Digital Bliss- Small steps in the audiophile journey

Amarendra

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2010
Messages
954
Points
93
Location
Mumbai
The journey begins:

I started on the audiophile path in November 2010 when I ditched my Sony Hifi 2600 Watts PMPO deck in favor of a much modest looking Norge 2060. While the sound improvements were immediate and remarkable, I ended up replacing my Sony speakers with Monitor Audio M2s & Chord Carnival Silver Screen which resulted in even better sound all around. :)

Enter HRT MS 2:

Next was the turn of the HRT Music Streamer 2 an asynchronous USB DAC which made the difference of night and day to my modest setup. The old ageing laptop (IBM Thinkpad) became my music server and there were endless hours of unadulterated music (using Foobar and ASIO out)

However the problem was coming home after a hard days work and getting all the components to work together- first start the laptop (wait for Windows XP to load), start Foobar, ASIO, connect the USB DAC, start the amplifier, etc- with the biggest pain factor being Windows loading and a host of programs running in the background.
With a baby at home the process seemed all the more tedious. Hence my music listening was on the backburner for the past 6- 8 months.
What I needed was a quick solution- either a CD player- switch on the CD player and Amp and get the music running in no time. However the problem was that most of my music was in FLAC/ mp3 (320 kbps) which CD players are reluctant to play.

Enter Logitech Bluetooth adapter:

So in the mean time I picked up a Logitech Blue tooth speaker adapter (INR 2,500) which played music from my Ipod/ Ipad through Bluetooth. However as you are aware, Bluetooth gives you a feeling of compression. So while this was convenient, it was not in any way of audiophile quality.
So the search for an all in one device started all over again. However I also decided that I would not spend a bomb on this.

Enter: Marantz M CR603

The Marantz M CR603 is a fabulous all- rounder & out of the box solution for all audio needs. It plays CDs, reads FLAC/ mp3s via external drives, plays tuner (FM), has Airplay, a USB connection for Ipod/ Ipad and most importantly has an inbuilt amp. The convenience is tremendous- just switch it ON !!
However after auditioning it with some tracks from 1947 Earth and Kandisa (Indian Ocean), I had a feeling that the punch was lacking. The presentation did not seem wide enough. I kept comparing the same output from my existing setup (laptop to HRT and then to the Norge 2060) which offered a sound which was detailed, open and punchy.. Then I thought of connecting my Norge 2060 to the M CR603 but that was defeating the whole purpose of getting an all in one solution. Also the cost of the beast is close to INR 35 K without speakers !
Then finally I stumbled on a website which offered an even convenient solution- using the Ipad as a music server and connecting it to a USB DAC. However nowhere on the web could I find a confirmation that the HRT MS2 worked with the Ipad. Hence some experimentation was overdue :licklips:

Enter: Apple Camera Connection Kit

The Apple CCK is a fantastic solution for connecting a camera or a camera SD card to your Ipad. It retails for around INR 1,750 and is widely available. I purchased this with a Belkin USB hub and rushed home to connect my Ipad to the HRT MS. However the Belkin device needs a PC/ laptop connected at all times which was a dampener. So I returned this for a simple Croma USB hub which also has a card reader for INR 899. (you need this only if your USB DAC is not a powered one)
After waiting anxiously for the day to finish, I went home and after offering a small prayer connected the Ipad to the USB hub and the HRT MS 2 to one of the USB sockets on the hub and VIOLA !!! The MS 2 had taken over the data processing from the Ipad- the volume control switch had disappeared in I tunes !!
The Ipad was now outputting a brilliant stream of bits to my modest HRT MS 2 and the sound that I was hearing was in one word- mind-blowing !! I tunes was suddenly sounding hifi and the room was filled with clear, detailed & punchy notes.

But what about FLAC ?

No problem. For US $ 10 you can download Flacplayer from the app store and the Ipad starts belting out FLACs as well ! And yes the IPad can transmit data through the CCK at 96 k Hz which was indicated by the HRT the moment I switched to Hotel California (Eagles) (which I had downloaded at 96 k Hz).
The Ipad now has about 400 songs in Mp3 and FLAC and there is no looking back. Btw if you download an app called Tunes Remote you can use your ipod touch to control your Ipad playlist via Bluetooth. So sitting in the comfort of your sofa you can control the Ipad connected to your stereo.
Btw I continue to listen to CDs from my old Philips DVD player. The midrange somehow used to always sound fabulous on this which led me to do some R&D on the player, only to realize that it has a 24 bit 192 kHz DAC (read it on the web)
What if I run out of space on the Ipad- simply connect a Seagate Goflex 500 GB hard-disk which can be detected through wifi by the Ipad but I guess this new gadget can WAIT while I enjoy some FLACs !!! :D
 
That was brilliant - using the CCK to connect the DAC to ipad. This also means that Apple has not limited the functionality of what can be connected to the CCK.
 
Sorry, I did not understand. Why you should a 30K Ipad to play flacs ? Why not something like Squeezebox for 15-16K. or WD media player for 6k ? May be I am missing something.
 
The iPad was not purchased for this purpose. It was lying around and being used only for surfing :)
 
The Marantz PM7000N offers big, spacious and insightful sound, class-leading clarity and a solid streaming platform in a award winning package.
Back
Top