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Please critique my speaker placement and setup.


Ryan0348

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39 minutes ago, Ryan0348 said:

It’s streaming at 192/24 bit. I had to download the DacMagic usb 3.0 drive and then switch it from 16 to 24 bit 192. That took a lil bit of looking in the sound settings on the laptop. I had the usb on the 1.0 slot not the blue one for 3.0. That did make a lil difference. Deezer does stream at 1411 kbps it says its supposed to be at least. I paid for the HiFi desktop app. 

I'm not familiar with Windows asio/wasapi/directsound drivers and settings, but if Deezer is sending 44.1/16 and the DAC is seeing 192/24, then something within the laptop is upsampling the stream.  You may want to try sending the DAC the native Deezer sample rate.  See http://connectedmag.com.au/digital-audio-windows/

 

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I set the sound settings in the laptop for the dac at 192/24 which is the 3.0 USB port the blue one. All that Deezer says about there HiFi is that it’s 1411 kb/s what is what lol what is the difference between the 2 one is kilobits and the other is ?

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51 minutes ago, Ryan0348 said:

I set the sound settings in the laptop for the dac at 192/24 which is the 3.0 USB port the blue one. All that Deezer says about there HiFi is that it’s 1411 kb/s what is what lol what is the difference between the 2 one is kilobits and the other is ?

Deezer is sending you CD quality (44,100 samples x 16 bits x 2 channel stereo = 1411 kb/s).  Your laptop is upsampling this to 192/24.  Your laptop may or may not be doing a good job at this.  It's worth experimenting and sending the DAC the native unaltered CD quality stream.

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1 hour ago, Ryan0348 said:

I set the sound settings in the laptop for the dac at 192/24 which is the 3.0 USB port the blue one. All that Deezer says about there HiFi is that it’s 1411 kb/s what is what lol what is the difference between the 2 one is kilobits and the other is ?

Is it a DacMagic or the DacMagic Plus, the Plus up-samples, not sure about the base  one.

Oh ,  and the kb/s is a speed the 192 is khrz sample rate  24 is the bit rate

 

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Just now, Ryan0348 said:

Its the DacMagic 100. do you know of any of the software programs you can buy will help the laptop. Something like roon or audiovarn. 

I had the DacMagis Plus but switched to the Emotiva DC-1 only because I decided to got all Emo gear so everything  built to match.

I use J.River Media Player softwear for my Flac files on a computer I slapped together just for my audio system.

I also have Spotify Premium and Tidal HiFi for streaming on the same computer.

THB, if you get something like Tidal HiFi , you'll prob seldome use  yer files on computer as sound is just as good. The only time I use my cd's now is if its an SACD and I play them on  an Oppo 203 and use its Dac  for them.

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18 hours ago, Ryan0348 said:

DacMagic 100... Cheap rca cables but decent speaker wire I got from work it’s twisted double shelded 16gauge oxygen free low voltage signal wire. ... do I need a external clock for streaming to help with better stereo/image or does the DacMagic have a good enough one.

 

That DAC doesn't do USB 3 (like I think you mentioned later).

 

The clock in the DAC wins no matter what else you might do beforehand.  So don't waste any money there.

 

Audio wire don't care about oxygen and your cheap RCA interconnects will be just fine.

 

I believe you also later mentioned some other wires & products which probably wouldn't hurt but certainly wouldn't help.  Save your money and time.

 

Visit https://techsupport.cambridgeaudio.com/hc/en-us/articles/200930882-Audiophile-s-guide-to-bit-perfect-USB-audio and use the method which comes as close as merely passing on the data as you can manage.  You don't want the computer doing any "audio" things, just hand over the raw data to your DAC.  No resampling or ANYTHING if at all possible.  

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Cute cat! Always inspecting what's going on 😊   I agree to remove the top speakers.  I once used two pairs of KG 4.2s with great results but had them right next to each other, i.e., looking like one big speaker, that worked to get a bigger and fuller sound, not sure if you need extra speakers with CWs (?), unless for surround sound but then they would be placed wrong altogether.  Is your listening position on one of the two side couches?  I am assuming there's another armchair facing the speakers.  You could also raise the CW's to lift them above the couches, so the couches are not blocking or absorbing too much sound.  When I once lived in a studio, I had speakers near a king size bed and raising those had a huge impact.  It looks like you could also try flipping the entire setup so that the speakers are next to the window on the left with the red curtains and the speakers face the opposite wall, this would keep the archway free of hazards (cables etc.).  Having improved my cables over time, they do incrementally offer more detail and clarity, 16 vs 12/11 gauge speakers cable for example, especially if you're listening to jazz that has lots of subtleties and pianissimos.

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8 hours ago, Ryan0348 said:

Its the DacMagic 100. do you know of any of the software programs you can buy will help the laptop. Something like roon or audiovarn. 

 

Do yourself a favor and ditch the computer for a Raspberry Pi or Bluesound Node. You are best served getting away from anything USB and using S/PDIF into your DAC.

 

Shakey

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I did some listening with the kgs off and on with the same song “terrapin station” which has really good stereo image sounds same left right center and kgs do muddy up the sound a lil and kinda seams to shift the vocals and Jerry Garcia’s gutair from center to a lil left.  So I’ll put those in the garage. I have the 301s on landscape block with a piece of 2” thick 24”x24” granite to raise them about 13 “. The speakers are 8’ apart with toe in to bring the triangle point to my couch dead center but 2’ ahead of it. Does the raspberry or blue sound have s/pdif connectors . Or is there a adapter cord I gotta get. What is the difference with usb vs those. I’ve read about better usb cables with the power line inside isolated from the rest. What is s/pdif Mainly used for. 

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Now that I got just the 301s setup and with the right amount of toe in and up slightly it sounds pretty good. Really good sound stage. Just waiting on some b&c10s with Dave’s Mach horn now. Might do ALK crossovers also. Now that I know what really stereo image sounds like with really good speakers my 2017 Chevy trucks sound system sounds like garbage lol which sucks cause last week I thought I was pretty good. O well 

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