[jacal01]

Tell me about that German language! I had to sift through an Elac Miracord 50H technical manual to figure out how to adjust the dang auto return. I must have typed in at least 10 pages, in German mind you with all their odd symbols, into Bing Translator to understand what each paragraph was talking about. Luckily I finally found what I was looking for. I have about have the manual translated. When I have time, I might do the rest. Those old mechanical turntables are tricky. Too bad this particular 50H runs about 1% slow, and yes, at all speeds. And yes I have lubed everything.

You guys at Schiit stay away from buzzwords anyway. I doubt the FTC will ever care. So many companies make even more outlandish claims. The fact that you care so much about representing the absolute truth is going above and beyond. Don't beat yourself up over it too much for a few loud voices. You guys are doing the right thing.

I only just now fully appreciated your agonizing testimonial here. Thanks for sharing. The easy trick with German sentence structure is that they stack their verbs at the end of an independent clause, and place their verb in the middle of a dependent clause between the subject and predicate, like English. After that all you need is a translation dictionary.

Speaking of mechanical spinners, I have an isolated Philips CD Pro2 transport drive and a throwdown Chinese support case assembly for my DIY years in retirement. The things one will contemplate for leisurely aspirations, such as resurrecting a classic CD transport to newfound glory days.

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

Just got back from the Makropulos Affair (or Makropulos Case, as the SF Opera prefers to call it), the penultimate opera of Leos Janacek, the signal operatic composer of the Czech Republic (an ancestral home of mine). Very nice production and singing. Whole thing ran six minutes shorter than the Böhm Rheingold, including a lovely long intermission.
 
Overriding impression, and I will tip my Wagnerian hand here, recalls the aural assessment of a transducer or component part 'lacking transparency' of putting up a veil between recording and listener. Whereas the drama of Tristan or Otello or Le Nozze di Figaro engulfs me entirely, I was acutely aware for almost every moment (the last act was a bit better than the others) that I was ​watching an opera, that I was witnessing art. Wagner of course (and read Carl Dalhaus's now-cheap-on-amazon monograph for more on 'second immediacy' of art that is designed to sound effortless and improvised) disguises the difficulty of his craft, but Janacek, for all his pleasant music, does not really gel as a musical structure that engages the listener in the text that being sung.
 
Oh well, it was interesting.

 

[aamefford]

Opera.  Not necessarily my favorite art form, but definitely growing on me.  I had the chance to see Don Pasquale last Saturday at the SF Opera.  I thoroughly enjoyed it - thought the comment from @bosiemoncrieff about being aware of watching an opera rang true.  This was I believe only my second opera, Madame Butterfly 10+ years ago being my first.  It looks like 2018 the SF Opera is doing an entire ring cycle over the course of 4 days, possibly consecutive?  I'm fascinated by the idea.  It may prove too rich for my blood at the moment, as the only right way to do it would be to take a week in San Francisco, even though I live all of 50 miles away.  Still, I'm scheming a bit on how to make this work for my lovely wife and I, and possibly our daughter.  I have yet to experience a Wagnerian opera, and full immersion might just be the best introduction.

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

I liked Pasquale! The tenor was such a great actor. Really top notch. Great costumes, great sets. I strongly prefer contemporary dress—opera is stuffy enough, any life we can inject into it is welcome. Like the Janacek, I liked Donizetti's economy. I was so bored during Red Chamber and Chenier it was dreadful. 

 

[aamefford]

Yep, I enjoyed it as well.  Who knew you could laugh out loud at the opera!  Great talent.  Ernesto stole the show for me.  An excellent singer and actor.

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

I'll be at the Mozart concert on Saturday if you're in town.

 

[belgiangenius]

@Baldr, I wonder how you feel about high precision SPDIF generators (using a USB source), for example the Audiophilleo device.
 
I'll keep the question objective and avoid words like "improvement".  
 
Do you think such a device can provide a Yggdrasil with a more accurate bitstream (i.e., less jitter and/or bit errors) and introduce less noise into the Yggy than using the onboard Gen 3 USB module?

