Mallette Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Audiophile or not I don't turn my nose up at another persons pleasure even if it doesn't work for me. My music files are all wav, and my equivalent of an Ipod is several 80/100 GB USB 2.5" drives that can carry beaucoups of music. My "compromise" is to not always bring along my M-Audio Audiophile USB external soundcard, settleing for the laptops onboard sound...which is really not too bad these days. Many of them will even do 24/88.2. Used WITH the Audiophile, the output quality is usually better than the system its connected to...though I've managed to "seed" decent systems amongst most of my friends and family over the years. Fact of the matter is the mp3 will pass the way of the 8 track as information density and transfer speed increases and cost decreases. With sound, I am there now. With video, almost there awaiting terabyte drives in blister packs...perhaps another year. It has been a couple of years since I made any mp3 files. Those were for a client for whom I'd done some "fixes" on a recording she needed to approve and lived over an hour away. However, I don't recall whatever I used taking any appreciable time to make condensed music. Seems like it was faster than real time. How long does it take your compression engine to do its dirty work? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audio Flynn Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Sounds like you need a better CDP.[] i dont call my sony dvd player bad... As a nutcase for digital evaluations; you really need to hear a good CD player. My Panasonic RP91 is pretty good but it has a shutoff for the video section button when playing DVD-A or CD. The RP-91 is not as good as the upsampled MSB DAC. Cymbals and snare drum are the easiest for me to tell the difference; but I have both instruments in my home. Piano I can tell as well. A used respected DAC for less than $ 300 you will not lose money on and it is a cheap experiment. Used Sony 333 ES or Rotel are the only reasonable cost players I can listen to without jitter fatigue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaiser SET say Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Sham, Max you are far from any kind of sham sir[] My next purchase is going to be the Cambridge Azur Music Server along with an LaCie external TB box so that I can rip everything I want at EAC lossles, heck I cut my drive capacity by two thirds on my Pod but the sound quality coming through my Emerline into the Shure E3c's is truly one of the best mobile systems I have ever heard period. JA over at Stereophile has an exceelent post on the Sqeezebox right now you may want to look at! Practacality and time for technology price drops is the key for me[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audio Flynn Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Sham, Max you are far from any kind of sham sir[] My next purchase is going to be the Cambridge Azur Music Server along with an LaCie external TB box so that I can rip everything I want at EAC lossles, heck I cut my drive capacity by two thirds on my Pod but the sound quality coming through my Emerline into the Shure E3c's is truly one of the best mobile systems I have ever heard period. JA over at Stereophile has an exceelent post on the Sqeezebox right now you may want to look at! Practacality and time for technology price drops is the key for me[] What is an Emerline? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Too kind Kaiser - but truth be told I am simply nowhere with digital reproduction. I think the best player in the house is a Marantz CD6000 that was average in its day and doubtless utterly outclassed by newer and more expensive offerings. Other than that - I didn't get most of your post - in fact everything from the word Cambridge is a mystery [:$]. (OK the Shure E3c's are headphones - I got that bit) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 ....I cant tell the difference from listening on the original disc. .....I must not be an audiophile. ...... if anything its missing a bit of "depth" maybee a smidge of "richness". other than that its great. Make up your mind. If missing a 'bit' and 'smidge', you must be able to tell the difference, eh? If I look into the crystal ball, I see a Bose system in your future. [6] The "i must not be an audiofile" and "cant tell the difference" might have been delivered with a "smidge" of sarcasm. Keep in mind, the only original "cds" i own is the Pink Floyd box set. All of my originals were stolen a few years ago. Thanks god I have been able to keep 2 large hardrives over the years with many "BETTER THAN DECENT" copies of my music, or I would be listening to judge judy on the boob toob right now. The speakers make most any source sound phenominal, thats why were all here, right! Clarence, It's most likely not that you can not hear the difference. I bet its more the fact that your system can not take advantage of the difference and in some cases it may actually be a detriment to have the extra extension that the CD can provide over 128k MP3's. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaiser SET say Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Clarence, I believe Craig hit the proverbial nail on the head with his last remark[] Max, Seti just got himself one of the Cambridge Audio Azur 640C CDP's with 24/192 upsampling and for $275.00 I don't think for that price it can be touched IMHO! Cambridge is now producing the same unit Hard Drive Server Based with capabilities of adding at least 2 USB external hard drives......... http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/summary.php?PID=39&Title=Azur+640H and a nice butt shot[] http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/gallery/640h/640h-rear.jpg Emmerline is a small portable amp for iPod and other portable listening devices very similar to one of these http://www.headphone.com/products/headphone-amps/the-mobile-line/headroom-total-airhead-clear.php but with a metal housing instead of high impact plastic! The combination of recording lossless onto my iPod and then running that through the amp and the shures is IMO the best portable music I have heard to date! I'm sure digital is tough for you MAx especially trying to