Yep Stanley, I'm really happy with my cables too. Are they the best cables available? Dunno. If I suddenly became a billionaire tomorrow, I'd probably order a 10m pair of Tellurium Black Diamond balanced interconnects. But until that happens, at something like 1/50th of the cost of the Telluriums, the cables Juan had made up for me are staying. I simply cannot fault their sound.

I'd highly recommend anyone looking for very high value-for-money new cables to drop Juan a line.

Mani.

Hi Esau, apart from the pic I posted early on in this thread, most of my comments are about the NOS1a rather than the Orelo speakers. I decided that I wasn't going to post my thoughts on the speakers until after this weekend, when Nick and Scroobius had been over to have a listen.

What else can I say about the NOS1a that I haven't already? Well, I'd go as far as saying that it is the single piece of hifi that I wouldn't give up for anything at any price. It is the heart of my system and is the component that allows all the others to perform to their max.

Mani.

My wife is really excited. I have a totally different perspective. Growing up in England in the early '70s I experienced quite a bit or racism from uneducated idiots, many of whom would dress themselves up in the red and white England flag. Even though I was born and bred in this country, and really do love it to bits, I find it hard calling myself 'English' - 'British' yes, 'English' no. Anyway, since I was a little boy, I've always supported Brazil in the World Cup. I'm sure I was almost as gutted as any Brazilian back in 1982, to see such a wonderful team being humiliated by Paulo Rossi.

So, I really have no emotional connection to the England team. But for my wife's sake, and as retribution for what happened to Brazil in 1982, I hope England win.

Haha...

Mani.

Hey Juan, I forgot to reply to you. Yep, I'm using the cables you sent me. I think they're really good. I'm sure I've said it before - even at 10m length, they seem to have absolutely no detrimental effect on the sound. I'm very pleased with them, and for the money they were a steal.

Cheers, Mani.

This is a nice explanation for what I always felt of AP - the cleanest sounding filter I've ever heard, but ever so slightly lean low down.


No, it's a download direct from the Artist's website. I sent you the 24/44.1 version because it sounds so much better than my CD rip of the same song. I don't think this has anything to do with 16bit vs. 24bit. I've always thought that CD authoring is a bit hit 'n' miss, and my CD rip is a great example of a miss. I'll send this to you too so you can compare yourself when you have the time and/or inclination.


OK, will try.

So again, when's the new filter available for us to try?

Mani.

Great game. What the World Cup is all about.

Mani.

Thanks for the insight VJ. Very interesting stuff.


It's funny - I never seem to get listener fatigue on a mediocre system. Only on a 'pretty good' system. I think with the former, my brain knows immediately that it's a simple reproduction and doesn't even bother trying to make anything out of it. But on a good system, I think the brain is uncertain whether it's a reproduction or is real and therefore the extra processing kicks in. Of course, this is pure speculation on my part.

For their part, the Orelos are scarily real with some stuff.

Mani.

OK, let's go for track 3 (September) on 'Sephyra' by Artemis. I have the 24/44.1 FLAC which I've sent you a link for downloading.

This is a very clean recording. With 16x AP (yes, I still prefer double octo) it's a bit too lean low down. With some of the HQP filters, the balance is perfect... but the overall sound way too soft, with a clear softening of transients.

Mani.

I've just been playing around with HQPlayer. This is the only other player I'm aware of that allows up to 24/768 to be fed to the NOS1(a). What's really interesting about this player is that it has a bunch of filters and noise-shaping tools to try. With the NOS1a and the Orelo speakers, the different sounds of these filters is easily heard.

To cut a long story short, I still prefer the sound of XX's Arc Prediction to any of the filters in HQP. The two 'polynomial' filters in HQP have a similar sort of sound to AP, but not quite as 'full'. But some of the other filters in HQP have a lot more LF energy than AP, with a softer mid and high end. With the Orelos, this is quite nice though obviously not as accurate as AP.

I would love a filter that sounds essentially like AP, but that has a weightier (but still accurate) bottom end. So Peter, when's the new XX filter available?

Mani.

OK, final quick thought for now. If you have a NOS1 already and have not put yourself on the list for the NOS1a upgrade, do it right now. It's a total no-brainer.

Mani.

I'd really like to write something about the sound of the NOS1a. But what to write? The only thing that really jumps out is the sheer 'musicality'. I mean, instruments don't just sound 'clear' now (they did before) but actually very beautiful. They shimmer and resonate in sympathy to the music. Weirdly, I can almost see the colour and grain of their wood (or shine of their metal). I don't mean to say that these cues are embedded in the music - of course not. But it's almost as though my mind is now free of doing any unnecessary processing making sense of the sound and can rather drift and wonder about the other elements of the musical experience.

Sorry, probably not expressing myself very well.

Mani.

Since receiving my 'white-sheep-with-golden-a' back yesterday afternoon, I've been almost afraid of playing around with any XX dials, just in case I can actually still hear a difference. Well, this morning I took the plunge, and...

... phew, they really seem to make absolutely no difference whatsoever. SFS from 0.5 to 2.0 to 120.0 - no difference. Clock res from 0.5s to 10s to 'nothing' - no difference.

I can't describe in words how happy this makes me. Finally, finally, we're rid of the influence of the PC on SQ, and can actually use it as it was intended - a wonderfully flexible and incredibly powerful tool.

All this because of Peter's love of a challenge. Man, if you were here right now, I'd kiss you.

Mani.

Yep, this is exactly what I'm experiencing. (Almost missed the start of the Brazil/Croatia match because of it.)

Mani.

Hey VJ, sorry, didn't mean to sound in any way harsh towards you. Thanks for accommodating my over-enthusiasm.

Strangely, my comments were almost directed more to myself than anyone else. You see, until today I've been using my Pacific Microsonics Model Two (with my other NOS1 still with Scroobius) and the difference between that and the NOS1a is just huge. The former makes the Orelos sound pretty ordinary, irrespective of F-M or whatever. But with the NOS1a, things just start falling into place. Interestingly, more so low down than anywhere else - there's now real LF energizing the room. Although to be fair, the whole sound is transformed. From recollection, there was always a difference between the NOS1 and the PM2. But this difference is now a gulf with the NOS1a.

More later...

Mani.

STOP PRESS : STOP PRESS : STOP PRESS

My NOS1a ('white sheep') has arrived home. VJ, and anyone else commenting on the sound of the Orelos can just stop until they have a NOS1a connected up. This has taken things to a totally different level. I used to think that XX was the best bargain in hifi, but I now unreservedly revise that to the NOS1a. For me, this is the end game for a DAC. I'll post more detailed thoughts later.

I'm going to hold off from commenting about the Orelos for a while longer to let everything burn in a little more. Nick and Paul are due to come over on the 22nd, which might be a good time for the 3 of us to share our thoughts.

Mani.