ALERT! - Iaudio IN Chennai THIS weekend

[gobble]

Hi,

Looks like a variety of equipments! Like a fusion music. Like connecting the 18th and 21st century. HTPC connected to Tube amps:clapping::clapping::clapping:

Oh, what the hell! The speakers are taller than me! Cute bulbs and guys! Psychotropic's favorite kid "Topping" looks charming!

Come on, thatz all I can comment now!

I ordered a NAD 3020e 2 days back and will be exploring the stereo world down the road.

Cheers!

3020e? isnt that old?

Regards

 

[svenkateshsmart]

3020e? isnt that old?

Regards

yeah, very much!

 

[iaudio]

Rallynut, Srini sir, Cap'n, alcy, Thank you all.

Cap'n I will post my experience at Rajivs place soon. In the meanwhile, now that I have set the ball rolling, why dont you share in detail, what you felt at Bala's place?
BTw, I feel we should do a/b with CDP and HTPC at Bala's. I do hope to come again to Chennai and listen to more Carnatic at Bala's and Jazz at Rajivs and even down a coupla RC's with you!

Venki, Congrats! Sweet deal. Start auditioning to get an idea of what you want the rest of the chain to be like.

 

[Rajiv]

Hi,

Titus,that is a very well written reveiw.

I do hope to come again to Chennai and listen to more Carnatic at Bala's and Jazz at Rajivs and even down a coupla RC's with you!

You are welcome to drop by anytime.

and below it the new Douma Doege TDA1543 based (Did I spell it right?) DAC modded by Viren of Lyrita with a Tube output stage.

DDDAC 2000

DDDAC1543 MK2
Modular n x 12-parallel non oversampling DAC with asynchrone XO re-clocking
and SPDIF and USB to I2S-bus conversion !

For the information of members this is the DAC that Viren has used and modifed with a choke regulated tube(EZ81) powersupply,and tube (5687) and transformer output stage.

Regards
Rajiv

 

[cooltoad]

Iaudio, a great writeup and a great setup Bala, wish i could attend such meets but live at the other end of the city and also feel it'll make my setup inferior and difficult to listen to after auditioning better systems. But good to know you people had a great time and also have diverse musical tastes from carnatic to donald fagen (just like me)converging.

BTW, Bala, how much did the DAC cost?

 

[iaudio]

Cooltoad, I came from Cochin and you are talking about other end of the city! Dont worry too much about your set up sounding inferior. Yes you will feel something lacking immediately after getting back to your old system, but then you will get adjusted to it. But you will always know what it is you are looking for and what needs to be improved in your system,IMHO.

Where is Denom? He was stalking me around the forum prodding me to get on with the write up! BTw, though we didnt play any heavy stuff, I did play Metallica-Enter Sandman towards the end. Though resolution was good with even heavy parts (even at low volumes), the aggression wasnt there.

 

[thevortex]

That was a nice, to-the-point review, Titus. Look forward to your review of Rajiv's system as well. And thanks for all the kind words. Needless to mention you are welcome for another bout as well - i have been playing the speakers for about 20 more hours since you left and there has been a distinct improvement in the bass, I feel. I think in a week or so, the speakers should have been completely broken in.

I also found a lot of music hiding in my external USB drive - which I had forgetfully not hooked up that day. It has Diana Krall's complete discography among other things that you may like.

I also wanted to play Supertramp for Vinay, but forgot. If not for his recommendation that Supertramp could be enjoyed by all, I would not have found this piece of music. But then there is always a next time.

Venkatesh - the HTPC is for convenience and versatility, the tube amp is for soothing, warm, full sound. When you get time, do drop in.

cooltoad - dont worry about systems dwarfing one another. Each system has strengths and drawbacks. I will be happy to share the drawbacks in my system if and when we meet.

 

[thevortex]

Titus - the name of the person who develops the DAC kit is Doede Douma.

Cooltoad the DAC has been sent for evaluation (for Rajiv and myself). Viren is out of town. I will know more when he is back.

 

[thevortex]

By the way, before I forget, Titus is a wonderful and very patient photographer!

I am going to try and use flattery to get him to give me a copy of the images he took of my setup. What say, Titus?

 

[mahiruha]

Hi Vortex,
nice setup. Congrats. The Dac from Viren looks very interesting. I mostly live in vinyl world but I do have a asus xonar STX based pc setup which I sometimes listen. I find the gain with this setup is quite low and I need to crank up the volume level upto 12'O clock to get the desired SPL even with my russian amp. With the DAC in the chain what specific changes did you observe in the sound signature? Does it offer any gain in the system.? I know this desired volume is relative just want to have an idea what is the situation with you.

