[sheldaze]

Thanks @willsw and company! Everyone contributed, even if it was just by listening and discussion. Loved it!
 
I know this is primary a headphone site, but there's something quite special about speakers that, to me, headphones just don't do in the same way. Even if it is just the discussion, immediately after the listen, describing what we all hear. Totally different experience, passing around a headphone, and discussing 5 minutes later what we heard. Change a speaker or a DAC, play a song, and share - no delay - this is something I've not done in quite a long while. And man - was it fun!
 
Thanks all!

 

[schneller]

For those interested, there is thread over at ComputerAudiophile.

 

[doukhobar]

Thanks @schneller for posting your impressions. Not sure I want to chime in there, but it is clear there are some folks who are very married to USB and don't want to let it go. That is their right. It is unbeatable for convenience! And that is what I think where USB beats all other inputs hand down. Who doesn't want to play music directly from a computer?! That is why it is so popular- and fun! Galvanic isolation, XMOS chips, etc. are like putting lipstick on a pig. As you said, USB inputs are not the future and in my very humble opinion, folks who desire best audio quality should look to other input schemes. However, it is a great option to have for streaming music and home theatre applications. That said, Bryston has integrated Tidal into the BDP-2
 
http://www.psaudio.com/forum/directstream-all-about-it/tidal-on-bryston/
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=131852.0
 
And for those who really love USB inputs, there is a BDP-1USB which has a USB output in addition to the outputs the BDP-1 has. A nice option. 

 

[schneller]

  Thanks @schneller for posting your impressions. Not sure I want to chime in there, but it is clear there are some folks who are very married to USB and don't want to let it go. That is their right. It is unbeatable for convenience! And that is what I think where USB beats all other inputs hand down. Who doesn't want to play music directly from a computer?! That is why it is so popular- and fun! Galvanic isolation, XMOS chips, etc. are like putting lipstick on a pig. As you said, USB inputs are not the future and in my very humble opinion, folks who desire best audio quality should look to other input schemes. However, it is a great option to have for streaming music and home theatre applications. That said, Bryston has integrated Tidal into the BDP-2
 
http://www.psaudio.com/forum/directstream-all-about-it/tidal-on-bryston/
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=131852.0
 
And for those who really love USB inputs, there is a BDP-1USB which has a USB output in addition to the outputs the BDP-1 has. A nice option. 

Yeah, the reaction was nearly instant over there.
 
I really do like what your Bryston did to the setup. Is it possible (or would it even add benefit) to go from a HTPC via USB to the Bryston and then out via AES to the Yiggy? 

 

[doukhobar]

I really do like what your Bryston did to the setup. Is it possible (or would it even add benefit) to go from a HTPC via USB to the Bryston and then out via AES to the Yiggy? 

That's actually an interesting prospect that I never considered. However, I do not think the BDP is capable of taking streaming USB input from a computer source. I think of the USB connection as more a convenient method of connecting to a hard drive. The BDP-2 is expalined pretty well here:
http://www.stereophile.com/content/bryston-bdp-1-digital-audio-player-bryston-bdp-2#TrTgQIxTAgkas5rq.97
 
For example:

Why did Bryston decide to upgrade the original so soon after its release? Bryston listened to users, who liked the BDP-1 but wanted more. They wanted to be able to manage large libraries of up to 30,000 files; shorter load times, so that a 1-terabyte (1TB) hard drive would load in 4 minutes rather than 15; to be able to power terabyte USB drives via USB instead of being limited to 500GB USB drives; to be able to mount a SATA solid-state drive (SSD) inside; and to plug faster eSATA hard drives into the rear panel. The BDP-1's power supply, processor, and 256GB of internal RAM memory couldn't handle all these new features, so Bryston designed the BDP-2 as "a BDP-1 on steroids." The design brief for the BDP-2 was twofold: more power and more speed. It incorporates an Intel Atom N450 processor running at 1.6GHz, rather than BDP-1's AMD Geode LX processor running at 0.5GHz.

