I've done my own head in.........again

[karatestu]

If I could build an amp that doesn't hum it would be a start.

Class D

Voumio make a steamer, dac and amps in one box

[karatestu]

It has been a long, expensive, frustrating and time consuming journey to this point where I have finally realised it was pointless and all for nothing. I think of all the other things I could have been doing ........like actually listening to music or earning more money

[TheRealAleman]

Funny Stu. You have actually inspired me to go down that rabbit hole with my Rubik's. The good news for me is that some other mad sod has spent 5 years doing all the hard work ... Thanks

I can also "blame" Fretless and co for getting me out of the dark ages and into lossless oversampled streaming (Volumio on a NUC type PC, with a DACMagic 200 dac) The good news is that I am not going down the rabbit hole of cables, filters and LPSU's It works, music sounds great. May rip the CD collection just to give me more record storage space. The NVA and fruitbox upgrades have really rekindled my love of music, so from now on money is getting spent on vinyl. Hardware can take a back seat!

[slinger]

Stu, search "volumio primo review" on YouTube for more info on the beast.

Here's a f'rinstance...



There are plenty more.

[NSNO2021]

Stu if it reduces the frustration, stress and cost of delivering the music you like then that's the way to go.

What's great is the choices that we currently have re music playback. Never has it been so big, there is literally something for everyone and I have always resisted being locked into a school of thought or particular audio "camp".

If your system and the music it plays moves you, makes your toes tap, makes you smile then that's great because that's all I ask of mine.

And FWIW I still love making my own audio tweaks, sure in the final analysis some are a frustrating waste of time and money but with the amount of information out on the web the bad decisions are minimal and when I do get a positive result I feel happy and satisfied that my curiosity has been rewarded.

My latest focus area is my Planar 8 glass platter, it's a 3 piece affair that highlights Rega absence of quality control. I have convinced myself I can and will make a much better quality multi layer platter, a platter that reduces and dissipates vibrations and in doing so gives me a better understanding of what's been recorded.

Onward and upwards my good audio friends.

[CN211276]

No music ripped or stored on anything Dave. Can't be arsed with that. I'd be obsessing about the rip and anything else that could possibly be obsessed about

Ripping CDs is straightforward but time consuming. Something I have not done for a while so others here could best advis you of the best programmes. The rips would need to be in FLAC or WAV.

You might want to consider lossless streaming and compare Qobuz to Tidal. I have found that Qobuz streams usually sound better than my ripped CDs through superior mastering.

[TheRealAleman]

Yet again I am giving in with this diy audio lark.i must face up to the fact that I am just not upto producing anything worthwhile . Its all going in a storage box just in case I ever get the urge 6o subject myself to more mental torture.

Alternatively, I do happen to know of someone that would be interested in taking some of those tweeter units off your hands

[NSNO2021]

I'm a big Qobuz fan, for reasons I don't pretend to understand I never got on with Tidal, it sounded like a decent car stereo so I got shut and I have been happy with Qobuz from my first day with it.

[Nearlymusical]

+1 for Qobuz - I also switched from Tidal

[CN211276]

Another who switched from Tidal. I prefer the sound and there is no MQA smoke and mirrors. You know the Bit and sample rates, up to 192kHz. The problem with Qobuz is gaps in the catalogue but I have recently overcome that to a large extent. They have a facility where you can inform them of missing albums and they usually put things right if you provide a link to it from another streaming platform. I have been doing so with free Spotify. Soundiiz turned out to be a red herring for this.