PDA

View Full Version : Bakeoff at Bigman80's



Bigman80
06-01-2019, 19:05
Today i had the supreme pleasure of hosting a little digital bakeoff at my humble abode.

The real purpose of this was so that Steve (STD305) could come and have a listen to the Krell KSA100 MK2. Now as 90% of the gear listened to was owned by me, I am not going to say anything about how my system performed, i will leave that to Steve.

What i will say is what was used and how i felt it ranked.

System used was:

1.2A DCB1 with Khozmo preamp.
SPOTFIRE Cables
Krell KSA100 MK2
SPOTFIRE Speaker Cables
Pioneer CS-77A

First up was the Recently loaned to me Raspberry Pi With Allo Boss DAC:

https://i.ibb.co/Sy75vPc/IMG-20190106-121623.jpg (https://ibb.co/3dY4h7v)

I have been so impressed by this little thing that i had to buy one. I just can't fathom how this little unit does so much good for so little money. Before any one says "why is there a record weight on there" It's there to hold it down! It's too lght and the cables just move it where ever they want.

If anyone wants to know what i think of this Pi, read here: https://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?62032-Raspberry-pi-and-the-delights-of-invisible-media!

We listened to a few tracks, discussed what we heard and decided to compare it to Steves GBP1200 Cyrus CD player:

https://i.ibb.co/zR94Bjs/IMG-20190106-121609.jpg (https://ibb.co/YknL1Y2)

We used Steve Miller for this one and in about 30 seconds, Steve turned it off. "That sounds Shit!"

We tried another CD and it sounded better but to me, it didn't reach the HD levels of the Pi. We were a little surprised and to be honest, we laughed a bit too. This little box of Pi was kicking Ass.

I then threw my Sony CDP into the Mix. It came to me via the generousity of Macca so it really owed nothing at all :

https://i.ibb.co/gZsMn5c/IMG-20190105-204339.jpg (https://ibb.co/N2w648G)

Once again we laughed. The feebie Sony was prefered to the Cyrus but still sits well behind the Pi. What is this little gadget doing to all of my pre conceived ideas of HIFI!!!

In next went a left field CDP. My Yamaha CDP- 385 (?) Unfortunatly, i didnt take a Pic!!

This was when things became very interesting. The Pi, or me was still better but this closed the gap. It showed the Sony to be muddy, almost smeared. It also had a little more richness or "luxury" in the mids compared to the Pi but it coudnt match the Pi's HF quality.

Again though, the Cyrus was lacking in the rankings now dropping to fourth against the PI, Yamaha and the Sony.

We were very surprised. So surprised we spent the next 30 minutes looking at Pi's for Steve lol.

We also played a bit of vinyl but as that was all my gear, i'll leave Steve to describe how he thought it sounded.

Overall, a great day and totally interesting to see how everything compared.

A few gratuitous pics of the rig:

https://i.ibb.co/PZWGpQM/IMG-20190106-121635.jpg (https://ibb.co/Y7dB9ZX)
https://i.ibb.co/TgqPVkB/IMG-20190106-121638.jpg (https://ibb.co/vjvL7Hx)
https://i.ibb.co/17cFybv/IMG-20190106-121642.jpg (https://ibb.co/yd2HvVf)

Crackles
06-01-2019, 19:21
Sounds like a good day. I keep meaning to look into PIs, but I still can't get my head around how they work within the chain!

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

struth
06-01-2019, 19:26
Sounds like a good test for the pi. I've got 2. Both on volumio and mostly driven wireless ly from my laptop running audirvana. I have worth trying that out as with pc doing a chunk of the processing up scaling it etc the pi runs really well

Bigman80
06-01-2019, 19:36
Sounds like a good test for the pi. I've got 2. Both on volumio and mostly driven wireless ly from my laptop running audirvana. I have worth trying that out as with pc doing a chunk of the processing up scaling it etc the pi runs really well

I am not ready for that yet Grant, My mind isn't fully compliant with how it all works. I will get there though.

Bigman80
06-01-2019, 19:38
Sounds like a good day. I keep meaning to look into PIs, but I still can't get my head around how they work within the chain!

