I use Etymotics and love them. Inexpensive, and pretty discreet. The other day I was at a small but loud show and with these in, I was able to tell a guitar was out of tune. With them out, all I heard was a wall of noise.
It's not even just audio equipment, but everything with LEDs these days.
Their headphones are really solid, even without accounting for noise cancellation. Their home audio speakers are garbage though, those piece of shit Acoustimass systems use like 2” speakers and cost >$1000, and their Lifestyle line is even worse, $4000 for this shit ~~and it still doesn’t support DTS, only Dolby and PCM~~ [confused it with SONOS].
comment of the year right here:
<strong>Frank Malloy</strong> • <strong>2 days ago</strong>
Can someone explain from the miles and miles of wire and transformers and connections from the power generator to your house, how 6 feet of wire from your outlet to your components allow you to "peer more deeply into the soundstage and note tiny amplitude distinctions as you track the musicians"?
I would get rid of the large piece of furniture under the TV, mount the TV on the left wall with a swivel/extension rig so you can angle it how you wish (keeping the middle of the screen at about eye level) and also allowing you to move it out of the way when you want, and just placing the speakers to the left/right of the TV in that corner.
...
That piece of furniture is blocking off space that this room desperately needs.
Good luck!
Amazon using their platform sales insights to rip off yet another product, but poorly.
Compare the ID and price to the Audiosource AMP100
I was browsing the sub and stumbled on this post showing a nail clipper being used to see the top-facing LS50 Wireless II input selection display. I thought I’d share my current solution if anyone was interested.
I can’t remember where I first saw the optical prism on top of the LS50 Wireless thing, so all credit to the originator. This prism has been serving me well for two years now.
So yeah, the LS50 Wireless II are cool, but the lack of a front-facing input selection display is not. I hope this post is helpful for someone.
Paying for asthetics is fine, up to a point. As I stated elsewhere, something like the SVS UltraPath speaker wire is the max I would consider where it’s not ludicrous. Also, the fact is many people who buy cables more expensive than these indeed do believe they are paying for quality, mainly because the companies are lying (for instance, solid core is not better than stranded and “dielectric correcting” cables are BS).
For decent looking cable which is much less expensive, GearIT.
I just use xld to convert FLAC to ALAC and have resigned to simply using iTunes to manage my folders and playlists. My family has a few macs and iphones, so this just makes it easier all around.
I used MediaMonkey for about 5,000 files. It took me around 3-4 hours to rename all the songs, update ID3 tags, get album art, and move to proper folder. It's time-consuming still, but you only have to do it once. If I trusted the automatic tools a little better, it would have taken even less time.
My gaming/work desk: http://i.imgur.com/QFIc8.jpg
Sony receiver (free from a friend)
Beyerdynamic DT 770 250 ohm
A better amp and maybe a dac is next on my list
Even cheaper and a lot more: Hydrogen Peroxide
https://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/ear-infection/qa/how-can-i-remove-ear-wax-effectively
/r/FOOBAR2000
My opinion will be confirmed by this posts upvote count.
(Install the Wasapi Plugin to remove windows volume buggery)
Also can use milkdrop with the Shpeck Plugin
It's peripheral to actual audio equipment, but the excellent CyberPower pure sinewave UPS are on steep discount on Amazon. They're a great and relatively inexpensive way to protect your setup. I have 2 of them that I've been using for the past 3 years in my setup and recommend them. It's much more inexpensive than buying some "audiophile" branded power supply or conditioner.
https://www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CP1500PFCLCD-Sinewave-Outlets-Mini-Tower/dp/B00429N19W/
Evergreen?
It’s decent for the money. These SKW ones are 30% cheaper for 1m, and these Ghent ones are almost half the price, and uses Canare Star Quad with a floating shield, however it’s single cables and not conjoined with a splitter.
