Life of Pi

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slinger
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Re: Life of Pi

Unread post by slinger »

Fretless wrote:Well I've replaced virtually all my old LP collection with CD. And then remastered versions, etc. Etc.

When will it all stop? :pray:
I didn't say that I haven't duplicated the vinyl with file-based solutions though, did I? :lol:
Amps - NVA P50, AP30, A40, Stanislav Palo Tube Headphone Amp BB 85
Speakers - Monitor Audio Silver RX2
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Digital - NAD C516BEE, SONY ST-SDB900 DAB TUNER, TEAC UD-H01 DAC
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Cans - Grado SR80, ATH-M50X

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Re: Life of Pi

Unread post by Fretless »

Take 'In the Court of the Crimson King' as an example.
I have owned :

LP Island pink label
LP Polydor reissue
CD original EG transfer
CD 30th anniversary HDCD remaster
CD/DVD Steven Wilson HQ remix

Would I buy another version ???


Oh yes ! :dance:

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

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TheMadMick
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Re: Life of Pi

Unread post by TheMadMick »

TerryMadher wrote:
No, that is completely wrong.
Best value for money option for music listening I've had in 47 years in this hobby :dance:
Each to their own. I listened and took advice and you have seen my conclusions. Maybe right or may be wrong but it's where I am and I'm happy with it. What more can you ask?

Have a nice day with your digital music. That's what it's all about :grin:
Blusound Vault 2, P50SA, A80's, BMU, TIS, LS7, MA PL200, Meridian 506 (18 bit).

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Re: Life of Pi

Unread post by Fretless »

Hmmmm. Not pleased.

Moode Audio, in their wisdom, have decided to make the latest version (3.5) of their Pi OS only available for a 'donation' of 10 US dollars. As this is the only OS that is offering support for the higher-quality HifiBerry Digi+ PRO board and there appear to be some interesting upgrades to the kernel processing - looks like I'll have to pay up.

BUT does that mean that you will have to fork out for every new release or would the auto-upgrade function just keep running once you have paid? We'll see.

AND there is a new release of Volumio2 (version 2.141) which looks to be slightly faster and more stable than the previous version. But no new kernel for the Digi+ PRO. I'm loading up my music database now so can't yet report on the SQ.

That's it for now. Boffin Central, Out. :geek:

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

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Re: Life of Pi

Unread post by CN211276 »

TerryMadher wrote:The price of commercial streamers is a total foo rip off. I would suggest that streaming is probably the cheapest and most versatile option for quality reproduced music in the home ever. A simple Raspberry Pi based streamer costs peanuts and once you are set up to stream from the likes of Spotify or, if you are willing to pay, the likes of Tidal, you will have access to a massive library of music, including what you already have, possibly played at a much better quality. I have listened to five figure streamers and they do not produce anything better than a good diy option. Streaming provides a remarkably ready ability to source new music at absolutely no extra cost. In my experience, streamed sound is far more correct than anything off a silver disc through a CDP, and I've tried expensive options there.

Although I retain my vinyl, all else is streamed which I listen to 90% of the time. I love it and have discovered so much new stuff, not to mention I've not bought a new recording of any media type for months.

Best value for money option for music listening I've had in 47 years in this hobby :dance:
Totally agree with this. I have subscribed to Tidal Hi-Fi for two years and to my ears, which is what matters, the sound quality is of the highest order. To me it is the music that matters, owning a physical item is very much secondary. The print on most CDs is too small for me to read in many cases. Have ripped and sold my collection as well as the CD player. CDs sound far better from the computer. I only play a ripped CD, or vinyl, if the album is not on Tidal and that is a rare occurrence. I can also download over a hundred albums in high resolution to my phone, with memory card, which is a huge plus as I am out and about a lot. It is notable that some comments about the recent Scalford stated that no analogue sourced system sounded better than a decent digital set up. This came as no surprise. There is also the issue of the cost differential between a good TT/cartridge/phono stage set up and a good DAC. My DAC is the no thrills Chord Mojo which I think is exceptional value. There was a recent post on AOS saying it is as good as something costing 5K.

As well as new music, Tidal is providing me with access to music from the classic era of the late 60s and early 70s which I missed out on. I am now getting into albums from the Faces, Moody Blues, Free, Family, Barclay James Harvest, Hendrix and Cream to name but a few.

