Computer Audio

[RussL]

Thanks again guys but not thinking along the lines of an Uberbuss; thinking more along the lines of a PS Audio Duet or something similar.  Four isolated outlets, possibly single point grounded within, for the four devices.  Printer and monitor plugged in elsewhere.

From an engineering standpoint I've found single point grounding to be very important.  A difference in ground potential amongst components equates to an (unwanted) signal. Very bad for ones music listening.

Russ

[RussL]

Exadevices USB sound card will output DXD and DFF, so you can play your ripped SACD tracks in native DSD format from PC to the DAC via I2S.
http://www.exadevices.com/

Richidoo- I have an extensive collection of SACDs.  I'm planning on ripping the redbook layer of the SACDs to my music library and keep playing the stereo and multichannel layer of the SACDs on my Sony SCD-XA5400ES.

But you mention ripping SACDs.  I did not know that was possible.  How do you do that?  And the only DAC I know of that accepts I2S is the PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC.

Russ

[shadowlight]

Exadevices USB sound card will output DXD and DFF, so you can play your ripped SACD tracks in native DSD format from PC to the DAC via I2S.
http://www.exadevices.com/

Richidoo- I have an extensive collection of SACDs.  I'm planning on ripping the redbook layer of the SACDs to my music library and keep playing the stereo and multichannel layer of the SACDs on my Sony SCD-XA5400ES.

But you mention ripping SACDs.  I did not know that was possible.  How do you do that?  And the only DAC I know of that accepts I2S is the PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC.

Russ

Russ, to rip sacd as dsd file you need a ps3 that has sacd support with firmware version at 3.55 or below and sacd ripping software on a PC or Mac and PS3.  You also need a Dac that supports dsd to play back the rips.

If you want your sacd ripped as dsd files and do not have the ps3 I can rip them for you.  Each sacd takes about 4gb of disk space as ISO files and if you save it as individual song all the song combined is about the same for the sacd disk.  The couple of sacd that I have ripped I save them in both format.  In case the individual files are corrupted I can regenerate them for the ISO file without reripping them on the ps3.

[richidoo]

Twisted Pear Buffalo3 DAC accepts I2S input, but that is DIY. The exadevices output card + Buffalo made a powerful combo, but exasound's own consumer DACs do a better job in every way for less money than DIY, so they discontinued the exa card. fwiw I'd buy the Exa DAC before Meitner.

All about ripping SACDs:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=95396.0
Last I checked it was still pretty bleeding edge, but working on making it easier.

I personally have been spinning CDs and vinyls lately since my Vista laptop's networking is borked preventing me from connecting to my NAS and from controlling Sonos. I kind of enjoy the simplicity of it, and the commitment to the entire work of art that is a CD - at least for those CDs that actually are a work of art.   

[mfsoa]

Russ,

Carefully evaluate the ripping software you plan on using. I thought (or was able to convince myself) that dbPoweramp rips sounded quite a bit better than EAC rips.  And I like, or simply have gotten used to, the burner program associated w/ db. No turnin back now bud...

-Mike

[RussL]

Using iTunes to do the ripping.  Ripping the CDs at 44.1 with error correction enabled.  Will add Pure Music or one of the other music players that sit on top of iTunes for playback.

Everyone has their own ripping favorite, and their own playback favorite.  And, typically, they say it sounds better than... any of the other programs. 

So going Apple all the way.

Russ

[mfsoa]

Now I didn't say better than any of the other programs now, did I

I would encourage experimentation before committing, esp. with the overwhehmingly poor reputation iTunes has as a music player.  I don't know its rep as a ripper though.

Personally I swore off Apple for my music software when I tried to put a song from my PC onto my kid's ipod.  Nope, Steve wanted me to delete the entire ipod contents before I dared put something on there from a - oh no - I can't believe someone would have the balls to do this - a DIFFERENT COMPUTER!  But Steve knows what I need more than I do I guess 

[Lissnr]

 Hi Russ,Congrats with the brave adventure. I agree with Bill that "Someday I'll get there" when it's ultra simplified, ultra reliable AND absolutely does NOT replace sound quality with convenience.
So far, in my experience every person I've spoken with about computer audio has raved about the convenience factor (once the initial configuration/installation is complete)...Being able to access such extensive libraries of music (especially when we're talking terrabytes! of it stored in [a] separate hard drive(s)...) is so addicting you become immediately hooked on it. I get it...music - at - your - fingertips like that is positively habit forming. I've tried it too and also became instantly lured in to that facet of it, no more swapping discs, no more cleaning records...the appeal is obvious in that regard but...(isn't there always a butt!) to me,the price to pay has always been an inferiority of sound quality to some extent. Some extent. Sometimes it's only marginal, only subtle, almost indiscernible...but discernible it was...sometimes it's obviously apparent and I've often felt somewhat "on the spot" when I wasn't comfortable pointing it out to some proud system owner...so i just kept my true opinion to myself (unless really really pushed for a fully truthful assessment)...
I'm probably in the minority these days considering how many rag reviewers are almost exclusively computer linked now...not to mention so many computer based sources at so many audio shows...all of whom are talking ultra high resolution ... high bit rates...DSD, etc... I get it, and I'm really happy for them.
 When it also means the evolution of [the above] "simpler" "more reliable" AND obvious...OBVIOUS...consistently improved sound quality is also a 'given'...then O.K.! It will then be the legitimate birth of another new SUPERIOR format with the added benefit of improved user friendliness as an added bonus to the [absolutely inarguable] improvement in sound quality.
Meantime my mint condition Logitech Squeezebox Touch with upgraded external power supply (and OBM) that worked remarkably well (and was "practically indiscernible" from my transport...) has been sitting there doing nothing for months and months...guess I should turn it into cash... But boy that convenience factor darn it!!!!
Anyway, it 'sounds like' (Pun?) we're pretty close? Forge ahead Russ! and keep us updated! G.

