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end system? Or is it a fool's quest? If not, what specific (outboard DAC) products will I need to look at?
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An Audioquest Dragonfly will get you about 70% of the way there with no hassle. I use one for travel with headphones (well I used to - pre-COVID). If you are seeking better from digital go to the Computer Asylum. They are really smart there.
Gsquared
d
It's a start. You can get better resolution from services like Qobuz that support 24-bit and higher sample rates. Also, the DAC in the phone is pretty limited, so upgrading to an external DAC will make a big difference. It would be interesting to see just how good it could be using a phone to play, say, 24/96 files through a decent DAC. Manley recently demo'd their $4k headphone amp at RMAF using tablets as the source, Mytek DACs, and a variety of extreme headphones - see link. It was very well received.
As for "digital is never high end," that has never been quite true. Until recently, CD playback quality varied widely, from so unlistenable/gritty to sublime. My friend's CD-based system with a long-in-the-tooth Sony CD player, c-j Premier electronics, and Vandy Quatros is superb, and most of his 4,000+ recordings sound very good. My own digital playback system, with a Metric Halo ULN-2 DAC/ADC, Manley electronics, and Tannoys, is very satisfying. Some years back, I was lucky enough to transfer some master tapes of Suzanne Vega, Shawn Colvin, and the New York Dolls to digital in the studio that made them. Playback was from the 2-inch 24-track original tapes (pre-mastering), a Universal Audio 2192 DAC/ADC and the carefully maintained and modded MCI/API console that was used to track and mix them. Over many hours of listening, no one could tell the difference, including the engineers who made the original recordings. FWIW, Suzanne's a capella version of "Luka" was originally tracked on a Nakamichi DMP 100, basically a SONY F-1 in black. It's pretty good.
But the world has changed. Until recently, 15-ips half-track tape blew away everything else. (Also 30 ips for material with no bottom end.) But now, the best sound I've heard, which beats even 15 ips half-track, is digital files with Plangent processing. Plangent gets more goodness from master tapes than you can get with any deck, including the great Studers, Ampex, Nagras, and Telefunkens. Prostudiomasters has a number of Plangent-processed recordings, including some of the "super disks" like the Mercury Paray/Detroit Saint-Saëns 3rd Symphony.
You're off to a start. Enjoy the music.
WW
"They were running on fumes, dazed and confused, in a high-powered automobile."
I didn't mean to imply I disrespected CD quality: I had a Marantz CDP into an Accuphase Integrated Amp and out to my Tannoy Cadet (Red 10") and I was happy as a lark. That was some time ago...Now, I want to go digital domain into my Mac1900.. By fool's quest, I meant that, as I understand, phones' bits are far below those of Tidal and other sources. I did read the new LG phone has far higher bits, however, but I haven't researched. My Apple TV has no Toslink: they discontinued it several years ago, apparently. So I'll need an outboard DAC, I guess? And then there's the question (to me) of whether streaming sound is worse than a downloaded file's?
Perhaps a phone isn't the way, at all... Ah, for the days of transistor vs tube or moving magnet vs moving coil--- it all seems so blessedly simple, in retrospect.
Edits: 08/27/20
hit the digital / computer forums!
a gold mine of experience and talent ...
+ they're nice folks
they'll get you up & running no matter the budget
your phone will run an app, your gear will run the signal
and yes, the signal will be superior to CD with a little care
no worries
regards,
my apologies, I commented out of queue and Bill pretty much covered it +
do what Bill recommends
quick! while there's still time!
best regards,
self sunsets or I become so deaf it's moot? Of course, you could mean a new format will hit and negate (once again) the whole learning thing!
Thanks for the push, I'm off to the forums...
Nope! When you go digital at all, you are not "high end". Live is analog, digital is just samplings thereof.
John Kuthe...
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