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Post by zappytheviking on Jan 13, 2018 22:43:30 GMT
Thx Martin
SPDIF, I ended up with this mini shielded silver DIY cable since the Monster coax cable bought for this purpose sounded terrible, essentially crushed the soundstage. The tiny cable brought back life, will be getting the Mark Grant cardas when spending money allows.
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Post by zappytheviking on Jan 13, 2018 22:33:09 GMT
The aim was to show a low cost starter step by step and keep a diary. Copying what has been done before is usually a good idea, especially since this is my first purpose built rack.
Are there other inspiring solution you could suggest?
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Post by zappytheviking on Jan 13, 2018 22:19:08 GMT
After reading grandiose claims about platforms, magnetic suspension, springs, pucks, racks, spikes, cones, couldn't possibly do anything, could it? Feeding my DAC with a lead acid battery and a few Tonkin supercaps encouraged me, time to plonk down another 85£, maybe there is more where that came from. First step to see what's what, replace the plastic storage box under my components, IKEA to the rescue. After a quick run to the store, about 45 min before closing time, here is what i came out with, 8 Godmorgon telescopic legs 14-25cm, 2 Aptitlig cutting boards, 1 Avskild 4set of cork mats. Being able to change height might be useful, if this turns out well its the granite coaster and sorbothane next. You can fit a 36cm wide component but since the cutting boards are somewhat slanted your legs will rest partly outside the surface. I decided to place the legs equidistant from the edge and ended up with a little under 34cm. A tip, the middle and outer screws adjust the lean of the leg. After a few hours of marking, drilling and screwing, here we are. Populated shelf. Did all this faffing about actually do something vs the storage pail the components were resting on before? I do think so, will continue to trial it and report back. First impressions, lots of air, a Celine Dion CD had sounded murky and uninteresting for the longest time, bam, voice nice and solid, the haze that seemed to bind the sounds together, nearly gone. Another thing of note, prefered listening volume is now 10-11 o'clock instead of 1 o'clock, Improved clarity perhaps. Continued with a quick experiment. A hefty transformer on top of the DigiOne Player. Now its getting hard to tell, one thing i noticed is voices becoming just a tad more coherent and 3D. Tried the same weight on the DAC, here too there was a change, seemed like a little more warmth and texture. Will have to experiment some more but there is a change. I do prefer the sound with the extra weight on, I suppose this means the granite and sorbothane will be coming next. Stay tuned. Sorting out the cables probably wouldnt hurt, power-signal crossings and such.
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Post by zappytheviking on Jan 12, 2018 23:52:35 GMT
Currently a sealed lead acid 10Ah, 6-7.5V . Can't get the Arcam RDAC going without 6.1V and over. When the DC-DC regulators arrive will upgrade to a smaller 12V car battery, last a little longer. Any improvement from here will be icing on the cake. Recent events have started to warp my unbelieving attitude to "tuning" of the equipment. Sorbothane hemispheres and granite coasters next , I blame you all .
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Post by zappytheviking on Jan 12, 2018 20:37:43 GMT
Being descriptively accurate is paramount . Quite a shocker how much more the equipment has to give with improved power delivery. Still haven't received the DC-DC converters, this was direct from battery. If it can be bested I will be over the moon.
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Post by zappytheviking on Jan 12, 2018 15:50:30 GMT
Those Tonkin Caps. DAMN. Audio revelation once more, inserted the super-caps on the power lead to RDAC, 2 in series to get the +6v needed, Jeebus. Listened to some Duffy, usually slightly irritating scratchiness in her voice, now it was like being slathered in golden fairy dust. Dido- Before we went to war, earlier I heard birdies and a car somewhere maybe some wind in leaves, now, hearing a window, outside of it, birds, someone over the street listening to a radio, singers voice, enjoyable, hi freq sounds a little like friendly sparkles , frikking golden Disney fairy dust . Spatial information like I never knew before. Added another set of caps, further improvement, perhaps 30%, I can't wait to get DigiOne on the same kind of juice, this is crazy. The music plain feels good, 8£ well spent. Reconnecting the battery charger now causes a drastic change, magic goes away. New level of sound for me and it is......ummm. .. WoHOOO!!