Streaming, all be it compressed, is taking over the mainstream. I think the reason why it has not been embraced to anything like the same extent by audiophiles is because of their advancing years. They still wish to cling on to their extensive music collections, built up over decades, which take up a lot of space, CD players and turntables. This is understandable, but technology moves on and times have changed. All that is really required is a good quality DAC which does not have to cost the earth, releasing funds for better amplifiers, speakers, cables, mains corrections etc.
Main System
NVA BMU, P90SA/A80s (latest spec), Cube 1s, TIS, TISC(LS7)
Sonore OpticalRendu, Chord Mscaler & Qutest, Sbooster PSs
Network Acoustics Eno, ifi iPurifier3, AQ JB FMJ, Cisco 2940 & 2960
DH Labs ethernet, BNC & USB cables, Farnells cat 8 ethernet cable

Second System
NVA P20/ A20, Cubettes, LS3, SSP, SC
Sonore MicroRendu, Chord Mojo 2 MCRU PSs, AQ Carbon USB cable & JB FMJ

Headphones
Grado SR325e/Chord Mojo, Beyerdynamic Avetho/AQ DF Colbat

RIP Doc

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Re: Life of Pi

Unread post by Fretless »

The CD, as a commercial music medium, would appear to be dying - or at least retreating into the shadows. Here in Holland it is almost impossible to find a shop that sells them; in the local town (Gorinchem, Pop. 35,000) there were 6 record shops 10 years ago, today - none.

The Dutch are big music consumers but also very quick in adopting new technologies - so everything is streaming now. I often hear - "Oh, I have dumped all my CD's - don't need them anymore now that I have Spotify. Such a clutter!". Me - I have in-house streaming: I order CD's via internet, rip them to a network disc and can play them anywhere in house via Pi/Sonos/PC and have a pocket Fiio player for use outside and in the car. But it doesn't feel right to me to play music that I haven't 'bought'. Having a CD/LP in my hot, little hands tells me that I have gone to the trouble of acquiring the music and have shown my appreciation to the creators by paying them for it. Streaming feels like stealing to me.

On my last visit to Channel Classics, Jared Sachs was telling me that the income from Tidal/Spotify playing is minimal, just fractions of cents. He also sees CD sales dropping fast, but his main focus is now concentrated in HD downloads. His own in-house servers contain his entire catalogue in MP3, FLAC and studio-master DSD formats. His customers all over the world have direct and instant access to his productions. This is where his future lies in terms of sales and revenue.

There are attempts to create HD streaming services for mainstream music (Neil Young's PONO service, for example) and the likes of Tidal and Qobuz are certainly aiming for audiophiles with their FLAC files. But Spotify is still using compressed formats and the widely-used Sonos playback system is limited to 16-bit files. And the latest news is that Spotify are making plans to come with their own hardware for in-house usage. Sonos, watch out !

The future IS streaming as a whole generation grows up never having seen a CD/LP and used to unlimited music availability online.

But have YOU seen a PONO player at all ??

Image

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

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Re: Life of Pi

Unread post by CN211276 »

This is what Neil Young is putting forward.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-enter ... 98676.html
Main System
NVA BMU, P90SA/A80s (latest spec), Cube 1s, TIS, TISC(LS7)
Sonore OpticalRendu, Chord Mscaler & Qutest, Sbooster PSs
Network Acoustics Eno, ifi iPurifier3, AQ JB FMJ, Cisco 2940 & 2960
DH Labs ethernet, BNC & USB cables, Farnells cat 8 ethernet cable

Second System
NVA P20/ A20, Cubettes, LS3, SSP, SC
Sonore MicroRendu, Chord Mojo 2 MCRU PSs, AQ Carbon USB cable & JB FMJ

Headphones
Grado SR325e/Chord Mojo, Beyerdynamic Avetho/AQ DF Colbat

RIP Doc

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Re: Life of Pi

Unread post by terrybooth »

The future is streaming? That really depends on the service being offered. Streaming is OK for the fairly mainstream stuff but there's still stuff that I listen to which isn't on streaming sites. Some download sites give a wide choice where they act as routes to market for artists - Bandcamp/Soundcloud.
A lot of the downloads are the same old same old (that doesn't mean bad) - so people who want to replace their vinyl/cds with 'HD'.
At the moment CDs can be had cheaply from many sources and so for the effort of ripping them (and having an instant backup if anything should go wrong) I find them difficult to beat at the moment as a digital source.
Pioneer PL71/DL103/ Phono2/HiFiPi/P90SA/TIS/CubixPro

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Re: Life of Pi

Unread post by Classicrock »

Judging by RSD interest I think there is still a lot of mileage in physical format. Mostly independent stores are relying on vinyl but CD is alive and well (just half it's peak sales). The reason Cds have disappeared from the high street is more to do with Amazon and other on-line sales. Shops shrank their stock until the choice was so restricted to make them not worth bothering, There is a vast selection of music on CD available and plenty high priced deluxe editions. If these weren't bringing in revenue they would have disappeared from the market. Streaming is ok for sampling music not collecting it. Most people were never committed music enthusiasts and want background sound without paying for it. Also streaming brings in little revenue compared with physical sales and apart from screwing artists will not be the saviour of the record labels.
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Re: Life of Pi

Unread post by Fretless »

Volumio 2 v.2.141.

Seems to me that the SQ has been slightly 'tweaked' as I have the idea that the detail and separation is improved and the previous hint of brittle edginess in the sound has gone leaving a smoother and more enjoyable performance.

Okay guys - time to get that new kernel in place so I can run this OS on my Digi+ PRO and see what it can really do! :angry-tappingfoot:

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

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