen is closed until February 10 due to the coronavirus outbreak. I'm with you - I bet it'll get delayed further into the month.
 
I'm pretty sure I just can't hear a difference between DACs

Like I felt no real difference between the audioquest black 1.5 years ago (before it broke) and my laptop's native headphone jack.. am I just hearing the wrong things, I don't remember any differences and I am pretty sure m50s should tell the difference even in super low bitrate mp3
 
duke86fan said:
I'm pretty sure I just can't hear a difference between DACs

Like I felt no real difference between the audioquest black 1.5 years ago (before it broke) and my laptop's native headphone jack.. am I just hearing the wrong things, I don't remember any differences and I am pretty sure m50s should tell the difference even in super low bitrate mp3
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Trust your ears. If you can't hear a difference, enjoy the music and save the cash.
 
displayname said:
Trust your ears. If you can't hear a difference, enjoy the music and save the cash.
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I'm overthinking and sciencing again

I just am not finding the enjoyment i have compared to a great vinyl record that I usually have.. maybe I just have too much of a backlog and too much listening tiring me
 
duke86fan said:
I'm overthinking and sciencing again

I just am not finding the enjoyment i have compared to a great vinyl record that I usually have.. maybe I just have too much of a backlog and too much listening tiring me
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The problem of leisure
What to do for pleasure
Ideal love, a new purchase
A market of the senses
Dream of the perfect life

Andy Gill RIP
 
duke86fan said:
I'm pretty sure I just can't hear a difference between DACs

Like I felt no real difference between the audioquest black 1.5 years ago (before it broke) and my laptop's native headphone jack.. am I just hearing the wrong things, I don't remember any differences and I am pretty sure m50s should tell the difference even in super low bitrate mp3
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I'm not entirely sure that you would notice a difference in low bitrate files a ton, but that's a question for more technical minds than myself.
 
MikeH said:
I'm not entirely sure that you would notice a difference in low bitrate files a ton, but that's a question for more technical minds than myself.
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I just keep hearing that a DAC will even make YouTube and Spotify (low bitrate AAC or OGG files) sound good. I just wanna hear that difference
 
duke86fan said:
I just keep hearing that a DAC will even make YouTube and Spotify (low bitrate AAC or OGG files) sound good. I just wanna hear that difference
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I don't doubt that it will improve it slightly. But I also doubt that a low bitrate music stream is going to suddenly sound like vinyl. I'd be willing to bet that if you listened to FLAC or higher res files on a good quality DAC vs your built-in laptop one that you would notice a difference. The quality needs to be there to have it sound good in the first place. And if you are also going on what you heard a year and a half ago compared to today, there's not much of an A/B comparison you can do, especially if you have been listening to a lot of vinyl.

As @displayname said, if you don't notice a difference then don't sink money into it and just enjoy the music!
 
MikeH said:
if you don't notice a difference then don't sink money into it and just enjoy the music!
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It's mostly just if I'm going to be an audiophile it seemed like an essential thing.. wanting to buy audiophile records have got me obsessed with this stuff
 
MikeH said:
I'd start out with a free trial of Qobuz or some other high-res streaming service if you want to see if you'd be interested more in high-res digital.
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I'll try

I just wish there was an easy A/B system so I can see..

I tried it to an extent with a hires I already owned with an MP3 (a song I heard millions of times) and don't feel anything.. it's not like it's mastered differently or had more detail in the parts I truly focus on.
 
duke86fan said:
I'll try

I just wish there was an easy A/B system so I can see..

I tried it to an extent with a hires I already owned with an MP3 (a song I heard millions of times) and don't feel anything.. it's not like it's mastered differently or had more detail in the parts I truly focus on.
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For what it’s worth, I still prefer vinyl but I definitely notice a difference between FLAC/high res streaming and MP3 regardless of the DAC. But if you don't notice a difference then there’s no sense in spending a lot of money to go down the rabbit hole that is digital audio.
 
MikeH said:
For what it’s worth, I still prefer vinyl but I definitely notice a difference between FLAC/high res streaming and MP3 regardless of the DAC. But if you don't notice a difference then there’s no sense in spending a lot of money to go down the rabbit hole that is digital audio.
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I'll test it out soon with qobuz or tidal
 
btw @MikeH by high res do you mean just like normal FLAC CD quality or like 24/96

because tbh i dont hear a difference... its not like there is anything missing in the 320.. no voices feel weird, no part of the music feels any removed.. maybe i just dont have good hearing
 
duke86fan said:
btw @MikeH by high res do you mean just like normal FLAC CD quality or like 24/96
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Either or. Both should be upgrades over MP3 or YouTube streams. There are lots of “FLAC” files floating around the internet that are illegal downloads with FLAC in the titles but are just FLAC conversions of MP3. I’d try something legit from bandcamp or a stream on Qobuz.
 
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