[JoeKickass]

I can't wait to hear some impressions from RMAF. Does the gadget have its own impressions thread yet?

I've been looking for news of the Gadget from the RMAF too, so far I only found this:
http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2017/10/rmaf-2017-taking-a-neat-schiit-on-a-naim/

But here's a pic of the gadget from Jason's thread:

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

where's the best place to get FLAC music online? What is the preferred FLAC (and .ogg? please?) digital music player? What's the best software for converting those formats to AIFF or Apple Lossless?

 

[MtnMan307]

I was lucky enough to listen to the whole Schiit product line today. I really liked the Valhalla 2 for my 650s and the Lyr 2 for the K7XX, although the room was too loud at RMAF for critical listening.

I tried the Magni 3 and it's the real deal for the $99 price. All kinds of power and very clean and clear. I'm probably going with the Jotunheim. Very good job with both headphones and the 650 sounds great with the balanced connection. Mike Moffat recommended the Jotunheim with no DAC since I have the Mimby/Vali 2. The folks at Schiit are very helpful.

 

[Charente]

where's the best place to get FLAC music online? What is the preferred FLAC (and .ogg? please?) digital music player? What's the best software for converting those formats to AIFF or Apple Lossless?

I use highresaudio.com mostly for 24/96 ... their quality objectives are explained in their footer links

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

Just got back from the symphony. Some woman shouted halfway through Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima: "That's crap!" Followed a minute later by another outburst, this time a rhetorical "REALLY?" There was a third outburst before the piece concluded but I don't recall her words.

It's a daring, avant-garde piece from 1960. The composer, I think 26 at its premiere (my age), is now nearing 84. Although I found the behavior appalling, I was also, on reflection, pleased that art retained its ability to shock someone to the point of anger. Stravinsky and his Sacre du Printemps would not be disappointed.

The Mendelssohn Violin Concerto that followed it sounded all the more quaint and forgettable because of the drama that the opener had wrought. The violinist was fine, but the piece has, like a lot of the music written at that time, really fallen into being a "period piece" with less and less relevance to the present day with each passing year. As time moves on, we inevitably get pickier about what we remember from a generation. If I mentioned the English Renaissance and you conjured the names of Ben Jonson, John Fletcher, Thomas Kyd, Sir Philip Sidney, Christopher Marlowe, and Edmund Spenser, go you, but Shakespeare is really all you need.

The Shostakovich 10 was muscular and thrilling. On the whole, an excellent evening.

 

[EricDH]

The Shostakovich 10 was muscular and thrilling. On the whole, an excellent evening.

For this piece only I would already buy a ticket (provided the conductor has shown affinity with this work).

 

[FLTWS]

Just got back from the symphony. Some woman shouted halfway through Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima: "That's crap!" Followed a minute later by another outburst, this time a rhetorical "REALLY?" There was a third outburst before the piece concluded but I don't recall her words.

It's a daring, avant-garde piece from 1960. The composer, I think 26 at its premiere (my age), is now nearing 84. Although I found the behavior appalling, I was also, on reflection, pleased that art retained its ability to shock someone to the point of anger. Stravinsky and his Sacre du Printemps would not be disappointed....

LMAO, shades of the Marx Brothers "A Night at the Opera". I nearly chocked the first time I saw this when I was a kid I was laughing so hard at the New York Opera / "Il Trovatore" scene!

 

[MtnMan307]

I just ordered the Jotunheim. Again it was great to meet the Schiit Audio people and listen to everything. I think it's their most versatile product for the price and I can really grow with it in the future.

 

[artur9]

where's the best place to get FLAC music online? What is the preferred FLAC (and .ogg? please?) digital music player? What's the best software for converting those formats to AIFF or Apple Lossless?

I've used hdtracks, primephonic, b&w society of sound, linn, prostudiomasters Of them, I kind of trust primephonic and linn the most. If you want high res I'd used findhdmusic.com. The Society Of Sound gave me a bunch of free albums for having bought B&W equipment and they're good but a limited selection, pretty much all LSO.

I've used a variety of command line tools to convert from/to flac: sox, ffmpeg, some others. Main difference amongst them, from my POV, is how well they preserve metadata. None of them are great in that respect. So convert before you edit the metadata. If you're on a Mac then XLD can convert a folder of tracks to a variety of formats.

Just got back from the symphony.

Me, too, but not as exciting(?) an evening as yours.

My daughter and I heard Angela Meade singing selections at the Miller Symphony Hall in Allentown. Man! that lady has some pipes! Her husband is a pretty good tenor as well. Her Casta Diva from Norma was just beautiful to me but my daughter liked the Tchaikovsky "Tvajo malchan' je nepan' atna" from Iolanta which was also just stunning. They substituted some La Boheme for the Cherry duet listed that was also fantastic.

I really liked Miller Symphony Hall as well. On the intimate side but acoustically better than the Academy of Music.

BTW. I think you recommended the Classical Classroom podcast? Well, whoever did, I really want to thank you. The hostess is quite charming and the material is incredible. The Rachel Barton Pine episode on Paganini was stellar and none of the episodes have disappointed even if I don't like the music (Become Ocean I'm looking at you).

 

[artur9]

Someone on the other thread mentioned the good Doctor being at RMAF. I'd love to talk math with her. Not that I would understand much of it but I need to justify my undergraduate attempt to be a mathematician occasionally.

That and the interesting experience I had when my son was "interviewing" a college. The math prof associated with CompSci there got into it about SVM, statistical that, etc. I was actively working with that stuff in the late 90s. I understood some of it! I'm hoping that and my speech DSP work in the early 80s might carry me through ...

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

Yeah I recommended classical classroom. Glad you enjoyed it! Which college is he interviewing?

 

[artur9]

Yeah I recommended classical classroom. Glad you enjoyed it! Which college is he interviewing?

Well, he decided on UVM and is there now. It was at Wilkes U that the math prof was so engaging.

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

Would there be any problem with hooking the gadget up to a DVD player's coax out and using it for spoken as well as musical content? Would it screw up, say, the experience of watching Hitchcock's Vertigo?

 

[DoubleIPA]

@Baldr

I believe it was mentioned, correct me if I'm wrong, that there may be a larger automated Gadget and larger Loki if current units find success in the marketplace. I was curious if we do see the larger units if they may be combined into one unit, perhaps with the ability to turn off each section etc. I realize that Loki is in the analog domain and Gadget is in the digital domain, but I would imagine it wouldn't be problematic for equalization to be implemented in the digital domain? Is it bad idea to do equalization in the digital domain or just a decision not to?

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

Mike will plug digital EQ when he cracks it, if he cracks it. USB sucked until Eitr. He still prefers AES/EBU, but he has "fixed" USB to a startling degree.