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wetowne

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Posts posted by wetowne

    My latest streamer.

    in 2-Channel Home Audio

    Posted

    I've been fooling around lately with different streaming options and I think I've settled on this.

    RPi 3B+ with a Khadas Tone2 Pro DAC/Amp. Balanced outputs, hardware MQA decode, selectable filters, lots of stuff for not a lot of money.

     

    This is my first USB DAC, my other two streamers are Toslink into Schiits. I was a little concerned about noise from a switching power supply for the RPi getting into the Tone2 but I'm using an old Apple iPad charger for a supply and it sounds fine to me. There is an option for using a separate linear supply but I don't think it's needed.

     

    These things just came out a few months ago so I hope I don't pay a price for being an early adopter. So far so good. 

    It sounds very very good and I think it looks pretty cool too.

    IMG_0233.jpg

    • Like 2

    RCA Attenuator Pad Question.

    in Technical/Restorations

    Posted

    I got a new DAC that seems too hot for my integrated amp. I'd like to extend the range of my amps volume control to a more normal level. Anyone here have experience using inline RCA pads for this purpose?  I don't know the amps input sensitivity but I know its 32k ohms impedance and the DACs output is rated at 2v. Wondering what -db rating I should get, the ones I was looking at come in 3,6 or 12.

    Cheap Steamer for Tidal MQA

    in 2-Channel Home Audio

    Posted

    My two other systems I am very satisfied with and don't play around with them much at all. My third system is my sandbox, I've been trying out all kinds of different Amplifier and  DAC combos all with an emphasis on affordability. Just having fun.

     

    My only other experience with MQA is with headphones and I'm not one who enjoys headphones all that much, so the goal here is to hear how it sounds with good speakers.

     

    Initial impression is that MQA sounds excellent. Is it better? Maybe. Maybe not. The technology is interesting in how it supposedly gets more from less. Perhaps it's more VooDoo than science but sonically it appears to do no harm at least. Now  the whole licensing and marketing debate I'm not going there. I just figure it's part of my Tidal service so why not give it a sincere try.

    • Like 1

    Cheap Steamer for Tidal MQA

    in 2-Channel Home Audio

    Posted

    A few of you may be aware of my attempts to put together an inexpensive solution for streaming MQA. I tried the Dragonfly initially and failed.

    Volumio software running on the Raspberry Pi does not do the first unfold as it is called.  The Dragonfly needs this first "unfold" to render full MQA.

     

    Using Volumio you need a DAC that does the full MQA rendering process via hardware.

    Up until now hardware MQA DACs were all somewhat pricey, enter the Khadas Tone2 Pro DAC headphone amp for under 200 dollars.

     

    This is a very nice sounding DAC and voila it works well with Volumio. So now it is possible to stream Tidal MQA with a dedicated streaming device for about 275 dollars.

     

    IMG_0219.jpg

    Dac’s?

    in Solid State

    Posted

    While we're on the subject of mqa dacs I posted in another thread about making a cheap streamer using a Raspberry Pi and a Dragonfly and how I failed in my attempt because the Dragonfly is not a full hardware mqa "decoder" just a "renderer". Well I'm going to try once more this time using the  new Khadas Tone2 Pro Dac and headphone amp that just came out recently. It's 200 dollars and does full hardware decoding of mqa. It should arrive on Sunday from Amazon and we shall see how it goes.  

    • Like 1

    Cheap MQA streaming recipe.

    in Technical/Restorations

    Posted

    I'm running Volumio on the Pi. I was misinformed or perhaps I misunderstood that Volumio would fully render MQA using a Dragonfly DAC.  Apparently Volumio will only work with a full MQA decoder DAC, the Dragonfly is only a "renderer", it needs a file that is already partially "unfolded" and then it will do the second unfold.

    In that sense my little project failed but it still is a great sounding streamer. (MQA is not essential to me and is a whole other debate that I'm not getting into.)

    It also allowed me to get away from using a DNLA server that was causing some problems with my local files. Now all three of my systems are using Volumio based Rpi streamers.

    I'm using the red dragonfly rather than the black which sounds noticeably better.

    Still a success for me.

    IMG_2465[1].jpg

    • Like 1

    Pictures of your Tube Amplifiers

    in Talkin' Tubes

    Posted

    15 hours ago, MechEngVic said:

    Get a good DAC between that Chromecast Audio and the amp. The 1/4" plug doubles as a mini-toslink (fiber optic) connection that'll give you 24bit/96Khz resolution.

     That is a mini-toslink going into a fiiO Taishan dac.( arguably not a good dac but sounds better than the CCA alone.)

    • Like 1

    Sony TC765 for Sale

    in Garage Sale

    Posted

    Why does that look exactly like another one being offered on eBay, right down to the table covering?  If you do put it on eBay make sure you use your own pics or that would be misrepresentation bordering on fraud and probably piss-off the other seller too. Be careful, you could lose your eBay account.

    • Like 1

    When to recap?

    in Technical/Restorations

    Posted

    3 hours ago, henry4841 said:

    Electrical engineers do not get caught up in any specific brand of any component.

    I worked as a draftsman for 33 years at Western Electric/Lucent. Prepared thousands of BOM's. Specs and price was all that mattered.

    • Like 1
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