The Dark Side; Digital audio equipment recommendations and setup.

Joe Mac said:
To be honest Spotify's sound quality is consistent, consistently bad 😂
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I guess my dac or my hearing is bad because I still feel no difference, no parts of the audio are lost (lossy compression knows what its doing). And I don't feel like anything is crisper or more detailed and especially nothing about soundstage (which I still don't understand as I like my shit intimate)
 
duke86fan said:
I guess my dac or my hearing is bad because I still feel no difference, no parts of the audio are lost (lossy compression knows what its doing). And I don't feel like anything is crisper or more detailed and especially nothing about soundstage (which I still don't understand as I like my shit intimate)
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soundstage is about being able to position the singer and musicians side to side and back to front on a stage like you would live, a recording can have a wide and deep soundstage and still he intimate.
 
Joe Mac said:
Just upgraded my Sonos TV system (Playbase and Play:1 x2) to the new Sonos S2 environment. It now offers support up to 24/48, still not quite good enough to get the mac out of the hi res offerings of the likes of Qobuz or Tidal but a definite step in the right direction!
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Just upgraded as well. Took a bit for the app to see my speakers. But once setup it plays nice
 
MikeH said:
If it brings the price of the older versions down I may jump on some Sonos for surround sound...
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To be fair to sonos unless your speaker is well over 5 years old it’s compatible with this. What may cause a clearance of the old playbar is it’s replacement being launched, I think it and the five replacing the play:5, which is a bit to capable and pricy for a surround speaker, are the only recent newbees.
 
Joe Mac said:
To be fair to sonos unless your speaker is well over 5 years old it’s compatible with this. What may cause a clearance of the old playbar is it’s replacement being launched, I think it and the five replacing the play:5, which is a bit to capable and pricy for a surround speaker, are the only recent newbees.
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Way to dash my hopes Joe...haha
 
MikeH said:
Way to dash my hopes Joe...haha
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Haha! You never really see their stuff discounted! That said they also are pretty good about making sure that the stuff you buy has at least an 8 or 9 year shelf life. They’re even keeping the old Sonos app infrastructure alive as s1, and giving it security updates for the older products that can’t make the jump to the s2 app and software.
 
Joe Mac said:
Haha! You never really see their stuff discounted! That said they also are pretty good about making sure that the stuff you buy has at least an 8 or 9 year shelf life. They’re even keeping the old Sonos app infrastructure alive as s1, and giving it security updates for the older products that can’t make the jump to the s2 app and software.
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I have always liked Sonos and think it actually sounds pretty good. But their price point is just so high. The wireless surround would be perfect for my living space now but when I priced it out awhile back, it was a lot just for that purpose. I already have tons of speakers at home and we are okay with 2.1 for now. When we eventually move into a house, I think Sonos will be back on the menu haha.
 
MikeH said:
I have always liked Sonos and think it actually sounds pretty good. But their price point is just so high. The wireless surround would be perfect for my living space now but when I priced it out awhile back, it was a lot just for that purpose. I already have tons of speakers at home and we are okay with 2.1 for now. When we eventually move into a house, I think Sonos will be back on the menu haha.
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Yeah I think I paid €1400 for the playbase, 2 play:1 speakers with floor stands and a really nice tv stand that makes it appear like the tele is floating above the playbase. It’s a lot of money for what it is but the lack of wires and the separation of the tele from the hifi made it well worth it for me.
 
Today, in 'breaking unexpected digital frontiers' is the discovery that my new car can play high res FLAC;

1592140397256.png

It has to be said, sitting in it and listening to music is decidedly cheaper than actually using it*;

1592140470374.png

*This may have been after driving it like a complete twat. I couldn't possibly comment.
 
Ed Selley said:
Today, in 'breaking unexpected digital frontiers' is the discovery that my new car can play high res FLAC;

View attachment 51925

It has to be said, sitting in it and listening to music is decidedly cheaper than actually using it*;

View attachment 51926

*This may have been after driving it like a complete twat. I couldn't possibly comment.
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FR Ibiza?

