Meier Audio StageDAC - Page 30

My Stagedac settings are as follows:

Pulse: Up

Over: Down

Delay: Middle

Intensity: Up

Mode: Up

Tone: Up

If you look at some of the earlier postings by Leornado (I think on Page 12 of this thread?) he has done a much more scientific job of comparing the various settings than me. I like my current combination but will try different ones in time! Variety is the spice of life!

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjw241142 

My Stagedac settings are as follows:

 

Pulse: Up

Over: Down

Delay: Middle

Intensity: Up

Mode: Up

Tone: Up

 

If you look at some of the earlier postings by Leornado (I think on Page 12 of this thread?) he has done a much more scientific job of comparing the various settings than me. I like my current combination but will try different ones in time! Variety is the spice of life!

Haha... those setting sure changed things, sounds like listening to normal speakers now!

Loving the DAC and experimenting with settings, keep the good advice coming for HD800 bliss
 

So perer,

What are your observations of the usb vs hiface?

I am waiting for a HiFace from Dr Jan - when I get it and have some time I will post my observations. It is a bit of an adventure for me as I have never listened to ALAC out of my computer into a proper DAC even via a USB, never mind a HiFace. I have listened to USB into a Corda 2Move which I enjoyed. 

I know a lot of audiophiles are talking about higher bit rates as well as programmes like Amarra or Pure Sound, but certainly finding rock music in master tape quality is a bit of an issue if your are a Genesis, Led Zep or Pink Floyd fan as I am. I have purchased a small (I have limited space for my headphone rig) Sony SACD player to see if that makes a difference and will purchase some of the Genesis SACD box sets (I have DSOTM 30th anniversary). So I am entering a new world........... and the Stagedac was part of my thinking for this. 

PS Yes I do like the speaker sound set-up options on the Stagedac but will doubtless change them in due course!

Quote:

Originally Posted by yossi126 

So perer,

What are your observations of the usb vs hiface?

I'm still waiting for the HiFACE, it was delayed so Jan sent it to me yesterday.

Will try to comment on the difference once I get some time with it. So far I'm enjoying the DAC over USB, which is more than enough right now

So I've been playing around with the DAC settings and it feels like you almost need one setting for every type of music.

Could someone give a few examples of well known songs that are pre-mixed in such a way that you don't need crossfeed!

Would love to evaluate the sampling and pulse response without worrying about the influence of having crossfeed on!

About Tonal Balance, this is only active when crossfeed is on right?

"Tonal Balance" works even when crossfeed is disabled. You should be able to feel the increase in bass response when it's active.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by perer 

So I've been playing around with the DAC settings and it feels like you almost need one setting for every type of music.

Could someone give a few examples of well known songs that are pre-mixed in such a way that you don't need crossfeed!

Would love to evaluate the sampling and pulse response without worrying about the influence of having crossfeed on!

 

About Tonal Balance, this is only active when crossfeed is on right?

Quote:

Originally Posted by spixder 

A quick question, to get the best out of this dac, i would need an optical spdif cable from pc to the dac right? 

Gday,
   I would like to know the answer to this as well, currently have my optical from pc feeding my stagedac then into corda would the hiface be a better option ?

cheers

I compared the USB and optical (rather quickly) and couldn't detect any differences so the USB implementation must be rather good. But you are limited to 48khz/16bit , plus  your DAC and PC is electrically connected which  could lead to ground pollution. So optical is likely to be a better connection. If you don't have a  soundcard with SPDIF the Hi-face is probably better than getting a cheap soundcard, if you only plan to play music. I was hoping to do without my STX and use my new motherboard''s SPDIF, but I found the SQ slightly less engaging and dynamic using the  MB. But getting a STX just to use the SPDIF might be overkill.

I was also thinking about getting the Hi-face but Jan very honestly admitted it was very unlikely to bring much benefit considering I feed the Stagedac 192khz.

Received my HiFACE today and started playing around. Took me quite a while to realize that I had to set 192kHz/24bit myself in Windows 7 soundsettings and not in some HiFACE program.

So right now I've jumped from 48kHz USB to 192kHz SPDIF... quite a difference, especially after playing the HiFACE on 48kHz for more than an hour!

Have SPDIF on my motherboard and tried it a little, but HiFACE sounds better. Will investigate more and give feedback the coming weeks

Quote:

Originally Posted by zenpunk 

I compared the USB and optical (rather quickly) and couldn't detect any differences so the USB implementation must be rather good. But you are limited to 48khz/16bit , plus  your DAC and PC is electrically connected which  could lead to ground pollution. So optical is likely to be a better connection. If you don't have a  soundcard with SPDIF the Hi-face is probably better than getting a cheap soundcard, if you only plan to play music. I was hoping to do without my STX and use my new motherboard''s SPDIF, but I found the SQ slightly less engaging and dynamic using the  MB. But getting a STX just to use the SPDIF might be overkill.

Hey zenpunk I have the STX , but my onboard sound was shocking, I really noticed the difference when installing the STX, maybe is over kill.

Perer would you recommend this over a sound card ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by repo064 

 

Hey zenpunk I have the STX , but my onboard sound was shocking, I really noticed the difference when installing the STX, maybe is over kill.

Perer would you recommend this over a sound card ?

There was a russian site that did a comparison I think to the STX, or another high end sound cards VS the Stagedac, and they said for the increase in price, the measurements didn't show any improvement, and in some cases it was degraded.

As far as degrading, they were talking SNR, so stuff you couldn't hear anyways.

If your system is groundloop free (unlike mine, and I am done wasting my time to figure it out) and can use the RCA outs to an amp, by all means keep it.

Not that the stagedac is not amazing, I am sure it is, but with a properly implemented STX, the bang for buck ratio is unbeatable.

Depending on what your amp is, that budget would be better spent on an amp... like a concerto :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by sokolov91 

There was a russian site that did a comparison I think to the STX, or another high end sound cards VS the Stagedac, and they said for the increase in price, the measurements didn't show any improvement, and in some cases it was degraded.

 

As far as degrading, they were talking SNR, so stuff you couldn't hear anyways.

 

If your system is groundloop free (unlike mine, and I am done wasting my time to figure it out) and can use the RCA outs to an amp, by all means keep it.

 

Not that the stagedac is not amazing, I am sure it is, but with a properly implemented STX, the bang for buck ratio is unbeatable.

 

Depending on what your amp is, that budget would be better spent on an amp... like a concerto :)

Hi mate yes i have the concerto, so at the moment im going from the stx optical out, stagedac,concerto,hd800 sounds like i would not gain much from the hiface.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by repo064 

Hi mate yes i have the concerto, so at the moment im going from the stx optical out, stagedac,concerto,hd800 sounds like i would not gain much from the hiface.
 

no, I doubt it. But you could try using the coax out if your ground is clean. Optical is only better over long distances, otherwise coax will beat it.