The record player: Fluance High Fidelity Vinyl Turntable Record Player: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F2EXIFM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_scaYAbCD5DNXD
So as a music producer and lover of music in general, I have been wanting to upgrade my music experience. My father recommended vinyls, so I purchased my favorite album, the soundtrack to "Ghost in the Shell" and saved up for a actual decent vinyl player. I went on Amazon and thought this player would be good enough. I spent the past few weeks hooking up the sound system that I inherited from my grandfather. After setting it up and finally playing it, I am blown away. It feels like the actual insturments are being played in front of me, I actually started crying because of how beautiful it sounds. I hope this brings me into the audiophile community!
Haha...
Yes well space isn't exactly in abundance here so unfortunately it's my only option.
For what it's worth, both the speakers and the record player are isolated somewhat with slates underneath them and foam absorbing pads either side.
Very little vibration makes it into the desk at all.
Google Docs.. you can open them up for public viewing and easily update it. You can even approve people to work on it with you..
May not be a bad idea for a sidebar item if the headphone mods can edit.
They went down to $100 on Amazon, around this time last year. This is still a pretty kickin' deal, though. Very tempting.
The Sansa clip from Sandisk. It has 2, 4, or 8 GB models, plus you can add microSD cards for extra space (so up to 32GB extra for around $50). The sound quality is very good and the DAC and amp are well loved for being such a small device. It supports mp3, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, and more. It has an FM radio, and EQ settings.
There's also the Cowon D2.
Here's a relatively recent thread with many suggestions.
I've been using media monkey gold for years. Amazing program, plays flac and other loss less codecs, can still sync your apple device. There's a free version that's just as functional! check it out. http://www.mediamonkey.com/
I have always preferred the robustness of foobar for managing my files, when I was still playing local files a lot. But I also think that iTunes is a convenient way to deal with files. Foobar is a lot faster though and with the masstagger component, it really becomes a powerful file manager.
As for FLAC and OSX, I have opted for ALAC, since foobar plays ALAC while iTunes don't.
I was about to come in here and slam the magic cable handwaving, and point to the Randi Cable challenge, but discovered that the cable you chose was entirely reasonably priced, and not at all catering to people who want to believe in magic, and you have provided solid connectors that are likely to prolong the life of the cable, and have made it look nice. Kudos.
CNet article on protecting yourself from Heartbleed bug
EDIT: Here is a website created by Google to answer common questions about Heartbleed
EDIT 2: Head-Fi.org has been patched and is no longer vulnerable. Take care with other websites.
For me it's iTunes or Spotify. Nothing wrong with these apps, although the tinkerer in me wishes Foobar was available on Mac. For EQ I use AU Lab.
I equalize only for my M-100 — boost 4kHz by 2dB, 8kHz by 3dB and 16kHz by 1dB to liven them up at the top a little bit.
See page 4 of this manual for a wiring diagram: https://www.manualslib.com/manual/743533/Yamaha-S112iv.html?page=4#manual
In short, one TS connector has a + and - connection. You can wire a TS connector to standard speaker wire as per the diagram in the manual. You can also buy adapter cables such as this one: https://www.amazon.com/Rockville-RTSBW10-Speaker-Cable-Copper/dp/B078NDDD9Q
The two plugs are equivalent, you can connect to either. The second can then be used to daisy-chain the signal to another speaker (also as discussed on page 4 of the manual).
You can use these with any standard amp with the appropriate adapter/cable.
Feel free to message me with any questions, I'm happy to provide tech support :)
pffft... if I needed speaker cables that big, I would hack up a pair of jumper cables.
It's not a bad article, but it doesn't really offer a great deal of insight either. It has the right idea and espouses the right approach to audio, but I think the linked CNet article, Sound bite: Despite Pono's promise, experts pan HD audio, and Monty Montgomery's article, 24/192 Music Downloads ...and why they make no sense both offer a better introduction and insight into the subject.
To comment on where the article falls a little short; the recommendation that "your time, energy, and money should be spent thinking about the parts of the chains that involve physical space—your turntable, headphones, and speakers" is on the right track but is oddly phrased and confusing. The author claims that "almost no one can tell the difference between a $100 CD player and a $1,000 CD player" but my CD player involves physical space and so too does my DAC, amplifier, cables, and storage media (components that don't require a sizable investment to achieve transparency).