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

They are actually easier than i thought. A few folks here are more capable than me at guiding on this subject.

Crackles
06-01-2019, 19:43
They are actually easier than i thought. A few folks here are more capable than me at guiding on this subject.Someone explained it to me in detail at Kegworth last year, but I then went home and forgot everything they said [emoji16].

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

struth
06-01-2019, 19:47
Need to get head round wifi but other than that it's not much different to any computer or smartphone. It has an os then you feed it music and it feeds the stereo

Bigman80
06-01-2019, 19:57
You can do the WiFi via the Volumio setup I believe.

struth
06-01-2019, 20:05
Yup. I it's just getting used to how it all just works once set that folk often struggle to get. It's a bit of a leap of technology for many initially but if you stick with it you score

Bigman80
06-01-2019, 20:10
Yup. I it's just getting used to how it all just works once set that folk often struggle to get. It's a bit of a leap of technology for many initially but if you stick with it you scoreI'll be setting one up from scratch soon so I might do a total beginner guide!

Macca
06-01-2019, 20:17
Still confident that when the SLP1200 arrives it will beat the pie thingamajig. :D

struth
06-01-2019, 20:19
Volumio is pretty idiot proof now as is moode. They were a bit trickier before. You should have no probs

Bigman80
06-01-2019, 20:24
Still confident that when the SLP1200 arrives it will beat the pie thingamajig. :DI don't know mate. The Pi may well be beefed up with a Linear PSU and maybe even some heavy DAC artillery.

[emoji6]

Bigman80
06-01-2019, 20:25
Volumio is pretty idiot proof now as is moode. They were a bit trickier before. You should have no probsFingers crossed. I went for the pi 3+. Built in WiFi etc.

brian2957
06-01-2019, 20:31
I'll be setting one up from scratch soon so I might do a total beginner guide!

Yup , that would be good mate :)

Bigman80
06-01-2019, 20:34
Yup , that would be good mate :)Who better to do it than a total beginner lol.

Ok, I'll do it!

brian2957
06-01-2019, 20:40
The Pi has always interested me Oli , however , I'm a total computer numpty :) I'm actually quite surprised that you're raving about it considering the quality of your vinyl system and the fact that you have always seemed to be a ' dyed in the wool ' vinyl man . It must be good :)

struth
06-01-2019, 20:44
The Pi has always interested me Oli , however , I'm a total computer numpty :) I'm actually quite surprised that you're raving about it considering the quality of your vinyl system and the fact that you have always seemed to be a ' dyed in the wool ' vinyl man . It must be good :)Not really heard mine Brian. Mind u it's better now than it was. Got another change Coming too. Soon [emoji776]

brian2957
06-01-2019, 20:47
You're on my mind for a visit mate . Things keep getting in the way unfortunately :rolleyes:

Bigman80
06-01-2019, 21:25
The Pi has always interested me Oli , however , I'm a total computer numpty :) I'm actually quite surprised that you're raving about it considering the quality of your vinyl system and the fact that you have always seemed to be a ' dyed in the wool ' vinyl man . It must be good :)

Ah, well, lets not get ahead of ourselves here.

Raving about the Pi because it deserves it is the right thing to do, but you'll notice i haven't made any any comparison to the Vinyl side.

The Vinyl still outperforms this by a length. A good length that couldn't be beaten for less than 5 grands worth of digital. I am totally convinced of that.

The Pi i will put together costs less than 100 quid as some of it is used but its beaten a 1300 quid CD player and pretty much anything else i've heard here on the digital side. Id love to put a top version of this up against a top DaC and see what happens but make no mistake, vinyl is still king!

STD305M
06-01-2019, 21:41
Hi Oliver
Great day mate....
That pi thing was a real revelation, it was shockingly good.
Cant believe just how good.
Ive ordered the first bit, the Pi 3 model B Plus.
Just need the next bit then i need someone to tell me how to use the bloody thing.

Still no match for your techie mate, it was sheer bliss listening to it through the Krell.
Best tracks listened to were the re mastered queen album and the Albert King, Born under a bad sign.
I had goose bumps from head to toe.
Your system is particularly good but that Krell is in another world mate.

Steve..

