Running a music server “headless,” no display, has advantages in SAF or Spousal Approval Factor and amount of real estate, but there are times that a laptop is appreciated, as when the computer hangs or you need to configure some network setting. BTW, you’ll find Apple’s refurb program in their...

Hey man, I run Amarra on both an ancient 8GB Intel mac mini as well as my M1 MacBook Air. Basic mac minis are available at nice prices from Costco as well as Apple’s refurbished gear program. Where I live, the e–waste recycler has really low cost refurbs, and Craig’s List sometimes has decently...

Compared to which one? Waay back, when Fidelia was still supported, I owned a copy. Compared to Amarra and Audirvana, it was of much lower fidelity. As a result, I never used it. Amarra became my reference player, still is, while I use Audirvana as a darker, less revealing backup.

Regarding Cog, it lists lots of bells and whistles but doesn’t include the most important in my consideration: forced automatic SR switching of the DAC to match the source file/stream's sample rate bit–perfect playback Also, it doesn’t mention that the dev has attempted to make it as hi–fi as...

Dude! Thank you so much for finding that. The install slideshow is just what I needed to inspect the current battery, and you found the mysterious X-Batt that others have mentioned here. Again, many thanks. I own an AK120, a Pono and the Calyx M. I love both the Pono and the Calyx M. Their...

Hello folks, I have a Calyx M DAP that seems to have a degraded battery. Anyone know of a reputable repair shop or place for parts? Thanx!

FWIW, I did the firmware update on a W10 machine, as instructed, since there’s no macOS updater. The process went w/o a hitch. No discernible difference in SQ as a result.

Hey folks, My take on the Onyx: https://audioxpress.com/news/thx-onyx-dac-amplifier-features-advanced-thx-aaa-implementation-for-high-quality-music-over-headphones I haven’t have an opportunity yet to compare the Onyx to Clarus’ similarly priced CODA. I’ll be writing up the CODA for...

Hey there sleepless64, First thing I would try is altering the metadata of one of the two albums. I use iTunes but there are many other apps that let you edit metadata. Try adding “[FLAC]” to the end of the album name to distinguish it from the ALAC version. With different album names, the two...

Hey Bitsir, When I’ve had this behavior w/Amarra or other audiophile player apps, it’s usually because either the host is “busy” doing too many other tasks, or the sample rate playing back exceeds the abilities of the system as a whole; host computer + DAC. For instance, my ancient host+ USB...

TIDAL also does the same when an existing playlist runs out…

Hey ephrank, This is only an educated guess, but knowing a bit about David C. and the equipment listed for the session, I’d say the LPCM version is closest to the master which was probably at 384k. That is, the DSD2 version would have been transcoded from the PCM. So, the 192k PCM is closest to...

Hey Truth, Savvy engineers never do 0 dBfs anymore thanks to the almost universal adoption of (slightly) more conservative True Peak measurement standards, which prevent DAC overload on playback.

Wellllll, it is depending on the content, codec and its settings. A harmonic series of highly periodic (and thus highly predictable), sine-like signals are far “easier’ (smaller resulting payload) to parametrically encode than highly chaotic audio (the other extreme; not very predictable), when...

Hey Truth, I understand what you’re getting at. My name for that is “someone who’s still learning to mix”! :wink: Seriously though, some genres require that sort of “throw everything at the wall (of sound) and see if we can create a hit” approach, death metal being one example. Most mixers try...

Hey SonicTruth, A misunderstanding perhaps? Commercially released digital music files don’t have clicks, which implies a transfer from vinyl though badly executed digital transfers can have clicks as well. As mentioned earlier…with analog, all bets are off. As to gaps, either they’re part of a...

Agreed and agreed. Once again, thanks for the clarification! That last bit is not quite true. A few EU countries have implemented the “Low Loudness Flag,” metadata that tells playout systems to “…leave this clip alone, don’t mess with it.” Yup. Dynamic Density is the lack of dynamics caused by...

Hey gregorio, DRi isn’t Crest Factor, though they are related. All the rest of that paragraph is spot on. It is designed to give an indication of how much compression has been applied, with lower numbers meaning more compression and therefore how much it's dynamic range has been reduced. Of...

BTW, if any of you have knowledge in this area and are interested in reviewing the codependent DRMeter MkII + DROffline MkII, please ping me via PM and I’ll see what can be done. Note that DRMeter MkII is a plug–in and requires a VST2, VST3, AU or AAX plug–in host, like Audirvana Plus, Foobar...

Hey Salm0n, Don’t confuse R128 measurements with “dynamic range” measurement. The phrase “dynamic range” has several meanings that I can think of (system or aggregate versus format to give you just two examples), so the concept is ill defined and can cause confusion when talking about those...

Hey ColdWolfSong, Though both formats, CD and vinyl, are capable of subjectively excellent dynamic range, CDs as a format can store twice the dynamic range of vinyl. That said, a poorly engineered or mastered track will use only a small fraction of the total available dynamic range. The DR you...

Also sorry to revive an old thread but this is germane…Way back in 2011, spart1cle mentioned above the original DR Dynamic Range line offered by the PMF or Pleasurize Music Foundation. Development of those products have since been handed over from the PMF to MAAT Incorporated and, though the...

Hey WNBC, I have not noticed any differences but your Win driver may be a contributing factor. Even though you’re using the same hardware on both platforms, that DAC is mediated through either a driver, in the case of Win, or not since macOS supports it directly. you might want to try applying...

Just got back from RMAF, talked to Jude Mansilla. He was interested in doing a live remote (teleconference) ASM meeting. No firm dates as yet, will keep y’all informed.

For those of you who haven’t heard of the ASM, the Audio Society of Minnesota is a collection of two channel geeks, engineers and enthusiasts who get together once a month from September to May with December off. We meet the third Tuesday of each month at the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting in St...