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Post by zappytheviking on Jan 11, 2018 0:11:00 GMT
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Post by zappytheviking on Jan 2, 2018 15:22:09 GMT
Dang that's what I forgot, would you mind giving a link, never bought snap chokes that weren't on the cable already. The mutt nuts, always a welcome addition
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Post by zappytheviking on Jan 2, 2018 14:33:56 GMT
MartinT - Thanks to your streamer thread I ordered some DC-DC converters and a few Tonkin super caps, will be interesting. Had some leftover bits for making cable, made a DIY silver wire IC with copper shield, about 10cm long. Sounds good, great air, punch and soundstaging, Adele's Hello, brought back the faint echoes that completely vanished with Monster 250 DCX Coax, beginning to doubt the importance of impedance in coax with short runs. Will for certain try the Mark Grant Cardas later and see if it beats my mini cable. John Had my doubts since I know zero about Linux, nothing to be apprehensive about it seems, the Volumio GUI is very user friendly. PS. My claim of 3-5db bass change was due to self built speakers, reversed polarity on both midranges and now things are singing like they should. Shrinking soundstage and detail loss on monster cable still applies, restested.
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Post by zappytheviking on Dec 28, 2017 19:42:26 GMT
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Post by zappytheviking on Dec 28, 2017 19:12:26 GMT
Thanks, that`s an extremely reasonable price.
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Post by zappytheviking on Dec 28, 2017 18:35:11 GMT
40h after ordering my DigiOne player it arrived at my door from France, shocking, I have never gotten a package that quickly to the north of Sweden, even UPS takes 7-8 days.
Happy to experiment with my new addition a full day was spent trying to share a folder from a windows computer, mostly because I am a Linux illiterate.
I plugged in a "1m Monster digital Coax" cable that cost me around 30e, had a listen, hmm, all the air and space was just gone. My junky old laptop sending USB WASAPI was miles ahead, didn't make any sense.
With the hopes that this was a "warmup" issue I let it run over night, no improvement. Dont get me wrong, the sound was passable but with bloated bass, severely reduced air and shrunken soundstage. At this point I was disappointed with my purchase, thinkig I might keep it for the convenience factor.
As a hail mary I decided to try regular RCA cable, a 25yo 1.5m monster cable. Incredible, the air is back, the bass bloat is gone, its similar to what a 3-5db reduction at 50-150hz would do, high are much clearer, a sense of ease. A clear improvement over direct USB. Anyone who says cables on digital signals do not matter are out of their minds.
What puzzles me is how a cable marketed for the purpose can be so much worse than an ancient regular RCA signal cable. Isn't a 75ohm impedance cable supposed to be better?
Confused but happy, maybe someone can shed some light on this, any recommendation on a reasonably priced cable(50-100£)?
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Post by zappytheviking on Dec 26, 2017 17:30:55 GMT
Would make a great power filter product, stack 2-3 of them in a box, stick a supercap on the output and charge an arm n a leg . www.digikey.com/en/product-highlight/l/linear-tech/lt3042-psrr-low-dropout-volt-linear-regulatorIn many high end VCOs, power supply noise directly affects the VCO output phase noise (jitter). Moreover, to meet overall system efficiency requirements, the LDO usually post-regulates the output of a relatively noisy switching converter, so the high frequency power supply rejection ratio (PSRR) performance of the LDO becomes paramount. With its ultralow output noise and ultrahigh PSRR performance, the LT3042 can directly power some of most noise-sensitive applications while post-regulating the output of a switching converter, without requiring bulky filtering.
