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Post by zippy on Sept 16, 2014 15:20:07 GMT
I'm surprised you say that - on my system the audio from the Sky box is pretty dire (via optical link to my DAC) even though in theory it's 'DVD' standard. Definitely nowhere near as good as BBC radio 3 Interesting! I love the SQ from Sky HD. Some broadcasts (such as Sky Arts programming) are truly excellent. I feed optical into a Caiman-II. Yours is an HD box? It's an HD box, but a pretty old one. I connected to DAC by the coax cable. I also noted in the settings that there's an option for 'optical output' to set it for Dolby or 'Normal' (mine is set to normal as my previous DAC couldn't handle a Dolby signal) There's no such setting specifically for the co-ax output. Maybe I just need a new Sky box. Actually I'm not that bothered as the Proms are pretty much the only thing I feed to the hifi...
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Post by zippy on Sept 16, 2014 10:22:11 GMT
Why the complexity? The audio feed from Sky HD is superb when run through a DAC. I'm surprised you say that - on my system the audio from the Sky box is pretty dire (via optical link to my DAC) even though in theory it's 'DVD' standard. Definitely nowhere near as good as BBC radio 3
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Post by zippy on Sept 16, 2014 9:04:18 GMT
I thought this years 'last night' was one of the best lastnights for a long time, I even managed, with a bit of technical chicanery, to get a synchronized simultaneous picture (sky using live pause function) and sound (BBC3 internet). The BBC3 sound (320 kbps WMA) is pretty good these days
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Post by zippy on Sept 15, 2014 13:20:54 GMT
You've already tried Van Damme by the looks of it. I use Van Damme Blue 4mm and I find it to be a perfectly good and neutral cable at a sensible price.
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Post by zippy on Sept 3, 2014 9:11:16 GMT
The discovery that proper sideboards like what my mum had, with a nice heavy lid sounds better than all the little tweaks yet tried to date. I may allow you to have the speakers separate. Interesting - there's loads of discussion in various places regarding isolation devices which go UNDER your equipment to stop vibration etc. I can't however remember ever seeing any form of device which actually covers the equipment totally in order to prevent airborne vibration. Maybe it isn't a problem anyway, although I'm sure you can affect the sound if you put your speakers too close to your amp/etc.
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Post by zippy on Sept 2, 2014 14:43:25 GMT
Let's see: Audial Model S DAC - No real reviews online, but the best DAC I've heard regardless of price LFD PA2M (SE) - No reviews LFD DLS - No reviews Royd RR3 - No reviews Royd Sorcerer - Few old print reviews ...that's a big fat no then. I'm a media & marketing professional, so am particularly sensitive to the fact that publicity and quality are not linked, and by digging a bit deeper one can find the seriously good stuff. I don't necessarily believe everything I read in the mags, and I wouldn't use a review result as my sole means of choosing an item, but the mags are useful to find out what's new, and of course HFN covers music as well as hifi.
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Post by zippy on Sept 2, 2014 11:33:59 GMT
Thanks for the encouragement, chaps!
.....
The PC outputs via the USB port on a SOtM tX-USBexp card, which is powered by its own battery PSU.
---- I'm interested to know why you chose to link to the DAC via USB rather than network ?
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Post by zippy on Aug 31, 2014 18:27:18 GMT
Just subscribed to HFN (digital edition) after many years of not buying or reading hifi mags - not too pricey by todays standards
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hello
Aug 31, 2014 17:42:59 GMT
Post by zippy on Aug 31, 2014 17:42:59 GMT
I'm Chris (topher) - have been a member of some of the other hifi/music forums (fora?) for some time - always willing to try another one. I hope this one doesn't degenerate into the sniping etc that some others (hifi and photo*) regularly exhibit.
Just retired so now spending more time listening but of course less money for spending.
I tend to buy new, and make my hifi last as long as possible so my previous Linn setup (bought in the 80's/90's) saw good service for about 20 years until it started to fall apart a few years ago and led me to replace with my current setup.
Eagerly watching loudspeaker reviews/comments as that's the only thing I'm thinking of upgrading at the moment, although a bit short of cash and there's nothing wrong with my existing speaker really, just feeling the yen for some new ones!
* I'm also into photography
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Post by zippy on Aug 31, 2014 10:16:40 GMT
Had one for years a long time ago and at the time I'd be happy to say it was the best available at that time, even without the numerous tweaks. Even so, it wasn't a huge leap forward from the Thorens 160 it replaced.
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Post by zippy on Aug 31, 2014 10:12:46 GMT
I got a chip out of the veneer on my KEFs (light wood finish) and bought some Ronseal touchup. Complete waste of time and money - almost impossible to apply as per instructions and then the colour did not match the veneer, even though the touchup was the 'correct' colour.
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