The Quad thread

[postjack]

sweeeeeeeet!

[Salt Peanuts]

Looking great, Nate! Are you using the SB3 to control the volume? Also, what's under the SB3?

[n_maher]

Looking great, Nate! Are you using the SB3 to control the volume? Also, what's under the SB3?

For now the SB3 is the source/preamp but that's due to change within a week. Ultimate goal is to case up the TP Ventus as a preamp and get the EAD DAC back from Mark and use that in the stack as the D/A stage and source selection device. The SB3 "stand" is my Thorens CD player which will remain is disc spinny thing in this rig. It's a bit of a quirky beast but the smallish footprint helps.

[n3rdling]

Nice diffusion materials

[swt61]

^

[postjack]

yeah I definitely want some 12L actives for the computer rig before it's over with. still not sure why I sold the ones I had.

I want to pair them with a, you guessed it, CDP-2. it's the perfect digital source for me in terms of sound, features, and budget. where else can you get a cd transport, multiple digital inputs, a 24/96 DAC, fixed or variable outputs, and a remote for less then $500 used?

[n_maher]

I want to pair them with a, you guessed it, CDP-2. it's the perfect digital source for me in terms of sound, features, and budget. where else can you get a cd transport, multiple digital inputs, a 24/96 DAC, fixed or variable outputs, and a remote for less then $500 used?

My plan is similar and if I didn't already own a dac, cdp and preamp i'd give the CDP-2 serious thought. One thing that I do worry about is the quality of the variable outputs, my prior experience with variable outputs on CDPs has been less than stellar. I had a very nice Yamaha player that had a remote variable output (cost ~$500 back in 1998, yikes) and the fixed output was clearly better. I'm also not a huge fan of being required to use the remote to do simple things like adjust volume or switch sources. In my case everything will be within arm's reach.

[postjack]

true, I have never listened to the variable outs of the CDP-2.

[swt61]

Agreed, I had variable output on my Sony XA20 ES CDP, and while it offered remote control as well as a tiny knob on front, it clearly was not as good as the fixed output.

[n_maher]

the variable output on my CDP works pretty well.

Your CD player is not exactly "average" in its abilities.

[swt61]

Just a quick peak into your mind would be all I could stand Reks. And I mean that in the best possible way!

[manaox2]

How is the CDP-2 with the 12L-A? It may be what I need, as I have thinking I may need a preamp, though the variable outputs don't sound appealing from the descriptions give here. Any other recommendations?

[Dusty Chalk]

true, I have never listened to the variable outs of the CDP-2.

Let's just bypass all this other crap -- please do, and report back. The big difference is usually whether or not it's in the digital domain at 16 bits or not, but not always. Best way to tell is to just listen to it and report back. Please, and thank you.

[manaox2]

I was thinking of maybe upgrading the Buffalo24 to the new version of the Buffalo32 coming out with the volumite to get an upgrade in sound quality and solve the preamp problem.

[Dusty Chalk]

Yes.

EDIT: No.

Er...maybe. Maybe not. I don't know.

I changed my answer because when we did the Oppo BDP-83 vs. ...-SE comparison, we had to turn it way down, and we do not know whether or not that was the cause of some of the harshness (it was just a tad harsher, not a lot). And it uses the sabre-tooth dac chip, so could well be using that.

Edited January 27, 2010 by Dusty Chalk

[mypasswordis]

Did you post your thoughts on sound of the Sabre tooth dac in the BDP-83 thread? If so, I must've missed them.

[Dusty Chalk]

I posted them (my impressions of the BDP-83-SE, not necessarily the chip) somewhere. Synopsis: worth it for channel separation alone -- it's like listening from the same room vs. listening from the next room. Which, for me, who mostly listens on headphones...worth it right there. Had to dial down the volume to 40% (!) to match the non-SE BDP-83, so not sure if that had something to do with the other differences we noticed. Bass is a tad less pronounced on the -SE, but not so you'd notice unless you were a/b-ing them (couldn't even hear the difference on the T40's, only on the Denon 7000's). A little harsher -- the sort of thing that, if you believed in burn-in, might make it go away. Need to revisit with either two of the same amps and speakers/earspeakers/headphones hooked up to them (between you and Hirsch, I'm thinking Stax, but not sure where we're going to get the non-SE version, as Hirsch has sent his in for mods already...my boss has one, but not sure he'd let me take it home), or a preamp that allows you to channel match between inputs (we had nothing of the sort).