get it right after listening to that awesome analog rig of yours[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarence Posted March 23, 2006 Author Share Posted March 23, 2006 I miss the hi-hat. other than that, the sqeezebox rocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarence Posted April 4, 2006 Author Share Posted April 4, 2006 I'm putting the paddles back on this thread. I ripped a cd into WAV, and then ran it through FLAC http://flac.sourceforge.net/ for compression. It sounds great. Much better than 128k MP3. Any ripping from here on out will go through this process. I am going to delete all of my Pink Floyd MP3's that I ripped from my Shine On box set and run em through FLAC. The squeezebox www.slimdevices.com was having some problems earlier, but I shut down my new Antivirus firewall, PCillin, and its allll good... If anybody would like help with this, feel free to touch base with me and I will walk you through it! FLAC is freeware. (lossless enconding) and streaming the audio into tubes is UNBELIVEABLE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchist Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 Why not just rip directly from CD to lossless? That is my preferred method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarence Posted April 4, 2006 Author Share Posted April 4, 2006 Anarchist, How do I do that? I use MMJB, and it will rip to wave, and I think I have Sonic as a Cd copier/DVD writer. I just followed the instructions on the site, rip to wav then convert to flac, and delete the wave files. Help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WolfsBane Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 I try to encode my collection at between 256kbps and 320kbps. I have a few at 192kpbs, but I tend to pick up discrepancies at that compression rate. I've found 256kbps to be a good compromise when I'm hearing my collection out of my Promedias 4.2, or out of my mp3 player using my Grado's SR-80s. With both, the speakers and the headphones, the biggest issue for me is that if the music was poorly recorded, I will generally hear the imperfections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarence Posted April 5, 2006 Author Share Posted April 5, 2006 Hey Anarchist thanks for your help. All show, no go. I try to be civil, I really do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Yes, civil, Clarence. Next work on patience.(insert grinning emoticon for those who might miss a good natured dig) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchist Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Well forgive me for not monitoring the board every minute Clarence. Chill out a little dude. I use Windows Media player. I rip directly to lossless WMA's. Simple. You can then always convert from WMA to other formats if you decide you simply have to use something else; I stick with WMA for the most part. I am sure there are other options particularly if you want to argue about whose lossless format is the best - there is no shortage of formats entering the fray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarence Posted April 6, 2006 Author Share Posted April 6, 2006 How does a WMA compare size-wise to FLAC? How about WAV? I've tried to rip using Windows media player, and havent had much luck. Is it a plugin i am missing?? Had to get your attention somehow.... =) Thanks for the response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchist Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 For a given quality level, WMA's are smaller. I don't know how it compares specifically to FLAC. I use WMA10. No issues and includes the ability to rip directly to mp3s as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaiser SET say Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Absolutely Anarchist as I'm burning a bunch of old R&R for Colter via your method right now! Clarence, I have called you out before and civility is something you really need to work on along with that patience level[] I'd say 90% of us on this thread are working class and lucky to get a post in here and there during work hours! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarence Posted April 6, 2006 Author Share Posted April 6, 2006 I'd say 90% of us on this thread are working class and lucky to get a post in here and there during work hours! Grab the popcorn, here we go! What makes you assume that I am not part of the "working class"? Perhaps I am part of the 10% that has chosen my destiny, and have been fortunate enough to steer my ship towards my ultimate goal.. to play as hard as I work, and I have never taken a handout to do it. If you feel strongly enough to make the point that I am not part of "the working class", you must be unhappy with the course your life has taken. Point that big finger of yours at your own chest, and ask yourself. Life is too short to be unhappy. Lucky? Maybe... lucky that I was not born to a small south african tribe of bush people... Thats as far as my luck goes. The rest, is all me bud. "Poor me working class" just doesnt cut it, IMO. As always, no disrespect intended. I feel like a part of something here which is bigger than me, and appreciate the acceptance most members have given. You guys ROCK! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 ... lucky that I was not born to a small south african tribe of bush people... A few years ago I stopped on a long, empty stretch of highway at a shed where some Navajo were selling beads and trinkets. It was miles of flat ground rising up shear cliff walls with no sign of a McDonalds or Texaco or even a power line as far as the eye could see. I wondered why anyone would live in such desolation. As my wife sorted through the trinkets, I struck up conversation with a young man to pass the time. I asked him how much time he'd spent outside the reservation and he responded "I went to Chicago and recieved a degree from the Chicago Conservatory of Art." A bit stunned, I asked why he did not stay. He responded with no hint of emotion "There wasn't anything there." I looked around me again through different eyes. That bush person considered himself the luckiest man on earth. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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