Apple Snow Leopard.. A cheap hi-fi upgrade?

**DSJR** · 01-09-2009, 21:56

Originally Posted by lovejoy

I have the ability to tweak the voltage on my Beresford as I am using my own power supply with it. Whilst the PC sounded wonderful with the DAC at the standard 12V, it was only when I tweaked the voltage up to around 12.5 to 13V that the Mac could come anywhere near competing with it - again, both systems used optical connections.

I wonder what Stan would find if he was to measure the input sensitivity or rise-time of the digital inputs when the circuit is running at these two voltages??????

I doubt we'd have these troubles if what came out of the digital outs was a perfect squarewave shape.. I remember seeing the wave-form of some early players and they were awful - sloppy rise and tons of edgy ringing. No wonder early players had timing/jitter errors.....

**ultraviolet** · 01-09-2009, 22:30

I think Stans dac double buffers the input so jitter on individual bits would be effectively removed. I suspect the sound may be affected by a longer period drift (technically still jitter I think) of the clock on the sending device.

My PC had a high accuracy crystal controlling the SPDIF output which only worked at one frequency of 44.1 kHz. The mac on the other hand doesn't have this and can work at several different frequencies, derived from some master system clock presumably?

I would hypothesize that the higher voltage wasn't affecting the jitter on individual bits in the digital domain but was allowing for a higher slew rate on the analogue output op-amp, thus compensating for the sloppy SPDIF clock with a bit more oomph on the output. Or something like that

**lupo_yellow** · 02-09-2009, 14:43

Hi all,
I know I am new here, but I do have to agree with lovejoy. My music is being streamed to a Squeezebox Classic and I listen With Sennheiser 650's through Stans 7520 dac and I do think it sounds better than it did with the old Leopard.

**Beechwoods** · 02-09-2009, 15:19

Hi Lupo - being new doesn't mean you have duff ears! It's good to hear that Lovejoy's early reports are finding corroboration from other members

**Ammonite Audio** · 02-09-2009, 20:19

Originally Posted by webby

Shuggie, I'm sure there's something that can do this for you. I believe it's called Airfoil by Rogue Amoeba Software. Enjoy.

I upgraded to Snow Leopard today, without so much as a hiccup, let alone a snag. Also downloaded Airfoil to evaluate - it seems to work without any dramas, so thanks for the tip.

**SteveW** · 03-09-2009, 07:12

Originally Posted by Shuggie

I upgraded to Snow Leopard today, without so much as a hiccup, let alone a snag. Also downloaded Airfoil to evaluate - it seems to work without any dramas, so thanks for the tip.

The nice thing about Airfoil is that if you switch to 'system audio', it will stream anything thats on your computer, such as the BBC iplayer. Great for catching up on radio plays, specific programs etc. Of course it will stream Cog (to play FLAC), Spotify, etc etc.

Oh...and you can download Airfoil onto an ipod touch and pick up all the above.

**Marco** · 03-09-2009, 08:17

Well it seems that lovejoy/Rich is not the only one 'fooling himself' with Snow Leopard, eh Chippy?

http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=67905

That's not including all the good folks here too, of course, who've discovered the very same thing!

Remember what Einstein said - keep that mind open...

Marco.

**Spur07** · 03-09-2009, 09:02

Originally Posted by Marco

Well it seems that lovejoy/Rich is not the only one 'fooling himself' with Snow Leopard, eh Chippy?

http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=67905

That's not including all the good folks here too, of course, who've discovered the very same thing!

Remember what Einstein said - keep that mind open...

Marco.

Yeah, I've been keeping track of the PFM thread - I think there's a similar one on the Naim forum also.

**Marco** · 03-09-2009, 09:11

So many 'fools', so little time, eh?

Marco.

**Chippy_boy** · 04-09-2009, 13:26

Originally Posted by Marco

Well it seems that lovejoy/Rich is not the only one 'fooling himself' with Snow Leopard, eh Chippy?

Don't want to get drawn into an argument here Marco - it's not my thread.

But as you mention it, 2 people (or 3 or 4 or 504) doesn't convince me that any perceived improvement actually exists... which is really what my previous posts are all about.

I just don't buy the "learn to trust your ears" argument at all, given that our ears are pretty lousy sensors in any absolute sense.

If people start saying they tried A and then B and then A again in some blind tests and they could reliably tell the difference and A is clearly superior, then I completely accept that. But the "I think it sounded a bit better" comments I find interesting, but not definitive and conclusive proof.

It's not that I am a natural skeptic about everything. I fully accept that all speakers sound different, and amplifiers and pre-amps and turntables and cd players and cassette decks. Even cables. But when people start saying that a stream of bits sounds different to another stream of bits (with the same jitter) it's such an extraordinary claim imho, that before I am to be convinced of it, I need extraordinary proof.

As you indicated in a previous post, maybe these are the wrong forums for me. As a matter of interest, you keep banging on about having an open mind. Is your mind open to the possibility that perhaps people are fooling themselves? Seriously, is that even a possibility for you?

Thread: Apple Snow Leopard.. A cheap hi-fi upgrade?

Thread Tools

Display

Posting Permissions