What is your configuration for Computer Audio?

[BRAT88]

ipad or PC > dragon fly black > integrated amp > spkrs

A basic question.Streaming sites like itunes,Saavn,Gaana and/or downloads from these reside on the players on the ipad or PC.

Any guidance if better sound quality can be gained moving to jriver ? I think it all depends on the type of file .Flac etc.

Thanks.

J-River =>The small speaker mode adds power and (I think) a bit of sibilance+bass.

 

[amit11]

Any guidance if better sound quality can be gained moving to jriver ? I think it all depends on the type of file .Flac etc.

Thanks.

In my experience, i have found that the player makes a big difference. I personally like playing by ipad.

If laptop, then itunes. Jriver is no doubt good compared to other players but somehow via usb i still preferred itunes.

In android there are also a few players like usb player pro (paid app), neutron, onkyo hf player but somehow android for music just does not cut.

PS:
Via my ipad wifi, it goes to airport express (the oldest generation model of 2004). It has the Burr-Brown PCM 2705 chip which has a warmth in its sound signature [emoji5]


Sent from Note5

 

[Nikhil]

ipad or PC > dragon fly black > integrated amp > spkrs

A basic question.Streaming sites like itunes,Saavn,Gaana and/or downloads from these reside on the players on the ipad or PC.

Any guidance if better sound quality can be gained moving to jriver ? I think it all depends on the type of file .Flac etc.

Thanks.

Assuming that you are using iTunes since your mention iPad / PC.
Yes, definitely JRiver is a setup from stock iTunes sound.

It takes a while to get around the JRiver interface but it's really good once you know what to do.
JRiver Media Center is also one of the better media management products around.

I use a few other software players now but JRiver is still my go to media toolkit.

Regards

 

[Nikhil]

Foobar is also another option which is a free software for playback only.
It is also very good but does not have the media management tools as JRiver.

 

[marsilians]

Biggest drawback with foobar is that it requires lots of tweaking to get it right. Biggest benefit is DSD playback for free software. JRiver and Audirvana are my go to for mac mini. Been playing around with Plex but I keep falling back on Jriver

 

[reignofchaos]

Foobar on Dell was lifeless. Vox on Mac gives goosebumps ! Now will compare Vox on Mac through ODAC. So far playing thru headphone out of the Mac. All Flac formats.

Did you setup foobar correctly? Its not install and play and requires extensive customization to get to work.

 

[reignofchaos]

Have no idea on customisation. Just played it thru foobar and even clarity was bad on both channels.

Need to see how Vox + Mac "thru headphone Vs thru ODAC" compares. Thru headphone out feeding the pre and amp, it already plays amazing !

Well then please don't make such generalized statements that foobar sounded bad if you didn't do your homework.

By default foobar uses directx to play which is a horrible API for pure 2ch audio (great for games though). You need to install the wasapi plugin and then setup a bunch of other things in it to get it to work as it should.

 

[prem]

As yogibear has experienced, a big problem with most music players is that they are not plug and play. They demand a lot of customisation to get them to sing. And that's where most non tech people struggle.

 

[amit11]

There seem to be so many players for music. From laptop, from android, from apple.

a) Now from android --> if the player is using the native driver of android then definitely its not bit-perfect output. Hence usb player pro bypass the android driver and use their own. After some setting in the app, it outputs bit-perfect. That's why they say.

Other apps in android e.g. neutron, onkyo hf... Some of them upsample. and some don't.

How to know which player is doing bit-perfect output?

b) Same for laptop.
Jriver, foobar and others have the option to bypass windows driver and mixer and allow the option to choose WASAPI , ASIO and SCHIIT WASAPI aswell.
How to know which does bit-perfect output?

Seems mathematics and the underlying OS has given way to so much creativity and options that its becoming hard to find a way which does bit-perfect. :indifferent14:

 

[Nikhil]

As yogibear has experienced, a big problem with most music players is that they are not plug and play. They demand a lot of customisation to get them to sing. And that's where most non tech people struggle.

+1

Yes ... the sheer variety of hardware on this thread alone shows that there are a lot of variables involved with computer playback.
I don't think that even one of us shares the same identical hardware platform. Variations in sound are quite easily noticeable as a result.

Some software packages take the approach of complete control of playback and back end processes while some like Foobar keep things light and allow the user to customize the setup as per their needs.