 
The BDP-1 is just an extremly simple computer whose sole purpose is playing these files. I found sometimes its simplest things which perform the best. It has one job, and does that job really well. BDP1 was almost experimental in its production and release. Lots of the audiocircle thread information describes a large variety of user experiences. The BDP-2 is certainly more powerful. 
 
This is also an interesting link, where a user compares BDP1/BDP2 and also the USB output vs AES output. Apparently they enjoyed the USB output of the BDP2 into their BDA2 DAC. They were actually designed to go together.
https://www.avforums.com/threads/bryston-owners-thread-part-iii.1595112/page-33

 

[TimeLord]

Thank you @willsw for hosting and everyone else who turned out and made for an educational experience for me.

 

[sheldaze]

@schneller and gang - the mythical Black Yggy is in stock again.

 

[schneller]

@schneller
 and gang - the mythical Black Yggy is in stock again.

Yeah I saw since I do check it daily

 

[Billheiser]

Glad the meets at Urban Audio are going well; sorry to have missed them, will eventually get back to the meets.
 
Hey, Xmas tip?? Looking for on-ear wired closed headphones - best sound for under $100, and not ugly (these are for a 23 year old fashionable female family member).  The upcoming drop of E-Mu Purplehearts look great for $75, but not available for a few months yet.  Suggestions?

 

[sheldaze]

  Glad the meets at Urban Audio are going well; sorry to have missed them, will eventually get back to the meets.
 
Hey, Xmas tip?? Looking for on-ear wired closed headphones - best sound for under $100, and not ugly (these are for a 23 year old fashionable female family member).  The upcoming drop of E-Mu Purplehearts look great for $75, but not available for a few months yet.  Suggestions?

Not sure about the fashion - Tyll seemed to like the Sennheiser HD 202. Had I not a few headphones lying around, I would have considered it for my brother, who wanted something to plug into the home theater, for listening late at night.

 

[Billheiser]

Thanks, good idea.  I see now there is a HD203 also, just a few bucks more.  Now looking on the Sennheiser site, I see others under $100 that I'm not familiar with:  HD461, and a confusing series of HD2.1, 2.2, 4.2, 4.3, etc.  

 

[schneller]

I guess our "conclusions" from last Sunday are invalid because we did not use a decibal meter app to volume level match. According to the other forum at least. Some people take out all the fun!

 

[doukhobar]

I guess our "conclusions" from last Sunday are invalid because we did not use a decibal meter app to volume level match. According to the other forum at least. Some people take out all the fun!

Boo-hoo! Cry me a river Computer Audiophile boys! 
Besides, my ears are better then any app!!
 
And a Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah to all!! See y'all next year. 
 
PS - Sitting at home listening to my current set up, I can't help lusting over those Evoke Eddie speakers They sounded so good at medium-loudish volumes, and the bass....droool........

 

[gandhisfist]

I too am hooked on the sound of those, absolutely amazing to get in a speaker that size.

 

[Psalmanazar]

@willsw Thanks for hosting the meet! Great store, great location, ample parking nearby.
 
Here are my impressions which I didn't post before as I forgot.

RNHP: Nope. Less treble glare than certain other solid state amps (the O2 and Jotunheim) but very compressed, overdamped, and probably underpowered. Little to no proper sustain. Instrumental timbre is way off. Not a good amp but I've heard worse.
 
Holo Spring DAC: Good, warm, slightly bassy, slightly rolled off on top and soft DAC. Little to none non-oversampling grain compared to other NOS DACs. One of the best NOS I've heard if you like that flavor of sound. Staging isn't as nearly good as the Schiit multibit DACs though and it starts at around teh same price as the Gungnir multibit, which actually has a USB implementation that works. The Holo Spring oversampling mode feels tacked on and sounds awful and XMOS USB receiver doesn't even have exclusive mode support for bypassing operating system mixers so I don't really think they should even be in there at all as it is. Definite potential here though to change the market for NOS DACs like the Schiit multibit offerings have for a more tonally flat, oversampled sound signature.
 
Ryu's Bimby -> Speedball Crack chain. Good synergy for a warm setup: the lack of punch in the Bimby is rectified and then some by the Crack. Still had the slightly hazy and bloomy OTL bass and lower mids but good treble timbre up top along with nice tube staging.