Computer Audio Bake-Off

I know it is a bit late but due to a drop-out I have room for one more at this next Saturday. Rob Holt is coming. If you have any unusual computer audio source gear that you think is the bee's knees come and compare with some serious kit.

For details go to http://thehifisubjectivist.noadforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=162

 

I could bring my Mac and a DAC probably the Amarra Model 5 will be around , unless someone else wants to step in?
Keith.

 

Ta! but we have got that, I was more looking for an alternative approach, and this is not just a DAC fest. Have a look at the linked thread and see.

 

That's fine, it is possible to play vinyl through the Model 5 as well, creating the RIAA curve in the digital domain.
Looking forward to hearing your report,
Keith.

 

I could bring my entire music collection on a computer that fits in the palm of your hand. I usually stream to an Airport Express to make it all wireless. If the Express in connected to a network with interweb then I can access all of Spotify too.

 

Sounds interesting, go to the thread at Subjectivist and put yourself down for it then.

 

An Async firewire dac with SSD using Amarra playback software is state of the art, but you would have to know something about 'computer audio' to understand that!
Keith.

 

Shhhhit, I thought there was something I had to do this weekend! I already have plans, sorry.

 

Shhhhit, I thought there was something I had to do this weekend! I already have plans, sorry. . I didn't mean to mess you around.

 

Duplicated over on subjectivist but as we've got a thread here I'll post it.
Worth reading the thread on Subjectivist for background - then it'll make more sense.



Thank you for the hospitality today Richard and it was good to meet everyone.
Thanks also to Mrs Dunn for the excellent curry

My order of preference was:

1 - Figlet

2 - All of the others in equal place as I found the differences to be small and it was swings and roundabouts.

Music played: Mario Biondi (Handful of Soul) Tom Jones (Delilah) Grant Green (Mambo Inn) Ted Sirota's Soul Rebles (Geronimo's Free)

On this:



Macbook Pro 13"
Cambridge DacMagic
Standard optical cable

 

Sh*t!!!! that is the problem with meeting people in the flesh after you have had years of fun tussling with them and dissing them on forums, then you meet them and find out they are nice blokes, you can guess who I mean

Does this mean now I will have to behave myself nah!

Great fun and I now know which way I am going with this malarky, even though it is still a bloody mystery to me, give me a good TT anyday. But Figlets set up was at times extremely good, but as the others aren't members here you will have to go to Subjectivist to read what was there and how it did.

 

One interesting little gadget that impressed at Richard's bake was the HiFace USB dongle. I've seen it discussed many times but we tried it between a cheap old Dell laptop and my Cambridge dac to great effect.
We didn't compare with standard USB out but it seemed to work extremely well.

Well recomended if you only have USB as adigital out.

 

Is there a list of the items used by the various combatants?
Keith.

 

NVA Bake-Off Review

Hand raised: I performed at the circus on Saturday, too: great amplification contributed by Richard.

On the PC front, we heard:
'Figlet''s slick ITX-based, linear powered Windows box pulling WAVs from a RAID, and using an Asus Xonar card for DA, followed by the same transport feeding a KingRex UD-01 SE via USB (various cables), followed by an Audiocom-modded iPod Dock (Nano) + Audiocom-modded Benchmark DAC1, nearly followed by a prototype Item Audio DAT1 (power supply issues!!), followed by a Macbook, netbook and Windows laptop feeding a stock Cambridge Audio DAC Magic.

There are lots of listening impressions over at Hifi subjectivist, and a more detailed (subjective, natch) review here: http://www.itemaudio.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=26

Perverse of me to say this, given that I supplied or made parts for half the things we heard, but to be entirely honest, for me BY FAR the best sound of the day was the iPod dock + DAC1 (which I don't sell). Way more expensive than anything else we heard, but tons more dynamic than the KingRex (which I do sell) and velvet-natural + mega-resolved compared to the soundcard.

It was shocking how well the Xonar performed on its linear PSU: it was big and exciting, but timbrally coarse and generally unrefined: the younger ears in the room were wilting at the upper mid-range onslaught. Great value, but I couldn't live with it for long. It seemed to be a crowd-pleaser, though: never mind the quality, feel the width!

 

Ooh, and there was the comprehensive thrashing of the HiFace + £500 coaxial cable by the £350 Halide USB > SPDIF Bridge.

And a really pivotal moment for computer audio buffs where we heard a Windows laptop trounce the performance of a Windows netbook: same OS, same version of Foobar, same file, same digi cable. What's that about, then?

 

Would have been great to see you there, Keith & Simon: how about we organise a serious PC bake-off sometime?

 

I should point out from the above that 'we' didn't include me in any sense and I stand by my comment that the only appreciable difference I heard was that that Jason's (Figlet) solution seemed to perform better than the rest overall.

I'd be interested to test it further under more controlled conditions.

 

It's a shame we didn't get more time to explore the 'audible differences' issue, and point at which physical impressions shade into the realm of the psycho-acoustic.

If there's one safe point of consensus, it's that Figlet's Asus Xonar soundcard was louder and more piercingly bright, but tonally skew-wif: none of the vocalists sounded quite themselves. It was played at higher SPL, too: did you noticed how the preamp dial gradually crept anticlockwise thoughout the day?

 

Hi Mark,

You might not know unless you visit frequently (or the PFM audio room in the past) but I place great store on blind dems and eliminating variables.
So for me we have to have matched levels (and I mean matched with an SPL meter - not 'that's about right'), the same samples played, and the same listeners remaining the same seats during the session. Do that blind and I get very interested in the results, and if I hear cable differences under those condition, well it's party time!

For me, bake-offs are all about meeting people, chatting, listening to music and discovering kit that might pique the interest - if it sounds good on the day then it has to be worth further investigation.

FWIW that is why I supported Richard's idea on the day that we just let each attendee put their entire digital solution into the system and see if we enjoyed the result.
That is all you can really do kit-wise at bake-offs and they don't lend themselves to focusing on the finer points of performance IMO.
I feel the same about shows. Great for spotting potential - not so great for proper evaluation.

regards,

 

You're dead right: my idea of an audio get-together partly consists of exactly the kind of intensely-focused evaluative session you describe. Plus booze. And great music. And like minds. Where do we queue for that kind of bake-off?

I assume you're skeptical about differences between cables and peripherals because you don't go to evaluative group meets? Surely you've heard 'different cables' in your own private listening? Or do you ascribe that phenomenon to being sighted?