Also, the authors chosen formats for comparison in the last paragraph are a little odd as the main point of contention in this debate is about digital audio with bit depths and sampling rates above the CD standard of 16-bit/44.1kHz being excessive, unnecessary, and providing no audible benefit. Comparing 24-bit/192kHz audio and high bit rate MP3 isn't wrong, but I do think it misses the mark. I don't know why he threw in a comparison to a "vinyl pressing" either, unless he digitised it and compared the recording at both 16-bit/44.1kHz and 24-bit/192kHz, but it seems he compared it to the digital versions – which of course will sound different to one another.
You'll want Exact Audio Copy.
It's a wonderful tool for Windows that will help you get every single bit from your CDs. You should spend about an hour reading guides and getting familiar with all the settings available, because the default settings won't provide you with the best possible rip.
If you're on Unix/Linux there is cdparanoia but I have not used it.
I started off with a pair of ATH-M50s and a Fiio E17 (though I think the Fiio has since been superseded). It was a great starting setup and if you have a little more $ to throw at it I would certainly recommend the M50s.
Also, like the other comments say, don't reencode your existing music as you can only make it sound the same or worse. You will need to make new rips from CDs you own or look for lossless copies elsewhere.
Yeah foobar is the preferred player but in conjunction with Wasapi output any player SHOULD be the same quality wise. Foobar just makes wasapi easy
Getting them equidistant from the listening position is very important. I use one of these laser measurers and I can get my stereo image to do some wild things.
Bullshit. Wire is wire and amps are amps. Those pieces of wire are more than enough to transmit any signal of any current capable of being delivered by that amp.
Let me guess; you are the kind of person that Monster Cable markets to and you'll happily pay $1000 for a $5 HDMI cable.
Technically, this will probably be the best sound quality due to a larger effective bit depth in the audio out of the PC (more info, explained better than me) and a reduced chance of clipping the SMSL amp due to lower gain.
I wouldn't expect to notice much of difference though unless you were listening at vol=1 on you PC or you were really driving those Miccas hard.
He's talking about torrent sites. Honestly, if you've legally purchased your music in some format, I have no moral dilemma with you torrenting the same music in a better sounding format. However, if you want to keep it 100% legal, the cheapest option would be to just buy CDs and rip them to flac. If you're a sucker for Hi-Rez (like me), HDTracks, Qobuz (if you're in France/use a VPN), 7digital, and AcousticSounds all have a large variety of 16/44.1, 24/44.1, 24/96, 24/192 music. However, these are quite pricey (unless you torrent) and really won't provide any benefit without the (also pricey) hardware to play them properly. If you do want to torrent, download a torrent client (I personally prefer Deluge but pretty much anything other than μTorrent will suffice) and then just click on the magnet link on the torrent site. The Pirate Bay and Kickass have pretty much anything you'd ever need, but a quick google search will usually bring up harder to find torrents. Feel free to hmu if you have any other questions.
Binaural recordings are still the most amazing thing that no one is using.
Still my favorite: link
Welcome!
I'm not sure if you want speakers but the overnight sensations are pretty awesome for how much they cost, also a good DIY project, you can build them for around $100 or so
So those $60 earbuds look suspiciously similar to the KZ ED SE in-ears.
I wouldn't run 18ga for a 100 foot run. Hell, I wouldn't run 18ga in general.
100 foot at minimum 16ga and if there is power requirements +150 watts I go 12ga.
Since you said run(s)
Here is 250 feet of 2 conductor 16 gauge for $44
Here is 250 feet of 4 conductor 16 guage for $56
If your load is greater than 100W look at 14 or 12ga.
It's worth noting the what.cd recommendations, I think you would be hard pressed to find a more anal group on the subject of accurate CD rips. Essentially, Exact Audio Copy is the de facto standard and can be used in Windows or Linux (with Wine). Other good options appear to be XLD for OS X and morituri for Linux.
Now if any new release had dynamic range that would justify using 24bit files, that would be great.
Music is compressed to a lifeless pulp nowadays. Compression will bring up the noise floor, which means that less bits are needed to perfecty represent the input signal.
