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Post by welder on Jul 7, 2014 14:08:17 GMT
There’s a lot of information on the web regarding audio in general. This site is imo the best when it comes to computer audio. If you don’t know much about file based audio (and even if you do) it’s worth taking the time to work your way through the entire site. It’s far more informative than any forum I’ve come across, there are links that provide solutions to just about every file based audio problem I’ve read on the internet. www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/
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Post by MikeMusic on Jul 7, 2014 14:52:56 GMT
On my list of things to do someday. Thanks for the link
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Post by terrybooth on Jul 8, 2014 10:54:21 GMT
I'm currently using a Raspberry Pi/HifiBerry Dac and Volumio. I have music files (FLAC) on a network server. Currently playing with different DACs for the Pi.
Previously used computer based audio (PCs/Mac - JRiver). Not particularly interested in streaming pictures and all that which pushed my down a 'minimalist' path.
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Post by John on Jul 8, 2014 12:43:39 GMT
How you finding the Raspberry Pi Terry I like the simplicity of the player but not heard one How does it computer to pc using Jriver If you not worried about pictures try MQn its free and just keeps getting better If you have a windows based player I much prefer it to Jplay
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Post by terrybooth on Jul 8, 2014 20:57:35 GMT
How you finding the Raspberry Pi Terry I like the simplicity of the player but not heard one How does it computer to pc using Jriver If you not worried about pictures try MQn its free and just keeps getting better If you have a windows based player I much prefer it to Jplay As far as sound is concerned, I've replaced a music PC with external DAC and a Mac with a DAC with the Pi/HiFiBerry/Volumio combination. I thought it much better than the Mac/DAC and on a par with the music PC/DAC. So far as reliability is concerned, I get the occasional glitch (silence) and I've not got it working with wifi. Volumio can be a bit of a pig to get going (I have two Pi/HiFiBerry) and that seems to throw Sound@Home a bit. I've tried another DAC board (mostly because it has a different DAC chip) and found it slightly more soft/veiled/wooly than the HiFiBerry. I'm going to have a go with the IQAudio card as a next plan. I'm sure you'll see lots of opinion about Volumio on the web. I find it does the job for me and doesn't get in the way as much as I felt JRiver does for me. (All I want to do is play an album or a track, not particularly interested in playlists). The most 'interesting' thing I've done was to compare the two Pis with different soundcards playing the same source - they appeared to Sync with each other, so I could switch from one to the other whilst listening to the same bit of music.
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Post by MartinT on Jul 8, 2014 21:04:35 GMT
My experience with the Logitech Touch and Wi-Fi is... don't! An ethernet cable connection gives a much more solid, stable sound for streaming regardless of buffer settings.
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Post by John on Jul 9, 2014 4:52:35 GMT
Like Martin I tried both wireless and Ethernet cable I much preferred the cable route. Could detect some harshness via wireless
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Post by terrybooth on Jul 9, 2014 18:07:59 GMT
I've used wireless on other devices (mostly a Mac) but in a second system.
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Post by John on Jul 10, 2014 20:54:25 GMT
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Post by Pinch on Jul 11, 2014 11:13:06 GMT
Yes I followed the development of this over at the Computer Audiophile forums. At the time I took the author's advice and switched from Windows 7 to Server 2012 R2, and did indeed notice an improvement in the sound. I didn't get any further than that, though, as I was put off by the fact that the change is not easily reversible, and there's no demo or trial version (that may have changed now though). But yes, it's garnered some glowing reviews, so it's something that I would like to try at some point.
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Post by MikeMusic on Jul 11, 2014 12:30:38 GMT
switched from Windows 7 to Server 2012 R2, and did indeed notice an improvement in the sound What a crazy world Whatever next !? and yes I believe you from the crazy things I've done to improve the sound
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Post by Pinch on Jul 11, 2014 12:36:40 GMT
Well, I should qualify that by saying that my impression was that it improved the sound, but obviously with this sort of change it's not possible to make a quick switch between different configurations, so I may well be kidding myself! I did go into it though in the expectation that it wouldn't/couldn't make any discernible difference, so any expectation bias should have taken me in the opposite direction. Who knows!
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Post by MikeMusic on Jul 11, 2014 12:44:51 GMT
Sometimes I can't believe the sound has improved with an upgrade - especially when something happens I'm not expecting. Once upon a time, back when, the upgrade was just 'better'. Lately it's been things like more detail in the midrange, or improvements in the acoustic guitar part S'pose it has to be an improvement if there is something extra now going you didn't expect (So far as I know I am not being secretly fed placebos)
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Post by MartinT on Jul 11, 2014 14:22:23 GMT
Server 2012 R2 is oriented towards prioritising a multitude of background tasks over foreground apps. I can see that, in some circumstances, it would make an ideal audio server. Expensive way to go about it, though (but not for me)
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2014 16:25:17 GMT
regarding the connection business, I've been using homeplugs on my set up since 2006 and havn't had 1 single glitch. I tried wifi very briefly to test a laptop server system and this kept buffering. I admit I didn't spend much time fiddling with it but I think I got it improved but not perfect..
1 vote for the wired/homeplug route.
It did occur to me that homeplugs might not work for those that have mains conditioning, anybody got any experience of this?
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Post by John on Jul 11, 2014 16:29:52 GMT
Yes not cheap but 6 month free trail If I went this way I think I be forced to move to the Cunas as means going back to USB, but combining this with MQn seems like it could really pay dividends
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Post by Pinch on Jul 11, 2014 16:34:40 GMT
Are you not outputting via USB at the moment, John? What are you using instead?
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Post by John on Jul 11, 2014 16:56:56 GMT
At the moment I am using a Blue ray player using files from a SSD card. Quality is surprisingly good for such a cheap approach so using a digital out through the Caiman Mk2
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Post by Pinch on Jul 11, 2014 17:06:40 GMT
That's an interesting approach! I'd assumed from the opening post that you were using a PC, but obviously 'file-based' doesn't extend only to PC or Mac set-ups. And I can see that it would offer certain advantages over a PC; presumably the Blu-Ray player is not nearly as harsh an environment, noise-wise. Interesting!
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Post by John on Jul 11, 2014 17:18:28 GMT
I used to go down the Jplay route when I first became serious but think they kind of lost their way and found my Blue ray player was outperforming it My friend has MQn and its been interesting watching this develop over the last year or so. About a month ago MQn was at the same level with the Cunas as my Blue ray player was with the Caiman but MQn keeps on developing and using server 2012 might be the deal breaker
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