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Post by puffin on Nov 26, 2023 18:44:49 GMT
Since my last post I have done some digging and found that the stream from Spotify is being processed by ASIO, a computer sound card driver protocol for digital audio. As I said previously the Dac is telling me that it is handling DSD. Whatever is happening it sounds pretty decent. ASIO is a good thing as it bypasses the windows default sound setting that converts everything to 48hz. I am still getting to grips with how all this streaming lark works and what is doing what. However I am thoroughly enjoying how it all sounds through my ifi Zen Dac v2 and a Topping D30 which a mate gifted me recently. Both handle DSD.
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Post by puffin on Nov 21, 2023 13:45:33 GMT
Since my last post I have done some digging and found that the stream from Spotify is being processed by ASIO, a computer sound card driver protocol for digital audio.
As I said previously the Dac is telling me that it is handling DSD. Whatever is happening it sounds pretty decent.
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Post by puffin on Nov 12, 2023 20:17:33 GMT
I know nothing about the computer. It was my son's when he worked at Microsoft and I doubt that he will know. I thought that perhaps there was something upsampling the signal, but there is no CD drive and no sound card as far I can see without dismantling it. I just stream from a USB out on the motherboard.
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Post by puffin on Nov 12, 2023 18:41:17 GMT
I suspect that what I have just found out is a bit Mickey Mouse to some of you, but I was really surprised. I have an ifi Dac that takes many different sampling rates all the way up to 384khz and also MQA (which is a topic of debate) I stream Spotify from a PC and assumed that 48khz was the max rate available.....not so. If you go to Control Panel - Sound and find the Dac you want to fiddle with you can access all the sampling rates that that Dac can push out. Now I don't understand how it all works but I sampled 384khz - 24bit, 192khz 24 bit and some others. What puzzled me was that as some of them must be PCM the Dac was saying that I was streaming DSD (the DSD LED was lit) Whatever is going on it doesn't sound too bad
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Post by puffin on Nov 5, 2023 17:38:37 GMT
UPDATE:
Having spent a couple of months with these now I can say that they are really very good and are able to show subtle differences between different DACs but not to the point where anything is unlisteneable or a no-no. The soundstage is pretty impressive so too the depth that extends in some instances some distance beyond the baffles. As I only paid £200 for the whole caboodle (the crossover parts would have been a large chunk of that) I am pleasantly pleased.
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Post by puffin on Sept 17, 2023 15:01:42 GMT
The sabre green are okay not my favourite driver but personal preference as many like them I have made a few changes in the last couple of days. I was initially of the opinion that the frequencies chosen for the bass crossover had a bit too much mid-range coming through and used a rather crude active crossover. Having removed this and played with the volume on the bass I have found that it does in fact provide more of a cohesive whole and at the right level does not mess with the mid or higher frequencies. I may try just one amp for the whole array to save faffing around too much and to see if my initial impressions were right or wrong. I have to say that as they actually sound a hundred times better than in their previous baffles, I could be a Saba Green Cone convert
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Post by puffin on Sept 13, 2023 16:39:29 GMT
Recently picked up some OBs from a cinema 107bd 4way OB horns Quad18s , Twin15s , Mids 7inch & HF 5inch with 8x1250wpc rack ammps with 56bit DSP Nice. Professional installs often sound great. Not sure that you would need 1250w in a domestic setting
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Post by puffin on Sept 13, 2023 16:37:09 GMT
Both the Mids and Tweets are around 50 years old. Known as Saba Green Cones which were fitted to radios and probably radiograms back in the day. Very sensitive. I have just tried a 3.5w EL84 amp with them and it is good match.
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Post by puffin on Sept 13, 2023 7:49:44 GMT
Less Grainy.
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Post by puffin on Sept 13, 2023 7:43:44 GMT
Well prepare to be underwhelmed The original build was in line with the proportions recommended by Mr Lampizator but given the material chosen for the baffles they had been made in 2 sections, the Mid and Tweet baffle and a separate enclosure for the bass. The worktop used was really heavy and the top section just sat on the bass box/ The overall height was around 155cm which did not suit my room as it is not that big. I decided to cut one of the bass hardwood baffles in half to make a slimmer profile for the new version. Hmmm that was a workout doing it manually! I distanced the mid and tweet as before but the bass is obviously closer to them than before. The overall height is 110cm the same as the EARs. Well it was really worth all the effort as they sound like a completely different speaker and much much better. If I had not done this I would never have heard their potential. I would have probably sold them on. The Mid and Tweet are on the end of a Pass ACA Mini 5w Class A and the bass (at present) is one of better quality Sony ES range as it has remote volume control so that I can gauge where that needs to be. I am still rediscovering my playlists,
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Post by puffin on Sept 12, 2023 18:35:11 GMT
I am now on my second pair. The first being a prototype of a commercial offering (EAR Primary Drive) that I had to completely dismantle and reconstruct and I have just rehomed a pair of Lampizator P17s that I got about 10 years ago and were not well put together.