My Fiesta plays FLACS. Was a very exciting development!
 
Thackeraye said:
FR Ibiza?
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A Leon Cupra. I think it might be capable of something nearer 40mpg on runs but the problem is that is conditional on not turning on 'Twat mode' (SEAT calls it 'Cupra' but the sentiment is the same), where it makes a noise like a small war and moves amusingly quickly.

Thackeraye said:
My Fiesta plays FLACS. Was a very exciting development!
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Weirdly, my Fiesta didn't!
 
Ed Selley said:
A Leon Cupra. I think it might be capable of something nearer 40mpg on runs but the problem is that is conditional on not turning on 'Twat mode' (SEAT calls it 'Cupra' but the sentiment is the same), where it makes a noise like a small war and moves amusingly quickly.



Weirdly, my Fiesta didn't!
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Nice. I had an Ibiza once, really liked it.

My 16 plate Fiesta didn't, but my current 18 plate does. Think it's the new software that now works. Hardly need to drive my car in the current climate, so it's all a bit moot!
 
I had this lovely tank of a device hiding in storage from my dad. I've got lots of cd's still from my youth (and from my dad's collection) so I'm thinking I'll follow in @AnthonyI's footsteps (yes I know I gave you a hard time about all the equipment you run. What can I say, a good idea is a good idea). I set this up in my office, apart from my vinyl rig, near my computer so I can listen while I work.

There is a headphone out built in, so there must be an amp and a dac built in. However, it also has a digital audio out. I've got a separate headphone amp and headphones already that I like. My question is this: would buying an external dac give me better sound through the digital audio out? I have to imagine that dacs have gotten way better in the last 20 years. An additional benefit would be that I'd be able to also use the dac with my computer, which is next to the cd changer. I'm not planning to use speakers or anything in the room, this would be it. Budget is $200 or so, nothing too crazy here.

Sony CDP-CX100

2020-06-16 11.57.29.jpg
 
trickyseven said:
I had this lovely tank of a device hiding in storage from my dad. I've got lots of cd's still from my youth (and from my dad's collection) so I'm thinking I'll follow in @AnthonyI's footsteps (yes I know I gave you a hard time about all the equipment you run. What can I say, a good idea is a good idea). I set this up in my office, apart from my vinyl rig, near my computer so I can listen while I work.

There is a headphone out built in, so there must be an amp and a dac built in. However, it also has a digital audio out. I've got a separate headphone amp and headphones already that I like. My question is this: would buying an external dac give me better sound through the digital audio out? I have to imagine that dacs have gotten way better in the last 20 years. An additional benefit would be that I'd be able to also use the dac with my computer, which is next to the cd changer. I'm not planning to use speakers or anything in the room, this would be it. Budget is $200 or so, nothing too crazy here.

Sony CDP-CX100

View attachment 52210
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I would say with this player it should definitely improve your sound quality. The MODI3 gets a lot of praise and it's only $100 :)
 
trickyseven said:
I had this lovely tank of a device hiding in storage from my dad. I've got lots of cd's still from my youth (and from my dad's collection) so I'm thinking I'll follow in @AnthonyI's footsteps (yes I know I gave you a hard time about all the equipment you run. What can I say, a good idea is a good idea). I set this up in my office, apart from my vinyl rig, near my computer so I can listen while I work.

There is a headphone out built in, so there must be an amp and a dac built in. However, it also has a digital audio out. I've got a separate headphone amp and headphones already that I like. My question is this: would buying an external dac give me better sound through the digital audio out? I have to imagine that dacs have gotten way better in the last 20 years. An additional benefit would be that I'd be able to also use the dac with my computer, which is next to the cd changer. I'm not planning to use speakers or anything in the room, this would be it. Budget is $200 or so, nothing too crazy here.

Sony CDP-CX100

View attachment 52210
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Music Direct has a couple Arcam DAC on sale, I recognize the name, but not familiar with the quality. I'm sure someone will chime in :)

Equipment | Shop Music Direct

www.musicdirect.com www.musicdirect.com
 
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