I'm talking about 14, maybe 12 bits. Everyone should try this: take a song that doesn't satisfy my old man taste (I'm 27), take SoX, and use it to decimate the bottom 2-6 bits of the track. SoX is smart enough to use dither where appropriate. Try to compare the resulting track to the original, hearing any difference will be very, very hard
sox music.flac -b 16 temp.flac vol 0.25 sox temp.flac -D 14bit.flac vol 4
This will leave 14 effective bits in the file. Repeat with vol 0.0625
and vol 16
to get a file with12 bits of dynamic range.
edit: added -D
to disable dithering when shifting left
A/ If you're on a Mac, use XLD. Its free and it can do everything you need, plus a lot more. It's an amazing app.If you're on Windows, I'll let someone more knowledgeable than myself advise you.
B/ Lossless means exactly what is sounds like: you get a file that's smaller than the uncompressed orignal (generally AIFF or WAV), but without any data loss. Furthermore, lossless files (FLAC, ALACn etc. can be restored to their original, uncompressed master (AIFF, WAV, etc.).
Let me know if this doesn't make sense to you or if you require clarification.
It's interesting that so many people are concerned with wanting to be able to discern a difference between CD audio and a lossy encode of it. Lossy audio compression formats and encoders are designed to achieve perceptual transparency, so it's no real surprise that hearing a difference is often quite difficult, especially under normal listening conditions and using medium to high bit rates.
There are a number of factors that may contribute to one being able to (or not being able to) discern a difference between CD audio and its lossy counterpart, such as:
If you're really interested in trying to hear a difference, becoming familiar with common lossy audio compression artifacts should be the first step. See the Quality and Listening Test Information page on the LAME website for samples that LAME has difficulty encoding. Also search Google for more samples that LAME struggles with (the term "killer sample" will be useful), read up on lossy compression artifacts in general, and note that different lossy audio formats generally produce quite different sounding artifacts.
I would upgrade your speakers for reasons wholly separate to the topic of being able to hear lossy compression artifacts, but once you do upgrade, don't be surprised if you still find it difficult to hear artifacts in medium to high bit rate lossy encodes. You may not even be able to hear artifacts at all the majority of the time – but I would say that this would be a testament to the lossy format and encoder used, not an indication of a lacking playback system.
EAC is a brilliant piece of software and I've been using it forever.
Give the manual a read, set it up properly (not that difficult) and it will give you bit-exact rips every time. It does not support encoding into FLAC natively, but you can download a command line encoder from xiph and configure it as user-defined encoder.
Flac to ALAC?
You want foobar 2000
Make sure you install iTunes and this pack for foobar as well!
http://www.foobar2000.org/encoderpack
And that should handle it all and preserve the quality :)
Here's a song from the latest Nickel Creek that I recorded. We tracked everything through a 2" tape machine and into the computer at 96kHz/24bit. We mixed and eventually mastered everything to both 44.1 & 96k.
Check it out for yourself and see if you can hear a difference: https://www.wetransfer.com/downloads/7ee96164fad5949c32865dcd33ff8b2720140721223354/83a1133b96725bc56782f714ca47e30b20140721223354/90b4a6
Ferrule tips are also pretty dope. Very quick and robust.
Heat shrink labeler tape is probably my guilty pleasure though. Scratches my brain just right.
Jamo C103 speakers. Yamaha AS301 amp. Samsung HWMS650 soundbar for movies.
These c103s are pretty efficient and can absolutely fill a large room. I plugged the ports - it tightened up so much and completely removed boomy bass. It's taken a lot of tinkering to get a sound that I'm thrilled with. Now with these stands I have a look that I'm thrilled with too!
I made the stands out of some 8x12" oak. Stained them. And added 16" hairpin legs. $50 all in.
Media unit: Belham Living Carter Mid Century Modern TV Stand https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013WMYBDY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ua4HDbZX38XQM TV: Sony XBR65X900E
Here ya Large Cable Clips
That way you can show off all the cables in perfectly straight fashion and would be able more manageable!