[rollo]

Thanks again guys but not thinking along the lines of an Uberbuss; thinking more along the lines of a PS Audio Duet or something similar.  Four isolated outlets, possibly single point grounded within, for the four devices.  Printer and monitor plugged in elsewhere.

From an engineering standpoint I've found single point grounding to be very important.  A difference in ground potential amongst components equates to an (unwanted) signal. Very bad for ones music listening.

Russ

   Russ the Uberbuss has star grounding. The PS Audio colors the sound.


charles

[RussL]

Charles- the Uberbuss costs almost as much as the mini.

Russ

[rollo]

Charles- the Uberbuss costs almost as much as the mini.

Russ

  You get what you pay for. There is a good reason it is the most used PC at the shows.
    Anyway our club members never pay list price. 



charles

[melgross]

Exadevices USB sound card will output DXD and DFF, so you can play your ripped SACD tracks in native DSD format from PC to the DAC via I2S.
http://www.exadevices.com/

Richidoo- I have an extensive collection of SACDs.  I'm planning on ripping the redbook layer of the SACDs to my music library and keep playing the stereo and multichannel layer of the SACDs on my Sony SCD-XA5400ES.

But you mention ripping SACDs.  I did not know that was possible.  How do you do that?  And the only DAC I know of that accepts I2S is the PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC.

Russ

Russ, to rip sacd as dsd file you need a ps3 that has sacd support with firmware version at 3.55 or below and sacd ripping software on a PC or Mac and PS3.  You also need a Dac that supports dsd to play back the rips.

If you want your sacd ripped as dsd files and do not have the ps3 I can rip them for you.  Each sacd takes about 4gb of disk space as ISO files and if you save it as individual song all the song combined is about the same for the sacd disk.  The couple of sacd that I have ripped I save them in both format.  In case the individual files are corrupted I can regenerate them for the ISO file without reripping them on the ps3.

Heh. I was going to so this a year ago. I looked through EBay for a couple of months. But it's almost impossible to find a player that hadn't been upgraded, and you can't go back. Even then, it's a complex process. You need to upload and install another OS, then the ripping software, all Linux based. So for those not familiar with all of this, it's not recommended.

But you can't find the proper player anyway, so it hardly matters. Sony had promised me that they would begin multichannel SACD downloads when the problems had been solved, but they haven't been yet, so when that will happen is anyone's guess.

[shadowlight]

Heh. I was going to so this a year ago. I looked through EBay for a couple of months. But it's almost impossible to find a player that hadn't been upgraded, and you can't go back. Even then, it's a complex process. You need to upload and install another OS, then the ripping software, all Linux based. So for those not familiar with all of this, it's not recommended.

But you can't find the proper player anyway, so it hardly matters. Sony had promised me that they would begin multichannel SACD downloads when the problems had been solved, but they haven't been yet, so when that will happen is anyone's guess.

It does take 15 to 20 minutes for initial setup but once it is up and running it works very well.  What I have been doing is running the ps3 as sacd ripping server and login onto my desktop which also is my music server and running the ripper software there.  I rip it to ISO and than pull individual files out in DSF.  Just need to start visiting Princeton Record Exchange more often so I can start up my SACD collection.

User "Northeastohiopcs" on computeraudiophile.com site does offer downgrade + mods (fix for bga) service.  My original PS3 is upgrade and when it starts to go I plan to do a downgrade.

[richidoo]

D, what firmware rev allows ripping? I want to check mine.

You direct connect it to your laptop by ethernet cable? Then the software makes it act like a peripheral to the PC?

[shadowlight]

D, what firmware rev allows ripping? I want to check mine.

You direct connect it to your laptop by ethernet cable? Then the software makes it act like a peripheral to the PC?

Rich,
The PS3 firmware needs to be 3.55 or lower.  If it is official 3.55 version you have to go through additional steps to get the software installed.  Once I got the correct firmware and ripping software on the ps3, I assigned a static ip address.  When I finished the basement I had run couple of network drops from the basement to family room and study (wish I had run couple of them to the 2nd floor  ).  All network switches ports are gig ports so the only.  On a laptop which has core 2 processor it is taking about 20 minutes to rip a cd, will try it on a new i5 system the next time I pickup sacd.

If you are unable to find the right ps3 and want to rip sacd's just send it along with a drive and I can rip them for you or anyone else that wants to do that.