Greetings from this place:
The Malecon at Puerto Vallarta...
Now, obviously, there's unlikely much in the way of audio equipment or audio discussion to engage in from here. However I wanted to show some pictures of what I have noticed in terms of hardware available at all the local electronics stores (dropped into a handful while shopping with the family, wandering the city)... A bit of a
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Greetings From Puerto Vallarta, Mexico...
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HOWTO: Logitech Media Server + BrutefirDRC Plugin in Linux Virtual Machine
Looking back, early-January was a busy time for me! A number of work responsibilities and then I also had to deal with a computer issue - perhaps THE most annoying computer issue - hard drive failure on my server machine...
Of course important data was backed up so I didn't lose anything (I keep copies of important files in both my workstation computer in the upstairs office as well as the
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MUSINGS: "USB Audio Gremlins Exposed: Beyond 1s and 0s, by iFi Audio" - Analysis of Industry Content
It's FUD time.
Oh my... Run for the hills folks! Didn't you hear? USB is a horrible interface for audio purposes!
Hmmm... At least that's the kind of interpretation one might be tempted to consider after reading this "truthy scientific" article on AudioStream ("USB Audio Gremlins Exposed: Beyond 1s and 0s, by iFi Audio")! What can I say? Brutal! Nice example of content from Industry to
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PREVIEW: ODROID-C2 Single-Board Computer... [And an obligatory MQA addendum.]
Over the last year, every once awhile someone will come and ask me when I was going to try out a Raspberry Pi as a streaming replacement for my Squeezebox systems... Certainly I've been looking around and while I was relaxing in Puerto Vallarta a few weeks back, I decided to leisurely check online the varieties of these low-cost single-board computers (SBCs). Here's a pretty good list of recent
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RETRO-MEASURE: 1994 Sony MDP-750 LaserDisc / CD Player [and further thoughts on the importance of objectivity]
Okay everyone... For this week, let's go old skool! Feast your eyes on this baby:
Notice the microphone input to the right - karaoke, of course...
That, friends, is the Sony MDP-750, a "vintage" LaserDisc (LD) player manufactured in February 1994 "Made in Japan" according to the label on the back. My dad bought this unit when I was still in university.
In 1994, S. Africa held interracial
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SET-UP: Low Power Linux Audio Player (ODROID-C2 & Volumio 2)
As you know from a few weeks back, I got myself one of these little single-board computers (SBC) - the Hardkernel ODROID-C2 - and posted a PREVIEW on it. As described in that article, I had flashed a copy of Volumio 2 "Release Candidate" (0.861RC1) to my SDHC card and have been streaming music to my TEAC UD-501 DAC in the music room for the last while.
Originally, I was going to publish both
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MEASUREMENTS: Music servers possibly using UDP packets? Issues for music streaming?
Original from Obaida's Blog.
Qmax last week raised an interesting question about UDP (User Datagram Protocol) and DLNA/UPnP servers, one of the basic "Transport Layer" protocols for data transmissions used for Internet communications. We are likely very familiar with TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) in our day-to-day lives. This is the transport protocol that carries data off our NAS
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MEASUREMENTS: ODROID-C2 with Volumio 2, and USB digital music streaming.
ODROID-C2 & unused "Fujifilm" 5V 1.0A wallwart ready for testing...
For those following along, you're recall back in March, I purchased a Hardkernel ODROID-C2 Linux-based credit-card sized single-board computer; the hardware described in my preview. I loaded up and customized the machine with Volumio 2 (RC1) a couple weeks back. And now as promised, I'll be showing some measurements using this
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Updated Room MEASUREMENTS & MUSINGS on Importance of Sonic "Accuracy" and the Audiophile.
Chapter I: Another Round of Room Measurements...
Recently, I acquired some more LP's, got a few more IKEA Kallax storage units for said LP's and put up some art as well. Here are front and rear shots of the sound room the other day...
