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Re: Computer audio and my closed mind

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 10:51 pm
by Chunk McDaniel
Don't think CD as a format will be history. Maybe not as big as it once was but in another 20 years people will be paying big money for rare discs and top vintage players I bet. Things normally go in cycles. I for one will always listen to CD along with the black stuff of course. Each to their own. Why take satisfaction in the death of a format that people have loved and grown up with.

Re: Computer audio and my closed mind

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2018 8:33 am
by CN211276
I recall that around 20 years ago David Bowie said something on the lines that the time is coming when music will be turned on and off like a tap. He issued Bowie bonds, cashing in as he knew royalties would dry up.

Re: Computer audio and my closed mind

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2018 10:11 am
by Fretless
Cd's were regarded as a novelty item in the mid-80's. People expected them to vanish like V2000, Betamax video and Laser Disc.

I got my very first Cd's from a small sale rack at WH Smith where they had already decided that this newfangled format wasn't going to be a success.

For a long time LP's were cheaper than digital discs - but that situation has been reversed. Times change.

Re: Computer audio and my closed mind

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2018 10:18 am
by Fretless
I wonder if the vinyl fraternity are conscious of the fact that almost all albums recorded since the late 80's have used digital storage and mixing technology.

Contemporary new LP's are pressed from digital master sources and so the precious 'analogue' experience is merely a secondhand copy of the digital original.

Re: Computer audio and my closed mind

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2018 10:24 am
by Hemmo1969
Fretless wrote: Mon Mar 26, 2018 10:11 am
I got my very first Cd's from a small sale rack at WH Smith where they had already decided that this newfangled format wasn't going to be a success.
But it was .............

Re: Computer audio and my closed mind

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2018 10:30 am
by Fretless
Cd was a joint development from Sony and Philips, so of course there was considerable marketing muscle behind the product.

The first CDP to become available in Europe was the Philips CD100, launched in March 1983. And it took a couple of years for music Cd's to establish themselves.

Re: Computer audio and my closed mind

Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2018 12:18 pm
by savvypaul
slinger wrote: Sat Mar 24, 2018 5:30 pm For a (relatively) cheap solution I can heartily recommend the SMSL Q5 It's a DAC and amp in one box so you can plug your PC etc directly into it (it has USB, optical, and co-ax sockets, and even an aux input), add a pair of speakers to it, and you're off. Should you feel inclined it even has an output for a sub.

The sound quality is excellent for the price, the remote is a solid-feeling aluminium affair as opposed to the usual plastic, and even Colin commented on how good the internals looked when he saw a picture of them in a thread about the amp at TAS.

I don't usually recommend things because I'm not a hi-fi nut and I haven't heard ever amp known to man since 1958, but I've got one of these and I know what "good" sounds like, especially in a "bang-per-buck" scenario. It's a cracking little one-stop-shop piece of kit for under eighty quid. The power supply is a 19v brick b.t.w.
Thanks for the heads up, mate. Just bought a secondhand one off ebay for my daughter's bedroom. Will give it a spin in the office with Cube 3 first, though...

Re: Computer audio and my closed mind

Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2018 1:41 pm
by slinger
savvypaul wrote: Wed Apr 04, 2018 12:18 pm
slinger wrote: Sat Mar 24, 2018 5:30 pm For a (relatively) cheap solution I can heartily recommend the SMSL Q5 It's a DAC and amp in one box so you can plug your PC etc directly into it (it has USB, optical, and co-ax sockets, and even an aux input), add a pair of speakers to it, and you're off. Should you feel inclined it even has an output for a sub.

The sound quality is excellent for the price, the remote is a solid-feeling aluminium affair as opposed to the usual plastic, and even Colin commented on how good the internals looked when he saw a picture of them in a thread about the amp at TAS.

I don't usually recommend things because I'm not a hi-fi nut and I haven't heard ever amp known to man since 1958, but I've got one of these and I know what "good" sounds like, especially in a "bang-per-buck" scenario. It's a cracking little one-stop-shop piece of kit for under eighty quid. The power supply is a 19v brick b.t.w.
Thanks for the heads up, mate. Just bought a secondhand one off ebay for my daughter's bedroom. Will give it a spin in the office with Cube 3 first, though...
Is that the one I saw going for £50 last week? Somebody thought that perhaps that (older) model didn't have a subwoofer out.
I'll be very interested to hear your opinion. Mines plugged into a PC, and I've got it hooked up to an old pair of Celestion DL4 S2s plus a little 8" sub and it's doing a great job on YouTube vids and Spotify free etc. For the size, convenience, and SQ I've never heard or heard of anything beating it for the money.

Re: Computer audio and my closed mind

Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2018 1:50 pm
by savvypaul
Yes, this was £50, so most likely. Not the pro. My daughter will connect up her laptop and TV into some 1980s Mission 70s (though she would like a 'cooler' speaker, lol)...but I will definitely give it a spin with the Cube3 in my office first, and report back...

Re: Computer audio and my closed mind

Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2018 8:24 pm
by Simon Hickie
I still buy CDs. Then I rip them as WAV files & store on two hard drives. On the dedicated music laptop (about 14 years old) I have my full music collection (as well as on the external hdd). Playback is via an Audioquest Dragonfly Red. It sounds better than CD playback.