Greetings from a Spaniard in the UK

[jpolsan]

Hi all,

Hope you're all well. Just introducing myself a little bit. I am a Spaniard that has been living in the UK for quite a few years now (and no intention of going back despite of Brexit! )
I work in the media industry as a Broadcast and Audio engineer - so I should know about the technicalities of audio, right?

I have finally managed to put down some roots in a fixed place after some years of roaming, so I have just finished putting together a decent-ish audio system for the living room. What I've got at the moment:

• Turntable: This is the very latest addition to the list, a direct drive JVC L-A31 from the 80s that I bought second-hand from eBay and have serviced/restored myself. Pretty decent for a starter like me!
• Cartridge: I purchased a Goldring E3 but I have just been trying a JVC Z4S with an elliptical stylus made by Jico, a Z3ED and it's surprising me a lot, I think I like it even better than the Goldring!
• Amplifier: A Teac A-H300 mkIII. I use it to play all my sources through it and it is really decent and honest, plus packs a good punch for something that little!
• Tuner: A Hama DIT2010MBT Pro - It features FM/DAB/DAB+/Internet Radio/Bluetooth connection. Again, pretty decent piece of equipment for the price
• Cassette Player: Yep, still using one of those! This is a Teac R-H500 Reference 500
• Computer playback: I use a little Windows 10 PC connected to my own SAN to play movies and all my music collection, hi-res or not. I make all the audio go through a Presonus AudioBox iOne USB audio interface or a MOTU 4PRE when I have to record. I run them at 96 kHz/24 bit most of the time for all my music and movies and it goes to one of my amp inputs.
• Loudspeakers: This is pretty unconvential, but I don't have HiFi speakers - I love using studio monitors (I still mix audio) because they are supposed to be flat. I own a pair of passive Tannoy Precision 601P, powered by the amp of course. They have plenty of controlled, tight bass for my taste and detailed enough highs
• Headphones: At home I use the Sennheiser HD650s, and I also restored/serviced some really cool looking AKG K140 s from the late 70s. They feature in the "Atomic Blonde" movie and they look awesome but they are not easy to drive from a mobile from with their meaty 600 Ohms!

In terms of the music I like, I have been heavily playing jazz and classical music on vinyl for the last months. However, my other passions are funk, Motown soul, classic rock and roll, some bits of indie rock and a little bit of nu-soul, electronica and old school hip-hop from time to time.

Hoping to contribute to some constructive discussions and share experiences here!
All the best,
JP

[struth]

Good intro Jorge. Welcome to the site.. hope you enjoy it and join in

[jpolsan]

Thanks Grant, will enjoy it! All the best to you too!

[AJSki2fly]

Hi Jorge

Great intro, lots to talk about on here. I had a look at your Hama DIT2010MBT Pro as I had not heard of it and it looks like a very nice piece of kit at a reasonable price. I have often thought about getting another Tuner, but since going down the digital streaming route recently with a RaspberryPi/HifiBerry S/PDIF into a DAC its a bit negated now.

The https://theartofsound.net/forum/show...t-Now-(Part-3) thread is quite interesting as sometimes music you have not heard of pops up that people recommend. There are similar threads for Jazz and Classical.

Cheers

[jpolsan]

Hi Jorge

Great intro, lots to talk about on here. I had a look at your Hama DIT2010MBT Pro as I had not heard of it and it looks like a very nice piece of kit at a reasonable price. I have often thought about getting another Tuner, but since going down the digital streaming route recently with a RaspberryPi/HifiBerry S/PDIF into a DAC its a bit negated now.

Thanks for that - I can definitely recommend the Hama tuner. As far as tuners go and with the limited bitrate of DAB and DAB+ it sounds as good as it can get. Internet Radio is another story: there are some audiophile streams at 320 Kbps compressed MP3 that sound fantastic, miles ahead of any other station and without dynamic compression! Can definitely recommend that

Do you use Spotify Premium in high bitrate as a streaming platform or something else?
Thanks!

[AJSki2fly]

Thanks for that - I can definitely recommend the Hama tuner. As far as tuners go and with the limited bitrate of DAB and DAB+ it sounds as good as it can get. Internet Radio is another story: there are some audiophile streams at 320 Kbps compressed MP3 that sound fantastic, miles ahead of any other station and without dynamic compression! Can definitely recommend that

Do you use Spotify Premium in high bitrate as a streaming platform or something else?
Thanks!

I use Tidal either through Volumio(runs on the RPI) or in Audirvana on MacBook connected to RPI/Hifiberry. I use Volumio mainly for casual listening, radio stations and playlists, Audirvana as it enables upscaling to DSD, and also will software unfold MQA.

In case you don't have them the BBC 320kbps are below

and also a link to another very useful list of hi-res radio stations

http://radiobit.50webs.com


BBC Radio 1
http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live...radio_one.m3u8

BBC Radio 1Xtra
http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live...bbc_1xtra.m3u8

BBC Radio 2
http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live...radio_two.m3u8

BBC Radio 3
http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live...dio_three.m3u8

BBC Radio 4
http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live...io_fourfm.m3u8

BBC Radio 4LW
http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live...io_fourlw.m3u8

BBC Radio 4 Extra
http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live...our_extra.m3u8

BBC Radio 5 Live
http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live...five_live.m3u8

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra
http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live...rts_extra.m3u8

BBC Radio 6 Music
http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live...bc_6music.m3u8

BBC Asian Network
http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live...n_network.m3u8

[jpolsan]

Thanks for the list, this is fantastic!! FLAC radio streams, that'll come in handy for those long night shifts at work!

[southall-1998_mk2]

Welcome to AOS.

Sennheiser HD650 are lovely headphones. They never offend my ears, can listen to them for long periods.

Have fun.

S.

[Hammer]

Welcome to AOS.

[jpolsan]

Hi S,
The HD650s are worth the money and lovely indeed, plus really comfortable as well. Not too heavy, they cup my ears just fine, the velour feel is really nice and they never fatigue when listening.
Detailed bass, neutral presentation (which is what I want)... can't get a lot better than that