 

[marsilians]

As yogibear has experienced, a big problem with most music players is that they are not plug and play. They demand a lot of customisation to get them to sing. And that's where most non tech people struggle.

Agree. It's a nascent area and there are still a lot of players vying towards standardization. This hobby goes through this cyclically - HD formats, optical outputs, file formats, CD formats, Ampl classifications,...

 

[keith_correa]

Agree. It's a nascent area and there are still a lot of players vying towards standardization.

What is nascent? Media Players?
I fail to see how one can standardize software. They then become cookie cutters. Creativity/Innovation is killed that way!

 

[reignofchaos]

Some software packages take the approach of complete control of playback and back end processes while some like Foobar keep things light and allow the user to customize the setup as per their needs.

This is exactly what the scenario is. There are X number of hardware options, Y number of software players and another Z different configuration options. This is exactly why something that works for one does not work for another.

However dissing or writing off one piece of software without actually optimizing it properly is simply wrong. One has to keep an open mind and even though out of the box if software/hardware/plugin combination 1 sounds better than software/hardware/pluging combination 2, there is no guarantee that after optimizing everything, it will stay the same. There are way too many variables at play in computer audio.

 

[marsilians]

What is nascent? Media Players?
I fail to see how one can standardize software. They then become cookie cutters. Creativity/Innovation is killed that way!

Computer based hifi audio as a whole is nascent. Key considerations are sources (macs vs NUC vs PCs, linux), their sound cards, streaming services (Tidal MQA, Qobuz, Spotify), apps (foobar, JMC, roon, plex,...), and streamers (sotm, microrendu, auralic, etc.). Personally it feels like a lot of experimentation is required to make things work.

 

[Nikhil]

I'm a little curious to know how many are using the Sonore microRendu or UltraRendu?

So far I've heard some stellar feedback from one person who has made the switch from a Windows 2012 Server setup.
He did not hesitate to confirm that the microRendu topped his WS2012 machine with Audio Optimizer + Dual JPlay.
This was stunning value for me just considering all the bells and whistles on that machine.


.

 

[rikhav]

I'm a little curious to know how many are using the Sonore microRendu or UltraRendu?

So far I've heard some stellar feedback from one person who has made the switch from a Windows 2012 Server setup.
He did not hesitate to confirm that the microRendu topped his WS2012 machine with Audio Optimizer + Dual JPlay.
This was stunning value for me just considering all the bells and whistles on that machine.


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FM @dheerajin uses a SOTM
Don't know anyone else using it

I personally also want to try it but don't want to invest in.it now as I don't get so much time with music as of now

There is some version of SOTM which has some special clock as well

 

[gururanga]

My DAC and system is connect with Cat7, 5 meters ethernet cable.
I have read few post ethernet cable sounds best with .5 meter cable, I hear no difference between them.

What is general suggestion regarding length of ETH cables?

 

[Nikhil]

I have not heard of length of ethernet cables making a difference.
I am using a 50 ft run from my router to my switch in my home audio network.
From the switch, the length of patch cord is less than 0.5 m to each device.

What really makes a difference is the shielding which gets better with Cat 6/7 cables
In my setup moving to Cat 7 reduced a sort of background "hash" from the sound.
Technically speaking you get a better signal to noise ratio.


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[Nikhil]

I personally also want to try it but don't want to invest in.it now as I don't get so much time with music as of now

There is some version of SOTM which has some special clock as well

I think it works really well due to the Linux OS and the absence of noisy (unnecessary) hardware.
Just provide a nice clean power supply and 95% of all noise sources are eliminated.

The SOTM sCLk-EX is a dedicated clock module that is being talked about highly on CA.
Improving the clock makes a huge difference and this module can be added to any machine.
Earlier this was the game the big guys like DCS were playing - now it's more accessible.

The SOTM sMS 200 Ultra comes with built in clock so you can just buy a single box solution.

Regards

.

 

[captainsubtext]

Source #1

Allo Digione running volumio and roon end point. Connected to dac using spdif. Extremely easy to use and great sound quality.

Source #2 : Chromecast Audio - connected to dac using optical. useful for streaming tidal and Google play music painlessly.

Source#3: Mac mini running HDMI into avr and usb dac. The Mac mini runs my Plex server and roon servers. Mostly used as a headless device.