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In Reply to: RE: Actually, in his case it might be. posted by carcass93 on April 11, 2012 at 08:36:40
regarding his assertion that a “good” DAC should be “immune” to the upstream source (full disclosure: I have the same DAC he does).
Just this winter, I finally got into PC audio after watching from the sidelines for a couple of years. The main thing holding me back was nervosa that it would be difficult to get the “right” combination of hardware and software for optimal sound. Reading these forums gave me the impression that all kinds of stuff makes a big difference . . . and I figured I’d risk “broken” sonics if I didn’t get it just so.
Now that I’ve made the plunge, I’m finding that all these “crazy” tweaks make little to no difference in SQ. In my system/room, I hear only very small differences in: 1) choice of music player (I’ve tried Foobar, JRMC, Jplay, cPlay, and HQPlayer); 2) my dedicated, optimized PC and a generic laptop; 3) the stock USB cable and an expensive aftermarket; and 4) memory play v not. Not that I care to try but I probably could not pass a DBT with any of those. Meanwhile, I can hear no difference whatsoever btw: 1) FLAC and WAV; and 2) music files stored on my SSD v external HDD.
To be clear, I think Scrith is over-the-top to poo-poo so many consistent reports of improved SQ regarding the various tweaks but I also think the “tweak” crowd is over-the-top in claiming dramatic improvements. IMO, the “truth” lies somewhere in betwixt and starting with a “good” DAC (asych, galvanically-isolated) is a smart way to circumvent most of the nervosa.
Follow Ups:
"Reading these forums gave me the impression that all kinds of stuff makes a big difference . . . and I figured I'd risk "broken" sonics if I didn't get it just so"
I think we can use this as the standing definition for COMPUTER audiophile nervosa. Every single variable in a living breathing computer OS makes a difference, and there are 1 x 10^237 iterations of these variables. Must try each one in late night subjective listening tests.
Must OPTIMIZE everything. Must SYNERGIZE everything. Must TWEAK everything. And I mean the differences are 'NOT SUBTLE' and 'WIFE HEARD IT IN THE NEXT ROOM' differences. Or, (this is my favorite) 10 or so tweaks or setting changes may not be individually audible but COLLECTIVELY they add up to sonic nirvana.
If this subgroup of AA did not eventually come down to 100% total audiophile nervosa, well, it wouldn't belong on this particular site now would it!! ;)
Cheers,
Presto
> > > 'WIFE HEARD IT IN THE NEXT ROOM'
Or "component X BLOWS AWAY component Y". Of course, *I* think my Ayre AX-7 "blew away" the NAD receiver it replaced . . . I guess I can be as hypocritical as anyone.
> > > If this subgroup of AA did not eventually come down to 100% total audiophile nervosa
The one regret I have about getting into PC audio is that, so far, I've been far too prone to trying to get better SQ thru' the tweaks rather than just enjoying the music.
... as opposed to "just" music lover.
Computer audio simply gives you many more variables to tweak, but even without it, one can keep himself pretty busy with cables, footers, power tweaks, crystals etc.
I know I do - not all the time though. Sometimes I lose interest in tweaking temporarily, and simply enjoy the music. Usually it's right after I get my hands on a new CD by one of my favorite bands - like right now for instance, with new Eisregen CD (ltd. ed. digipack in A5 format), pictured below.
This applies to ALL things audiophile, INCLUDING Computer Audio.I think that us getting nervosa about it means that computer audio has finally come of age and instead of merely just being impressed, we're now on to the NEXT stage:
Obsession.
Cheers,
Presto
Edits: 04/11/12
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