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Post by John on Oct 2, 2014 16:32:14 GMT
When I first got into Hifi I spent a fortune on cables mostly trying to fix some errors over the system and whilst I would never describe myself as a cable skeptic I tend to take a more pragmatic approach towards cables than some.
I decided to take a punt on the Atratus III RCA Interconnects and been very pleased with them. I did try the Atratus II RCA Interconnects in the past but thought they lacked refinement but I do use them for my bass amp which they work very well with
The III has the refinement and detail I enjoy and those looking for a reasonable priced cable are certainly worth a try
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Post by John on Oct 29, 2014 19:56:38 GMT
One of the lessons I learned is when you change one bit of equipment it has a knock on effect on system snergy and to optimise the system it is worth experimenting
My change over from the Bantam to the Mini 1 is one example. After listening to the system for a good period of time I started to notice that on acoustic music the system sounded a bit bloated. As usual for me once my ear hears a fault it gets drawn to it all the time. First I thought it must not be enough headroom but sounded good with rock and no lack of headroom with rock. I tried changing cables starting to become obsessed with if cables were touching each other, all of this is taking me away from just enjoying the music.
Today figured out what it was by taking the bass amp out of the equation with acoustic music. Suddenly the sound came back
Basically I forgot to alter the bass slopes on the DSP to allow for its better bass
I am now back to enjoying music again and no longer obsessing around sound.
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Post by MartinT on Oct 29, 2014 20:02:03 GMT
all of this is taking me away from just enjoying the music I hate when that happens. It makes me very cautious about making changes now, and always keeping a path back to how it was in the previous version. |
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Post by John on Oct 29, 2014 20:09:27 GMT
What I was doing initially was not really playing acoustic material, but I like to hear a lot f different music so could not keep it up for to long. It took me a good few weeks to work it out. Right now listening to Jesse Cook Gravity and loving it
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Post by brian2957 on Oct 29, 2014 20:33:53 GMT
I take it the Mini -1 is doing the business John . Did you manage to get the little bridging pieces sorted then .
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Post by John on Oct 29, 2014 21:23:30 GMT
Yes got it sorted Brian
Prefer it as a power amp
By the way once fully burnt in battery a bit better than power supply but in burn in process sounds better through power supply
Weird
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Post by brian2957 on Oct 29, 2014 22:08:35 GMT
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Post by MartinT on Oct 29, 2014 22:27:43 GMT
I've not come across that vendor before. Let us know if you try it.
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Post by John on Oct 30, 2014 5:15:59 GMT
I am using a 18ah battery I not tried the power supply you linked too perhaps another time
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Post by brian2957 on Oct 30, 2014 12:19:17 GMT
I've used him before Martin and he's very good .
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Post by John on Nov 5, 2014 20:24:54 GMT
I finally managed to get a direct digital amplifier in my system (as they say curiosity killed the cat) The last time I tried this was at HIFI shop and the sound was awful due to the system set up in the show room
The amplifier keeps everything in digital until being outputted to the speakers the idea is to improve the signal path to the speakers, therefore removing distortion.
It is a certainly a step up in sound from the Mini 1 with the Caiman mk2 through my file based Blue Ray Player The sound is somehow cleaner more detailed and natural. Going back to the Mini 1 everything just has a bit more edge.
The unit has a pre out so outputting to my DSP amp via that. I had to turn the bass down on the amp to system match with the amplifier.
I tried it with Winamp windows media and media monkey via USB sounds okay but a bit harsh with distorted guitars. I not tried it with MQn or Jplay as need to upgrade the computer as getting a lot of issues with it now.
It is not perfect no analogue input is a big downer and not much possibility to upgrade (apart from power as it did respond to cable improvements in my system). If you buy into the design you kind of stuck with it. Not sure what I do as I say it certainly better than what I have but as I mentioned some big obsticles to overcome too.
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Post by MartinT on Nov 5, 2014 20:37:02 GMT
So what is it, John? Specs, photo? This is interesting!
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Post by John on Nov 5, 2014 20:55:14 GMT
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Post by John on Nov 5, 2014 21:17:15 GMT
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Post by MartinT on Nov 5, 2014 22:17:13 GMT
Very interesting. Shame about the lack of an analogue input. You'd have to add an ADC to your system.
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Post by John on Nov 6, 2014 7:46:38 GMT
Yes that's the bit that would worry me another conversion for analogue not ideal but mostly listen to files these days
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Post by MartinT on Nov 6, 2014 8:39:38 GMT
This is the ADC that Stan recommends, dead cheap so worth experimenting with? |
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Post by John on Nov 6, 2014 9:28:05 GMT
Thanks Martin I give it a try might be a simple solution
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Post by John on Nov 6, 2014 10:16:14 GMT
I guess the biggest difference is in the refinement
My system before was more geared up with the energy of live concert well at least part of the illusion of that, now its more refined but still rocks
I must admit very tempted to go this way
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Post by John on Nov 6, 2014 19:43:24 GMT
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