For those of us who have stopped believing in fairy tales.

What a moving performance. It is so nice to see real talent get the attention (and reward, one hopes) it so richly deserves.

Her performance is very reminiscent of Paul Potts' appearance on the same show last year:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbiE2eNcX6o

Yes indeed, it was extraordinarily moving. What a voice!Catches you completely by surprise ,esp after the heavily accented chatter in the beginning.
Thanks for the link to Paul Potts performance-equally remarkable.
One does hope that talents like these do get the recognition that they deserve.

Kamal schrieb:

Yes indeed, it was extraordinarily moving. What a voice!Catches you completely by surprise ,esp after the heavily accented chatter in the beginning. Thanks for the link to Paul Potts performance-equally remarkable. One does hope that talents like these do get the recognition that they deserve.

Sir,

Where are you ?
Have not seen you in this part of town for a while;
Hope all is well ?
It is nice to have you here, please do pen a few words once in a while !!

Thanks for the kind words, Bhagwan.
I'm well, by God's grace- just been quite busy withsome personal issues.
Hope you & family are fine.
I do intend to resume participating in the discussions.

Hello Kamal !
I am well & so are all @ home;
Music is back in my life after many months [7]
House was under repair & that was a stressful situation.
However, God has been kind and music is back & that too with a bang.
My house - new room - untreated - plays like a 'song' [touch wood] I have never had such good sound in my house or from any of my audio set ups over the pasy 8 / 9 years.
I am overjoyed !!

One & All are welcome home for a listen & some SM's
[serious]. You just need to get your 'software' along....

Good to read that you have now a listening room that gives you pleasure.
How has your music server worked out? Fully satisfied?
In your opinion , can it look to replace CD Players?

Kamal schrieb:

How has your music server worked out? Fully satisfied? In your opinion , can it look to replace CD Players?

It is finished & plays great.

It is a super product - for its price.

However, the CD Player is still 'ahead'
Both my CD Players are in a position to 'beat' the Music Server.
All said, for all practicle purposes - the Music Server is a great product & has a lot of 'conveniance' !!!
I would recommend it rather strongly..

The CD Players are just not priced correctly - hence the Music Server is a winner - price to performance i.e.

There is a very nice discussion on HDD based transports on at AA.Here

Thanks, Arj

Kamal wrote: How has your music server worked out? Fully satisfied? In your opinion , can it look to replace CD Players? bhagwan69 wrote: It is finished & plays great. It is a super product - for its price. However, the CD Player is still 'ahead' Both my CD Players are in a position to 'beat' the Music Server. All said, for all practicle purposes - the Music Server is a great product & has a lot of 'conveniance' !!! I would recommend it rather strongly.. The CD Players are just not priced correctly - hence the Music Server is a winner - price to performance i.e. arj wrote: There is a very nice discussion on HDD based transports on at AA.Here

I wanted to post my personal experiences opn the topic.

I was pretty keen on exploring (audiophile quality) HDD playback. My opinion was that HDD playback does not... Yet... match uopto a good quality CD player. However, I have been building up a growing collection of rare and boutique CDs downloaded ( in 'bit perfect' format) from the net ... ( anyone interested on the URL, PM me... )

In the past, my experience in playing back CDRs on my earlier Denon 2900 Universal player, yielded less that ideal results. All the notes were there.... but the soul, the emotion, the CD emoting... was gone.

I was therefore looking at HDD playback as a second source.

One of the first VConcerns for me to use BOTH HDD and CD playback, was that both would use totally different DACs, resulting in tonally different presentations.

While servicing my Denon 2900, I observed that a CDR was VERY Significantly more transparent to the CD reading laser. As a result, MUCH more of the laser light is passed thru, rather than reflected by the CDR ( More reflected, better detection and 'reading' of the CD.

I am currently exploring my theory that the Main reason why CDRs sound bad, are that they transmit ( and therefore loose ) a LOT more light than pressed CDs.

