Location: swansea
Posts: 483
I'm gerald.
All I was doing was showing it can be done Chris no offence made I am just dipping my toe into streaming and I have the choice of two laptops with different os
I would like to know would the mac be better or my windows machine be better .
The reason is I am due to have two major spinal operation so that will be five in total and I will be laid up for a long time to recover so bending to play a lp will be out so trying to sort out a half tidy streaming system as there is only so much tv I can take I listen to music every single day .
I have been medically retiered since 2010 and have gone through hell with my back so I hope I have not offended you.
Gerry
Hi Gerald,
Have some experience in computer based audio...ask around.
My advice is to stick to Windows based playback.
Apple isnt terrible, but Microsoft do it better.
First step (quality wise, as Chris says) into computer file based audio is Foobar from a windows laptop...(i.e, Not Wine) and next step is to tweak the settings and then you'll notice a big improvement!!
It can get a lot better from there too, just depends how deep into the rabbithole you want to go into!
Enjoy the improvements one step at a time I say though!
Happy to help out with any questions you may have.
Gaz.
AC POWER
Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
AMPS
Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
SPEAKERS
Wharfedale Evo 4.4
DAC
PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
TURNTABLE
Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
PHONOSTAGE
Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
DIGITAL
OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
MUSIC PLAYBACK
Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
Ipad Roon Remote.
Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
SPEAKER CABLES
Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
INTERCONNECTS
All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables
No offence taken.
Getting Windows programmes to work on Mac machines is something I can't play with (Mac free zone here), and lord knows what goes on driver wise in such a setup.
My experience is with Windows machines, and they're generally acknowledged to have things other than audio playback prioritised.
As Foobar2000 is written for a Windows environment you're going to get wider support if it's installed on a Windows machine - Foobar2000 doesn't seem to be fussy about the Windows OS it's playing with, so XP and onwards should play nice to the same set of rules (with XP you can forget the WASAPI stuff - that was for Vista and onwards).
Installing the ASIO and WASAPI driver plugins should get you on the path to prioritising audio playback with Foobar. What you would need to do is point your audio playback at the interfacing device, so in playback settings you'd pick the ASIO or WASAPI option, and that in turn would give it (audio playback) very high priority in the general scheme of things.
You also have the ability to use a smartphone with Foobar app to remotely control your media player, but that's a separate thing altogether.
Chris
Common sense isn't anymore!
Hi Gaz,
You have a PM, mate!
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!
Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!
Replied!
AC POWER
Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
AMPS
Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
SPEAKERS
Wharfedale Evo 4.4
DAC
PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
TURNTABLE
Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
PHONOSTAGE
Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
DIGITAL
OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
MUSIC PLAYBACK
Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
Ipad Roon Remote.
Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
SPEAKER CABLES
Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
INTERCONNECTS
All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables
As a person who regularly flips between Win & Mac machines.
I'd say that perhaps for a start you might want to settle with either :
Win - Foobar (KS/Wasapi/Asio depending on your pref)
Mac - iTunes + Bitperfect
Yes, there are loads of other paid and free players out there and I've probably been using/trying almost all available apps that I could get my hands on.
J River, Audirvana, Decibel, Fidelia, Vox etc are very good at what they are doing.
But after a while, once things have settled and I got used to each of their signature sound - to me ears, them apps apparently did not really sound that different from iTunes or Foobar when reverted.
-abe-