 

[Bunbury]

I saw the Makropoulos Affair in September, and I concur: the music is inventive, maybe too inventive for Janacek's own good, constantly changing melodies, rhythms and keys; as if he enjoyed playing with his audience. Still, I could get immersed in the music on occasion, but to me this is a work one should see in theatre; I would not be able to enjoy it at home. If you want to enjoy Janacek's oeuvre, try Jenufa or Katia Kabanova - both works impressed me when I saw them, and on occasion I still spin the disks, specifically Jenufa is a favorite of mine.

 

[aamefford]

  I saw the Makropoulos Affair in September, and I concur: the music is inventive, maybe too inventive for Janacek's own good, constantly changing melodies, rhythms and keys; as if he enjoyed playing with his audience. Still, I could get immersed in the music on occasion, but to me this is a work one should see in theatre; I would not be able to enjoy it at home. If you want to enjoy Janacek's oeuvre, try Jenufa or Katia Kabanova - both works impressed me when I saw them, and on occasion I still spin the disks, specifically Jenufa is a favorite of mine.

Nice first post - Welcome!  Oh, and sorry about your wallet, of course.

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

  I saw the Makropoulos Affair in September, and I concur: the music is inventive, maybe too inventive for Janacek's own good, constantly changing melodies, rhythms and keys; as if he enjoyed playing with his audience. Still, I could get immersed in the music on occasion, but to me this is a work one should see in theatre; I would not be able to enjoy it at home. If you want to enjoy Janacek's oeuvre, try Jenufa or Katia Kabanova - both works impressed me when I saw them, and on occasion I still spin the disks, specifically Jenufa is a favorite of mine.

i'm on board with the analysis. what's your rig?

 

[Bunbury]

Being new on the forum I wasn't allowed to publish yet. Will remedy soonest.
 
That said, judging by my rig, I should not be allowed in these parts:
- home headphone listening: macbook pro retina -> dragonfly v1.2 -> Focal Spirit Classic
- mobile listening: office laptop (lenovo) -> dragonfly v1.2 -> Shure SE530, or iphone 6+ -> Shure SE530
- 2-channel: Sonos Connect -> SP/DIF or Yamaha SACD -> Coax, both to mediocre Yamaha receiver -> Monitor Audio GS-10
 
I have been considering improving both my headphone driving capabilities and the DAC / AMP of the two channel rig for a while. For 2 channel, Freya or Saga with Vidar would be appealing, if only the pre's would come with a HT bypass. For headphone listening, I will get a Bimby + asgard 2 or successor eventually. Until I overcome my own financial conservativeness, I just enjoy what I have, and read forums like these.

 

[artur9]

   if only the pre's would come with a HT bypass. 

Yeah.  There is a workaround.  Just make sure you always set the volume to the same position when watching TV and have your receiver level adjust.

 

[Bunbury]

  Yeah.  There is a workaround.  Just make sure you always set the volume to the same position when watching TV and have your receiver level adjust.

Thank you, Artur9. I understand it is possible, but it is not elegant. I rarely enjoy purchases that require a workaround from the outset. Maybe Saga 2 and Freya 2 will add HT bypass. Apart from oversight or maybe cost, there should not be a strong technical / quality reason for not adding such a feature (says a non-engineer). Nevertheless, this is likely the wrong thread for that discussion; as I understand it, the distinguished Mr. Moffat worries about the DAC side of the business, while leaving the amplification technicalities to the equally distinguished Mr. Stoddard.

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

I wanted to share an excerpt of the smartest book I've yet read on Wagner: Carl Dahlhaus's Richard Wagner's Music Dramas. Thin volume, with lovely long essays on the Bayreuth Canon. Freedom is an important concept for Wagner, and in that spirit I share an excerpt of the text dealing with freedom in the Ring cycle. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bunbury]

Enjoyable reading, once you get beyond the author's penchant for dense writing. What strikes me most in the essay, is how Wagner's view on man's natural state of freedom, and the risk of destroying himself for it kept on changing as his writing evolved. High brow, but it does add a nice philosophical twist on top of Der Ring's mythical world.