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Music The Hi-Fi thread!

Discussion in 'General' started by Edge102030, 30 Dec 2009.

  1. TheCherub

    TheCherub Minimodder

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    Some proper room treatment:

    [​IMG]

    "Construction of the new room utilized 1,532 sheets of one-inch–thick medium-density fiberboard (MDF). Ninety tons of MDF were cut and milled to a final cut weight of 40 tons. Beginning with a room footprint of 36' x 25' x 27', the one-inch square MDF pegs come out of the walls and ceiling in lengths that vary from 6 to 40 inches — and no two of the hundreds of thousands of “tines” are the same length. The room uses 2D diffusion, whereby two-dimensional diffusers offer depth variation in two perpendicular directions, forming a lattice of divided cells or steps of varying depth. “Studio C utilized the largest prime number sequence that has ever been actualized in a room,” notes Massenburg. “Our prime number is 138,167.”"
     
  2. perplekks45

    perplekks45 LIKE AN ANIMAL!

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    Thought I might as well say hi and list my stuff so far:

    Headphones:

    • Audio Technica ATH-AD700
    • Grado iGrado
    • beyerdynamic Custom One Pro
    • Grado SR125i
    • HiFiMAN HE-400 (with velour pads & HE-500 silver cable)

    Amp:
    • Fiio E11 Kilimanjaro (portable)

    Portable music player:

    • Cowon C2 8GB

    Next upgrade will be a DAC/amp combo like Schiit's Über Bifrost + Lyr.

    When watching movies or playing games on the 360 or PS3:
    • Panasonic SA-HE75 a/v receiver
    • Magnat Stylus 7000A 5.1 system

    Both are almost 10 years old now but still going strong.
     
  3. PabloFunky

    PabloFunky What's a Dremel?

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    Nice to see an audio thread.

    Whilst there is some seriously nice gear shown on here, i have been trying to improve my setup, to a better level, although wont compete with some gear shown here.

    After making some speaker shelves from cherry at work, i decided i would take it a little thurther though.

    I just managed to pick up a Pioneer SClx86 for £1500 and am liking it so far.

    I like the USB-DAC feature to avoid the pc soundcard when i require.
    Not to impressed that you cant attenuate the multichannel input as you can with the other analog ins.

    I picked up some Shark 12awg speaker cable, my speakers are ok, but probably budget type to most

    Diamond 10.1s at front diamond 6s at rear and a Yamaha rear center.

    I would like to upgrade a touch thurther possibly, but unlike alot of theese audiophiles i never really notice that much difference between cables and all the budget speakers ive had.

    No doubt i could measure the difference with a O.Scope, so wanted more upgrades that would be noticable better quality, just by using my ears.
     
  4. jinq-sea

    jinq-sea 'write that down in your copy book' Super Moderator

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    That room is a thing of beauty. I wish my listening/production room looked like that...
     
  5. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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    Yes, nice to have this thread back!

    So far, I've still got my 598s running from my Xonar DG and as much as I love it, I need something to breathe new life into the setup, be that a recable or something else.

    Alongside that, I've constructed a budget HiFi for when I have people over. Got a JVC D4T (400 quid back in its day!) for free and made some repairs to the CD changer, and got a pair of Pioneer SZ74s from the local British Heart Foundation shop for just 4 quid! It's a great little setup!

    Anyway, regarding headphones:
    GENTLEMEN!
    I need recommendations of a DAC (no DAC/amp) for under 120 quid. It must take input from a 3.5mm jack or optical (no USB basically). What would be some good options?
     
  6. adrock

    adrock Caninus Nervous Rex

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    I've never been able to keep up with high end audio stuff, but i'm hoping to expand a bit when i move to my new place next week.

    first task is to find a table to put my tt on. I'm aware there are some really nice expensive tables, and also that a lot of people seem to use modified ikea lack coffee tables. does anyone know of anything in between? the lack appeals as I could keep my htpc (bitfenix prodigy) underneath with enough clearance for cooling and without any physical contact to transfer vibration so long as i can find suitable spikes. I was then considering having another lack tabletop with soft feet for decoupling on top but i find a lot of conflicting opinions online.

    it'll be connected to a 20+ year old NAD 3020i and gale monitor gold mk2s.

    anyone have any good links for sopikes, or know where i'd get a second NAD? this one cost me a tenner back in '04 but they seem to go for 60-80 quid on the bay.
     
  7. Krikkit

    Krikkit All glory to the hypnotoad! Super Moderator

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    No USB? Are you mad?!

