View Full Version : Hello! Webby Here...
Hi everyone,
I'm new to this forum. Allow me to try and explain how I got here.
I've had a fairly decent HiFi for years; Audiolab 8000CD cdp, Audiolab 8000S amp (both 90's models not the newer ones), and most recently Dynaudio Audience 42 speakers connected via Chord Rumour cables. So, a fairly neutral sounding system you could say! :) Oh! And Grado SR80 Cans!
I've also had an iMac now for 4 years and use iTunes and an iPod. My iTunes library is around 5000 tracks. I still buy cd's cos I like the physicality of them and I rip them into iTunes to AAC 256kbs (mostly).
However, my cd's are taking up a lot of room and so I began to search for more economic ways of storing them. This lead me to DiscSox and Jewelsleeves, both very neat space saving methods. I then soon realised that, as well as folks storing their cd's away, they were no longer listening to them! They are now using their computers! Who'd have thought it? This intrigued me. I knew very little about how to do this, other than running a RCA cable from the mac to the amp!
I then posted on the AVForums asking a couple of questions. I was recommended to go the DAC route. The Musical Fidelity V-DAC, The CA DacMagic and the Beresford 7520 were all suggested. I began to look into these units and also websites that would help me understand what I was doing. This lead me to the (very good) Computer Audiophile website, and then that lead me to here!
The Beresford seems very appealing to me cos of the price, the general feedback about it, plus the mods. However, at this point, I've listened to none.
I'd like to gather as much info as I can about this venture (cos that what it is :) ) cos there are lots of different aspects to it.
I've not been able to find anywhere that really explains things to a beginner who has the HiFi and the computer and wants to combine the two. For me, there are a number of things to consider:
Music Library, playback and ripping software (I currently use iTunes, but have become aware of Cog, Max, Flac etc)
Audio formats (lossy vs lossless)
External DAC (mentioned above)
Wireless streaming devices (Squeezebox, Airport Express etc, where do they fit in?)
Connecting them together (USB? Optical?)
So, I want to have a good understanding of all this before I start down this path. I don't wanna have to re-rip again once I've started!
Another question I have is that my amp can work as a power amp. Would it be worth using the DAC as a pre-amp?
I listen to all kinds of music from U2, Crowded House, The Beatles etc, to Tori Amos, Fleet Foxes, The Beach Boys and Super Furry Animals to name a few.
Hello to Marco who pointed me to this Welcome thread.
I look forward to learning lots!
Webby
I forgot to say where I'm from.
Southampton, UK.
Hi Webby,
All sounds like a very familiar route which a few of us here, including myself have been travelling for some time. You'll find plenty of threads here to guide you along.
Knowing the various components of your system quite well, I reckon a 7520 would fit in very nicely, especially if you're up for a bit of modding. If you're ever around Swindon, you'd be welcome to come and hear mine in my setup.
Good choice on the Super Furry Animals front too ;)
Cheers Rich,
I forgot to mention also the options for external storage, and backup of course.
Obviously, Hard Drives are to be considered, and they're cheap.
As for these NAS things I've read about, well :confused:
Aye, SFA are like modern day Beach Boys (who were far more than sun, sea and surf music). :)
Once you've transferred the CD's to hard drive (with EAC or similar), keep the discs on the loft or somewhere, as selling them removes your right to "own" the music... take regular and full backups too and use decent hard drives (Seagate or similar?) in a raid formation.
I think the Beresford has more than one digital input. You could always try the Audiolab CD player into it, using good quality 75 Ohm coax and low capacitance phono plugs. After ten or more years, the Audiolab stuff should have run in (their CD players took ages - months - for some reason).
The preamp section of the 8000S was MUCH more informative than the preamp section of the 8000A and 8000C. You'd have to spend a lot to get anything genuinely better - different perhaps, but not necessarily better IMO. Use smooth sounding interconnects (Chord Chameleon always sounded good in the shop).
Spectral Morn
09-06-2009, 13:14
Hi Webby
Welcome to AOS...have fun.
Would you like to place some photos of your setup in the gallery section of the forum.
Regards D S D L
Hi Webby
Welcome to AOS...have fun.
Would you like to place some photos of your setup in the gallery section of the forum.
Regards D S D L
Well, my hifi is really out of it's depth from what I've seen on this forum!
Any thoughts on how the MF V-DAC, or DacMagic would work with the Audiolabs and Dynaudio's?
Spectral Morn
09-06-2009, 13:39
Well, my hifi is really out of it's depth from what I've seen on this forum!
Any thoughts on how the MF V-DAC, or DacMagic would work with the Audiolabs and Dynaudio's?
