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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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In Reply to: Magnetic/hard-drive vs. optical/CD: Who has made the switch? posted by Srajan Ebaen on October 30, 2005 at 08:10:47:
Just this week, I dumped my $1500 Bryston 10B active crossover for a free software crossover plugin for Foobar.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/xoverThis software, in fact, is much more powerful than the Bryston, offering 8 separate assignable channels, allowing 4-way active crossovers of all kinds of crossover protocols (Linkwitz, etc) up to 60 dB slopes. Crossover point? All you have to do is type in the number. You can type in "128 Hz" or "2562 Hz" if you wanted, and voila!
What's even more amazing is that this software-based x-over sounds better than the Bryston. Just cleaner, clearer, with less distortions.
Then there's the DRC (digital room correction) free software that threatens to make the likes of TACT, DEQX work hard for their money (a LOT of money in fact).
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/viewtopic.php?t=14160&highlight=Then there's Foobar, another free software that plays lossless music files like nobody's business. FAR better sounding than iTunes if you're using PC instead of Mac. Absolute gift to mankind IMO.
So far it's cost me $0.00 for SOTA music player, 4-way transparent digital x-over, and Room Correction.
Use the computer you have alreay. Buy a hard drive or two at $100 a pop for 160-200 gigs these days. Too much noise? Get Red Wine Audio or Bolder to mod the ridiculously low-priced Squeezebox and stream lossless music from another room into your favorite DAC.
I do have Empirical Audio modded USB/Spdif converter, and it does sound fantastic powering the DAC of your choice. But I'm happy currently just using my Lynx 2B pro soundcard (as used in VRS system) with modded DB25 interface (by me). No Spdif, not even USB to worry about. Good old reliable PCI connection sounds great to me, especially when vibration damping and appropriate shelf/power cords are used for the PC (as strange as it sounds).
Playing FLAC files (CD's ripped with EAC or iTunes in secure mode) in Foobar with ASIO dll plugin, going through Foobar x-over software, sans active preamp, actively biamping VAC Renaissance tube amp for top and SS for bass on my 95dB custom speakers, I have music more accurate, more detailed, and more enjoyable (for my tastes) than my previous front-end using Resolution Audio Opus 21 and Cary CD301 tubed CDP modded by Alex Peychev (which I far prefer over Opus 21).
Downloading music is also great fun. I refuse to download compressed music files, but I have downloaded good-sounding lossless FLAC files from "the-website-that-cannot-be-named." This opened completely new vistas in my musical tastes and enjoyment b/c I'm able to buy lossless files selectively from artistsa and genres I never would have bought CD's from.
PC audio to entirely replace traditional front-end is not for the timid. Being a complete computer newbie, I spent many nights fighting with software and hardware to get it right. If you're an audiophile just thinking about dabbling in PC audio thinking it's the easy way to good sound, think again. Just like traditional audio, it takes constant fiddling and dedication to set up correctly, but to me it has been worth it just purely on sonic quality alone. The ability to instantly access all my music in 2 seconds from my listening seat is just a bonus (a big bonus one cannot live without once tasted).
Srajan, I think you and Gordon should talk and go straight to his Cosecant top-of-the-line USB DAC.
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Follow Ups
- Underestimating Power of free software - Jon L 21:36:12 10/30/05 (1)
- Questions about your set up - SKVinson 14:20:29 11/11/05 (0)
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