[paradoxper]

 Plenty of people spout about differences in cables, DACs, isolation footies, etc. And then plenty of people spout off, er, regurgitate other peoples experiences.
 
It's pretty simple - if you hear changes/differences/improvements (be it placebo or whatever,) cool.
Again, if not, you're saving monies.
 
But then again, this IS the Sound Science forum so leave all that subjective BS at the front door.

 

[linglingjr]

NO NO NO! How dare this thread be derailed in typical sound science fashion.  

 

[Music Alchemist]

   Plenty of people spout about differences in cables, DACs, isolation footies, etc. And then plenty of people spout off, er, regurgitate other peoples experiences.
 
It's pretty simple - if you hear changes/differences/improvements (be it placebo or whatever,) cool.
Again, if not, you're saving monies.
 
But then again, this IS the Sound Science forum so leave all that subjective BS at the front door.

 
The subjective aspects must be touched upon to determine which objective aspects to explore.
 
I was wondering what would account for differences (if any) between how music servers sound. I hypothesized that it may be built-in DACs, but I really don't know, since I'm not a technical expert.
 
If there were measurements made of the analog sound waves generated by the equipment, and it was (or was not) found that the differences are within the range of hearing, this would be a valuable resource. It could validate (or invalidate) many of the subjective experiences people have had.

 

[bigshot]

What music servers are you talking about. I have a Mac Mini acting as my media server. It's stone flat, no audible distortion and has a noise floor well beyond audibility. It doesn't get better than that, but I suppose if you use a PC with a lousy sound card that isn't designed for music, it could get worse.
 
The nice thing about subjective impressions is that they just *are*. You can certainly verify or disprove them as many have already done, but that doesn't mean that the person expressing the impression is going to listen.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  What music servers are you talking about. I have a Mac Mini acting as my media server. It's stone flat, no audible distortion and has a noise floor well beyond audibility. It doesn't get better than that, but I suppose if you use a PC with a lousy sound card that isn't designed for music, it could get worse.
 
The nice thing about subjective impressions is that they just *are*. You can certainly verify or disprove them as many have already done, but that doesn't mean that the person expressing the impression is going to listen.

 
Dedicated music servers like the Laufer Teknik The Memory Player, Light Harmonic Da Vinci Source, LUMIN S1, and Naim NDS.
 
I'm sure plenty of people would appreciate being disproven, even if it means that they have to come to terms with the fact that they wasted small fortunes.

 

[bigshot]

I don't know anyone who has anything like that. Do you? How much do those cost? I paid about $1000 for my Mac Mini and Airports. It runs my music libraries and my HD projection system for video.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  I don't know anyone who has anything like that. Do you?

 
Yep! ^_^
 
...But I'm not close enough to them that I can just drop in and have a listen.

 

[SilverEars]

Dav Vinchi I believe is $20K(edit:some sources say $30k, sorry to disappoint)  and they announced a new DAC that will be $120k.  They have 2 femto clocks(ultra low jitter 

).  The DAC is referred to as "ultra high speed," so if you want a fast DAC and have a fat wallet, it will speed up the DACing.  

 

[paradoxper]

   
The subjective aspects must be touched upon to determine which objective aspects to explore.
 
I was wondering what would account for differences (if any) between how music servers sound. I hypothesized that it may be built-in DACs, but I really don't know, since I'm not a technical expert.
 
If there were measurements made of the analog sound waves generated by the equipment, and it was (or was not) found that the differences are within the range of hearing, this would be a valuable resource. It could validate (or invalidate) many of the subjective experiences people have had.

All I'm saying is mention some controls, uh, firstly. I'm also much more vested in people's actual experience rather than the "my 1000 audiophile friends hear differences."

 

[Music Alchemist]

Dav Vinchi I believe is $20K  and they announced a new DAC that will be $120k.  They have 2 femto clocks(ultra low jitter 

).  The DAC is referred to as "ultra high speed," so if you want a fast DAC and have a fat wallet, it will speed up the DACing.  

 
Don't forget the dCS Vivaldi Digital Playback System ($108,496) (with CD/SACD transport, DAC, upsampler, and master clock), Light Harmonic Da Vinci Dual DAC ($31,000), and MSB Technology Diamond DAC IV select ($74,950)!

 
...but those are all DACs, not dedicated music servers.
 
I'm one of the few people crazy enough to buy them when I get the chance...so you can be certain that once I can afford things like that, I will be readily equipped with the means to conduct objective tests to determine whether there is an audible difference between them and affordable equipment, and if so, how significant it is. Either way, I will be sure to let the audio world know.

 

[SilverEars]

   
Don't forget the dCS Vivaldi Digital Playback System ($108,496) (with CD/SACD transport, DAC, upsampler, and master clock), Light Harmonic Da Vinci Dual DAC ($31,000), and MSB Technology Diamond DAC IV select ($74,950)!

 
...but those are all DACs, not dedicated music servers.
 
I'm one of the few people crazy enough to buy them when I get the chance...so you can be certain that once I can afford things like that, I will be readily equipped with the means to conduct objective tests to determine whether there is an audible difference between them and affordable equipment, and if so, how significant it is. Either way, I will be sure to let the audio world know.

  This is what I was looking for too.  I was looking for an upsampler.  Can't believe it upsamples.  So it's not an ordinary clock, but a MASTER clock?!!  

 

[Music Alchemist]

 

  This is what I was looking for too.  I was looking for an upsampler.  Can't believe it upsamples.  So it's not an ordinary clock, but a MASTER clock?!!  

 
lol. Well, if you genuinely want to learn more, I suppose you could read about it on the product page by clicking on each component.

 

[limpidglitch]

  The DAC is referred to as "ultra high speed," so if you want a fast DAC and have a fat wallet, it will speed up the DACing.  

That is so cool.
I assume it means that it will play your Krall at double speed, so that you can spend more time doing the things you really love, like gawking at audiophile porn.

 

[bigshot]

Why would anyone spend that much on a black box when a Mac Mini and airport network is audibly transparent and costs under $1000? Is the user interface on these better? Do they offer features that media server PCs lack? Do they do video too?

 

[Music Alchemist]

  Why would anyone spend that much on a black box when a Mac Mini and airport network is audibly transparent and costs under $1000? Is the user interface on these better? Do they offer features that media server PCs lack? Do they do video too?

 
I know people who own (or have at least heard) the dCS Vivaldi and said it's the best-sounding source they ever heard. The only reason would be sound quality, and if you are going to call these people deluded, you might want to back it up with evidence that a laptop computer sounds the same as a six-figure audio system.
 
As for dedicated music servers, you could check out reviews to see what they offer.