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New Dragonfly 1.2


LarryC

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On line with this little dac, i considered it but ultimately went with the Schiit modi usb dac, I have just upgraded to the bifrost, and so if any forum members are curious about trying a small usb dac i would happily supply the modi as a loaner. the modi was actually cheaper at 99.00 usa made with warranty

Heres a link to info on the modi

http://schiit.com/products/modi

That name makes me giggle, think I need to try it for that alone.

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Good point. Shoot me a PM if you want to discuss further.

Just a question, this is from Dragonfly, does this allow you to play a LP straight to a computer to record/burn your albums ?

post-9700-0-43680000-1392226896_thumb.jp

Edited by dtel
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If digital music souned as good as my LPs, I wouldn't hesitate changing over.

That's an acceptable statement. However, for the sake of fairness, computer based audio should be matched against CD's and not vinyl or RtR.

edit: word redundancy.

I suppose you could always introduce some hiss or popping to make it fair.

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If digital music souned as good as my LPs, I wouldn't hesitate changing over.

I don't know so I ask this.

Many years ago I had a nice Akai RTR, I recorded all my Lp's to the RTR after needing to replace a few LP's because of wear. The recording was to me just as good as the Lp, it had the Lp sound which to me was unequaled. Can this be done with a computer ? I was thinking it would be a way to copy something which is sometimes not replaceable or at least can wear out or be damaged easily.

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If digital music souned as good as my LPs, I wouldn't hesitate changing over.

I don't know so I ask this.

Many years ago I had a nice Akai RTR, I recorded all my Lp's to the RTR after needing to replace a few LP's because of wear. The recording was to me just as good as the Lp, it had the Lp sound which to me was unequaled. Can this be done with a computer ? I was thinking it would be a way to copy something which is sometimes not replaceable or at least can wear out or be damaged easily.

I would think it could be done but the results may not be the same as in your scenario. Going from LP to R2R, the information remains analog. When you go from analog to digital, the transition is not as seamless.

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If digital music souned as good as my LPs, I wouldn't hesitate changing over.

I don't know so I ask this.

Many years ago I had a nice Akai RTR, I recorded all my Lp's to the RTR after needing to replace a few LP's because of wear. The recording was to me just as good as the Lp, it had the Lp sound which to me was unequaled. Can this be done with a computer ? I was thinking it would be a way to copy something which is sometimes not replaceable or at least can wear out or be damaged easily.

I would think it could be done but the results may not be the same as in your scenario. Going from LP to R2R, the information remains analog. When you go from analog to digital, the transition is not as seamless.

And analog on a decent RTR is a good thing. Not lasting forever but, can then be uploaded at your convenience to digital.

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What I can't live with is the sand-dry grainy compressed sound of the typical CD

Some of the high bit rate stuff really isn't too bad. Just like LP's, there's good transfers and crappy transfers. Digital artifacting seems to be less apparent with many recordings now days. Like I said though, there's plenty of bad digital stuff as well (grainy).

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Going from LP to R2R, the information remains analog. When you go from analog to digital, the transition is not as seamless.

Didn't think about it like that, your right.

I couldn't tell the RTR recording from the LP, it was that close.

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Just a question, this is from Dragonfly, does this allow you to play a LP straight to a computer to record/burn your albums ?

I don't think so, the Dragonfly, like any DAC, converts a digital signal to analog signal. I suppose you'd have to have an "ACD" if there is such a thing, to record an LP on digital media.

Many years ago I had a nice Akai RTR, I recorded all my Lp's to the RTR after needing to replace a few LP's because of wear. The recording was to me just as good as the Lp, it had the Lp sound which to me was unequaled. Can this be done with a computer ?

As someone said above, recording an LP on RTR keeps the signal in analog. An LP recorded by an RTR is great by common agreement, often sounding better than the original LP.

But when music is recorded on digital media, it has to be converted from analog to digital (I have no idea what that looks like). To in play analog, it has to be converted back to analog with a DAC.

That the Dragonfly gets so many raves shows how much computers and probably cheap CD/DVD players have crappy internal DACs. Of course, when inserted into a USB port, the D/F is beautifully designed to take over and substitute its DAC function for the computer's. Sounds very clever to me, anyway.

And don't forget that the D/F has a stereo minijack output, so you can plug powered speakers and headphones right into it, instead of into the computer's headphone output, to get the improved DAC sound.

Edited by LarryC
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Here's a couple examples of what a fairly typical might look like for a respectable vinyl rip..

Nitty Gritty RCM 1.5
Technics SL-1200MK2 DD Turntable with KAB Fluid Damping and KAB Record grip
Ortofon 2M Black MM Cartridge
Pro-Ject Tube Box SE II Preamp
Tascam US-144 external USB 2.0 Audiointerface
Mac Pro Dual Zeon 2.66 GHz
Bias Peak 6.2 LE recording Software
Click Repair 3.3.1 for de-click (manual mode Only)
iZotope RX Advanced 1.21 for Vinyl NR
iZotope RX Advanced 1.21 for Redbook conversion
Xact 1.71 for Redbook SBE correction
XLD Version 20100518 (120.3) for FLAC conversion

---------------------------------------------------------------

RCM Hannl 'limited' with "Rotating Brush"

Music Hall MMF 9.1 Turntable
Tonearm: Pro-Ject 9cc evo with Pure Silver Wires
Cartridge: Nagaoka MP-500
Brocksieper Phonomax (Tube Phono PreAmp)
E-MU 0404 external USB 2.0 Audiointerface
Interconnections : Silent Wire NF5
WaveLab 6 recording software
iZotope RX Advanced 2.00 for resampling and dithering

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When I sorta refocused on LPs a couple years back, I re-discovered the process as well. Flipping through album covers, browsing manually by the look of the cover, getting the record out carefully, dusting it off, getting it clamped on the TT, bringing the stylus over for the gentle drop, before sitting down with album cover in hand to read the notes or look at the pictures again. You'll think this is nutty, but it had a certain aura of respect to it. It felt like a small salute to the process, the artist, the engineer and so on. Oddly, it added value of a certain arcane type. Now, of course this process I described is one from my youth, so it is a familiar one. If I had never before done that, I am sure it would feel odd and clumsy. Sitting on a computer typing playlists and scrolling and mousing, doesn't have the same feel.

I'll listen to vinyl with my dad and father in law and they both enjoy that ritual. They'll hand me the album jacket with big eyes of excitement. I'll glance through the liner notes, but otherwise I spend the time trying to figure out where I should set the jacket down without creasing a corner. too much hassle. :P

I like flipping through album art on my ipad, tapping a selection, and hearing it play - all from the comfort of my chair. i don't particularly care about reading lyrics as I listen, but I can quickly google an artist or album and read as much data as I could ever want via Wikipedia.

I had tapes as a kid, but mostly CD's. Even at that stage there was far less "ritual" to listening. I also grew up in a time when the music wasn't intimately tied to the social and political reformation of our nation. Rock was no longer forbidden or counter to the culture. We had no major wars (or anthems). The civil rights movement was over. The hippies were now parents and getting their act together.

So yea, I typically regard music as personal soundtrack material. BUT, my foray into dedicated 2-channel has been a refreshing change of pace. I sit, I listen, and I contemplate. There's hope. ;)

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Maybe? I've never really considered the listening habits of those around me. I'm the "audiophile" of my group. I have very little invested in my system yet it's still more than they would ever try and justify from a cost and footprint perspective. I think I'm minority when it comes to sitting down and listening to music as a primary event. To be fair, I also have the coolest and most understanding wife of the bunch.

My dad's love of music definitely transferred to me - just not any sort of ritual found within a particular media format.

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