Ima tweakin boss and it’s digital!

[Welder]

I’ve read with great amusement recently on various audio forums contributors whinging that digital audio is taking the fun out of HiFi because the opportunities to tweak are being eroded; obviously don’t know shit about digital audio then, I say.:rolleyes:

Due to some rather extreme storms here we get regular power cuts, fried routers and more importantly, sever voltage fluctuations; one of which managed to fry my admittedly less than British Standards power arrangements to my Dacs. Oh well…….:doh:

On the bright side, I got myself a second hand Metric Halo Lio-8 and while I’m learning how to use it (Lodsa opportunities to tweak yerself deaf:eyebrows:) I bought one of those “that can’t be any good coz the box is tiny and its got no big knobs an stuff” Halide Design DAC HD Dac thingies. :eyebrows::eek:
Soooo, I’ve got both extremes. You can’t do much with the HD Dac I’ll grant you; really dull in that respect, you just plug it in and the thingie gets on with the job, can’t even mess about with the cables at either end ffs :steam:. Oh well, there is always hours of fun to be had at the computer end desperately trying to hear any difference between one player and another, or one MOB or another;)

The Metric Halo, cor, it does all sorts of stuff. If you want your system to sound like a valve and turntable based setup there are filters that do the job. Fancy trying some really long word length samples, this thing can cope. Want an easy way to measure (yep sorry, I know I swore again:doh:) your room response then this makes the job so much easier.

I really like the Halide Design HD. It isn’t quite as incisive, maybe read bright here, as the HRT Pro adequately powered but in the room I currently have my setup (solid stone/ruble walls none of which are parallel or flat, a metre drop in ceiling height from one end to the other and tiled floors) this isn’t a bad thing. I could quite happily live with it which is more than I can say about some rather more expensive Dacs I’ve heard.
As to how the Metric Halo sounds…….I don’t have a clue really, it all depends on which tweak you’ve applied :scratch:

[brian2957]

Hi John , hope you are well mate and the countryside in France is suiting you.. It's good to hear from you , you've been missed . I've never tried the Halide although I've heard good things about it . I've gone fully digital now with a music server and Bushmaster 2 DAC and I'm absolutely loving it . I've came a long way from the old Dell laptop using Asio which you spent so much time helping me to set up. Anyway, good to hear from you John , take care mate.

[Ali Tait]

+1, nice to hear from you again John, hope life is treating you well.

[realysm42]

Welcome back John!

[Krisbee]

John,

I know typing by candle light can be tricky, so was that "sever voltage fluctuations" or "sewer voltage fluctuations" ? There's no need to boast that those across the channel are ahead of us with all that green energy, anyone nostalgic for the three day week power reigme in the UK will soon have the chance to re-live the old days after years of Government inaction (or is that in action?) and the wonders of the Climate Change act.

[Barry]

Welcome back John - I missed the "turbocharged wheelchair"! :)

[WAD62]

Hi John, how's Catalonia treating you? Good to hear from you again...:)

[bobbasrah]

Ditto.... long time too quiet John...
Brian, SPAIN is the lumpy bit south of France....:ner:
Will, did you ever finish those speakers?

[brian2957]

:rolleyes: Thanks for keeping me right Bob . I was in Seville last weekend so you think I would know better . I'm afraid Geography isn't my strong point . Lost my car in an Asda car park the other week. :D

[bobbasrah]

:D Sorry Brian couldn't resist, but having been to France so recently, erm right ok...
You remind me of a work mate in Glenrothes who went shopping on a Saturday, took the trolley out from the supermarket and stashed it all in the boot of his newish maroon Ford Escort, then went off a wander round the shops with his wife for an hour.
Went home, no shopping in the boot, no damage to the lock, phones the cop shop, "Would you mind coming to the police station sir..."
Here is a woman with an identical Escort with a load of shopping that wasn't hers....
Odds of the same key fitting in the same colour of Escort boot lock? ....unbelievable but true...