More details and pics to follow if there is enough interest.
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Post by puffin on May 23, 2023 15:12:00 GMT
I have had a few sessions now with the BRU5 and it is very good IMO. I won't try to explain the SQ, you know inky blacks, veils being lifted etc etc but it does all the things I want to hear from an amplifier very well and conveys the music in a way that does not highlight any particular area but it is all there. I have never spent a massive amount of money on any of my amplifiers. The Audiolab 8000A I bought in 1995 would cost around £1400 today and I don't see the need to spend that sort of money. It compares very favourably with my Pass amps. UPDATE: I had been running the BRU5 on a 24vdc supply as that was all I needed to get sufficient volume and run the amp in. In the last few days I have plundered another amp and stolen the tranny and regulator board which has a large bank of good caps on it. This PS is giving out 42vdc. The guys on DIYaudio who have been messing with TPA3255 boards for sometime say that 42v is the magic figure. My view....I think they are probably right. It's surprising how much more full bodied it is, but more relaxed at the same time. I can increase the volume and it all holds together with no nasties in the LF or HF dept.
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Post by puffin on May 7, 2023 12:21:32 GMT
I have been streaming using an old computer my son gave me. I have a 2008/9 Cambridge DacMagic and use the USB input IN and then use the Dig Out to any of the other Dacs I have....or I can listen to the DM. Can you call the DM a streamer? I would call it a DDC in that the DM is converting USB in to co-ax out. I knew there was a term for what I was doing having probably seen it mentioned at some point!
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Post by puffin on May 6, 2023 12:42:41 GMT
I have been streaming using an old computer my son gave me. I have a 2008/9 Cambridge DacMagic and use the USB input IN and then use the Dig Out to any of the other Dacs I have....or I can listen to the DM. Can you call the DM a streamer?
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Post by puffin on Apr 17, 2023 8:39:46 GMT
I have had a few sessions now with the BRU5 and it is very good IMO. I won't try to explain the SQ, you know inky blacks, veils being lifted etc etc but it does all the things I want to hear from an amplifier very well and conveys the music in a way that does not highlight any particular area but it is all there. I have never spent a massive amount of money on any of my amplifiers. The Audiolab 6000A I bought in 1995 would cost around £1400 today and I don't see the need to spend that sort of money. It compares very favourably with my Pass amps.
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Post by puffin on Apr 14, 2023 16:09:04 GMT
My speakers are really ugly with the grilles off and they have a horn flare on the tweeter so they do in fact sound better with them on.
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Post by puffin on Apr 13, 2023 19:31:10 GMT
Well he boasts that he started making money selling car aerials on a market stall in the East End so he was already part way to providing music for the masses
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Post by puffin on Apr 13, 2023 18:41:12 GMT
I should have said in my previous post that the boast of 300w per channel had nothing to do with my buying the amp and is probably no more than advertising puff....or for a momentary pulse at 20% or more distortion. It is unlikely that many of use more than 1 or 2 real watts of power in normal use, hence the Pass moniker "First Watt".
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Post by puffin on Apr 12, 2023 18:31:12 GMT
I can't seem to make your link work, and I can't find a cased amp for £23-ish in the Wondom store on AliExpress. Is it the amp that's (now?) £38.34? Yes...err No. I have looked on several occasions and the price seems to change daily! The latest I saw was £46 an exorbitant double Try Wondom/Sure BRU5 TPA3255 300w amp.
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Post by puffin on Apr 12, 2023 15:26:34 GMT
I have put together half a dozen or so Class D amps over the years with different chips and iterations. I suspect that the part numbers of these particular chips will not mean much to some. I think that Class D has developed and matured into some pretty decent sounding amps. Sure Electronics have been around for a few years mainly supplying the DIYer with boards and power supplies etc. They are now known as Wondom/Sure or something like that. I received an email from Aliexpress telling me that they had a promotion on a new Wondom/Sure Class D amp fully cased and all ready to go all you have to do is add a power supply between 15 and 48vdc. The chip used is one that I have not had before, but wanted to hear and has received good feedback from the DIY community (DIYaudio etc) The promotional price an outrageous £23 inc postage from China. Now if I did not have many years of Class D experience I would have said you must be joking and ignored it. How can amp the price for a few coffees and pastries sound anything but rubbish. Having raided my savings I hit the button and waited. Well it is nicely made and soundwise is probably the best so far and I would go as far as to say that this is the closest to the Pass Class A amps I have. Link Below :- www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004895645420.html?spm=a2g0o.order_detail.order_detail_item.3.2bc0f19c63dmwg
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