Bluejean cables are great bang for the buck for sure... even cheaper, these; I have relatively expensive Audioquest cables and compared them to these and I cant tell any difference in my fairly high end system. and these are cheap. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071L37VMR/ref=cm\_sw\_em\_r\_mt\_dp\_FM2JFA165BVB82ZEEJWB?\_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
I have a couple still on my bookshelf. But I'm afraid they take second place to the Gramophone Classical Music Guide
I used to work in a classical-only record shop and these two volumes were the "Bible" - constantly referenced.
The salesman told me that the “drain” wire would help with that.
Just in case anyone thought I was kidding 😉
You have a pretty damn good set of speakers there, to start with a budget of $200 for source and amplification would really be wasting them. With this budget you have no choice but to go for second hand kit. Don't be afraid of second hand kit (As you've found with your speakers) you can get some damn good deals.
I'm guessing from what you are saying, you'd like to remain in posession of a real upgrade path. I.e. to be able to make your system better by getting extra stuff, rather than by replacing what you already have.
First of all, I'd start out with something like this: http://www.richersounds.com/product/ipods-docks-accessories/onkyo/nds1/onky-nds1
You want an ipod dock that can send out your audio over digital. That way you can use a DAC/amp combo, or just a receiver. Given your limited budget though, I'd use the analog out for now and get a cheap integrated amp int he meantime, such as: http://www.ebay.com/itm/ROTEL-RA820-Integrated-Stereo-Amplifier-BLACK-BUILD-PHONO-STAGE-e-/280764264196?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Amplifiers&hash=item415edaaf04
There are 2 main steps to the process ( though some programs like to hide that from the user). First is actually ripping the CD - getting a good error free read to extract a perfect WAV, then secondly encoding and tagging whatever formats you require.
Current favorite for Linux rippers is Morituri which was the first on Linux to include support for the AccurateRip database. You might also look at RubyRipper, or anything else that uses cdparanoia
Point the ripper of your choice to the flac encoder which should be available in the repos for your distro, or grab the source from http://xiph.org/flac/download.html
Disk space is cheap (especially compared to the time it takes to rip) so rip to FLAC as the most compatible lossless format, and then you can easily transcode to any other format in just a few keystrokes / clicks. This way your Music collection is future-proof (so long as you back it up), and you can easily use the most suitable / appropriate lossy codecs to save space on portable devices.
Very few portable media players support free formats from what I've seen for some strange reason, at least with official firmware. Mostly anything you can install Rockbox on supports lots of formats though, including Vorbis and FLAC.
I have an iPod Classic with Rockbox on it, so I can play my FLACs wherever I am!
first you need to check if you device is supported they list the supported devices right on their site. Then you download the installer here. Theres also a bunch of videos on youtube showing you how to do it.
There are tons of programs you can use to manage your iPod's music, and depending on the one you get, you may be able to install custom software on it that allows it to play FLAC. I can't remember the name of it, but I'm pretty sure it exists.
Update: It's called Rockbox http://www.rockbox.org/
Subsonic ought to get more love. The basic idea is that it is an audio server that lets you stream your music collection. You can stream over your home network, over the internet, to smartphones, etc - it's highly configurable and up to you what you do with it. It's written in Java, so it is compatible with Win/Mac/Linux.
The server software is free and allows for unlimited streaming over a web browser interface. The smartphone app has a free trial and costs $1/mo after the trial expires.
The only way to honestly answer this is with ABX testing, where you hear two randomized samples (one in each bitrate) and then a third, X, that you try to match to either A or B. If you only succeed in matching 50% of the time then you are just guessing. Try a tool like http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_abx so you can test yourself blind.
I tried once and could not tell the difference between 320 MP3 and FLAC. I think I had to go down to 96 MP3 before I could start to tell the difference, and even then it was only in specific sounds. A cymbal crash took on a subtle warble in the lower bitrate that I could pick out.
Try it yourself. In reality, save your hard drive space and encode in 320 MP3 and you'll have better quality than you'll ever need.
If you like soundstage, I’d recommend the Aero Max 2 speakers by Cambridge Audio. They’re discontinued now, but you can still get them for around $400. They retailed for like $750 when they debuted in 2012.
