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Originally posted by kelly
Have you tried using the analoguer with mp3s? The reason I ask is that I find mp3s particularly frustrating in that they don't seem to have the benefits of high frequencies but still manage to produce the digital artifacts. It seems that a controlled attenuated rolloff without phase distortion would be ideal for dealing with mp3s--which is what I've come to understand the Analoguer basically is? |
I have used the analoguer with MP3s and I find the exact same effect as with my CDP. What I hate started doing is running the lowpass-filter in LAME to 21500 which ends the polyphase at 22050 (Nyquest limit). I find this adds some of the life and sparkle back into the MP3s and, to my ears, I can't tell it apart from the original (assuming a good encoding method and psycho-acoustic simulator was used).
The analoguer throws some of this benefit away but it's a necessity when listening to Sting, Natalie Merchant and some Pearl Jam acoustics.
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Another product that claims to do what the Analoguer does is the Digital Antidote. I'm very curious about this product as well--and it comes in two varieties, a passive one and an active one. The active one is considerably larger and costs a lot more. I don't currently understand the workings of them but both operate in the analog domain, not in the digital domain. |
These guys certainly are talking my language:
http://www.taddeo-loudspeaker.com/Flicker.htm
Thier passive device is relativly cheap and I don't think one could gow wrong trying it out. It would be intrested to check into thier patent to see how they are acomplishing this feat. Dr. Meier is quite open about how he is doing it with the Analoguer (though I don't understand anything past the definition of the problem). These guys are a little short on technical information (I like pictures) so I'm left to wonder, but the passive device is so cheap...
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By the way--I'm burning in the Sony XA777ES right now and decided last night to give their "digital filter" a try. Instead of sounding like InstaSonyWadia, it sounded murky and flattened--like some of the tubes in tube amps I liked least. Ah well, "STANDARD" mode it is. |
Have you considered any mods to the 777ES? Like maybe upgrading the clock or power caps? It may be an ES line but it's still mass-produced and that means cost does factor into the equation. I await your total review of the 777ES. I'm guessing any DAC/CDP that satisfies your ears will likly satasify mine as well. I wish I had more money right now so I could start expermenting.
I have a query into Bel Canto about a dealer in my area. Hopefully someone is nearby so I can sample this black-box. I have find a Cary dealer and he has a 303/200 in-stock that I plan to audition one day soon. Also, another dealer should be getting a Wadia 301 in stock within the next few weeks. I'm going to ask that they burn it in so I can sample it with my gear. As far as Wadia gear goes, the 301 is about all I'm willing to spend. $9000 for a DAC (27ix) is outrageous if you ask me!
If all else fails, I will write a Cooledit filter to try and compensate for this shortfalling. The problem here is I suck at math but fortunatly my girlfriend doesn't and she can program in C/C++. I'm planning on using a computer as a massive jukebox with Monkey's Audio anyway. Monkey's Audio compresses a 192KHz/16-bit file very well especially considering I'll have nothing over Nyquist anyway. This way I don't sacrafice much (if any) storage space and I still have that extra-bandwidth to shift this crap out-of-band. Now, finding a reasonably-priced sound card with a digital output capable of 192K and an associated DAC might be a chore but I can always go with 96K. I'm a firm believer in going overboard.
Unfortunatly, Monkey's Audio doesn't seem to like 24 or 32 bit audio files.
I'll just let the DAC deal with pulling that extra detail out anyway as it will probably do a better job than the up-sampler in Cooledit.
Do all the outboard DACs listed in the initial post support at least 96k and does SPDIF have enough bandwidth to handle a 192k stream?