[spritzer]

Quote:

The preamp part of the 727 itself is ill-designed; therefore, with a better preamp, you can actually get a much fuller and more punchy sound on the 009. Not saying the 727's preamp is hardly listenable, it's just that you can easily hear a difference with a preamp hooked up to a 727 in direct mode. 

 
There is no preamp in the 727.  Only thing the switch does is defeat the volume control which you can also do by turning it to its max position.  Only two plausible reasons you should hear any difference, impedance mismatch which the source can't deal with and you hear the coloration of the preamps circuitry. 

 

[gurus]

 
 
+
 
 

 
 
 
+
 
 

 
 
+
 
 
 

 

[MorbidToaster]

Wow. BMC and Accuphase.

 

[TheWuss]

 

 
 

 

[Meremoth]

Quote:

 

 
Is that a Noctua heatsink?  
 
And where's your GPU!?  Don't tell me you don't play video games!  Your rig could make Battlefield 3 sound epic.  

 

[gurus]

Quote:

 
Is that a Noctua heatsink?  
 
And where's your GPU!?  Don't tell me you don't play video games!  Your rig could make Battlefield 3 sound epic.  

Yep. Its the low profile Noctua. Wanted to go to a HTPC case but changed my mind at the last minute.
 
No GPU to keep the fan noise and heat down. A bit of an overkill for a (dedicated) music server with the Haswell CPU but wanted to check out the claims made by Asus about improved audio in their new  board.
 
The real Games rig that has been taken over by the real gamer in my family-my son.
 
 

 

[etherlite]

Quote:

Is that a Noctua heatsink?  
 
And where's your GPU!?  Don't tell me you don't play video games!  Your rig could make Battlefield 3 sound epic.  

Asus R.O.G. Maximus VI Hero + 2 Samsung SSD but only using CPU's GPU?
 
THIS IS BLASPHEMY

 

[Meremoth]

Quote:

Yep. Its the low profile Noctua. Wanted to go to a HTPC case but changed my mind at the last minute.
 
No GPU to keep the fan noise and heat down. A bit of an overkill for a (dedicated) music server with the Haswell CPU but wanted to check out the claims made by Asus about improved audio in their new  board.
 
The real Games rig that has been taken over by the real gamer in my family-my son.
 

 
Why would it matter what Asus has done to their onboard sound when you have such a nice DAC?  Doesn't a DAC essentially bypass the mobo's onboard sound, or can it somehow affect the quality of the DAC?  
 
BTW, if you plug straight into your Asus mobo, and have a chance to compare it to a different mobo, let me know how it sounds without an external DAC.  
 
Also, if you ever OC that Haswell, lemme know how high you get it and what voltage you used (stable), and what the temps got to with that Noctua under load.  But I doubt you'll do that seeing how that'd definitely be overkill for a music server.  
 
Quote:

Asus R.O.G. Maximus VI Hero + 2 Samsung SSD but only using CPU's GPU?
 
THIS IS BLASPHEMY

 
Hahaha, my sentiments exactly.   

 

[MorbidToaster]

Parasound? Better than your LFD? Wow.

Not sure if I like the new space though...Seems constrained.

 

[gurus]

Quote:

 
THIS IS BLASPHEMY

Agreed. That is if you are a gamer.
 
Currently, experimenting with what it takes to make a great music server. So IMHO, you keep the demand on an oversized Power Supply low, use SDD to keep vibration, heat and noise to a minimum. I have the power supply on Hybrid mode so it is fanless most of the time, the backup is an external WD black caviar drive (which is going to be moved inside the computer case). The unlocked CPU is not overclocked. Bigger Blasphemy. But that is is to keep the heat quotient low and thus distortion.
 
Unfortunately using a GPU sucks power, makes the biggest demand (3x) on the power supply of all the components, creates noise, vibration and (10x)  heat raising the distortion-great for gaming but not that good for audio.
 
And it is a work (experiment) in progress! So it is not immune to changes.
 
