[dd3mon]

Quote:

Originally posted by Welly Wu I used to listen to 128kbps MP3s that I ripped/encoded using MusicMatch 7.5 through my father's SB Live! card. Then, I got the Panasonic SL-CT570 PCDP. I could tell a difference right away. Mind you, this was early in my "interesting" journey into Headphone High Fidelity. Then, I got the NAD C 541i...WOW! There is really no comparison between popping in Redbook CDs into my dad's computer CDRW/DVD-ROM drives or PCDPs to my NAD.

This should be obvious. SB Live offers very, very low sound quality. I have a Panasonic SL-CT570 PCDP as well, and my computer setup is vastly superior to it (night and day difference). I have no doubt that any dedicated gear is going to sound better than 128kbps MP3s through a Live! or even lossless files.

Quote:

Orginally posted by tracky Winamp will sound like Foobar2000 as long as you use the best settings with the volume at max.

Quote:

Originally posted by Duncan To my ears, and to the best of my knowledge, the only way a computer can sound better than a mid-fi CD player is through the use of DSP (which in itself is detrimental)...

Very much disagree with you both here. Foobar w/ kernel streaming and ALL DSPs removed (including resampling and volume control) - yeilds the cleanest digital signal possible to the soundcard from the rest of the system - and this is obvious to my ears, it sounds better than any other setting by a large margin (a fully tweaked winamp with MAD doesn't even come close).

Quote:

Originally posted by Solude Does the Revo compete(being equal overall even if in vastly different areas) with a Meridian 506.24 or Sony SCD-777ES? Sure hope not

Totally agree with you, I sure hope my Revo would be blown out of the water by a CDP 10x it's price or more. But can it compete with many sources under $1000? There's not enough information to be sure.

-dd3mon

 

[300_baud]

There was an old thread generated on headwize regarding a sb live, and whether it could be modded. The point is, that the reason why the sb live sounded bad was for three reasons:

1) it had el-cheapo eletrolytic no name output caps because:
2) it only had +5 volts, many opamps sound better with at least +5/-5 volts
3) driver improvements are better nowadays. I'm currently using a modded sb audigy 1, but with audigy 2 drivers hacked, and they're a lot better.

 

[tracky]

Quote:

Very much disagree with you both here. Foobar w/ kernel streaming and ALL DSPs removed (including resampling and volume control) - yeilds the cleanest digital signal possible to the soundcard from the rest of the system - and this is obvious to my ears, it sounds better than any other setting by a large margin (a fully tweaked winamp with MAD doesn't even come close).

Oh yeah? I have more than one soundcard. I don't use my Audiophile 2496 for Windows primary output, which means I can use a completely clean WAVE output with volume at max and no ****ty kernel mixer. My soundcard can output at 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz etc. without doing any resampling. So... when I play a WAV file I get a perfect bit for bit copy.
MP3 decoding is a completely different thing. Some decoders produces really bad sound and some are much better.
Kernel streaming might be useful for many people, depending on the soundcard they use.

 

[SumB]

Quote:

Originally posted by 300_baud I'm currently using a modded sb audigy 1, but with audigy 2 drivers hacked, and they're a lot better.

Me too, and what a quantum leap in linearity and imaging these drivers made. Really makes you wonder, as the Audigy 2 utilizes exactly the same parts and design as the A1 except for the receiver chip.

 

[dd3mon]

Quote:

Originally posted by tracky Oh yeah? I have more than one soundcard. I don't use my Audiophile 2496 for Windows primary output, which means I can use a completely clean WAVE output with volume at max and no ****ty kernel mixer. My soundcard can output at 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz etc. without doing any resampling. So... when I play a WAV file I get a perfect bit for bit copy. MP3 decoding is a completely different thing. Some decoders produces really bad sound and some are much better. Kernel streaming might be useful for many people, depending on the soundcard they use.

You make it sound like these are things that aren't going on in my system? 1) That's exactly what kernel streaming does, bypasses windows' kmixer. 2) Revo doesn't resample either (hardware or software). 3) Perhaps you can't tell the difference between winamp/foobar decoding because the Audiophile 24/96's analog out (DACs) are older inferior both technologically and subjectively (I've seen a couple comparisons).

-dd3mon

 

[AdamZuf]

tell me friends, and don't kill me because of the lack of proportions in the components, i'm in the middle of the "big hit" of upgraditis:
current setup:
good/very good SC (Darla 20 Bit)->probably crap cables->EMP->DT880

and i think dac/cables are in my fathers' mailbox:
ART di/o (which i intend to mod as far as i can)->DH Labs BL-1 IC's->EMP->DT880

am i expected to blow off?
(yes is a good answer, guys)

 

[lan]

I don't think the difference is night and day. I think it's more like evening and night.

I think there needs to be a showdown at the audiophile corral. A good computer setup is still way better than the setup you can get at local electronics store. I think the arguement is in that last 15-20% close to the point of diminishing returns.

 

[Hirsch]

I tend to use my computer as an input device, but have never seriously examined the audio output. It might be worth doing. I've got a cheap digital I/O card (with Yamaha XG chipset) that doesn't resample input. It will resample output unless a signal is present at the input, in which case it syncs to the external clock. So, the sound card doesn't really do anything but digital I/O, and the actual sonics are handled by an outboard ART DI/O. For source switching, I use an Adcom GFP-565 preamp into the analog side of the DI/O. So, my computer has a dedicated outboard turntable (Adcom has a decent phono stage), tape deck, DVD player, and I've got a tuner I'm not using anywhere right now...

I've got taps to a headphone amp from a tape out off of the Adcom, which has a pretty decent headphone jack of its own.

At times, I've been known to go overboard.

 

[Solude]

I'll be picking up an Arcam CD72t tonight, used slightly for just under 100 hours. I'll give it until tomorrow to warm up and then report back to the differences from A/B to the Revo.

Lately I've been hearing something, I can't put my finger on it, that the Revo is doing that makes listening at high volume 74dB+ unpleasant and I tend to reduce the volume to 70dB or less. Anyway Arcam vs. M-Audio coming tomorrow. By Jude's and other reviews it seems to fit the bill for what I look for in a source overall, speed, impact and just this side of warm. The Revo is lacking in the impact and warm depts but has good speed.

 

[Solude]

And God said let there be Arcam

Full review coming this week instead of tomorrow. The short of it is the Arcam is a nice player, I'd have to listen pretty hard to find any faults. Little different but it's 'sound' is a lot like the Beyer 880, detailed, weighty and musical. Anyway back to the music

 

[Sovkiller]

Quote:

Originally posted by dd3mon Also, ALL creative cards (with a little software work) and my Revo (right out of the box) are *DEAD* silent under worst case conditions (low impedence headphones + max volume + no music playing). -dd3mon

My soundblaster live is ********, in any enviroment and in any machine and with anything hooked on it....so this is not true....actually I never had heard any soundcard that can be considered aceptable IMO, all are extremelly noisy IMO....but well as I never thought in using my computer for listening, maybe tha's why....

 

[Solude]

Keep in mind that your soundcard performance is tied directly to you PC's case and power supply. If you have one of those mid tower bulk bin cases then expect piss poor dirty power. If you are running an Antec server case thats both vibration damped and has a killer power supply then all of these PC problems disappear.

Think your external CDP would be quiet if you fed it dirty power? And I don't mean dirty AC cord, I mean its PS fed its boards dirt.

 

[k3nnis]

Hi Solude.

So have you done the Revo vs Arcam comparison?

I am trying to decide to get a NAD C521i to replace it for cd playback.

Cheers.
Kenn.