I’m very happy with them, but it’s important to note they like consistent power. I was using them with the AXR85 (85W peak), and I wasn’t too-too impressed compared to my Minx XL speakers (now discontinued, discounted from $400 to $170). Once I got the Azur 851A (120W RMS into 8ohms), they really came alive and command the room. Best for a mid-sized to smaller space.
This little single channel scope actually works pretty well for me. Accurate enough for calibration etc. There are a few different brands of the same scope and you can even get it as a kit if you look around.
I have other more expensive scopes but for routine audio stuff this is most often all I need.
Depending on how much you're looking to spend, the best cleaning device (before you get to the more expensive vacuum based systems) is the Spin Clean and you can get one for around 80 dollars. It does a great job for the price.
The internet fully prepared me to be blown away by Magnepan MMGs, until I auditioned them in a dealer's dedicated listening room with nice NAD components. The bass (their one acknowledged shortcoming) actually exceeded my expectations, but everything else fell short. They sounded fine for the price and everything, but it wasn't a revelation. And while they did have that great open, airy quality when playing stripped-bare low-effort "audiophile" tracks, complex music sounded pretty lifeless.
But the MMGs weren't bad. Unlike the Amazon-reviewed king of budget subwoofers, the Polk PSW10. I bought one on sale to see what the hype was about. Below about 50Hz the port turbulence is actually louder than the bass it fails to produce. It is a shockingly bad sub.
I own thousands of CDs but only hundreds of vinyl records. There are not too many albums where I prefer the vinyl version to the CD, and for the ones where I do, it's usually for nostalgia and not sound quality. One exception is Low's 1996 album The Curtain Hits the Cast. I bought the double LP on release, as I was already a big fan by that point, and the LP had a couple of exclusive tracks. I also bought it on CD. And even though the CD is more convenient and sounds great, whenever I have the time to sit and focus on listening to an album, I'll often choose this one, on vinyl. Steve Fisk's production gives the album a magical quality which seems most evident on the LP, where each song is a world of its own, and you often find something new when you go exploring. For my money, Low has never topped this album, even though I love much of their subsequent work.
it looks like there was a reissue in 2012, and I assume it's just as good, since the editorial review on the amazon page says, "the album is lovingly reissued here by Plain Recordings on double 180 gram vinyl LP." Low's music in general is not so accessible that I'd blindly recommend it to everyone, but if you like the slow, minimalist vein they mine, this is a great album to get on vinyl. Certainly worth $30 to me.
Maybe it will appear in a few days, but i can't confirm it will be on Tidal. It is likely though.
You can now find the CD on amazon to get lossless quality but there is a problem with the price, as the distributor didn't do what Gavin wanted, which is what i just heard from him. Right now it's way too high so they're working towards lowering it.. I'll link it anyway but the price should be much lower soon, so you should probably bookmark it and wait, if you're interested in buying it.
I'll link it anyways : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FJZTKC5
In the meantime, i'd recommend google play as it's really great quality. 320kbps is enough to really get the full experience.
Do you find the app is reliable? The Denon app on Android gets a LOT of bad reviews.
I want the functionality, but I have held off on buying it because of that. I don't know if it's going to work for me, and I also don't want to reward them with $20 if their app is garbage.
Looks good to go. JBL LSR-305 owner here. How's the bass reinforcement issues from the corners of the room? My sorta similar setup requires a 10dB cut around 156Hz with a couple dB's from the freqs on either side of that.
I really should buy a calibrated mic and run REW with Equalizer APO to get things as perfect as possible but the above 'fixes' were done by ear and test tones and have made the system listenable for me.
Absolutely! Check out David Vorhaus Also not so much about analog but a great documentary about the transition from the analog to the digital world in case you're interested PressPausePlay
You leave Lee____.ttf out of this!
She has been with me since '97
Nice set-up. Sounds like something I'd recommend.
Sennheiser cords is pretty easy to replace. Send it to the manufacturer if the damage is covered by the warranty, otherwise Sennheiser replacement cables are fairly common. Don't hook it up to the amp while the cable is frayed.