Thanks.

@Iaduio: Very nicely written.It will be very interesting to know what differences did you observe in Rajiv's vinyl based Lyrita setup and Bala's HTPC tube dac based Lyrita setup. But I guess Rajiv's Lyrita set amp is carrying different tubes as compared to Bala's set amp. So they are not directly comparable. I mean to say how good job this DAC is doing to get us closer to the analogue world.
Thanks.

 

[thevortex]

Hi Vortex,
nice setup. Congrats. The Dac from Viren looks very interesting. I most live in vinyl world but I do have a asus xonar STX based pc setup which I sometimes listen. I find the gain with this setup is quite low and I need to crank up the volume level upto 12'O clock to get the desired SPL even with my russian amp. With the DAC in the chain what specific changes did you observe in the sound signature? Does it offer any gain in the system.? I know this desired volume is relative just want to have an idea what is the situation with you.

Mahiruha - the DAC has a built in tube output stage and the gain on this is surprisingly good. As for comparison with the sound card is concerned, the sound out of the DAC is immensely more smoother and non-fatiguing.

I have tested this DAC also with my EPOS speakers and they revealed a new dimension to the sound. There is a level of refinement on offer here which the soundcard will find it very hard to match. Vocals are fuller, richer and are now easily identifiable from an imaging standpoint. The bass has never been better - the nuances of bass are now being brought out. On the details front, I think the sound card and the DAC are about the same. But there is difference in how the detail is presented. The DAC presenting the details coherently and as part of the music whereas the sound card serves up all the details and leaves it for the human ears to figure out.

Actually with passages of music we are familiar with, we may not notice much difference as far as retrieving details goes. Because our ears would have been trained to place the details musically. But with newer songs, the difference in delivery will be apparent.

For most music - I am hardly able to go beyond the 10'O clock position. But it differs with the recording and the kind of music. For example Hugh Masekela's Stimela requires a bit of pushing as far as volume goes. I think the volume knob was close to the 12'O clock position for that song. But for normal listening, I prefer the 9'O clock position. Even for movies, I am hardly finding it necessary to go beyond the 12'O clock position or thereabouts.

 

[iaudio]

That was a nice, to-the-point review, Titus. Look forward to your review of Rajiv's system as well. And thanks for all the kind words. Needless to mention you are welcome for another bout as well - i have been playing the speakers for about 20 more hours since you left and there has been a distinct improvement in the bass, I feel. I think in a week or so, the speakers should have been completely broken in.

I also found a lot of music hiding in my external USB drive - which I had forgetfully not hooked up that day. It has Diana Krall's complete discography among other things that you may like.

I also wanted to play Supertramp for Vinay, but forgot. If not for his recommendation that Supertramp could be enjoyed by all, I would not have found this piece of music. But then there is always a next time.

Venkatesh - the HTPC is for convenience and versatility, the tube amp is for soothing, warm, full sound. When you get time, do drop in.

cooltoad - dont worry about systems dwarfing one another. Each system has strengths and drawbacks. I will be happy to share the drawbacks in my system if and when we meet.

Yes, I have to add that the Lyrita Harmony Ones had just 20 hours of playback on them when I heard them, they are still in the breaking in period.
I also do think if Bala plays around with the placing and also may be even room treatment to absorb a little bit of bass, its gonna sound even more tighter.

Anyway the whole experience has got me thinking seriously about a tube based set up too, as it really sounds good for all the vocals and strings that I hear on a regular basis.

Bala, I am having a problem with uploads(limited) so not able to upload or attach full size pics. But I will get the pics to you somehow.

 

[Hiten]

Well written review iaudio. Thanks !

Played Morph the cat again with tp20, and it showed excellent control over the low end and good detail levels. However it gave away on the vocals and sax side compared to the Lyrita SET amp. Similarly when we played Stimela, the hoots and shouts as well as mellow pieces didnt have the same level of oomph on the Topping.

