The two subjects of CD Ripping and Computer Audio seem to be the most contentious around in the world of audio now. Theory one, is that it’s possible to get good sound from a computer feeding a DAC. The debate tends to be as much around whether a Mac is better than a PC as a source as which DAC is ideal. The general feeling seems to be that a Mac Book with a DAC costing around a £1k is cable of delivering better sound that a serious or very serious CD Player. I agree a Mac and a DAC is cable of delivering a very good sound – but not a great one.
Sound Quality
Yesterday, I decided to move the PS555 to a newly created spare level around 30cm lower. Unbelievable: the upper bass thickness that I had been trying to sort for a couple of months went away, the system opened up and became a real joy to listen to. But the change wasn’t just on playing from HDX it was on vinyl, FM and CD.
The experiment was to move the PC outside my listening room and then to use a 5m Chord HDMI and 5m USB cables to control and monitor the PC.
The worry was running a good monitor at 1920 by 1200 over a 5m HDMI cable. Would the image quality be reduced? The image was absolutely fine and so much so that I temporarily tried a 10 m cable which worked just as well.
Elbow’s award winning album The Seldom Seen Kid is available on vinyl. It’s heavy, split onto two records and is 45rpm.
The point of the blog of course is the performance. While I would never argue that the Ikea Lack delivered 100% of the dynamics of the specialist rack we were using, it wasn’t too shabby at all. The good part is that, what it didn’t do well – mainly dynamic contrasts – itdidn’t fail badly and horribly.
Performance from the Wadia 170iTransport using the Behringer was absolutely ideal for dinner parties and background music. There was absolutely no chance of anyone being dstracted by any emotion from the music. The best results were with the Behringer upsampling to 24Bit 88.2k before doing it’s D to A conversion.
The 225VA transformer has been terminated with a suitable mains lead and power in plug for the Cambridge. It”s been plugged in and blown a one and a two amp fuse with its switch on surge so it’s running with a 3amp fuse. This by the way is not the way to do something for long-term use. This is just…
On demonstration for the first time at the Bristol Sound and Vision show February 20-22, and on sale from April 2009, the NaimUniti – the more music box – will deliver the customary Naim sound quality and emotional connection to music to a new generation of customers as well as existing ones. Naim developed the NaimUniti – never to be…
Chord has spent many months experimenting, with what has often been a frustratingly difficult connection, and believes that the new Chord Signature AES/EBU is the right answer.
One of the real challenges with the AES/EBU connection is that audiophiles have often found that, despite the technical advantages that the AES/EBU connection offers, a high quality S/PDIF connection will produce the better quality sound.
I’ve had a Cambridge Dacmagic for maybe a couple of months now and it’s not disappointed. For two hundred pounds it’s fabulous value.