[Welder]

Thanks for the replies.:)

I would like to write that it’s all sunshine and relaxation but the truth is it’s a constant but mostly enjoyable struggle. However, I’ve learnt lots of new stuff (shame the Catalan is on the slow side:eyebrows:) and at my age that’s priceless. Let me put it this way; I’ve no intentions of returning to the UK.:eek:

I’ve had some time messing about with the MH Lio-8 now and it is a fantastic piece of kit. It really is designed for recording engineers and while the Dac is truly superb much of what the fully kitted out unit can do when it comes to audio playback, can also be done with a DSP on a computer and I’ve got enough computers.
I’ve always wanted a Metric Halo and now I’ve had my hands on one it’s hard to admit that basically it’s far more kit than I need.:doh:

I had the opportunity quite some time ago to listen to two Dacs from Benchmark (Dac 1 USB and Dac2 HGC) and with regard to specification these are far beyond my, or anybody else’s hearing capability. They sound as close as I’ve heard to a properly powered HRT Pro which I really liked and thought very under rated by the audiophile lot and have much have greater flexibility with the Benchmark The Dac1 USB can be picked up for under a grand and I can finally get rid of my World Audio HD 83 headphone amp which has pissed me off since I got it; enough in fact for me to completely rebuild it twice and even having done the alterations the World Audio team finally got round to doing themselves. Nuff said. The newer Benchmark…hmm, it’s a bit more than I wanted to spend.

Yep, I know the Benchmarks are common and an industry standard but it’s because they’re good and while there are more esoteric offerings, at a much higher price I might add, my ears are far from esoteric and I’m fucked if I can hear what I’m paying for much past this.

As for the Halide Designs Dac, that will probably go once I’ve got the Benchmark, not because I don’t like it but the Benchmark does more and to my ears sounds marginally better defined.

[bobbasrah]

Sounds familiar John, no regrets here from moving out from the UK either, language will come soon enough...

Anyhow, looks like you have managed to play with some toys after your labours, interesting your observations on the Benchmark, never heard one yet, though everything recommended as better used them as a reference point which says a lot...

Have fun, enjoy...

[realysm42]

I didn't realise that's where you'd gone, I thought France for some reason :doh:

I travel to Begur once or twice a year as its where my girlfriend's mum lives. Weather kicks the sh*t out of here lol.

[brian2957]

[QUOTE=realysm42;490518]I didn't realise that's where you'd gone, I thought France for some reason :doh:

Me too Martin :D

[WAD62]

Will, did you ever finish those speakers?

Hi Bob, I have to shamefully admit...not yet!!! But I have made some more progress, the crossovers are being built at the moment, I'm still aiming for Christmas, not sure what year though ;)

I got sidetracked with MDAC upgrades...well that's my excuse anyway

[slate]

You remind me of a work mate in Glenrothes who went shopping on a Saturday, took the trolley out from the supermarket and stashed it all in the boot of his newish maroon Ford Escort, then went off a wander round the shops with his wife for an hour.
Went home, no shopping in the boot, no damage to the lock, phones the cop shop, "Would you mind coming to the police station sir..."
Here is a woman with an identical Escort with a load of shopping that wasn't hers....
Odds of the same key fitting in the same colour of Escort boot lock? ....unbelievable but true...

Same thing happended on the Faroe Islands... back in the eighties Fords locking system was so bad/simple that with 6 select keys you could open any Ford

[Welder]

Ohhh, you don't want to be confusing Catalonia with France around these parts.................... :donk:
Probably best in fact not even to mention that it is technically still a region of Spain:eyebrows:

[WAD62]

Ohhh, you don't want to be confusing Catalonia with France around these parts.................... :donk:
Probably best in fact not even to mention that it is technically still a region of Spain:eyebrows:

Time to buy an Espanol shirt John...:eyebrows:

[realysm42]

Re the original post, people saying there's no tweakery involved are being stupid.

They're probably unaware of what you can do with (good) software nowadays. Learn up before you pipe up (etc).

The foods good out there John :)

Went to see Dali's hideout last time we went.