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Post by zappytheviking on Dec 26, 2017 15:49:39 GMT
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Post by zappytheviking on Dec 26, 2017 14:18:58 GMT
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Post by zappytheviking on Nov 24, 2017 15:18:49 GMT
Thanks fellas.
Phase problem is fixed, new issue, I have been listening to music like this for 4 months.
The brain is thoroughly confused, all my benchmark music is completely different.
This was an interesting mistake, reversing a mid-range threw the phase out, makes location perception different , became something of a surround effect, now it all sounds tiny, natural and harmonious, keep wanting more volume but it never goes back to where it was. Vocals felt sharper, a little hoarse in a pleasant way, exaggerated background pan effects.
I can feel my mind reeling, reminds me of the upside down glasses experiment, the brain flips the image in time.
Just like the matrix movie. Cypher: You know, I know this steak doesn't exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize?
[Takes a bite of steak]
Cypher: Ignorance is bliss.
It will take few days to readjust I think.
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Post by zappytheviking on Nov 23, 2017 19:37:24 GMT
A little completion to the thread. Finally got a nice stretch of free time, opportunity to fix a few issues, such as the midrange crossover being screwed to the inside of a divider cutout. A few cables were spliced together since i ran out of full pieces, got some new wire and replaced the patched cables. Got around to weighing them, 28kg a pop, overestimated earlier, still nice and sturdy. The mid-range is supposed to have inverted polarity, well, apparently I had inverted it twice just to be sure, . Got suspicious when I started working on room acoustics and ran XLO burn in disc phase test, the out of phase image shot out to the left, this was the right speaker. Other than that, have still enjoyed the speakers, wonder what they will sound like now. That insulating strip I used, wow, had to take out the bass and thwack the back panel with a hammer a few times to get it to budge.
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Post by zappytheviking on Oct 27, 2017 12:41:31 GMT
Cables are the most over hyped and overpriced items in audio.
The controversy and chaos make it extra appealing, there must be some gold nuggets of truth otherwise there wouldn't be such polarization.
The only way is to experiment and make up your own mind.
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Post by zappytheviking on Oct 27, 2017 12:20:23 GMT
Most people (as in the general populace) genuinely can't hear a difference, some dismiss it as the cost/performance gain is too prohibitive and others just don't care, as it's the music that's the important thing, not the Hi-Fi. Most people will not notice, I fully agree with that. If they are able to fully enjoy their music there is no quibble whatsoever. Those seeking just that little bit more its a viable thing to try. Myself, I have some tinnitus and my hearing isnt the greatest, still, I want some chills and emotion when I listen I heard a profound change in the sound, being aware of the placebo effect I used my mother as the control. She is one of those people who doesn't even comprehend when you ask her sound quality type questions, just listens to the music. You tell her about some technical thing she floats off and starts talking about laundry or something. Its like a guinea pig, look at the amount of emotional response. If you ask her she will clearly state she doesn't know or cant hear it. I haven't wanted to listen to music for the longest time, it just wasn't enjoyable, felt impatient and tired after a few tracks. So the argument would be, being able to enjoy music is well worth 40-50gbp to me. As with anything, people will just have to try it for themselves. I read somewhere that high impedance in older mass market amplifiers made them extra sensitive to capacitance in IC cables, meaning the RC network it creates dampens higher frequencies. This may well be what made the magic in my case. So it would be very equipment dependent as well. General populace probably would not even consider it since they are happy with their in ear iPhone gear. Still, there is that itch to enlighten the inexperienced, have them light up with awe and desire for some of that. Or perhaps its, share your hallucination
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Post by zappytheviking on Oct 27, 2017 9:01:31 GMT
I am not a headphone guy , yet, this guy really is. Perhaps he could have the answers if you are willing to dig them out. I remember him mentioning cable suppliers and who does what. This is the reddit, www.reddit.com/r/ZReviews/ I am certain if you ask there you will get the some good answers. www.youtube.com/user/ZeosReviewsHere is a video where he mods a pair to take detachable cables.
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