HDD playback probably sounds better, since there is no CDR in the chain...


Fortunately for me, I realise thanmy Electrocompaniet CD player, with its Philips Pro CD mechanism, does a Pretty good job of reading CDRs.

Over the next month or so, that is the track that I will be exploring... hopefuly, I wont have to use a HDD player...

On The Side ....
Hey, for those into HDD or even PC playback, with iTunes ... Check out this freeware (Phew ! I dogged the moral police ) ! Its called 'Flute Tunes" and is available for both PC and Mac platforms. You can change songs / albumns, play, etc, with Hand gestures... as long as your computer has a camera ( built in or external ). Used with iTunes displaying Albumn Art, its VERY impressive....

AmpNut,thanks for sharing your observations re HDD vs CD Playback. Bhagwan essentially said the same thing-which shows that HDD as a medium has still some way to go before its unreserved acceptance by audiophiles.That may come soon as more & more publishing Co,s offer & subsequently maybe completely switch to downloads as a method of retailing music.
Does Bhagwan share you thoughts re CDR's?Other people?
Finally,ref your offer-"However, I have been building up a growing collection of rare and boutique CDs downloaded ( in 'bit perfect' format) from the net ... ( anyone interested on the URL, PM me... ), could you plz PM me the link?
Thanks,

HI Kamal,

I have PMed you the link. Enjoy !

( The downloads can get PRETTY Large ! )

Amp_Nut schrieb:

While servicing my Denon 2900, I observed that a CDR was VERY Significantly more transparent to the CD reading laser. As a result, MUCH more of the laser light is passed thru, rather than reflected by the CDR ( More reflected, better detection and 'reading' of the CD. I am currently exploring my theory that the Main reason why CDRs sound bad, are that they transmit ( and therefore loose ) a LOT more light than pressed CDs. HDD playback probably sounds better, since there is no CDR in the chain... Fortunately for me, I realise thanmy Electrocompaniet CD player, with its Philips Pro CD mechanism, does a Pretty good job of reading CDRs. Over the next month or so, that is the track that I will be exploring... hopefuly, I wont have to use a HDD player...

Very interesting find..Do keep us posted on your findings..

On another note would you have any info on Ethernet as a medium of connection vis a vis USB or Firewire. I seem to have read some discussions which point to that. In that case so would a modded Squeezebox be a better SPDIF converter than the other usual suspects ?

I do not know much about Ethernet uder for digital audio.

On USB ( 2 ) vs Firewire (800) the latter is faster, and Firewire 800 can support 24 Bit @ 192 KHz. USB 2 cannot..

Incidentally USB 3 is being released, and that should take the USB interface to beyond Firewire 800 speeds, as well as support higher current DC powering thru the USB-3 interface.

The Firewire inteface is designed so that each Firewire port can host as well as slave... not so with USB. That makes Firewire superior for bi-didectional data exchange... and error correction for digital audio transfer. Bhagwan69 had sent me a brief technical note from his DAC manufacturer ( which uses Firewire 800 )

Ethernet and particularly Gigabit Ethernet remains the fastest speed interface. However Ethernet too cones in a variety of speeds starting for a measly 10Mbps... so I guess its important to know the spped of the Ethernet connection.

If you can point me to some info / discussions on Ethernet usage in audio... MUCH Appreciated.

The squeeze box does seem to be an excellent VFM product. I personally had my eyes ( actaully Ears ) on the Transporter... SUPERB product, but when I finally got to hear it... I foud the sound detailed but thin, and lacked Vibrancy and immediacy. It could have been the rest of the system... dont know for sure...

