Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 01/15/2023 in all areas

  1. AJ, In my case, I use the external Red Dragonfly as a DAC, and then feed that through the preamp or headphones. You bet. The computer wasn't made for what I am doing with it. So a LOT is bypassed. Windows OS isn't on If I understand what the original wizard did to it. Anyway, CD's are ripped bit perfect and then loaded to a FLAC file. The AudioQuest Red takes it from there. This is an old Lenovo Think Pad. FWIW, I also have an AudioQuest 'Jitterbug' in line with the Red Dragonfly. Don't know that this is really needed but it's there. I tend to run the computer from its battery, but that probably doesn't really mean much. Headphones sound amazing, at least the Hi-Fi Man 400S does. When I feed the signal to my audio system, the sound is 'perfect' as I have ever had it. Really pretty shocking to me after all the horrible ('New and Improved!') stuff that I have heard up till now.
    2 points
  2. And, timely..., Our buddy Paul has been posting on the same/similar topic(s), the past two weeks...,
    1 point
  3. And, don't forget all the other variables in the reproduction chain to produce through our amps and speakers..., those recorded sounds... Everyone's actual "experience" is likely different, with all these variables from beginning to end..., (at least how I see it...)
    1 point
  4. Welcome to the site! I had a similar question a year or so ago about streaming. I've tried several things since then.... my first inkling was to go with a "Bluesound Node" streamer. Seems to be a decent device that won't break the bank. And, I have since learned there are others using it with great success and enjoyment. Several on this site recommended Oppo players. But, being budget conscious, I couldn't really bring myself to buy one (I've heard they have started to decrease in price a bit). At the end of the day, the engineer in me decided I could DIY my own streamer for not so much money. I bought a raspberry PI microcomputer, loaded it with Volumio software, attached it to a Schiit DAC, and I was off and running. The Volumio software was nice...allowed for connectivity to TIDAL and Qobuz (I mostly stream from the interweb.....don't have too many of my own files). When this setup worked, it worked well. I loved the sound. But, there were lots of "bugs"... and I found myself constantly having to tinker with computer code. So, I moved away from the Raspberry PI, and am now just using an old underutilized Mac Mini I had lying around hooked up to the same Schiit DAC. I've got the Qobuz app on the Mac and I control the Mac from my iPhone or IPad with Google "Remote desktop" app. Qobuz will output directly to the Schiit DAC and play up the 24 bit 96khz resolution Qobuz offers. So, the sound is great and it all works reliably. I've even got myself a little mini pc screen next to the Mac so that others can see the album art of whatever is currently streaming. Lessons learned? At the end of the day, I probably shoulda just popped for the Bluesound Node, or Oppo... given the hoops I jumped through with the RPi and Volumio. But, if you have happen to have a Mac Mini lying around, that might be worth a shot with a good DAC on the back end.
    1 point
×
×
  • Create New...