Jimbos Audio ramblings

[Pigmy Pony]

Even if I could understand how all these boxes containing the next new thing in digital playback worked, and knew what to do when some part of it all decides to play silly buggers, I still don't want my lounge looking like a 70s Tandy storeroom.

A decent vinyl spinner and a competent CD player. That'll do for me

[struth]

i enjoyed my vinyl more than anything, although digital probably sounds better; but the hands on with vinyl is so much part of the appreciation of sounds, it cannot be dissed.
but, lack of movement meant it had to go and i have to say im pretty pleased with my digital stuff; my latest pick up of dap and balanced phones has, sonically surpassed where i was by a margin, and its portable too if i wish it..

[Jimbo]

Even if I could understand how all these boxes containing the next new thing in digital playback worked, and knew what to do when some part of it all decides to play silly buggers, I still don't want my lounge looking like a 70s Tandy storeroom.

A decent vinyl spinner and a competent CD player. That'll do for me

Keep it simple I say.

[Jimbo]

i enjoyed my vinyl more than anything, although digital probably sounds better; but the hands on with vinyl is so much part of the appreciation of sounds, it cannot be dissed.
but, lack of movement meant it had to go and i have to say im pretty pleased with my digital stuff; my latest pick up of dap and balanced phones has, sonically surpassed where i was by a margin, and its portable too if i wish it..

What DAP are you using Grant and can you use it in your system aswell?

[Jimbo]

Already on the market, just download the software to your laptop:

Brilliant Martin - just the ticket!

[Macca]

Brilliant Martin - just the ticket!

you can get non-comedy ones too I think. Just a download. I don't think it will do what you want to do to digital (I'm really not sure what you want to do ) but might be worth a try if only out of interest?

[Jimbo]

you can get non-comedy ones too I think. Just a download. I don't think it will do what you want to do to digital (I'm really not sure what you want to do ) but might be worth a try if only out of interest?

You never know, folk are doing allsorts of bonkers things nowadays to get the most out of digital!

[Barry]

Even if I could understand how all these boxes containing the next new thing in digital playback worked, and knew what to do when some part of it all decides to play silly buggers, I still don't want my lounge looking like a 70s Tandy storeroom.

A decent vinyl spinner and a competent CD player. That'll do for me

I have eight 'boxes' next to my TT (SUT; RIAA equalisation amp; tuner; preamp; CD player; DAC, balanced/unbalanced converter, plus necessary power supplies). So whilst it doesn't look like a Tandy store, it does look a bit like the corner of a laboratory.

And if I were to include the graphic equaliser and a tape machine, then it would look more like the corner of a recording studio.

[Jimbo]

Whilst setting up my system yesterday I decided to look at removing the bass suck out that occurs in the room in my usual seating position. I know its there as the Heco speakers sound bass lite in my listening position and I know they are capable of 20Hz in the low end so I decided to follow the advice from the Real Traps site information which suggests sitting 38% away from the front or rear wall to the speaker position which avoids bass nodes. So I moved my listening position 2-3 feet forward and the transformation was remarkable, a bit like moving your chair out of the shade and into the sun. It was that dramatic.

Now I know this was possibly the case as I have evaluated my room and moved myself or the speakers before but the positioning requires me to leave the speakers 50cm from the front wall where they sound best but it does mean I have had to move quite a distance forward to reach this optimum position. Not only is the bass massively improved , almost like switching it off and then on, so too is the whole dynamic soundstage and imaging characteristics. The room treatment is still doing its thing but I have found the listening position which eliminates bass suck out. Fantastic .

BUT it is not really practical for everyday set up of the room as it positions my sofa adjacent to my wood burner so yes I can now enjoy the full range and dynamic nature of the Heco speakers at the expense of going up in flames! So really it is only suitable when I don't light the burner which is about 8 months of the year.

Tonights listening session should be fun with my guest. Planning to do a digital session then swap to vinyl. I wonder which he is going to prefer especially as I have bigged up my vinyl set up for ages now and he is coming to hear the truth.

[Jimbo]

Good fun the other evening with my music guest. Always refreshing to get the perspective from a fresh pair of ears, especially someone who has a very wide and deep appreciation of music. His preferred listening is usually to the live thing and so a HIFI system is almost a second best. Also good to get someone here listening who is not a Forum keyboard warrior like myself or an Audiofool (like myself) but just someone with a great understanding and huge experience of music. His preferred route is now digital and indeed he uses a bluenode 2 and has a fairly decent system but his interest is 99% music and 1% audio equipment which is a ratio that many of us would be uncomfortable with??

So we kicked off with some digital music or should I say we tried too but alas the digital gremlins struck again and trying to get my phone to talk to my laptop to talk to my DDC and then to my DAC failed - AGAIN! Funny since I had been listening to the system all afternoon! After half an hour of fiddling sound came out of the speakers. Having had this issue a number of times now and other digital hiccups I have now identified and resolved the problem. It was a poor USB C - USB B cable. Who says cables don't matter!?. I have purchased something much better and the digital gremlins have been banished!

Back to the music and we proceeded with a range of material chosen to highlight the best digital can do. To be honest the system sounded great and my guest commented. "WHY would you need anything else". After an hour of great music and some decent sound I felt nervous, only for a second, to move onto some vinyl.
I played one track and it was game over. My friends face said it all but he couldn't speak. His head was shaking in disbelief which reminded me of my own experience going back to vinyl in 2015.