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In Reply to: VRS Revelation Audio Playback system posted by tuckers on January 22, 2004 at 21:03:48:
The whole of the VRS is more than the sum of the parts. I have talked with Vincent extensively and have contributed to some aspects of the design of the VRS, based on my computer and audio knowledge.Every critical part of the machine is modded to an extent, including software etc. There is a lot of secret sauce in the VRS.
You could build your own computer and go on a path of discovery yourself and get good results. I could of done that in a second myself. I have built a number of music servers myself in the past. The sound was not competitive with my high-end rig at all, even as a digital transport to my Audio Note DAC.
I bought the VRS in order to benefit from Vincents knowledge and exploration in this area, beyond what I could build myself. And that is the reason a lot of people buy high-end equipment, even those who can populate a breadboard and build their own equipment.
Because the Wintel platform is so flexible and modular, there is a tendency to think of all machines as being equal. We don't think of amplifiers that way. I could look inside an excellent sounding high-end amp and say that the design is repeatable, and that I will build one myself. But I probably couldn't completely replicate the sound. How many people could do that, or would instead decide to buy the amp itself?
Follow Ups:
With respect, the market for boxes like the VRS is those who want a ready made solution and it looks like Vincent has done a great job here. Convenience, shielding, noise reduction and looks are probably what distinguishes this from any DIY solution.When you look at it, there's only three pieces here. The hard-disk(s) to store the files, the soundcard/DAC to do the conversion and the computing power (hardware and software) to move the data between the two. The SOLE limitation for what you hear is the soundcard/DAC itself (and the environment it's housed in). Jitter-free data-perfect delivery is a given. It's independent of the CPU, software, cables, hard-disk, brands, quality, anything.
I plan to go with outboard conversion as I believe it's a more flexible solution and requires no shielding. The rest will be just off-the-shelf bits coz they don't contribute to the sound.
Stephen
Well, whatever secret sauce (oversamping in the software player? Much cleaner power supply? More musical opamps? Almost anything in a PC can be bettered) something has done right. I assume the jitter (major soundstage and "peace" in the music distorter) has been vastly reduced between player and DAC.And I welcome entrepreneurs in the search of "better sound"
> We don't think of amplifiers that way. I could look inside an > excellent sounding high-end amp and say that the design is > repeatable, and that I will build one myself. But I probably > couldn't completely replicate the sound. How many people could do > that, or would instead decide to buy the amp itself?I think you are comparing apples to oranges. You are correct in that there is no way most people can duplicate the performance of a high quality amplifier on their own. Perhaps someone with an E.E. and years of experience...maybe. A computer is another animal altogether. Someone who's spent a couple of months in tech support could probably build a PC that would equal or surpass anything that Dell or Gateway could put together. The nice thing with PC's, is that there is no subjectivity. We can measure their performance. It is called benchmarking.
Frankly, while I like the look of the VRS systems, I picture it to be no more than off the shelf parts in a pretty case. Some people are willing to pay a substantial amount for aesthetics, and I see nothing wrong with that. Please don't misunderstand. I see nothing wrong with 2K for this system. But starting at 4K and going to 10K+ seems extreme. True, I do not know what kind of software mods he has done, but given all the off the shelf players and encoders available, especially the one included with the OS, I would find it hard to pay a substantial amount for another.
What is the player? Can you use whatever you want, or are you limited to what he has installed or coded.
Thanks,
-Tony
Obviously, you know nothing of my systems Tony. First of all I would like to see anyone build this type of system for 2000.00 or less. Not only do you get the computer with my system. It also includes a 15in LCD and bluetooth wireless keyboard and mouse. Also, remote control to provide functionality and use with custom interface. You guys assume that im just buying cheap parts and putting it in a gorgeous case. ( By the way that case you see on my website cost me 525.00 and up). I guess you think that im getting rich off this. Tell you what, if you can build the same system for 2000.00 dollars exactly like mine, and have it sound equal or better than mine, I will personnally buy it from you.
Also, you wanted to know how many hard drives comes with my system. There are 3 drives that come in my standard units. One 80gb and two 160gb Seagate serial ata.