    Get a USB-equipped DAC, then you can ditch the sound card as well. :D
     
  8. PabloFunky

    PabloFunky What's a Dremel?

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    Even with my usb-dac amp, i find i have to use a soundcard still as my dac on amp only allows stereo?

    Well unless i can use it in surrounds, but i cant work it out as yet.

    In windows speaker settings it only shows as stereo for tyhe Pioneer usb-dac audio device.
     
  9. Boscoe

    Boscoe Electronics extraordinaire.

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    Having been interested in making audio equipment for the past 5 years I have pretty much mastered it at the age of nineteen...

    I say this in the terms of reality, it's not hard to design audio despite what the manufacturers tell you. In electronics audio is just one step up from power supplies!

    After working in an audio R&D department listening to their utter rubbish I'm getting tired of trying to advise people how they can really make their HiFi sound better than the usual crap.

    The thing is the consumer is totally unawares of the deceitful lies the audio manufacturers hand out - it's disgusting. Reviewers also don't have a clue and just magnifying the lies by backing them up with a third party. The reviewers love the manufacturers and so justify their often bull**** claims with their imagination and conjecture. If you actually read the science of how we hear, remember what we hear and how we process it you'll see what I mean.

    It's a real shame because it's products I would love to offer for people however it's impossible in such a corrupt industry.

    Sorry about the rant. Rant over!
     
  10. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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    Never! I still love my sound card for the headphone amp! That's why I don;t want an amp/DAC.
     
  11. Freedom

    Freedom Minimodder

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    [​IMG]

    Here's my gainclone using the case of a Cambridge amp I killed. Currently not set though. Wiring has been also been cleaned up since that was taken as well.
     
  12. Freedom

    Freedom Minimodder

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  13. Freedom

    Freedom Minimodder

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    Surround sound stuff is all controlled by Dolby who are very controling of who uses there chips.
     
  14. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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    Right, shove it. Any DAC for under 120 quid. Must be able to output to my 598's with a 1/4" jack and have a 3.5mm jack for mic input (not vital, but would be nicer).

    If it's optical, it can be DAC only.
    If it's USB, it MUST- MUST be DAC and amp and have a mic input (that is vital)!
     
    Last edited: 9 Jun 2013
  15. asura

    asura jack of all trades

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    Goodmans Magnum K2 dead tweet and bass replaced, all mounting foam replaced
    JBL LX20

    NAD C340
    NAD 3020 needs some repairing
    NAD 3020 needs some repairing

    NAD C541
    ROTEL RD-18F
    JDS Labs ODAC <-- RasPi in a NAD C520 case under construction

    Currently it's just C541 --> C340 --> K2s. Plan is C340 as a pre-amp to the 3020s and driving the LX20s one 3020 taking the bass of the K2s and the other the mids and tweets. It's full of holes I'm sure, and much tinkering will be required, but it should be fun.

    Creative SB-XFi
    Creative Inspire 5.1 5300

    Sansa Clip+
    Sennheiser CX300
     
  16. Margo Baggins

    Margo Baggins I'm good at Soldering Super Moderator

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    are those mid tops function one clones?
     
  17. adrock

    adrock Caninus Nervous Rex

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    you might find an EMU-0404 USB in that budget. It meets all your criteria for both USB and optical use (might need an adaptor for the mic, it has an odd XLR/1/4" and something combo socket). I have one that i've used as a DAC+headphone amp and for mucking about in guitar rig and it's been great. Admittedly I don't have 598's.
     
  18. saspro

    saspro IT monkey

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    They're Turbosound floodlights. Out long before Funktion 1's
     
    Margo Baggins likes this.
  19. bagman

    bagman Minimodder

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    I have a Fiio E17 and a Asus xonar DX, my audio sounds way better when i use my sound card compared to the Fiio E17 USB DAC.
     
  20. PabloFunky

    PabloFunky What's a Dremel?

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    Im using a Pioneer sclx86.

    Im still debating whether its usb-dac is better than the one (in real listening) than my Asus Hdav deluxe.

    Im just giving the Pioneer amp the edge so far, but there isnt a lot in it.


    Anyone got any thoughts on biamping front speakers?

    I would need run more cable , but not sure if its worth the hasstle.

    Would a large part be dependant on the speaker itself?

    Maybe my ears arent what they were or people who have top end gear are trying to over justify their extra spend, maybe a placebo affect?

    Want some updates that i will truly notice a difference.
     

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