[DamageInc77]

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Damn! I have been looking for something like this. It almost looks like weathered cedar. Very nice.

Thank you. It's actually 100% Nordic Oak.

 

[louis12345]

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From top to bottom.
 
Asus Xonar Essence STX
Asus Xonar Essence HDAV 1.3
Asus Xonar H6
 
I wouldnt need the HDAV if they didnt drop support for the H6 on the STX as the ST can use it. It was the only way i could get a native 5.1/7.1 connection without a receiver, all other cards that support it seem to only be PCI. 

 
I found the H6 extension on eBay, I'm sure you'd still be able to find it (new).
 
EDIT: nvm, didn't understand you were talking about a software problem.

 

[HelIish]

Quote:

 
I found the H6 extension on eBay, I'm sure you'd still be able to find it (new).
 
EDIT: nvm, didn't understand you were talking about a software problem.

its not a software problem its hardware, the only pcie card the H6 can phsyically connect to is the HDAV 1.3
 
See how the Essence ST has those pins at the rear, the Essence STX does not.

 

[Bmac]

This is what my office looks like currently:
 
 
 
 

 

 

and the kitchen:
 
 

 

 

[seekadds]

Quote:

This is what my office looks like currently:
 
 

 
Superb! Benchmark DAC(?), Dynaudios, Dell IPS panel(?), and Silverstone FT02. Good taste bru.
 
Do you find yourself using the speakers or cans more?

 

[XxDobermanxX]

Hey guys figured I'd chime in. Please forgive the poor lighting and cell camera.













 
 


Wow this setup looks great , the wooden desk compliment the colour of the HD 598 

 

[jham1496]

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This is what my office looks like currently:
 

Very clean setup, looks really good.  
What are the speakers in the kitchen?

 

[Destroysall]

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This is what my office looks like currently:
 
and the kitchen:

Beautiful imagery. Both setups are superb and portray a sense of comfort. I do have a few questions though; one being what is the desk used in the office? The other being what loudspeakers are the ones in the kitchen?
 
destroysall.

 

[Anda]

Very nice and clean. Love the desk setup! Looks like AVI ADM9 in the kitchen.

http://www.avihifi.co.uk/adm9.html

 

[StudioSound]

Because I'm new here I went back through this topic to the beginning of the year, and there are some great systems here. I really like how the small form-factor systems look.
 
I would love to have one of those, but I need a high-end system, and nothing offers enough optical/hard drive bays for me. A CD exploded inside one of my drives today, and it has been very limiting with only one connected to the system, so I definitely couldn't downgrade to a single laptop drive which is half the speed of a desktop drive.
 
 
But I was wondering if someone could give some insight on these two builds:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/397869/pictures-of-your-computer-rigs-post-them-here/7125#post_8473759
http://www.head-fi.org/t/397869/pictures-of-your-computer-rigs-post-them-here/5820#post_7967758
 
What is the reason for such monstrous cases and radiators?
I see they are multi-GPU setups, but is it just to keep them cool, or is it to keep the system quiet? There seems to be a lot of empty space inside them both.
 
I ask because I bought the Silverstone FT02 when so many people said it was the coolest and quietest case you can get for air cooling, and I can still hear it through the walls at night. (solid brick walls)
I'm going to be upgrading all the 120mm fans to the new Corsair quiet editions, but I'm doubtful that it will help much. Noctuas were not available and I needed something now, along with the optical drive, and many reviews say the Corsairs are actually better.
 
Not that I will be watercooling anyway, I was just wondering. With my luck, the system would be dead in a week if I went with watercooling.

 

[Bmac]

Superb! Benchmark DAC(?), Dynaudios, Dell IPS panel(?), and Silverstone FT02. Good taste bru.

Do you find yourself using the speakers or cans more?

Thanks! It's a DAC-1 PRE and Dell U2711.

I tend to go through spurts listening to one or the other but probably listen to the speakers more often.

 

[Bmac]

Beautiful imagery. Both setups are superb and portray a sense of comfort. I do have a few questions though; one being what is the desk used in the office? The other being what loudspeakers are the ones in the kitchen?

Thanks, the desk is the poorly named but highly functional Ikea Jerker and the kitchen speakers are indeed AVI ADM 9T's with newer RS woofers.

 

[Destroysall]

Quote:

Thanks, the desk is the poorly named but highly functional Ikea Jerker and the kitchen speakers are indeed AVI ADM 9T's with newer RS woofers.

