NDD (new DAC day)

Skipped · April 2014

For a few weeks I have been pondering either getting a turntable.....or giving 24 bit/192kHz Flac a try.

Decided to go for the second option and have just got the £250 Meridian Explorer. Like most of you, I already had the Laptop!

Now...first of all this is all new to me. ie - I haven't got a clue.
But I plugged it in.....and I am pretty impressed. I would say it outperforms my Meridian CD player. :-O
But hang on a minute - is that a fair contest? The Flac files are 24 Bit 192khz, and my CDs are not. Maybe not a fair contest. (No I don't want a blind test thank you very much. I am claiming no more than that the DAC sounds really, really good).
Steely Dan's Everything Must Go album sounds huge. In fact it sounds like.......No I just can't say it. Try to imagine that I just used the V word.

A couple of days ago I had never heard of a (free) software media player called Foobar. I found a thread on Wigwam forum how to set up Foobar and that has made things a bit easier.

Octahedron · April 2014

Some of us doesn't knows what the V word is

guitarfishbay · April 2014

Octahedron said:

Some of us doesn't knows what the V word is

It might be a typo, maybe he meant B (it is next to V on the keyboard). He could be trying to say it sounds like butter?

Skipped · May 2014

Several days on. This is good. This is very good indeed.

I was about to tell the forum that there is no longer any need or logic for anyone to buy a £1000 Cd Player. Now obviously that is an utterly stupid conclusion because I doubt that many people are planning to do that in 2014. But really serious audio from your modest Laptop with a £250 add on? If you are thinking about it I say go for it. You will still need a good amplifier (IMO) but there are some amazing speakers around now for reasonable money.

I started this thread hoping there would be some tips for a Foobar novice like me. For example, in WASAPI mode should Dither be ticked or unticked. I can't decide (pun intended)

I have just deleted the rest of this post about how "big" it sounds because I cannot prove it. :-S But if I can find a track with a slightly loose Bass, and then get an object to fall off a nearby shelf during a 24/192 track playing through the DAC, but not fall off the shelf during the CD version of the same recording then I will tell you about it. But don't hold your breath.

Rocker · May 2014

There is a good on-line help system for Foobar2000. Even so I use it more or less as supplied and it is fine.

chrispy108 · May 2014

So why won't you do a blind test?

I can see that it might sound louder or bassier than your CD player due to EQ, but that's not the same as 'better', and surely you've got some EQ somewhere in your system so you could have just made the CD bassier?

Skipped · May 2014

chrispy108 said:

So why won't you do a blind test?

I can see that it might sound louder or bassier than your CD player due to EQ, but that's not the same as 'better', and surely you've got some EQ somewhere in your system so you could have just made the CD bassier?

I would probably fail it. Let's imagine that I do fail it.
That would be a great argument for buying a DAC for £250 - maybe even less than then - and not to buy the current version of my £1100 CD player.

My amp has a volume control and nothing else.

chrispy108 · May 2014

What'd you mean by fail it?

Skipped · May 2014

Huh?

Produce results that indicate that under test conditions I have done no better than guess when asked to indentify A: Chicken Curry or B:Tofu Curry presented to me in the following sequence:

***************************

(Brief rest......) then:

*********************

chrispy108 · May 2014

I don't see a test in this case as pass/fail that's all.

I see it as:

Do a blind test - know which sounds better for certain things, so now I know which music to play through which, or which to upgrade etc

Just carry on unknowing, blissfully happy that my shiny things great.

If you're happy, then great

I'd be interested in the DAC vs your laptops headphone socket too

Skipped · May 2014

I am trying very, very hard not to complicate things.
In fact I will withdraw my original statement that it sounds better than my CD player. I have no choice but to withdraw that because am not sure when I am next going to listen to any CDs. It is better for me to say: Holy shit! "That sounds good for a cheap laptop from asda combined with a £250 DAC!!!"
That is pretty much how I would approach a New Pickup Day or a New Guitar Day.

I have said several times on this forum that I don't dispute the results of double blind testing. But I might question for whose benefit is the test. Taking my example...... It seems unlikely that the test I described would change my food buying habits. Why would it?
Eating a small amount of Chicken Curry before I have my evening meal of Tofu Curry (to give my short term memory the benefit of both) is not a problem at all. But it would be tedious.

chrispy108 · May 2014

As I said, if you're happy, then great.

I just don't see why you wouldn't compare. If you did a new pickup day or new guitar day you'd be comparing it to the old pickup or your other guitars wouldn't you?

Skipped · May 2014

Well...that brings me back to a pet theme I suppose.
For whose benefit is the test?
After the test on New Violins v Old Violins a couple of guys pointed out that they did not expect any of the musicians to sell their old violins and buy new ones. Why would they?
But they were not disputing the test result!
Like I say, showing that a person fails to identify Tofu and Chicken under test conditions simply tells us that they have failed the test. It is not an indication that Tofu and Chicken are identical.

Going back to recorded music - Can you describe the blind test that you have suggested you would want to take in my position? For example lets imagine that you hear a track at 1500 kbps first. And then you hear the same recording at 9000+ kbps. If you are stopping the test at that point then I am (just about) still with you....but this was not a very long test.

Maybe you will continue.
But......
Surely you are not going to ask your brain to identify the 1500kbps track after it has been exposed to the 9000kbps track?

What sort of test is this?

)

chrispy108 · May 2014

I was just suggesting you get someone to switch between a few CDs and a few DACs to see which you prefer.

I said in my last post why I'd do it:

I see it as:

Do a blind test - know which sounds better for certain things, so now I know which music to play through which, or which to upgrade etc

Just carry on unknowing, blissfully happy that my shiny things great.

Skipped · May 2014

chrispy108 said:

Just carry on unknowing, blissfully happy that my shiny things great.

That is very rude.

But I accept that I cannot force you to discuss the details of a blind test that the listener has designed (or any other topic)

chrispy108 · May 2014

Rudeness not intended

It's just human nature isn't it? New things are better than old things, nicely decorated cake tastes nicer than a sloppy cake, shiny things are nicer than unshiny things etc etc.

I'm not suggesting some OTT audiophile day long test, just whack a few CDs against a few MP3s and a few FLACs and see how you find it. It'd add to the thread. The same as someone saying "How's that new Gibson compare against your old one?"

Nothing sinister intended!

Skipped · May 2014

OK.
At some point I will give it a go!

I have tried it with pickups but A/B testing just seems impossible even with the fastest change ever. So I leave them in a month which can cover a lot of mood swings, ear wax fluctuations etc.

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