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Post by MartinT on Feb 21, 2019 11:44:07 GMT
I have an SR Blue in the main feed to the P10 regenerator, Matt. I was warned not to over-do Blue usage so I've kept to Red for each individual component. I think Blue is slightly softer than Red and encourages good soundstaging whereas Red is knockout for dynamics. Never liked the Black.
The LKS is a keeper, I am still amazed at its ability to extract so much from the digital data.
Never tried the Bybee stuff but have snap chokes and plug-in filters everywhere to keep interference down.
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Post by mattspl on Feb 21, 2019 11:54:52 GMT
I have an SR Blue in the main feed to the P10 regenerator, Matt. I was warned not to over-do Blue usage so I've kept to Red for each individual component. I think Blue is slightly softer than Red and encourages good soundstaging whereas Red is knockout for dynamics. Never liked the Black. The LKS is a keeper, I am still amazed at its ability to extract so much from the digital data. Never tried the Bybee stuff but have snap chokes and plug-in filters everywhere to keep interference down. I heard that about the blues too. Just have 1 in my Dac and a black in the regenerator. The Bybee purifier is soldered in-line with the live wire, I put mine in my regenerator after the ice inlet. The QSE and IQSE just sit on or in components. |
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Post by MartinT on Feb 24, 2019 16:24:55 GMT
It's become obvious that the LKS DAC, as reported elsewhere, is very sensitive to vibrations due to the Crystek femtoclock used. It depends on the volume I set for listening. Today I remembered that I have some RDC Combi bases for the RDC 1 Cones I'm using underneath the Electric Beach S1NX shelf. I've put them under the Cone Cups to further improve isolation. I did a before and after test using the seismograph app on my phone, lying on the DAC, and pink noise. It certainly seemed to cut the vibrations down a little so I'm listening to hear the effect.  |
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Post by MartinT on Feb 26, 2019 8:04:25 GMT
Apparently my I2S to HDMI board has been delivered. I'll be able to get on with building and testing the Audiophonics unit and, hopefully, drive my LKS DAC with I2S soon.
I went back to my Yannis cables last night, just to double-check my findings so far. It's interesting: the Townshend / Black Cat combination are highly revealing with fantastic detail which is glorious but takes no prisoners; the Yannis cables are more mellow, slightly less dynamic but deliver a very fluid and easy on the ear performance. Amazing that cables can change the presentation to such a degree.
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Post by MartinT on Feb 27, 2019 10:54:19 GMT
New system photo taken today, simplified down to the single main rack. The SACD player and turntable have gone, now featuring the Audiophonics streamer and QP-1 PSU top left and LKS DAC top right.  |
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Post by julesd68 on Feb 27, 2019 15:30:30 GMT
It's a fantastic room Martin and you have done such a good job arranging everything.
So the Technics is being relegated to storage or will you end up selling?
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Post by MartinT on Feb 27, 2019 22:06:31 GMT
I'm not sure right now, Jules. It's in storage but I may sell the Technics/Dynavector and the Aurorasound VIDA phono preamp and my cartridges to raise funds to put back into the system.
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Post by MartinT on Feb 28, 2019 7:10:37 GMT
So how does it sound now that I'm running I 2S into the DAC? That's a difficult one to find the words for: the single most noticeable element is the resolution, which is quite stunning. It's not so much finding new detail as defining the detail, the shape of it. The degree of insight is astonishing. The next thing that strikes me is the dynamic swing between loud and soft, which is wider than ever. It gives me a small issue with knowing where to set the volume for songs. I've taken my average down a couple of dB on the preamp. Soundstage is unchanged and the perceived depth and width are about the same as I was getting from the SEG. Allied with this, and not quite to my liking at the moment, is a degree of relentlessness on some songs but not on others. For instance, Dire Straits plays with power and a superb old-fashioned manipulated soundstage, especially on their first album. I've never heard it sound so good. Paul Simon similarly so on the albums Still Crazy and One Trick Pony. Not so with Graceland which is powerful but very upfront and his voice (which often tends towards sibilance) can be a bit strident. Zero 7 is also throwing fabulous detail at me but it's all a little bright. It's possible that I'm just hearing the true nature of all these albums but if I can I'd like to tune the brightness down a bit. All the above observations are highlighted by the change from S/PDIF input to I 2S. The open window effect is letting through more than I had expected! I feel there are several things going on that I systematically need to attend to as I'm not far off audio nirvana but I'm not quite there yet: - the Audiophonics streamer, especially the Kali reclocker, needs to burn in - the QP-1 PSU is not being used ideally as the main feed is at the wrong voltage so I'm using both 5V USB feeds - the LKS I 2S input needs to burn in as not having been used before - the AudioQuest Cinammon HDMI cable needs to burn in - the LKS is not far off being utterly superb but the Head-Fi chaps are telling me to upgrade the Crystek clock and I/V resistors to address the tendency towards relentlessness with I 2S - cable selection is puzzling and I will do more with it at the end of the process: both the Townshend and Yannis have different strengths As speedysteve stated, I do love an ongoing project and I feel that I have all the right components to fully vindicate my switch to streaming sources. I shall attend to the above and report back on what I hear soon. |
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Post by John on Feb 28, 2019 10:53:23 GMT
Have you solved the dropping out issue
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Post by MartinT on Feb 28, 2019 11:03:53 GMT
I've mitigated the thump on lock/unlock by adjusting the DPLL setting to 15. It's manageable. I cannot fix it further as Allo replied that the Kali cannot send a clock signal when no music is received and the LKS goes into freewheeling when unlocked on I2S input so you get a thump.