Thanks for the reply, Bmac. Ikea Jerker seems to be a discontinued model as it is not on their site, which is a bummer. The Galant and Fredrik desk look slightly similar though. Mind me asking another question, but how do the AVI ADM 9T compare to the Dynaudio monitors?
 
destroysall.

 

[Bmac]

The Jerker has been discontinued for a few years now....too bad, it was the best desk Ikea ever made IMO and there were a ton of accessories available for them (like the outboard shelves) so you could really customize it to do whatever you needed it to. They sold a lot of them though so you may be able to find one used like I did.
 
The Dynaudio's and the AVI's are both really good for what they are. Both will play nice and loud without noticeable compression, both have an engaging sense of immediacy and all the other benefits that come with active crossovers and amps tailored to the drive units that they're powering. The AVI's are a little less neutral but also a little more natural sounding and have better quality bass. They're also convenient in that in addition to being active they also have a DAC and pre-amp with subwoofer output built in, so you really just need to add a source and you're good to go. They also have real wood veneer which looks much better than the vinyl on the Dyn's. The downside to the AVI's is that there really is no upgrading them if you aren't happy with them, but they sound so good I can't see that being much of a concern for most.
 
I blew a mid-woofer in one of my 9T's (the first and only time that has happened with many different speakers) and had to replace both woofers as AVI improved the woofers in the newer RS model and the originals were no longer available. It cost me almost $400 after shipping and duty but on the bright side the new woofers were noticeably better. The newest version of the RS uses the Scanspeak D2905 tweeter which is ancient but still used in many very high end designs as it's still one of the best tweeters going. It also has different electronics and a lower crossover to suit the better drivers.
 
The BM5A's are really good for an affordable speaker. They are a little less refined than the 9T's and the bass is a little more ponderous. They do have EQ switches on the back to tailor the sound somewhat to taste and a defeatable crossover at 50 and 80Hz to use with a sub. I wish the 9T's had both these features especially the crossover since I use them with a sub I would imagine they wouldn't have blown with a crossover (though I can't say for sure as I don't know when they blew exactly and I never thought I drove them hard enough for that to happen). Compared to the 9T's before the new woofers, the BM5A's had a lot more bass. I didn't mind though since as you can see the 9T's are used in close quarters which suits them, but out in free space the BM5A's were much more full-bodied where the AVI's sounded quite thin. The 9T's definitely have more bass with the newer woofers compared to the original drivers, but I haven't listened to them out in free space with the new drivers so I can't say if they would still sound thin used in that way, but in any event a sub can always be used to augment the low end.
 
In the end they are both good. The Dyn's sell new for $1K and they sound a lot better than many passive speakers that sell for much more (without amplification built in). The AVI's are a lot more expensive especially with the new SS tweeter, but then the sound is considerably better as you would expect and they also include DAC and pre-amp. For active speakers I also own AVI ADM40's (which have dual sub outputs and a defeatable crossover at 100HZ) which are the best speaker AVI has ever made and excellent by any standard even compared to good headphones, and have also had Dynaudio Focus 110A's (very similar to the BM5A's), and Paradigm Shift A2's.

 

[jtaylor991]

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The Jerker has been discontinued for a few years now....too bad, it was the best desk Ikea ever made IMO and there were a ton of accessories available for them (like the outboard shelves) so you could really customize it to do whatever you needed it to. They sold a lot of them though so you may be able to find one used like I did.
 
[...]
 
In the end they are both good. The Dyn's sell new for $1K and they sound a lot better than many passive speakers that sell for much more (without amplification built in). The AVI's are a lot more expensive especially with the new SS tweeter, but then the sound is considerably better as you would expect and they also include DAC and pre-amp. 

Why did they discontinue it?!?! There's demand for it!
 
Maybe they can't afford and/or justify the separate production lines with the sales numbers (since this is a pretty niche hobby) but it'd be col if there was a cheaper option that removed the DAC (the sub output would be nice to leave in though of course, I don't think that takes much but maybe I'm wrong..is the crossover generally expensive?) since I couldn't justify more than $1k on monitors in the near future. If they're so considerably better I'd love to try them if it were between the two you talked about (this is all just hypothetical I'm not just randomly deciding to go save for these or anything), it's a shame that the money the DAC adds on may be enough to steer me away.