Hi Webby
We are all at different stages of our audio journey, and while some are further along than you, we all stated somewhere perhaps/more than likely less than where we are at now. Bottom line there are no 2nd class systems here on AOS all are valuable. Showing some photos while interesting to look at also provide a visual of your listening room/area and this visual info can help with recommendations and advice.
Value/high cost does not always mean excellent sound, though it can if the components are well matched. However in saying that it is possible, and AOS is a good place for info on such items to put a very high sound quality set up together for a lot less than you might think. AOS specializes in seeking out high performance lower cost items both new and old/vintage to get you closer to your ultimate goal of excellent sound.
Regards D S D L
I'll see what I can do ;)
The Vinyl Adventure
09-06-2009, 13:51
i have a pair of audience 42's in my office system along with the 7520 (when its not in the main system) i use a little tripath amp that is nutral in its presentation. i find this combo very pleasing
a nas or "network atached storage" is basically a posh external hardrive that you connect to a network. they are used widely with music/media streaming devices as the hard drives they contain can be set up in raid formation. eg 2 x 1tb hdd's where one mirrors the other. this means you loose half the total hard drive space but if one of the disks goes wrong the other has the same info on it and so the only thing you loose is the cost of a new 1tb drive
i rip everything in flac using a program called dBpoweramp. i recomend this route and peice of software. lossless flac is from what i gather becoming the format of choice it certainly has the capability to outperform cd in a direct comparison
eg flac through 7520 @ £200 ish is much better than any £200 cd player i have heard!
if you do go down the db poweramp route i can give you a tutorial on setting it up to library your music in the most logical way
dbpoweramp is also the ripper that linn recomend for use with thier DS players.
as for streaming devices from what i hear they are mostly a much for muchness
all of them need an external dac to get the best out of them apart from the linn ds kit but its pretty bloody expensive
usb conection from pc to 7520 makes things very simple. i use foobar with asio support although im a bit hazy how i got it to work as well as it does.. i got the help from here
http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=2373
hope that load of disorganised info is of help.....
hope that load of disorganised info is of help.....
For sure Hamish.
It's funny, I just came back to this thread to add some info. I was looking at your gear in the gallery, so I was a bit bemused to see your name pop up again! Anyway, thanks for the info.
Now, what was I gonna add? Oh yeah, that I also have a Rega Planar 2 in the loft, a Sony Cassette Deck as new (TC-K520 I think), a Sony Mini Disc recorder and 2 hifi racks (one by Sound Organisation and the other is Target I think). The racks are in the garage cos I just don't have the space for them. I keep meaning to Ebay them.
My Audiolabs are sitting on glass shelves under a 32" CRT!! EEEK I hear you cry!
dbPoweramp is windows only.
The Vinyl Adventure
09-06-2009, 14:23
dbPoweramp is windows only.
shame it is very good
i think my kit is fairly main stream compared to most on this site. sounds bloody good though and thats what matters
good luck with your computer audio endvour anyway
Beechwoods
09-06-2009, 19:00
Hi Webby, and welcome! I'll take a look at your question over on the Audio Output on Mac OSX (http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=367&page=11) thread but might be a day or so with loads of other things on right now! There may be someone else here who can give you a quicker answer, mind!
Glad you decided to join up anyway. This is a great place, and fans of the SFA are always welcome in my book ;)
Cheers dude.
I now have a better idea of how to go about the task in post 1 of this thread.
I'm going to rip to AIFF or ALAC with iTunes into a separate iTunes Library which will be situated on an external USB drive (500gb). I've read about things like Cog and Max for playback and ripping and how they rip better and sound better but I just can't be bothered to stray from the iTunes layout I know so well. I'm sure the improvement is negligible and has been debunked by a few here anyway.
My current library will carry on serving my iPod, while the new lossless library will serve my hifi. That external drive will be backed up by another 500gb hard drive using SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner.
A new DAC will crunch the numbers into music and hand it to my Audiolab 8000S. I've just noticed a slight hurdle here actually. I've just measured the length of cable I need from iMac to DAC and it's more like 6m rather than 5m. I've read that the limit for USB is 5m. I could get around this by moving the amp closer to the imac (and use up the 3m of slack I have in the speaker cable) or I could connect optically. Is there any affect on sound quality when using long runs of optical cable? Or should I not worry about a 6m run of USB?
Is it possible to copy tag info from my current library to my new one? If so, does that include album art? I sort my albums by artist by year and I sort artists by last name first using the sort artist tag, so Paul McCartney comes under M.
When I get around to this is another matter but I'd like to thank those that have helped me so far in the various threads that I've started.
Anyway, does that sound like a plan or what?
:)
Webby
It looks like optical cable has a longer length limit. I've found 10m lengths available.
