Feliks Audio Elise Impressions Thread – a New Start (please read first post for summary)

[UntilThen]

I ask Lukasz to confirm shipping to my correct address and he replied 'Yes Sir'
 
and further add...'Brace yourself for some patience before she arrives'.
 
Hello Lukasz? Patience is not what we have. We want it yesterday.

 

[mordy]

Hi angpsi,
 
You made mention of h1 changing his taste in tubes. IMHO it is not an acquired taste when you finally settle on a new tube combination as your new favorite. Rather it is a process in one's brain that many times is quite lengthy until you settle down on what you really prefer.
 
Often the differences between top rated tubes are very subtle and it takes time to fully comprehend the differences. But subtle does not mean insignificant - once you understand the difference in your mind it becomes very clear and very significant, and at that stage you can pick out the difference instantly.
 
This may explain why some of us (myself included) may be OTT about some tubes, only to change the mind after some time. A seasoned reviewer knows that it takes time to come to a conclusion, especially with top rated tubes with the above mentioned subtle differences.
 
Then you mention about listening being a distraction.... It is really the question if you are listening to the music or to your equipment. The most serious form of listening distraction is called Audiophilia Nervosa. This condition is characterized by the person constantly changing his equipment, never being really happy, and constantly buying new stuff.
 
Seriously, my own experience has been to listen critically and trying many combinations until I have found something that is so great that I don't feel the need to listen critically any more - I can just enjoy the music.
 
Reaching this state of perfection I just don't feel the need to roll any more tubes and can just sit back and listen to the music and really enjoy it.
 
Then Perfection becomes the New Normal, and it gets a little boring....
 
Until the next wunder tube appears on this blog.....
 
Did I mention the EL6?
 
IT NEVER ENDS....

 

[pctazhp]

  I ask Lukasz to confirm shipping to my correct address and he replied 'Yes Sir'
 
and further add...'Brace yourself for some patience before she arrives'.
 
Hello Lukasz? Patience is not what we have. We want it yesterday.

So word of your kighthood has spread rapidly.
 
Remember, knights are loyal, brave, kind to animals and PATIENT

 

[UntilThen]

Mordy that's an inspirational writeup. Well done.
 
You know, don't ever buy your first tube amp because that is the start of all this madness. In time to come, you'll have many tube amps and many tubes.....and many headphones.... but life would be less exciting without them.

 

[hypnos1]

Hi @mordy...you are indeed correct when you mention "quite lengthy brain process" involved in our long-term assessments and final conclusions...cognitive learning and "adaptive brain neuroplasticity" are only part of the process - we then have the emotional influence on the brain's learning function...just to complicate matters even further lol!

. So no wonder it takes such a darned long time....assuming impatience doesn't rear its ugly head!! (Didn't you mention something about patience, UT?!!

).
 
And after this sometimes interminable wait comes habituation...we settle into our eventual preferred choices, which then - as you say - can perhaps become boring lol! This, of course, is the trap many of us have faced many times in this hobby of ours and which, it would appear, few can manage to escape fully!!!

. But as UT says...all part of life's excitement!!

 
As far as I'm concerned however, I have no further impulse to go headlong back down that hole...hopefully, I have now cracked my addiction...for good!!...(or at least for a few months lol!

). And I'm afraid your tempting with the EL6 I shall resist...especially as it's basically a double power EL3N...will stick with the EL12 Spezials!

...CHEERS!...
 
Quote:
 

  Mordy that's an inspirational writeup. Well done.
 
You know, don't ever buy your first tube amp because that is the start of all this madness. In time to come, you'll have many tube amps and many tubes.....and many headphones.... but life would be less exciting without them.

 
Hi UT...perhaps my own madness might eventually switch to MQA in some form...or even (wait for it...) ultra exotic headphones?!...but don't hold your breath lol!!

 
And great news on the health front...was definitely down to the "expectant father" syndrome!!...GOOD LUCK!!!...(but remember, she's a she!!

).

 

[Oskari]

Tell me about it. Set of EL12Ns ordered.

The RSD tubes arrived two days ago. The adapters have been spotted meaning that they didn't take the slow boat. We'll see how they'll manage the last mile or ten.

 

[HPLobster]

   
Did you actually see Tidal HD Masters when you're listening to that track even though your dac doesn't support MQA? 
 
I only see Tidal HiFi on mine.

 
 

 
As I understand it MQA should play fine on any DAC and offers something like double the sampling rate of Redbook, but (all other things being equal) should offer even better quality with an MQA enabled DAC. That's about all I know.
 
 
Edit:  I guess I should add that I use the Tidal App and don't access it with my normal browser Firefox.

 
Tidal is one of only a few existing Software-MQA-Decoders (next to Audirvana Plus 3). In order to listen to Tidal Masters=MQA-coded files, you don´t necessarily need a special MQA-DAC, you only need a normal USB-DAC that´s able to master a minimum of 24 Bit/96 kHz. And it´s not available on mobile device or in the browser version, you need to use the desktop-app.
 
