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Post by John on Oct 12, 2018 7:26:13 GMT
My digital history is quite long. I was one of the first to move to computer based audio. I also had an few nice CD players before that. I also had quite a few DACs but can't remember all of them so will just give the highlights.
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Post by stanleyb on Oct 12, 2018 7:54:48 GMT
I had a good CD collection before I bought my 1st CD player. I started collecting discs in 1983, and I still have many of them to this day. I started digitizing vinyl in the late 80s when I had a Commodore Amiga PC and Roxio Easy CD Creator first came out.
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Post by zippy on Oct 12, 2018 9:51:05 GMT
I remember many years ago a hifi show - near Heathrow I think, which had a big 'LP-versus-CD' demo. I was immediately struck by the lack of noise with the CD. Bought a CD player immediately, sold all my LP's and my LP12. Never regretted it.
Then turn of the century(ish) along came streaming - to me sounded as good as a CD and a lot more convenience so ripped my whole CD collection immediately and CD discs confined to storage. Again never regretted.
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Post by John on Oct 12, 2018 20:25:35 GMT
My first proper CD player was a Rotel 901 On the rare HDCD discs this was a really nice sounding player on ordinary cd discs nothing special . Unfortunately the format never really took off
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Post by John on Oct 13, 2018 4:02:59 GMT
My next cd player was a Townshend Audio modified universal Pioneer CD player which was the main reason why I wanted it To be honest it was a step backwards (even though it was quite highly rated in the magazines) compared to the Rotel using HDCD I did not keep it for to long
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Post by MartinT on Oct 14, 2018 1:46:59 GMT
I won't go through my CD players as that is on the other thread. My first toe-dip into media streaming was with a Logitech Touch. This little marvel, complete with remote control, could access files and streams and had a nice user interface. It got me started down the road of having an alternative to the CD and record collections and was a very nicely designed device. It had its operating foibles and sometimes didn't want to play, but it gave me a lot of pleasure, too. I optimised it a lot with software tweaks for playing into my DAC and it ended up sounding not half bad.
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Post by John on Oct 14, 2018 5:09:27 GMT
I never tried the Touch But think it was many first step into streaming
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Post by John on Oct 14, 2018 5:17:46 GMT
My next CD player was a Musical Fidelity NU Vista I would initially describe as a Lamb in Wolf clothing just a bit to nice and no real dynamics. I got it highly modified by Audiocom Superclock New power supply and capacitors It became a lot better and was at a pretty similar level as my rim drive turntable. I often wonder what it would sound like in my present system
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Post by MartinT on Oct 14, 2018 8:12:16 GMT
For those who don't know, the Nuvistor was an attempt at miniaturising valves (vacuum tubes) in order to approach the size of transistors. They came too late to be widely adopted, but were a clever idea that Ampex and Musical Fidelity, years later, adopted for their 'Nuvista' range.
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Post by ChrisB on Oct 14, 2018 8:16:28 GMT
There were a few bits of kit that used them before that. Years ago, I spent a while auditioning secondhand phono stages, one of which was a Conrad Johnson model that used them. I used it for a couple of weeks before sending it back.
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Post by John on Oct 15, 2018 4:01:50 GMT
I decided to move to computer audio I liked the idea of being able to access all my files from a hard drive but the Nu vista is the one bit of kit I wonder how it would sound in my current system. My first was a Tablet and PS Audio Digital 3 I went through many different DACs throughout that time and I cannot remember most of them I found that software played an important part I tried Jplay first and liked what it did but it later versions became a bit clinical for my taste I then moved onto BugHead and stayed with that for a few years. It was the best sounding PC software I came across but a complete pain to use. I bought a fanless computer that I got made for me. I had a Hypex linear power supply for the PC But a W10 update stopped me being able to use Hibernation mode at which point I had enough I wanted a simpler approach
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Post by John on Oct 19, 2018 7:31:08 GMT
After hearing Martin pi I went down the pi route I read about what Clive was achieving with the DigiOne so with the help of Martin got the pi working. We both went on this mad push with the DigiOne and SEG We found everything we tried made a difference. I think we both were so surprised by the results we achieved. I tried the Signature but hunting issues with the SEG made listening impossible My only real issue with the DigiOne is coding I am just a ludate when it comes to this Funny I had the patience for BugHead and all it quirks but as soon as it comes to coding I shut down
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Post by MartinT on Oct 19, 2018 8:41:32 GMT
Sometime after the Touch I bought an original Raspberry Pi and started playing with it. I then discovered the original Volumio beta builds and that started my voyage into file and streaming playback - first with the Caiman-II and now with the Caiman SEG. I've used Pi, Pi 2 and am now running a Pi 3.
As John says - everything is important! Power supplies, add-ons (first the HiFiBerry cards and then the Allo DigiOne), S/PDIF cables (have tried many, the Black Cat is definitely the best so far), config.txt file optimisation, later builds of Volumio and now MyVolumio, footers, granite mats, ethernet isolators, ethernet cable (the MeiCord is excellent), etc. I modded my DigiOne for separate 5V power and that made a difference, too. My SEG is also heavily modified with caps, superclock, phono sockets and Stan's latest firmware.
Each one of these changes has made a difference and the overall impact has been nothing short of breathtaking. My Spotify reproduction now comfortably beats CDs, SACDs and LPs for sound quality. Everyone thinks I'm mad, but my ears keep confirming it.
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Post by John on Oct 19, 2018 9:21:23 GMT
I long gone down a strange path with regards to my system 🤣
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Post by Eduardo Wobblechops on Oct 20, 2018 15:14:45 GMT
I too started streaming with a Touch. Sounded very good with some tweaks and a linear power supply, but like Martin I had occasional problems that would sometimes take an age to sort out, so got a bit pissed off with it in the end. Bought a Drobo for a NAS, great bit of kit which I’m still using.
Moved to an NVA TFS which sounded great with a Mytek dac, easily on a par with my vinyl front end. Got into Tidal and then Roon which improved things even more.
Swapped the Mytek for a mint Pioneer RT909, just cause I’d always wanted one. Looks gorgeous but doesn’t match the sonics of my Tandberg TD20A.
Currently using a Wadia di122 dac which is pretty good though not as good as the Mytek, but thanks to a mate have secured a good deal on a Lumin D2, which I’m hoping for great things from. Get it next week.
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Post by John on Oct 20, 2018 17:24:13 GMT
Some big system changes soon Ali
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Post by John on Oct 20, 2018 18:07:15 GMT
Last but not least is the SOtM 200 Ultra Neo Fabulous sounding player that is simple to use I yet to set up Roon on it but probably try the 2 month trail soon I am using Librespot which is very similar to Spotify connect on Volumio Like Martin I am shocked how good this is
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