I have a MKIII and I've done some tube rolling. My favorite are the Tung Sol "Black Shield" 6AK5W (bought from here). EF92 tubes are really popular, namely the Mullard "Big Shield" M8161.
When buying tubes, be sure to get a matched pair or else your soundstage will be ruined.
I use Enqueue
It's fast, reliable, and supports FLAC. Also, the developer actively updates the UI and features.
Edit: If you prefer a different taste, check out Clementine
Check out Rockbox. It's a free firmware alternative that's compatible with some of the major media players. It'll make compatibility and feature issues simpler to deal with so you can focus on finding a size/cost balance.
*edit formatting
Max is another excellent conversion tool for Mac. Easy to use, supports loads of formats, etc. I have both on my laptop. Though if you want more in-depth things like sample rate conversion, Sound eXchange (SoX) might be your best bet.
Sites:
If you're in Europe, you should check out Qobuz ( http://www.qobuz.com). They sell and stream lossless audio. I'm not a user myself so I can't vouch for the quality and the catalog, but in France they've clearly made a name among audiophiles.
I assume you're mostly looking for detecting AAC or MP3 to FLAC transcodings. You're in luck -- a research group at a couple of French institutions published a paper on this in February and have released their tool, which works on Linux: http://losslessaudiochecker.com I've never tried it, so I don't know if it's available as open source or as a binary. I'd imagine the source is available though.
If your library is all mp3, then just use mp3gain. It's free and you won't have to re-encode anything.
If your library is all mp3 and use software that is Replaygain-tag aware, just use foobar2000 to scan everything. Foobar2000 will use a better Replaygain algorithm than mp3gain. (Foobar2000 uses the EBU R128 gain calculation.)
These are read errors which will be due to dirty or damaged discs or an inaccurate optical drive.
Try to clean your CDs before use and use Exact Audio Copy to rip them.
You need to be using a CD ripping program that supports secure mode ripping.
Try EAC: http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/
And set it up with this guide: http://blowfish.be/eac/Setup/setup1.html
It's a tutorial for FLAC, but you could convert the FLAC to ALAC after that with something like dBPoweramp if you want.
FLAC works differently:
„With FLAC you do not specify a bitrate like with some lossy codecs. It's more like specifying a quality with Vorbis or MPC, except with FLAC the quality is always "lossless" and the resulting bitrate is roughly proportional to the amount of information in the original signal.“
The bitrate is variable, it cannot be set.
See for yourself! Download foobar and this component, rip a song in 128 & 320 and do the test.
I can't tell the difference between 320kbps mp3 and a FLAC. I doubt Spotify Premium (which I listen to most) would be any different?
The best way to ABX test file formats is to ensure they're both played at the exact same volume on the same gear. People often mistake differences in volume for differences in audio quality. Foobar also has a plugin for abx testing
> What could they possibly add to a software to make music playback better?
They can't. You can process the audio and make it different, but it won't be better.
> And what about foobar? I've been using it for quite a while and works wonderfully.
As long as you set up the mixer/driver chain properly using WASAPI, you're good to go. It's bit perfect.
Are you running windows XP? Because ~~you shouldn't need ASIO4All with windows vista/7. ~~ Windows 7 includes built-in WASAPI support which will achieve the same results without the extra plugins/software.
Edit: ~~I run the same plugin you do, without asio4all in windows 7,~~ I use the WASAPI plugin for foobar combined with the built-in WASAPI support with foobar 2000 in windows 7, and as soon as I close foobar, the audio controller is given back to windows and all its other programs.
EDIT 2: Also, ASIO4ALL does not bypass the sound card. The way you describe your setup, you are still using the DAC from the sound card (on-board audio), which is mediocre at best. ASIO simply gives exclusive control of the sound card to foobar. This way, you bypass windows mixer and any software effects being added by any other programs. Now if you used ASIO with a DIGITAL OUTPUT (S/PDIF or HDMI) to an external DAC... you would have a proper computer audio setup.
EDIT 3: Had previously confused WASAPI for ASIO, which are pretty much 2 ways of doing the same thing.
