[KoshNaranek]

I am not posting it at all and I was talking about an experience with what I felt was a decent blind test the same topic others talked about including Jason.

You are a stubborn man

 

[Pale Rider]

@yonson and @Rensek, thanks. As I said, I was curious. All makes sense; no real surprises. @ev666il 's reply makes perfect sense. Started with A3 and adding on.

 

[yonson]

@yonson and @Rensek, thanks. As I said, I was curious. All makes sense; no real surprises. @ev666il 's reply makes perfect sense. Started with A3 and adding on.

Yeah, I want an A3 for travelling, however I don't want to purchase one now and then buy a Unison card when they come out for $50 extra (if pricing is the same as current cards) then have a card just sitting around. If I was going to buy something right now it would be one of the Classic A2/Bimby combos, but I want the new hotness and an all in 1 combo for travelling, then I'll use a Bifrost 2 for at home...

 

[ev666il]

Personally I would never consider anything bigger than a Fulla for traveling. The wife and I always pack our bags full and always buy stuff to bring home when we're abroad; I try to pack my A3 with my cans and she goes cross-eyed, asking me if I'm out of my mind

 

[Paladin79]

You are a stubborn man

 

[Ripper2860]

Well, against my better judgement, I have decided to post @Paladin79 's Double-Blind DAC Shoot-out results ...











Dammit!! It seems that the results are also Double-Blind.

 

[yonson]

Personally I would never consider anything bigger than a Fulla for traveling. The wife and I always pack our bags full and always buy stuff to bring home when we're abroad; I try to pack my A3 with my cans and she goes cross-eyed, asking me if I'm out of my mind

All the travelling that I would be taking cans with me would be for work, I can make extra room for them knowing I'll have good tunes wherever I go...

 

[Rensek]

Hahaha @Ripper2860

Man you had me for a half second....my eyes got BIG!

 

[tafens]

VERY interesting, what program is this? Hopefully there's a Linux version...

It’s dbPoweramp. I’m running it on a mac. It’s also available on Windows, but not any kind of Linux as far as I can see on their website. It has great batch transcoding options as well. I transcode the ripped FLAC to AAC for use with iTunes (which can’t - or rather won’t - handle FLAC).

There’s also EAC (exact audio copy), that can also consult the AccurateRip database, but is Windows only. However, I’ve read that some have had success running it on Linux using Wine.

 

[roadcykler]

Maybe a silly question, but is the multi-bit DAC card in the in the Modi the same as you can get in the Lyr or Bifrost?

 

[Rensek]

Maybe a silly question, but is the multi-bit DAC card in the in the Modi the same as you can get in the Lyr or Bifrost?

Multibit card is very similar to the modi multibit,but not the Bifrost 2. Same chip in modi multibit, multibit card, and original Bifrost Multibit. But the Bifrost multibit had a much different analgoue output stage.

Lyr
Jotunheim
Asgard 3
Ragnarok 2

All get the same DAC card I believe..

 

[rkw]

Yeah, I want an A3 for travelling, however I don't want to purchase one now and then buy a Unison card when they come out for $50 extra (if pricing is the same as current cards) then have a card just sitting around.

AFAIK, there are no plans for a DAC card that will include Unison. Unison won't fit on the same board.

 

[Gazny]

VERY interesting, what program is this? Hopefully there's a Linux version...

Asunder CD Ripper is awesome on Linux, the only configuration I had to do was add the destination folder to my flac folder. Simple click to rip with all the metadata. Does a fast job too.

K3b is good if you enjoy all the nuances like multi scan for confirmed bit perfect.

 

[tafens]

About ripping.
All these programs verify against an internet database Accuraterip.com. As you can see on the site all previously mentioned rip software checks against this database. dBpoweramp. EAC, Rip (Mac) and Songbook (Mac). This is only a short list because many more ripping software programs match against this database.
What you prefer to use as your favourite software has no influence on the outcome as long as it is checked against this database. If it doesn't match to the results in the database most likely your rip is not OK.
The database currently holds 4.1 million unique discs and you rip will be matched against close to 400 million user inputs.

AccurateRip database is great, and it contains most discs out there, but I have had a few that is not there or that are verified but with a low confidence. Then it’s nice to know that the program I’m using knows the CD drive and coerces it to make the best rip possible. Perhaps all the ones mentioned do, I know only of (and have tried) dBpoweramp, EAC, and cdparanoia.

And there is also another important thing in ripping CDs besides software, you want to have a drive that can read less than perfect CDs without random errors, and one that when an unreciverable error occurs truthfully can tell the software so (accurate C2 error pointers), and do so reliably..

By sheer luck I’ve stumbled on a drive that has been able to accurately rip damaged CDs that other drives I’ve had cannot. That drive is the Samsung (or TSSTcorp) SH-S182D, a full size CD writer of early 2000’s vintage (I have one from 2007).
It came preinstalled in a computer I bought at the time. The computer itself is long gone, but the drive stays and now lives in an external case

 

[jseymour]

You have reminded me of a must: if your are using a laptop, use a good external drive for ripping.