Has anyone tried buffered tube pre with tripath ? I think tube pre and tripath combination will be very good.
for ex. => Special for Tripath 2020 / 2024 Preamp with 12au7 Tube - eBay (item 260613674449 end time Jul-02-10 19:05:34 PDT)

 

[stevieboy]

nice write up iaudio

well now that i've seen the speakers, to answer an earlier question, the veneer seems different and the new speakers have the driver treatment that viren is doing for all new speakers he's making. increased dynamics. waiting for your review on rajiv's system too since it has different tubes. good to see you've met some of the chennai members!

thevortex,

a platform under the speakers and the platform on spikes would help the bass immensely. either granite or wood or slate. also i've noticed the room seems relatively undamped and that would definitely add to the decrease in sound quality. a few filled bookshelves on the front wall and perhaps a carpet would help quite a bit. i've gone from a wall with sofas to an empty wall and the sound is quite terrible and uninvolving compared to some damping being present.

regards

 

[denom]

Where is Denom? He was stalking me around the forum prodding me to get on with the write up! BTw, though we didnt play any heavy stuff, I did play Metallica-Enter Sandman towards the end. Though resolution was good with even heavy parts (even at low volumes), the aggression wasnt there.

Am Right here brother!!!

Already thanked you for the write-up of yours, did you not see it???
Wish you had played some Metal (do not consider Metallica as metal, buddy:indifferent14 Anyways, got the gist from you on the Vortex's Rig not suited to my genre of music.... though his speakers were yet to be completely 'burned-in'.... that I think should have been mentioned earlier, lest the speakers get panned....

Now await your take on Rajiv's set-up.... with lots of pics again:clapping:
Your good work is being appreciated by one & all, so get cracking.....

Regards

 

[Rajiv]

well now that i've seen the speakers, to answer an earlier question, the veneer seems different and the new speakers have the driver treatment that viren is doing for all new speakers he's making. increased dynamics.

Hi Steven,

When I saw Bala's speakers, it appeared to me that they were slightly taller and wider/deeper at the base than your speakers .

I could be mistaken,because it is couple of years since I saw your speakers.Your speakers had the dark veneer(rosewood?).


Regards
Rajiv

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I'm astonished just by the appearance of Bala's speakers

Very intrigued to know how they will portray big-orchestra sound: I know you're not that keen on the music, but please let me bring my Mahler CD round soon

 

[mahiruha]

Mahiruha - the DAC has a built in tube output stage and the gain on this is surprisingly good. As for comparison with the sound card is concerned, the sound out of the DAC is immensely more smoother and non-fatiguing.

I have tested this DAC also with my EPOS speakers and they revealed a new dimension to the sound. There is a level of refinement on offer here which the soundcard will find it very hard to match. Vocals are fuller, richer and are now easily identifiable from an imaging standpoint. The bass has never been better - the nuances of bass are now being brought out. On the details front, I think the sound card and the DAC are about the same. But there is difference in how the detail is presented. The DAC presenting the details coherently and as part of the music whereas the sound card serves up all the details and leaves it for the human ears to figure out.

Actually with passages of music we are familiar with, we may not notice much difference as far as retrieving details goes. Because our ears would have been trained to place the details musically. But with newer songs, the difference in delivery will be apparent.

For most music - I am hardly able to go beyond the 10'O clock position. But it differs with the recording and the kind of music. For example Hugh Masekela's Stimela requires a bit of pushing as far as volume goes. I think the volume knob was close to the 12'O clock position for that song. But for normal listening, I prefer the 9'O clock position. Even for movies, I am hardly finding it necessary to go beyond the 12'O clock position or thereabouts.

Hi vortex,
thanks for providing the vivid description of the changes that the DAC has brought in your system. Actually what you have outlined I precisely miss all those things in the soundcard when using analogue out. The music is very fatiguing and it doesn't connect me emotionally. Actually when I try something new apart from Vinyl my ear always try and compare with Vinyl and in this case I really don't enjoy the soundcard. Even when I played music using my CA azur 540 D dvd player as a cd player I got much better presentation of music. In a way I believe that these sound cards are only good enough to serve as digital source and one definitely need a good DAC for the music to get going at an acceptable level. I would love to try out this DAC in my setup to see how it performs since music in PC is so much convenient in terms of getting content. Other thing is I read in iaudio's post that you are using USB to transfer digital media. Did you try connecting a good quality coaxial cable between your DAC and the soundcard if the option is available. I am not too sure how well USB serves as a digital transfer medium as compared to a coaxial cable. Just a thought.
Thanks.

 

[captrajesh]

Cap'n I will post my experience at Rajivs place soon. In the meanwhile, now that I have set the ball rolling, why dont you share in detail, what you felt at Bala's place?

Hi iaudio. After such a detailed writeup which is so accurately written, what else is left for me to say.

After reading this, I wanted to write about the bass issues with some tracks but even that has been brought out by your subsequent post.

down a coupla RC's with you!

:thumbsup:That's the best part of this entire thread. :cheers:

 

[madbullram]

I did try calling you on Sunday morning, Ram.

Sorry ji, I actually slept till 3 pm on that Sunday :indifferent14: