jimifan1970
04-09-2011, 11:16
First up, please be gentle with this poor, muddled, old (but classified as Junior:lol:) Emeritus Hippy. You guys know a million things that would make my brain cells overload, but I shall take my daring in both hands and post this simpleton thread anyway.
I've got a Sony Media Player SMP-U10, which is basically a small black box with three blue lights, some rear connections and a hole on the front for a USB connection. Very cheap off E-bay. I got it because someone said it 'would do' for plugging into my hi-fi and playing MP3s from my Sony Walkman and USB memory sticks. It has a digital coaxial out socket, so I've plugged it into my recently-acquired Caiman. The problem is, it sounds like mush compared to everything else coming out of my Linn Keilidhs, including exactly the same MP3s burnt to CD-R and played through my Rotel CD Player.
Serves you right for buying such cheap crap (the Sony,not the Caiman:doh:) I hear you all cry.
But here's my question: if the digital files stored on the Walkman/USB stick are all 1s and 2s or whatever, and are then put through a good DAC, shouldn't that give reasonable quality? Spotify coming out of my laptop and through USB out to the Caiman sounds great (at least to my not-recently-syringed ears), and isn't the data stream going to be the same as that from files stored on USB/Walkman?
Actually, I may just be looking for an excuse to ditch the Sony Media Player as it has a truly dreadful OSD anyway ... but I'd still like to know WHY it sounds so poor and if it IS possible to pump MP3s off my Walkman/USB sticks into the system via some other media player. Any suggestions?
'Get a Cowon and a Squeezebox Touch and stop being so bloody miserly!' I imagine some moneybags crying out in impatience. But that's going to make Spotify on the laptop redundant and ... well I bet you all have at least a little experience of being confused and well-knotted.
Hope you're all listening to some nice sounds.
Paul
When things get too heavy, just call me Helium. The lightest gas known to Man.
Jimi Hendrix:)
I've got a Sony Media Player SMP-U10, which is basically a small black box with three blue lights, some rear connections and a hole on the front for a USB connection. Very cheap off E-bay. I got it because someone said it 'would do' for plugging into my hi-fi and playing MP3s from my Sony Walkman and USB memory sticks. It has a digital coaxial out socket, so I've plugged it into my recently-acquired Caiman. The problem is, it sounds like mush compared to everything else coming out of my Linn Keilidhs, including exactly the same MP3s burnt to CD-R and played through my Rotel CD Player.
Serves you right for buying such cheap crap (the Sony,not the Caiman:doh:) I hear you all cry.
But here's my question: if the digital files stored on the Walkman/USB stick are all 1s and 2s or whatever, and are then put through a good DAC, shouldn't that give reasonable quality? Spotify coming out of my laptop and through USB out to the Caiman sounds great (at least to my not-recently-syringed ears), and isn't the data stream going to be the same as that from files stored on USB/Walkman?
Actually, I may just be looking for an excuse to ditch the Sony Media Player as it has a truly dreadful OSD anyway ... but I'd still like to know WHY it sounds so poor and if it IS possible to pump MP3s off my Walkman/USB sticks into the system via some other media player. Any suggestions?
'Get a Cowon and a Squeezebox Touch and stop being so bloody miserly!' I imagine some moneybags crying out in impatience. But that's going to make Spotify on the laptop redundant and ... well I bet you all have at least a little experience of being confused and well-knotted.
Hope you're all listening to some nice sounds.
Paul
When things get too heavy, just call me Helium. The lightest gas known to Man.
Jimi Hendrix:)