The next audio interface, spending less than 24,000
- Thread starter Thad E Ginathom
- Start date
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
.Thanks
Thad E Ginathom
Well-Known Member
Begin by thinking of it as a slightly over-complex tone control!
And to be honest, I haven't got much further than that!
And to be honest, I haven't got much further than that!
Thad E Ginathom
Well-Known Member
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.
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.
Last edited:
M
mpw
Guest
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 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
Thad E Ginathom
Well-Known Member
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
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.
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
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.
Purchase the Audiolab 6000A Integrated Amplifier at a special offer price.
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