Well, I managed to find a CD and LP that are definitely from the same analogue master - Dead Can Dance's 1985 album 'Spleen and Ideal'. This is definitely NOT an 'audiophile demonstration disc', but good enough for the purpose. I digitized track 8 Avatar at 16/44.1 using my PMII. The LP 16/44.1 is clearly better than the CD rip. Paul (Scroobius) was here for a short while today and he preferred the LP 16/44.1 too (both played back on XX with double-octo AP).

Virtually every LP I play back on my turntable sounds totally superb. Really. But I don't have it connected up to my main system - I play back on AKG K-1000 headphones powered by a pair of Bert's BD30-SPR amps.

When I have more time (not this week) I will try to find more CDs and LPs produced from the same master and record more 16/44.1 files. If the same differences are there, I'll have to respectfully disagree with Peter and assume he hasn't heard a really good turntable set up. Mine is not the most expensive, but I've taken an inordinate amount of time to set it up probably.

Oh, I'll try to upload the two Dead Can Dance files up onto a file sharing site. Not the best recordings or music, but just so that you can listen for yourself. Will try to do this this week sometime.

Mani.

Hi Joachim, yes I have one of these too and clean all of my LPs before playing. All I have to do now is get down to serious digitizing. (But at least it hasn't taken me 7+ years to do this!)

Mani.

Hey thanks for sharing Peter (and for sharing your experience too Alain). Well, I've had my turntable set up in my little basement 'studio' for a while now but haven't actually gotten around to doing any recording yet. But your post has got me motivated. I'll see if I can get myself downstairs this evening and do something. I'll then be happy to share the file(s) if anyone's interested.

Mani.

Ahum... That looks PAINFUL!

If it's any consolation, I do pay 35 EUR per month just for my internet connection. I guess this is considerably more than most people pay (in Europe, at least).

Mani.

Hi VJ, I'm definitely interested in giving it a go. I've sent you a PM...

Cheers, Mani.

Old topic, I know, but I thought I'd share the (slow) progress we're making here in the UK with improving internet speeds. My download speed has improved quite a bit, but my upload speed remains pretty much the same as 3 years ago.

Mani.

Hey Peter, what can I say? Thanks so much for insisting on getting it right before sending my Blaxius cables out to me. Definitely a beer or two on me the next time we meet up, OK?

Cheers, Mani.

Paul, you're welcome of course. (We can liaise via PM to sort this out.)

Cheers, Mani.

I do, but maybe not for much longer. I don't like what they've done to the sound. I think they are compressing it and making it grayer.

My LF Bybees have been in for a while now. My MF and HF Bybees only for a couple of weeks. I remember Paul saying that they take quite a while to burn-in, so I'll keep them in for longer and see what happens. But at some point I will definitely take them all out (the LF will be a PITA) to see what affect they've been having.

Mani.

Very, very wise Joachim.

(Sometimes I wonder whether I'm just going around in circles - sure, even small things change the sound, but I can't always say it's for the better. Once I reach the point where I can say "the SQ is really great", I will make further changes only with great consideration. Not quite there yet, but I have a feeling I will be soon with some ideas I have.)

Mani.

I compared my H+S cables to the Blaxius cables using my 75B, and...

Well, as I expected, the H+S cables do indeed sound a little brighter. But I'm not sure this is down to extra or extended HF. Rather, I think it's because of less LF (especially ultra-LF) energy. They also seem to give instruments and voices a slight edge, which makes them appear sharper and more focused. Overall, I prefer the Blaxius cables. They have that magic quality of smoothness along with detail... just like real life. Is this down to fewer cable reflections? Maybe.

But I don't want to give the impression that I think I'm at the end of my 'hifi journey'. I'm not. It's obvious to me that although my system is now making some beautiful noises it wouldn't fool anyone into thinking it's the real thing. I think I've still got some more work to do on the electrics, the PC, and of course the bloody USB cable issue that seems to be haunting us still. But I'm really happy with the Orelo speakers and the 75B... and totally stoked that I can use 10m Blaxius interconnects (without any loss in quality), keeping my listening room free from the usual hifi clutter.

So a massive thanks to Joachim for broaching this subject in the first place, and for Peter for taking things forward to their natural conclusion.

Mani.

Well, I've just downloaded and installed the latest version of HQP and I can't get it to work at all. 1-wire, 2-wire, no upsampling, upsampling, etc, etc. It just doesn't seem to work with the NOS1a. I'm sure the last time I tried it was before the NOS1a upgrade. Is there something up with the Windows NOS1a driver (or the XX engine that we're using with the NOS1a)?

Mani.

Previously, Jussi has always included 3 versions of HQPlayer in each download/install: Desktop, ASIO and NAA. The Desktop version is simply WASAPI. In both the ASIO and NAA versions, the '2-wire' checkbox in the settings area is grayed out. But I know Jussi has made some changes recently and there's only a single version of HQP now, with the option of selecting the output between WASAPI, ASIO and NAA. Perhaps the '2-wire' checkbox is no longer grayed out, giving the impression that it is active for ASIO and NAA? I don't know as I don't have the latest version of HQP. And of course, I'm only talking about the Windows version.

Mani.

Haha...

Well, I had the NOS1a/H+S hooked up to the Orelos for a few weeks before the 75B/Blaxius came back and am quite familiar with the sound. The only difference now would be the BNC connectors on the Orelos. Assuming the BNC connectors in the Orelos aren't making a massive difference, I can already give you a take on the difference in sound between the two setups: it's as I described it earlier in this thread. Let me know if you need any more details though.

What I really need to do is compare the H+S and Blaxius cables, both using the 75B. This might give some insights into whether Peter's 'reflections' hypothesis is true or not.

Mani.

Edit: Yes, my H+S cables are the 'expensive' solid silver-coated copper version; model K_03252D.

 

Hey Peter, yep it definitely works. But you have to use WASAPI - ASIO only does single wire.

I haven't tried it for quite a while, but can do so easily if you'd like me to.

HTH.

Mani.