Is there a certain spec I should look for?
Hi folks,
Well, after much research here, and on the Computer Audiophile forums (I think a few of you are members there too) I realise I have 2 options, and it may all come down to budget. I don't have hundres and hundreds to splash I'm afraid.
Streaming wirelessly (remember, my iMac is over 5m from the hifi):
Airport Express £80
Mark Grant analogue cables (used with a 3.5mm adapter) £21
This has future upgrade potential, but gives me the quickest and easiest way to start using my iMac as a source (or Transport I beleive you call it ;)).
I could later add a 7520 DAC (£170) and a mark grant glass optical cable (£27) and use the analogue cables for the DAC output.
Wired:
Beresford 7520 £170
USB cables with repeater to take care of the length £20 (I'm guessing, can anyone help here?).
Or, instead of USB, Optical cable. A mark grant glass cable of 12ft is £45, so I'd say at least £60 for 18ft.
My instincts tell me that the 2nd option will probably sound better but the cost is a lot more, while the first option is hassle and cable free.
Hmmm..... :)
Any thoughts on the above re: cabled or wireless?
Hi folks,
Well, after much research here, and on the Computer Audiophile forums (I think a few of you are members there too) I realise I have 2 options, and it may all come down to budget. I don't have hundres and hundreds to splash I'm afraid.
Streaming wirelessly (remember, my iMac is over 5m from the hifi):
Airport Express £80
Mark Grant analogue cables (used with a 3.5mm adapter) £21
This has future upgrade potential, but gives me the quickest and easiest way to start using my iMac as a source (or Transport I beleive you call it ;)).
I could later add a 7520 DAC (£170) and a mark grant glass optical cable (£27) and use the analogue cables for the DAC output.
Wired:
Beresford 7520 £170
USB cables with repeater to take care of the length £20 (I'm guessing, can anyone help here?).
Or, instead of USB, Optical cable. A mark grant glass cable of 12ft is £45, so I'd say at least £60 for 18ft.
My instincts tell me that the 2nd option will probably sound better but the cost is a lot more, while the first option is hassle and cable free.
Hmmm..... :)
Webby,
this is what I have;
PowerMacG4 running iTunes, to Airport Express, minitos link optical to TC7520 then analog out to my integrated amp, Yamaha-AX-596 driving Cambridge Soundworks Tower IIs.
Oh, and to clarify, the connection from the Mac G4 to the Airport is over ethernet which are well over 50 feet apart in different rooms. All the components in my listening room, like the airport and TC7520, are completely silent.
You can get Airport Expresses cheaply on Ebay. I bought 2 of them for separate rooms. The Airport Express N and G versions are the same except for better wireless capability of the N version.
If you go that route, I strongly suggest you use the optical out and avoid using the airport express as a DAC. It's DAC capabilities are merely adequate.
Hope this helps!
CD
Thanks CD,
I didn't know you could connect to the express via ethernet. My imac is a G5 and has only the older .11g network speed so it doesn't matter if I pick up an older non 'n' express.
Would you say there's a big difference between the express with and without the 7520?
Now I'm thinking that if I'm gonna go wired with the express, is there any point in getting it?
For instance, Codifus, why do you have the express in your signal path? Is it purely due to the distances involved and that ethernet is ok over those distances?
Would it not be better to go with option 2 in my post above, which uses the 5m+ USB cable?
Any thoughts on this option?
Now I'm thinking that if I'm gonna go wired with the express, is there any point in getting it?
For instance, Codifus, why do you have the express in your signal path? Is it purely due to the distances involved and that ethernet is ok over those distances?
Would it not be better to go with option 2 in my post above, which uses the 5m+ USB cable?
Any thoughts on this option?
Webby,
your second option would be best, especially since the airport express will only ever handle 44.1/16 audio.
I hesitate to recommend it, though, because USB isn't exactly a medium suited to long runs.:confused: Other than that, it's worth a try. If it works out, you'll also have the capability to handle 24/96 audio to boot!:)
Well, I've (finally) bought an Airport Express.
It works really well, especially with Airfoil thrown into the mix.
Mac>AE>Mark Grant Cables>8000s. Sweet.
Might squeeze a Caiman in there at some point. :)
Nice buy Lee. AE works rather well, there plenty of happy users around. ;)
Yes, it works very well. Not at first, but that's cos it was on the floor under the hifi rack. I elevated the 4 way socket and put it up and behind the rack. All good now.
Next up, an iPod Touch for remote control. Are you listening Santa? :)
Next up, an iPod Touch for remote control. Are you listening Santa? :)
MODERATORS ! Please accept Santa as a member ! :lolsign:
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.3 Copyright © 2026 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.