Arj, you have a Super DAC, do share your views & perspectives. Thanks

Amp_Nut schrieb:

The squeeze box does seem to be an excellent VFM product. I personally had my eyes ( actaully Ears ) on the Transporter... SUPERB product, but when I finally got to hear it... I foud the sound detailed but thin, and lacked Vibrancy and immediacy. It could have been the rest of the system... dont know for sure... Arj, you have a Super DAC, do share your views & perspectives. Thanks :)

true the transporter is basically the SB3 with a super DAC. but if you already have a dac then it make sense to use the SB3 as a ethernet to SPDIF converter ! eternet , as you said is not just faster but also has inbuilt error correction so you are assured of a bitperfect receipt.

let me see where i read it. it was in one of the airline lounges so do not have it bookmarked

from what i could read ,at the sub usd1000 range empirical audio is the best (although overpriced) but unable to take the call because being a still evolving medium not sure where it is headed. eg Bel cantos usb-spdif also seems to be good.

so unless it gets gets clear i am going to be a fence sitter.. and the Trends UD10 which is not there but OK my only option

the reimyo is amazing as a dac and the richness in tone and timbre it brings really brings joy to music..if only it had an USB input

Bel cantos usb-spdif also seems to be good.

The current Stereophile has reviewed it.

The Editor who reviewed it says that the US $ 500 Bel Canto converter, which includes a US $ 100 digital interconnect, is indistingusihable from the US $ 100 M-Audio USB to SPDIF plastic box...

thats rather sad to hear..:( from my reading Red Wine Audio converter is also the same but with a battery pack..I believe other than Gordon Rankin (Wavelength) or Steve Nugent (Empirical) nobody seems to be technically capable to getting this right

Gordon Rankin (Wavelength) or Steve Nugent (Empirical) nobody seems to be technically capable to getting this right

I TOTALLY agree with you, ( Weiss has been weaving his magic with Firewire ) and their asking price is STEEP !

I think Cary has licenced tech from 1 or the 2 above ( Steve Nugent I suspect )

The next 12 months, should see more USB DAC... hopefully, with Atleast some of them 'getting it right'...

For whatever its worth .... The Weiss Minerva Manual.

Some good tech info in it:

http://www.computera...a/minerva-manual.pdf

Thanks AN. I did go through that. Only problem i have with Firewire is that it will die soon..USB is killing it

Anyway my dac is only compatible with a max of 20@48 and cant think of any reason to just change it yet.

Have you heard of any Good PCMCIA cards which do a good SPDIF out. would really like to see if there is anything in the same category as a Lynx in desktops.. the best that i have heard of till now is the Echo Indigo but that only has Analogue out

one problem with USB is that if you are using it for audio out, it is not recomended to even use a USB hDD at the same time. Since I plan to continue to use a USB, other than having a separate USB controller(Externally powered), the best option is to use ethernet OR a soundcard.

Only problem i have with Firewire is that it will die soon..USB is killing it

Me thinks that Firewire is an Apple 'invention' and though superior in many ways, because each port can host and slave, is more hardware intensive ( read more expensive ) to implement in each device.

In terms of speed, USB-3 will exceed it, but then, there will probably be Firewire 1.2 GB ?

Have you heard of any Good PCMCIA cards which do a good SPDIF out. would really like to see if there is anything in the same category as a Lynx in desktops.. the best that i have heard of till now is the Echo Indigo but that only has Analogue out

I dont know enough on that topic, and would LOVE to learn from other forum members, who know a Great deal on Computer Audio.. Guys PLEASE Post

one problem with USB is that if you are using it for audio out, it is not recomended to even use a USB hDD at the same time.

VERY true... Another minus on the USB

Amp_Nut schrieb:

In terms of speed, USB-3 will exceed it, but then, there will probably be Firewire 1.2 GB ?

I doubt that..Apple brought this out when USB was still at its infancy and the speed was awesome then. but now since apple has also adopted USB so this may gradually die .

As it is getting Firewire cards are not as easy as they used to be and most laptops only have the 4 pin Firewire port (Unpowered) rather than the usual 6 pin (self powered) which can act as a hub.

Only Macs come with it these days