The catch is, that the software-decoding is limited to 96 kHz overall. If you want 192 or even 384 kHz, you´ll need to buy a MQA-DAC.
However, the majority of Tidal´s Master-recordings don´t have a resolution higher than 96 kHz anyway (and a minimum of 88,2 kHz btw --> that´s whats all about, MQA as in authenticated, means nothing is upsampled). 
 
I´ve just read that Universal Music recently signed a deal to support MQA, also on Tidal ---> great news 

The only one missing is Sony Music now....

 

[HPLobster]

@angpsi Thanks for pointing Macy Gray´s "Stripped" out to me, really enjoying it right now.
Also Dr. Chesky´s "You´re surrounded" caused quite a few "wow"-moments during listening.... 

 

[richdytch]

   
Did you actually see Tidal HD Masters when you're listening to that track even though your dac doesn't support MQA? 
 
I only see Tidal HiFi on mine.

 
Not sure if this has been mentioned or not, but if you go into the settings for your DAC in the Tidal settings area, and ensure that the 'MQA passthrough' option is not ticked, the Tidal desktop app will decompress the stream on the fly to 24-bit, 96kHz. 
 
As an aside, I repeatedly find that the step up from 16-bit to 24 achieves far more in quality improvement than an increase in sampling frequency. I can hardly ever hear any improvement from high sampling frequencies. I have a lovely example in the form of Autechre's Exai album, which is available as 44.1kHz 16-bit, and 44.1kHz 24-bit. The difference between the two is immense. Greater depth, transparency, imaging. etc. Not everyone's cup of tea though, musically, but I love it.
 
I suppose all this is down to the inherent level of quantisation distortion being lower when you have more bits, which does actually make more sense than trying to do it with sampling frequency. 

 

[UntilThen]

   
Not sure if this has been mentioned or not, but if you go into the settings for your DAC in the Tidal settings area, and ensure that the 'MQA passthrough' option is not ticked, the Tidal desktop app will decompress the stream on the fly to 24-bit, 96kHz. 
 

 
Ah ha Rich, thanks. Just checked but it's not ticked. No wonder I do hear a difference. Now maybe that 'toy' Meridian Explorer 2 looks like a tempting preposition. 
 
Listening to Tina Turner's 'Tiny Dancer' on Masters, it's suddenly a BIG dancer.  

  
 
Correction:- Private Dancer 

 

[richdytch]

Ah ha Rich, thanks. Just checked but it's not ticked. No wonder I do hear a difference. Now maybe that 'toy' Meridian Explorer 2 looks like a tempting preposition. 

Looks like an interesting little DAC. There'll be no MQA firmware update for the 2qute, but I'm really not worried if I can get 24/96.

Edit - and besides, my vinyl setup is beating my digital set up hands down at the moment so I'm playing more and more vinyl.

 

[UntilThen]

   
Hi UT...perhaps my own madness might eventually switch to MQA in some form...or even (wait for it...) ultra exotic headphones?!...but don't hold your breath lol!!

 
And great news on the health front...was definitely down to the "expectant father" syndrome!!...GOOD LUCK!!!...(but remember, she's a she!!

).

 
Hello H1, easy step up to MQA. Just sign up for Tidal HiFi subscription and enjoy MQA to a certain degree immediately, even with your current setup. 

 
After the Sydney meet on the 26th March, I'll tell you how Focal Utopia sounds on Euforia. I'm planning on running EL tubes for the meet. 

 
Thanks. I think I am 'safe' now. Just need to shake off the viral infections.

 

[mordy]

hI H1,
 
Tempting with the EL6 ...especially as it's basically an EL12 with a plattfuss base .....
 
Let's throw in some logic here lol: Just like an EL12 Spezial sounds different than an EL12, it seems logical that an EL6 should sound different than a double power EL3N - no?
 
The EL6 is the very well behaved kid on the EL12 block. None of the idiosyncrasies of the various EL12 tubes. The problem is that they are rarer than hen's teeth, and if you find one they go for megabucks.

 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vacuum-Tubes-PHILIPS-Miniwatt-EL6-1-NIB-NOS-/360770172575?hash=item53ff93f69f:g:kroAAOxyBXNSZCNk
 
Only $226.00 + $10 shipping.
 
I was lucky to find a couple of used ones at very modest prices. Somehow I am convinced that somebody is sitting on a several cases of NOS EL6 tubes somewhere to sell for around Eur20..-, but I haven't found that seller yet lol.
 
Meanwhile I am sitting unscathed in my glass house because there is nobody (yet) than can argue with me about the great sweet sound of the EL6 tubes.

 

[UntilThen]

Looks like an interesting little DAC. There'll be no MQA firmware update for the 2qute, but I'm really not worried if I can get 24/96.

Edit - and besides, my vinyl setup is beating my digital set up hands down at the moment so I'm playing more and more vinyl.

 
True. I even love my humble TT setup in it's original form with no stylus and phono upgrade. There's something about spinning vinyl. I bought several brand new LPs which I really love. So new and shiny. 

 

[HPLobster]

Don´t want to go too much off-topic here, but I found this album to be very good indeed to hear the differences between MQA and non-MQA. Very distinct.
 
https://listen.tidal.com/album/2400318
 
Airy, more dynamic, fine resolving....