PS. IMHO -The above effects the digital signal of the audio that is put out to the DAC from the computer.  One of the reasons I got the BMC  is that it disconnects the power to the USB from the computer when you turn it on and then supplies the power to the USB from its own filtered power supply.

 

[etherlite]

Quote:

Agreed. That is if you are a gamer.
 
Currently, experimenting with what it takes to make a great music server. So IMHO, you keep the demand on an oversized Power Supply low, use SDD to keep vibration, heat and noise to a minimum. I have the power supply on Hybrid mode so it is fanless most of the time, the backup is an external WD black caviar drive (which is going to be moved inside the computer case). The unlocked CPU is not overclocked. Bigger Blasphemy. But that is is to keep the heat quotient low and thus distortion.
 
Unfortunately using a GPU sucks power, makes the biggest demand (3x) on the power supply of all the components, creates noise, vibration and (10x)  heat raising the distortion-great for gaming but not that good for audio.
 
And it is a work (experiment) in progress! So it is not immune to changes.
 
PS. IMHO -The above effects the digital signal of the audio that is put out to the DAC from the computer.  One of the reasons I got the BMC  is that it disconnects the power to the USB from the computer when you turn it on and then supplies the power to the USB from its own filtered power supply.

ok, the question is: does all those stuffs give significant improvements compared to a normal PC with DAC?

 

[TheWuss]

Parasound? Better than your LFD? Wow.

Not sure if I like the new space though...Seems constrained.

The pic is a bit misleading. The tv niche is just part of the room.
The room is 15 x 30.

The parasound was purchased to have separates.
The harbeths will move to the home office(with LFD still) and this main rig will have Legacy Audio Aeris speakers.
In about 5 weeks.

The Aeris has a DSP module that goes between the pre and amp.
Could not accomplish this with the LFD.
So, a pre and power combo was needed.

If i am being honest, the parasound stuff is the best i have heard. And i would recommend it to anyone for any speakers, period.
The LFD has a reputation for transparency. And i cannot argue with that. However, the muscular and musical presentation of the parasound just destroys. As you would say so colorfully MT, it puts other amps "on blast".
And i am at hour 15 of burn in.

 

[MorbidToaster]

The pic is a bit misleading. The tv niche is just part of the room.
The room is 15 x 30.

The parasound was purchased to have separates.
The harbeths will move to the home office(with LFD still) and this main rig will have Legacy Audio Aeris speakers.
In about 5 weeks.

The Aeris has a DSP module that goes between the pre and amp.
Could not accomplish this with the LFD.
So, a pre and power combo was needed.

If i am being honest, the parasound stuff is the best i have heard. And i would recommend it to anyone for any speakers, period.
The LFD has a reputation for transparency. And i cannot argue with that. However, the muscular and musical presentation of the parasound just destroys. As you would say so colorfully MT, it puts other amps "on blast".
And i am at hour 15 of burn in.

I believe you. I'd own Parasound gear if it came in another color. If only it came in black.

New speakers, too? Hoo boy.

 

[project86]

Quote:

If i am being honest, the parasound stuff is the best i have heard. And i would recommend it to anyone for any speakers, period.
The LFD has a reputation for transparency. And i cannot argue with that. However, the muscular and musical presentation of the parasound just destroys. As you would say so colorfully MT, it puts other amps "on blast".
And i am at hour 15 of burn in.

 
I'll second that. Parasound sometimes gets relegated to "lower tier" status by fancy-pants audiophiles, possibly due to the more affordable NewClassic line being so, well, affordable. The Halo stuff is really nice though - I have the lowly A23 and would upgrade to the A21 in a heartbeat if my speakers and space could make use of it. The JC1 monoblocks are exceptional as well. 

 

[TheWuss]

I believe you. I'd own Parasound gear if it came in another color. If only it came in black.

New speakers, too? Hoo boy.

It's available in black now.
Except the jc-2 pre. Which won't be available in black for a couple months...
The black looks nice.