I need a hat or something for the pi, if anyone has one Pm me......

Bigman80
06-01-2019, 21:49
Hi Oliver
Great day mate....
That pi thing was a real revelation, it was shockingly good.
Cant believe just how good.
Ive ordered the first bit, the Pi 3 model B Plus.
Just need the next bit then i need someone to tell me how to use the bloody thing.

Still no match for your techie mate, it was sheer bliss listening to it through the Krell.
Best tracks listened to were the re mastered queen album and the Albert King, Born under a bad sign.
I had goose bumps from head to toe.
Your system is particularly good but that Krell is in another world mate.

Steve..

I need a hat or something for the pi, if anyone has one Pm me......

The Krell is the key to everything. Honestly. That and the DCB1 have made all the difference here.

Glad you enjoyed it mate.

Bigman80
06-01-2019, 21:52
Still confident that when the SLP1200 arrives it will beat the pie thingamajig. :D

Maybe it will, or...........lol

mikmas
06-01-2019, 22:38
I need a hat or something for the pi, if anyone has one Pm me......

I have one of these in a drawer you can have for nowt, basically the same as an ES9023 model Audiophonics was selling but got it direct from China for peanuts.
Tested and used on a RPi 2b and recognised by Moode as an Audiophonics HAT. Good little board that'll get you started while you get the hang of it and research prices ;)
PM with address if interested and I'll pop it in the post.

https://www.teradak.com/uploadfile/image/20141004/20141004215071687168.jpg

https://www.teradak.com/products/103.html

Marco
06-01-2019, 22:57
The Pi has always interested me Oli , however , I'm a total computer numpty :) I'm actually quite surprised that you're raving about it considering the quality of your vinyl system and the fact that you have always seemed to be a ' dyed in the wool ' vinyl man . It must be good :)

Ahem... Another very happy RPi user here, with a "quality vinyl system"...;)

Ollie, glad your day went well and you guys had some fun. It's quite interesting following your audio journey, making 'new discoveries' many of us here have made some time ago, and also arriving at the same conclusions about it that we did!:D

Btw, the Pi really comes alive with a linear PSU attached and used with as good a DAC as you can afford. It also helps if the hard drives supplying it with music files are running off their own dedicated linear PSU - I've found that this also improves SQ.

Marco.

P.S Tell Macca to stop being such a CDP fanboy/dinosaur, and embrace the (very worthwhile) joys of streaming!!:ner:

struth
06-01-2019, 23:25
As Marco says there is many ways to peel an orange. The new stuff just gets better imo. The new WiFi headphones I'm using are a case in point. Learn your heari g and adaotyso you get it perfect the way its supposed to be.
I was sceptical at first but, I hey I'm won over. Rpi tech just gets better as does pc audio.

Macca
06-01-2019, 23:40
P.S Tell Macca to stop being such a CDP fanboy/dinosaur, and embrace the (very worthwhile) joys of streaming!!:ner:

There will be a bake off and then we shall see. :D

Anyway I'm sure you've said in the past that your Sony RS still has the edge over your streaming Pie?

Marco
06-01-2019, 23:59
Yes, but at some cost! And (musically) it's probably only about 10% better... £5k versus less than £1k. Go figure;)

And the Pi gives me access to about 25,000 albums that the Sony doesn't.......

Marco.

P.S. Oh, and a "streaming pie" conjures up some rather unpleasant images I'd rather not consider before going to bed.

Light Dependant Resistor
07-01-2019, 06:00
P.S. And a "streaming pie" conjures up some rather unpleasant images I'd rather not consider before going to bed.
But rather have them disappear, maybe write their description down for the benefit of Three Word's Daily.

STD305M
07-01-2019, 11:08
I have one of these in a drawer you can have for nowt, basically the same as an ES9023 model Audiophonics was selling but got it direct from China for peanuts.
Tested and used on a RPi 2b and recognised by Moode as an Audiophonics HAT. Good little board that'll get you started while you get the hang of it and research prices ;)
PM with address if interested and I'll pop it in the post.

https://www.teradak.com/uploadfile/image/20141004/20141004215071687168.jpg

https://www.teradak.com/products/103.html

Pm sent