An easy trick is to pause at the end of the music stream and select another song, which keeps the DAC locked and transitions seamlessly. No problems with whole albums or playlists.
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Post by John on Feb 28, 2019 11:11:45 GMT
Glad you found a way to work around the issue
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Post by brian2957 on Feb 28, 2019 11:24:51 GMT
Hope it all burns in the way you want it to Martin . Are you still using Spotify ?
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Post by MartinT on Feb 28, 2019 11:34:14 GMT
Hope it all burns in the way you want it to Martin . Are you still using Spotify ? Yes, I'm using Qobuz Studio and Spotify HQ and the latter is holding its own very well. |
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Post by brian2957 on Feb 28, 2019 12:02:16 GMT
Thanks Martin . I keep meaning to investigate another streaming service but every time I make an improvement to the hardware in my system I get an audible improvement in the SQ of Spotify . Think I'll just keep using it for a while yet .
I'm afraid I'm not a detail freak and always worry when I start listening to the amount of detail I can extract from my gear to the detriment of listening to the music . It must be said that for many years that I thought that more and more detail was the be-all and end-all .
Now getting to the point where my system convinces me I'm listening to a live band , that's another story 
Your listening room looks fantastic BTW .
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Post by MartinT on Feb 28, 2019 12:14:09 GMT
Well, I certainly agree that with detail versus musicality the latter wins every time. This is where the Caiman SEG DAC won so easily, it generates music that you simply want to spend hours listening to.
I wanted to push the boat out a little further, gain more insight without losing the musicality of the system. I think I'm getting close but we'll see if the balance hits the sweet spot somewhat further up the detail chart.
Good observation on Spotify HQ - I think many listeners believe it to be 'not hi-fi' because their current equipment is not good enough and they assume that is the limit of Spotify's sound quality. The reality is that it is capable of stunning sound quality when you pit a significant amount of quality componentry against it.
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Post by julesd68 on Feb 28, 2019 14:00:46 GMT
I may sell the Technics/Dynavector and the Aurorasound VIDA phono preamp and my cartridges to raise funds to put back into the system. Can I remind you of your New Year's hifi resolution Martin -   < Very little, if anything, in 2019.
I'm extremely happy with how it sounds. > |
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Post by MartinT on Feb 28, 2019 14:04:14 GMT
You can indeed, and I did then excuse myself for buying the LKS as the only major component purchase this year. Selling off extraneous kit was a decision I started to make last year  I'll be sticking to that! |
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Post by John on Feb 28, 2019 19:17:07 GMT
Now getting to the point where my system convinces me I'm listening to a live band , that's another story This is also my main aim. I also want musical flow |
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Post by MartinT on Feb 28, 2019 19:37:39 GMT
Tonight the system is already sounding calmer. I think burning in and fine tuning the settings have got me closer to what I want. As a test, I have switched from the Yannis back to the Townshend cables. They are like a very wide open window, allowing everything through and quite unforgiving. I love the return to big dynamics and extended bass and it's sounding good, so we've made that step forwards.
More listening for now, will leave it playing internet radio for another day when I've finished.
QP-1 power supply is scheduled for modification next week, which will give the streamer every chance to shine with completely separate 5V supplies for the Kali (clean) and Pi (dirty).
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Post by John on Feb 28, 2019 20:03:20 GMT
That should help
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