The next audio interface, spending less than 24,000

Now here's a stramge thing...

Members may have noticed me bemoaning the state of my hearing, and, sadly, it is with good cause, as demonstrated by the tests. One of the reasons for me prioritising PC audio is that I can so easily include software EQ in the chain to being some of those high-frequency sounds back into my life.

Hi Thad,
From one lossy ear to another, would you care to elaborate on the software EQ bit? I do hereby confess to my absolute naivety in PC audio. This might just give me the thrust I am looking for :D.
Thanks
 
Things have been going along nicely with the iCAN and the ODAC for the past few months.

I have been using two devices: the ODAC for the hp-amp, and the old Audiofire2 for the speakers. I wanted to cut this back to one, and have easier switching between the two. I also have a maybe plan of new proper active speakers to replace the M-Audio AV40s, and would need a central volume control to control two such speakers. So I had the idea of finding some sort of passive control.

I also had the idea of not buying actives, but buying passives and using an integrated amp that I have spare. I still have no idea which idea will win out in the end. It will probably be settled by some impulse speaker buy! (Like the Harbeths currently on sale, if I had a lakh, which I don't) but...

I got fascinated by the McCormack Line Drive TLC-1 for sale on this forum. I even exchanged some I'm-not-buying-but-interested PMs with RoC about the box.

I had almost become convinced that the integrated amp and passives were the way to go.. I have a spare, good, amp sitting unused. Then came a price drop on the TLC-1, and I found myslef hitting the PM button.

There is a rave review from John Atkinson in Stereophile. Looks like I'm now an "A-List" audiophile! :lol:

I had assumed that nothing could be better than direct connection ODAC --> iCAN. I had assumed that the pre-amp control functions might come at the cost of some sound quality, and that the best I could hope for would be transparency.

I was wrong.

I found that the tape-out which, for ease of switching, I had hoped to use for hp-amp did, indeed, cost me a liitle, but after a short session of A/B/C testing of the three possible outputs settled down to listen to the buffered output vi iCAN.

This was a somewhat unscientific test, which I could put into words as "which output makes me feel least like going on to test the next one."

Listening to my current regular favourites, Mahler, Beethoven, Quicksilver Messenger Service, I might have posted about the experience here then, except that I forgot about the internet!

I wonder if this might have happened if I had invested in some much higher-end phones amp like the Lehman. I don't know (yet ;) ).

There is a new dimension in my headphones. Seriously, as the image is much more 3D. There is much better detail. A trumpet note does not sound the same from start to finish; the strings sound mass which is the bedrock of an orchestra's sound sounds less like a mass; Kettle drum thumps sound less like a thud, with more palpable decay.

I think TLV stands for Transparent Line Control --- but I feel it to mean Tender Loving Care!

I have always felt that my AT-ADH900s were capable of more with better amplification. They may not be perfect, they may (as reviewed) be a little bass-shy (probably just right with the iCAN's Xbass), but I find that, all over again, I love them!

Of course, I can't help wondering how much better the Audeze would be. But five times the weight, for starters.
 
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thad,

congrats on the McCormack.

So the bewilderment got to you ?? :lol:

i looked at the pic you posted and i am interested in knowing whatis connected to what ?

where does the McCormack fit into the picture ?

njoi the new sounds you are hearing !!

Am also happy the McCormack got a new home. It deserved to be sold and not to languish in the for sale thread simply because it looks like it is a very good pre amp by itself.

mpw
 
Congrats, Thad! From your impressions, it was clearly a very good buy.

Enjoy the newly found dimensions in the music! :)
 
thad,



where does the McCormack fit into the picture ?


mpw

Like he said he wants to switch between the ODAC and iFi with a flick of the switch.

Way to go Thad! Its fun to enjoy other peoples shopping vicariously when one is stuck within ones own budgetary hellhole ... :clapping:

~G0bble
 
No... PC-->ODAC is the main source. I want to be able to switch between output devices, headphone/speaker at a flick of a switch, plus, this enables me to have the PC/DAC as just one source and change between that/TT/Cassette/etc, at the flick of the switch.

Like a traditional hifi stack, the preamp is now at the logical centre of everything, rather than the PC.

I am not in the least immune to upgrade bugs. the ultimate upgrade bug would be a big house with a proper room and space to set up a hifi properly. But more realistically, next on the list is the desktop speakers. Or the headphones. ...Or the desktop speakers. The headphone is now my primary listening, so I really shouldn't spend much on the speakers, right? well, right, but, you know...

This has been a relatively low-cost upgrade: the next steps could be very steep ones, and yes, there's the budgetary hell hole :eek:

Interesting point about my new, improved sound: the ODAC is still at the root of it. I wonder how many people have ever thought to use the ODAC with high-end hp amps, etc.
 
A beautiful, well-constructed speaker with class-leading soundstage, imaging and bass that is fast, deep, and precise.
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