If you've got a pc probably the most archival thing I've seen is Exact Audio Copy, plus foobar2000. EAC will allow you to rip and copy cds perfectly, and give a log of errors, and a cue file, so when you burn again (if you burn again) it will be the exact same CD. Foobar is a good pc music manager, and can get tags and album art etc. (I'm not sure from which database - I'm personally on linux now, so I don't use this). EAC can do many codecs, but I'd recommend flac, it's lossless and free, and a pretty common archival format.
I'd suggest you check out https://musicbrainz.org/, it's an amazing project with a huge amount of data already added to the db.
It's client Picard allows you to analyze tracks and find the correct entries for them; then tag the music with all the data and optionally rename it.
Of course, and thank you!
Just a caution that they are not real wood.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band [2 CD][Deluxe Edition] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06X6MJGB7/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_GG11J86DSDJYCKB6E5M2
Is what you seek. I thought it was a significant improvement over the original. The issue was that the widespread release was a rushed stereo version so the mixing wasn’t up to snuff.
I like his videos but I think he’s being a little dramatic. I bought this cable for $16. I plug my iPhone right into my DAC and get bit perfect streaming (confirmed by the DACs screen). It’s really not complicated. No dongles needed.
The SX-727 is a great receiver with 37 watts of power! It has a nice mixture of silver, black backing, and walnut that tends to command more style than the later all silver faced gear. I really like the 'top hat' style metal knobs on the X2X lineup and the engraved lettering in the face plate. You don't see those on later receiver models. They're how you easily can tell if a receiver is an X2X or an X3X model.
The only real downside to it is the weird Pioneer speaker plugs on the back, but as long as you have the adaptors for them you're golden. If you ever lose or break them you can find modern replacements on eBay for all of $20.
One additional quark to this receiver is that it has a dial for the on/off switch and those are notorious for going bad over time. If you can, use a power strip of some other kind of switch to turn your receiver on/off. Once that dial goes you're going to have a heck of a time finding a replacement for it. If you want to get really lo-fi fancy you can buy a "wireless remove plug" on Amazon. It's more or less an AC plug with a small remote. We use them in our shop to turn on some studio lights that are plugged into the ceiling.
Nice setup! Don't ever sell your awesome Pioneer receiver!
Yikes. $719.99 on Amazon.
Maybe if I win Publisher's Clearing House at the end of the month. lol
They're terrible and that guy is an incompetent profiteer who earns money with amazon affiliate links. I can't tell you how many people come here with issues caused by his plain wrong guides, or unsatisfied with their purchase he recommended.
Low end Klipsch speakers sound like a megaphone as soon as you turn up the volume a little.
Our entry level recommendations are in the sticky. For the same price you can get a pair of Micca PB42Xs that are much better.
Here's a price guide. For IEM's under $50, the Zero Audio Carbo Tenore look really good. Amazon Link. In terms of build quality in general, these are probably a lot better than what you've used so far. But if you want a buy-it-for-life IEM, it's going to be like $300 lol.
Elac UB5 is on sale over at Amazon for $400. I have to admit I too, like many others fell victim to the hype and became giddy and incontinent with excitement when they were released.
I mean, even Patrick Norton sounded like a Justin Beiber fanboy when he interviewed Andrew Jones for Tested. Squeee!
Unfortunately, I was of the 2 people that weren't blown away by the UE5 (/u/strategicdeceiver was probably the other). To me the super-innovative engineering (did you see the crossover inside the belly of this beast?) did not match the way the end-product sounded. It's a perfectly competent sounding speaker, just not one of the greats.
Having said that, it's a very good choice for folks looking for a decent pair of bookshelves for $400.
And having said that, there are other options with different sound profiles on sale right now for around the same price though, for example the MA Bronze 2 and the KEF Q300
It's a 3D printed moon with an LED on the inside. I bought the same one off Amazon. Plugs into a USB port.
It's okay. Will turn any color of the rainbow, has a few color-changing settings. White is the best. The little remote control that came with it is kinda "meh" and the thing just turns on green sometimes. Plus, it looks like there is a smudge of BBQ sauce on the inside of my moon, so that's annoying.
I still like it, though.
edit: Pulled up my orders history. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C1DQDRD/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1