emcdade

Responses from emcdade

Focal Sopra 2's vs Titron GoldenEar Reference speakers
The Sopra 2’s aren’t bright; that would be your crappy electronics and poor setup.   
Windows in a listening room
I’d rather listen in a normal room with light and windows that is comfortable vs. an audio dungeon any day of the week. 
Computer to DAC Streamer
Go over to Computer Audiophile.  A lot of people here have no idea how this stuff even works, as evidenced by the comments so far.  Laughable to me that people would assume the junk network streamer thrown into a Directstream DAC is better than an... 
Anything wrong with PS Audio DirectStream DACs?
A do-it-all FPGA or chip in a DAC is far from "ideal" in my opinion for several reasons:First, they are resource constrained compared to the processing even a modest and cheap PC (that is leveraging economies of scale) can do.  You can get far mor... 
Anything wrong with PS Audio DirectStream DACs?
Yes Lilchris I’m totally sponsored.I’m waiting for my full set of HV series T+A gear to show up any day now after that sick post on Audiogon.Fostex is throwing in some TH 909’s as well!  😉I think PS Audio is a great company but I’m just being real... 
Anything wrong with PS Audio DirectStream DACs?
My experience with the Directstream DAC:Out of the box it feels a little cheap.  There's a glossy top with a ho-hum chassis and a touchscreen that even looks dated compared to a Wal Mart credit card reader.  It's definitely showing its age.The sou... 
Who is using their DAC as a preamp?
Disagree George, the DAC volume control is just as likely to influence the sound as the standalone preamp.  Practically guaranteed at the current juncture. 
Who is using their DAC as a preamp?
And yes, that is the preamp I have.The one for sale on there is a dealer demo from Audio Archon, one of their dealers.No idea what you mean by “already??” 
Who is using their DAC as a preamp?
The fact you are arguing with me about it is absolutely hilarious, and frankly speaks volumes.I don’t post here often as you do, but going forward I’ll know whose posts to take with a giant grain of salt.Another case of Mr. forum poster knowing al... 
Who is using their DAC as a preamp?
George,First of all, Perla's new preamp has both active and passive inputs.  Considering I own it and am not going off an out-dated website, I SHOULD KNOW.Secondly, Vishay makes melf resistors.Here's a link:   https://www.vishay.com/resistors-fi... 
Who is using their DAC as a preamp?
I have a T+A DAC 8 DSD.  It has a fully discrete, analog volume control that even uses a vishay resistor ladder.  My preamp is the Perla Audio Maestro which has both active and passive inputs.  It too has a resistor ladder volume control.Surprisin... 
Streamer upgrade recommendations
I find that if you don’t want to shell out $500 to power a router that the Ifi audio super low noise switch mode wall warts are fantastic and $50. They measure better than cheap LPSU’s too. 
High resolution digital is dead. The best DAC's killed it.
@gosta  All local files and streams including Tidal, etc. are first converted to DSD 512 on my server PC before heading to my Windows 10 streamer and finally through the DAC 8 DSD chipless converter.  As long as you have server horsepower, you can... 
Speaker Setup.....
Can’t say this would be my preferred method, especially for digital playback.  I’d rather set up the speakers symmetrically and then use Roon DSP to tweak the balance or to tame a room mode under 200hz.  I think you’ll get better imaging and sound... 
Isoacoustics Gaia Speaker Footers
Tried to install Gaia 1’s under my Sopras but they didn’t work out for me.  The carpet spikes are very short and could not penetrate a frieze carpet with a nice pad underneath.  I couldn’t get them stable no matter what I tried.  Also their leveli...