Okay, that's more of a rehash than a synopsis.

[mypasswordis]

I think volume matching might have indeed been an issue if you were just judging by hearing instead of an SPL meter. Once I complete the SR-X Pro it should be a great headphone to do comparisons with, if that's going to happen. I've sold my SRM-1/Mk2 though so it'd have to be out of the receiver -> SRD-7 Pro. I'm sure Hirsch has plenty of really great headphones and amps to use. Cool, I look forward to eventually hearing it.

[Dusty Chalk]

I think volume matching might have indeed been an issue if you were just judging by hearing instead of an SPL meter.

I bet we did alright, lining it up by ear. But no, the hard part was...when you're doing A/B type comparisons, you want them to be the same level. Well, if one of them is at 100%, and the other is at 40%, then the one at 40% is at a disadvantage, because it's doing attenuation in the digital domain, which can be good or bad, but is almost always worse than no attenuation in the digital domain, which is what Mr. 100% had. Optimal situation would be both at 100% into a pre that has individual attenuation on the inputs (such as the McIntoshes) into the same amp & drivers, or both into the same model amp & drivers. We'll see what we can come up with, but I'm not going to worry about it too much, I'm just going to listen to (and watch) it(s output).

Hirsch actually couldn't come up with two of the same of anything.

[manaox2]

The TPA Buffalo DACuses the 9018 chip and the BDP-83SE uses the 9016 which is said to be its slightly lower performance brother I believe as well.

[mypasswordis]

I bet we did alright, lining it up by ear. But no, the hard part was...when you're doing A/B type comparisons, you want them to be the same level. Well, if one of them is at 100%, and the other is at 40%, then the one at 40% is at a disadvantage, because it's doing attenuation in the digital domain, which can be good or bad, but is almost always worse than no attenuation in the digital domain, which is what Mr. 100% had. Optimal situation would be both at 100% into a pre that has individual attenuation on the inputs (such as the McIntoshes) into the same amp & drivers, or both into the same model amp & drivers. We'll see what we can come up with, but I'm not going to worry about it too much, I'm just going to listen to (and watch) it(s output).

Hirsch actually couldn't come up with two of the same of anything.

Sorry, yeah there's also measuring output voltage and the matter of digital attenuation. My brain doesn't work so well at 3am in the morning, but for some reason I am usually up around then and end up doing stupid things.

[Dusty Chalk]

No worries. I sometimes err on the side of too much information, myself. It's laziness, you see, because then I don't have to respond twice.

The TPA Buffalo DACuses the 9018 chip and the BDP-83SE uses the 9016 which is said to be its slightly lower performance brother I believe as well.

Oh really? I missed that, I thought it was the same chip.

[John Buchanan]

I haven't opened up one of the new speakers but from what I've heard nothing has really changed. The brace is there but it doesn't do a whole lot since the panels are essentially floating inside the speaker.

LOL - glad I saved AUS$14,000 by buying a demo 989 pair instead of the 2905s.

[n3rdling]

Took the 57 rig to the local meet today. Most everyone seemed to be pretty impressed. I thought they sounded pretty nice too. There will be impressions in the coming days here: Orange County Meet Impressions: 1/30/2010 - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

There were a few HC'ers (LFF, deadneddz, shaizada, etc) that got to listen, so hopefully they'll say what they think here or there. Looks like Luis already wants to look for a pair.

[TheSloth]

Let's just bypass all this other crap -- please do, and report back. The big difference is usually whether or not it's in the digital domain at 16 bits or not, but not always. Best way to tell is to just listen to it and report back. Please, and thank you.

I can cover this part at least. The volume control in the CDP is exactly the same as the controller in the 99 preamp, i.e. microchip controlling analogue output. So, it's completely in the analogue domain, no bit trimming going on there.