bracurrie Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 The Schiit Bifrost has my attention. I'd probably start out with the upgraded analog section, but skip the USB upgrade and use toslink from the laptop. I've heard that while the hardware supports 24/192 over toslink, the OS actually limits it to 24/96. It may not be THAT big of a deal. Its not worth spending a ton of money to go higher than 24/96 its the 24 that is most important and IMO good software is more important than the 192. IMHO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted May 6, 2013 Author Share Posted May 6, 2013 see, that's good to know. i was getting caught up in "192 looks more impressive than 96" syndrome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bracurrie Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 see, that's good to know. i was getting caught up in "192 looks more impressive than 96" syndrome. I am running at 24/44 and using PureMusic. The CDs that I have ripped sound way better using PureMusic than being played direct on a high end CD player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cut-Throat Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 see, that's good to know. i was getting caught up in "192 looks more impressive than 96" syndrome. Yes, don't get caught up in that 192 thing..... I thought this was a 'transport' thread and now I see it has morphed into a DAC thread.....I'll throw my 2 cents in...I have auditioned DACs from $200 to $4000 and truthfully have had a very hard time differentiating between them. It is one component that sounds pretty much the same to me. I admit to not having 'Golden Ears' and that may be a blessing, as I just listen to a lot of music. I settled on a EE Minimax Tube Dac, because it was about $800 and I liked the features and build quality. I've Also Got a Grant Fidelity Tube DAC-09 upstairs that was about $300 or so, i think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 I've read a lot of positive reviews on the DRAGONFLY DAC.Yeah, it really caught on in a hurry with reviewers, so I got one for my MacBook Pro. I used that combo with Pro-media 2.1's to play some of a Monteverdi Vespers DVD (recorded in the San Marco basilica) to a group of 150-200 in a large meeting room. It sounded gorgeous! The Dragonfly simply fits right in without taking up additional space, and that's very nice. I didn't do a Dragonfly before-and-after, or compare it with another outboard DAC -- all I know is we could hear really fine, distinctive, beautifully reproduced voices and instruments from the 8-part chorus and the period instruments in San Marco. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted May 7, 2013 Author Share Posted May 7, 2013 This is still sort of a music transport thread - I was counting the laptop + dac as a "transport", that may have been my error. General consensus seems to be that I ditch the Oppo idea and stick with my laptop, spend the money on a dac. Lot's of options, very few of which I can test drive before I buy. The internet is both great and a frustration at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 This is still sort of a music transport thread - I was counting the laptop + dac as a "transport", that may have been my error. General consensus seems to be that I ditch the Oppo idea and stick with my laptop, spend the money on a dac. Lot's of options, very few of which I can test drive before I buy. The internet is both great and a frustration at the same time. If I get one before July, I can bring it with me for a test run. It will not stay however when I leave[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted May 7, 2013 Author Share Posted May 7, 2013 Hehe. So you think... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skonopa Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 see, that's good to know. i was getting caught up in "192 looks more impressive than 96" syndrome. I am running at 24/44 and using PureMusic. The CDs that I have ripped sound way better using PureMusic than being played direct on a high end CD player. I've been hearing a lot of good things about that PureMusic. Since I got a new MacBook Pro earlier this spring, I still have my old one, and it works perfectly fine. I think I may "repurpose" it as a music server and try out this PureMusic. Granted, at $129, it is not exactly "cheap", but not to terribly expensive either. At least they have a 15-day free trial, so I will have to go check it out, perhaps this weekend. Will be interesting to see how it works out and sounds through the asyc USB input on my Pioneer Elite N-50 unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boomzilla Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 For $399, the Emotiva XDA-2 DAC has plenty of digital inputs AND a stepped, analog volume control. It can be used as a combo DAC/Preamp. It's a bargain for the price. I, personally, currently use an Audioquest Dragonfly USB DAC ($250). Sounds great! My general philosophy is that fewer components are better components. Of course, taken to the extreme, you'd end up with an AVR! Happy shopping - Boomzilla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bracurrie Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 This is still sort of a music transport thread - I was counting the laptop + dac as a "transport", that may have been my error. General consensus seems to be that I ditch the Oppo idea and stick with my laptop, spend the money on a dac. Lot's of options, very few of which I can test drive before I buy. The internet is both great and a frustration at the same time.There has been a little thread creep here but computer driven digital music is so exciting as a stable and portable music paying system that it garners a lot of interest. Before the Internet and easy access to forums you had to rely on the retailer and his agenda driven opinions or the magazine and its advertising influenced opinion. It's more work but its clearly better with the Internet. IMHO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boomzilla Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Actually, there's NOTHING wrong with the Oppo idea. It fits in well with my stated philosophy (fewer components are better components), but that choice is yours. I'm also using my MacBook + Audioquest Dragonfly as a "transport," but this puts too much equipment in my living room. Plan B is to keep only an AirPort Express in the living room, fed by a desktop over ethernet from another room. The iPad will be the remote, and "AirTunes" will allow the AirPort Express to be used as an audio device. The TOSLINK output from the AirPort Express will feed an AVR. This gets a LOT of equipment out of my living room including UPS, MacBook, external USB RAID array, and the Dragonfly. I'll only need the ethernet cable, AirPort Express, and a TOSLINK cable. If I wanted to actually stream the audio wirelessly, I could dispense with the ethernet cable also, but since it's already there, I'll keep it. Happy Shopping! Boomzilla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 I've been hearing a lot of good things about that PureMusic. Since I got a new MacBook Pro earlier this spring, I still have my old one, and it works perfectly fine. I think I may "repurpose" it as a music server and try out this PureMusic. Granted, at $129, it is not exactly "cheap", but not to terribly expensive either.I forgot to mention I also have PureMusic on my MacBook Pro, which is probably partly responsible for the fine sound quality. Steve Silberman, Audioquest's chief honcho for the Dragonfly, recommended it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boomzilla Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 If you use iTunes, then PureMusic is the BEST. I can't use iTunes because it loses AND erases my files. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skonopa Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 I've been hearing a lot of good things about that PureMusic. Since I got a new MacBook Pro earlier this spring, I still have my old one, and it works perfectly fine. I think I may "repurpose" it as a music server and try out this PureMusic. Granted, at $129, it is not exactly "cheap", but not to terribly expensive either.I forgot to mention I also have PureMusic on my MacBook Pro, which is probably partly responsible for the fine sound quality. Steve Silberman, Audioquest's chief honcho for the Dragonfly, recommended it. I knew you had that MacBook Pro, but had I'd known you also had that Dragonfly and PureMusic, I'd love to have listened to it while I was up there at your place this past Saturday. Oh well - simple enough for me to check out the 15-day trial of PureMusic on my own MacBook and run it through my Pioneer Elite DAC. And yes to answer that other post, at least on the MacBook, I use iTunes, plus I've never had any issues of it losing any of my files (plus I have them backed up on my file server), so it would be perfect, plus I could use my iPad and that "remote" app that Apple supplies to control it as well. Sounds like I got a nice little weekend project ahead of me to set all this up and try out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skonopa Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 There has been a little thread creep here but computer driven digital music is so exciting as a stable and portable music paying system that it garners a lot of interest. Before the Internet and easy access to forums you had to rely on the retailer and his agenda driven opinions or the magazine and its advertising influenced opinion. It's more work but its clearly better with the Internet. IMHO I so agree. Heck, it is not just the internet make it easy to research and find the equipment. That is how I found out about the Pioneer Elite unit I have. After much reading and checking out reviews and comments, I came to the conclusion that was EXACTLY the device that I wanted, and so for I am really enjoying it! However, it was not easy to actually FIND one, as nobody in my immediate area sold them, not even the "Magnolia" section of the local best buy, nor the small, high-end "boutique" place downtown. Not only that, I could not order one online anywhere, not even through Pioneer's own website! I ended up having to drive up to Columbia, Maryland to a find a dealer that actually carried them. But also, I want to point out that the internet also makes it a lot easier to not only find and research equipment, but also to find and discover the new music itself! Yes, I have a nice big collection of CDs, and found that given a choice, I prefer to listen to the CD itself, but there is no denying the convience of finding out about a new band (or for that matter, finding out one of my favorite bands has just released a brand-new album), researching thier catalog, and finding it on a site like eMusic or Amazon MP3, or even HDTracks. A couple of clicks and a download later, I am already listening to it on my system! No waiting for mail delivery, plus not to mention it sure is a heck of a lot easier to search my collection if I want to listen to something in particular. Several times I've gone through my CD collection to look for a particular title only to give up and listen to something else because I could not find it. Granted, I do need to organize my collection a bit better though (another weekend project). I also would like to find an app on my iPhone that would let me scan the bar codes and catalog my CDs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vondy Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 I listen to all my music, other than vinyl, through an Airport Express. I sat down one day and compared the same song on a CD and off of iTunes via the airport. I couldn't hear a difference. With the Apple Remote app on your iPhone or iPad you can control all your music from anywhere. The airport will plug into your receiver via optical or analog like I do with my HK 430. Worth a try for $100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cut-Throat Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 I have not put in a CD in over 2 years. I have all my music on a desktop 2TB hard drive. I stream all music with a squeezebox touch fed into an Electric Minimax DAC. The last year, I have gone almost exclusively to MOG (A streaming service with over 1 million Albums). 320 kbps. A lot of albums are re-mastered audiophile quality. I pay $5 a month for MOG. I never need to buy music anymore. Probably saves me about $300-$400 a year. I rarely play anything anymore from my own music library. I take my small squeezebox when I travel to a rental house too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muel Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 I have not put in a CD in over 2 years. I have all my music on a desktop 2TB hard drive. I stream all music with a squeezebox touch fed into an Electric Minimax DAC. The last year, I have gone almost exclusively to MOG (A streaming service with over 1 million Albums). 320 kbps. A lot of albums are re-mastered audiophile quality. I pay $5 a month for MOG. I never need to buy music anymore. Probably saves me about $300-$400 a year. I rarely play anything anymore from my own music library. I take my small squeezebox when I travel to a rental house too. If you have an iPhone or iPad you might like the Squeezebox app. It works great with the Squeezebox Touch including navigating around MOG on the Touch. When using the computer and DAC I have quickly learned to love the Monkeymote app to remote control Foobar2000. Works better than I imagined it would! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cut-Throat Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 If you have an iPhone or iPad you might like the Squeezebox app. It works great with the Squeezebox Touch including navigating around MOG on the Touch. When using the computer and DAC I have quickly learned to love the Monkeymote app to remote control Foobar2000. Works better than I imagined it would! I have an Adroid Mini Tablet and I use the Squeezebox App with it. Yes, it does work great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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