With the physical changes and reviewing my post from last year regarding the use of (((acourate))) along with suggestions made by Dr. Uli Brueggemann and
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MUSINGS / ANALYSIS: Is there any value to 176.4 and 192kHz Hi-Res audio files? A practical evaluation...
Check out this article from 1998 written by the founder of Earthworks, David E. Blackmer (1927-2002).
Although I believe some of the contents in the article above are debatable, in the years since 1998, high-resolution, high samplerate audio has of course become common-day reality for audiophiles. As I expressed years ago, I do like the 2xCD samplerates like 88 and 96kHz. But as a
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MISCELLANY: Vancouver Audio Show, Focusrite Forte Ahead, HEVC, Surround Audio CODECs...
Hey there guys, life and work is busy so I thought the post this week would be to cover a few miscellaneous thoughts from the last few weeks.
First, as you can see in the picture above, it's coming again this year! I guess the Vancouver Audio Show went well enough last year that we're going to see a repeat performance with the Show this year... Nice. I remember that there was no mention of
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MEASUREMENTS: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 (Creative Recon3Di) - Motherboard DAC / Audio Output
A number of months back, I rebuilt my HTPC set-up to run the new Skylake i5 processor. I thought it might be interesting to measure the motherboard audio output of the Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 to have a peek at what a typical modern "gaming" motherboard's audio output performs like. Here's the back panel and a picture of the MoBo:
Rear panel - note the blue TosLink cable, beside it the
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The Vancouver Audio Show 2016 (June 25): Pictorial & Comments (the MQA Demo, and Show Musings)
As I mentioned a few weeks back, the folks at the Chester Group have put on the Vancouver Audio Show again this year at the Hilton Metrotown (in Burnaby). I must admit, it's not the ideal weekend for an audio show. Summer holidays starting, weather getting better, this is also the opening weekend for the Vancouver International Jazz Festival... I guess the "music lovers" can enjoy the great
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MUSINGS: Digital Interpolation Filters and Ringing (plus other Nyquist discussions and "proof" of High-Resolution Audio audibility)
A couple weeks ago, Whackamus posed this interesting comment and question which I thought would be a good topic to discuss and explore in greater detail and with some examples/samples:
"I've been reading your blog for years. Or for almost four years, at any
rate. I have to thank you for doing what you do. I've likewise always
wanted to ask you a question, too, but I don't know how the
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MEASUREMENTS: Focusrite Forte USB Audio Interface (ADC & DAC) + Summer Musings
Product shot from here.
A few weeks back, I mentioned that I grabbed one of these Focusrite Forte USB2 audio interface units for some home recording projects I wanted to do. Beyond using it as a measurement device, my old Creative E-MU 0404USB was being used for some of these recordings and I figured it was time to upgrade to something new since a couple of the analogue pots were getting a
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A Response RE: MQA, "blocking" of Meridian's responses, and A/B Tests...
Just a quick note (remember... I'm on summer holiday and all!). Someone passed along to me this article from Hi-Fi+. It's an interview with Bob Stuart and Morten Lindberg (2L) apparently conducted in May. I'm bringing this up because the first Q&A is about "detractors" and there's this curious response:
BS: We’ve had some detractors, but frankly where we sit, we’ve been actually rather
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MEASUREMENTS: Intel NUC [6i5SYH] (and Audio)
Packaged contents of the NUC - mounting screw, universal power jack attachments in the bubble wrap, metal VESA mount plate under the power supply, basic instructions.
Like most of my computer upgrades lately, it's not because I need the speed, or expect much power saving, or necessarily to silence a noisy machine... Speed, efficiency, and quietness have been achieved to the level I'm
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MUSINGS: Do "audiophile" computer-based players make a difference? On "Everything Matters" and wisdom.
Since publishing the results from the NUC measurements a week back, permit me to discuss the topic of "audiophile" music servers, streamers and transports - specifically addressing the idea some have that they make a significant sonic difference.
As audiophiles, we've all seen them reviewed in the various websites. Names like Aurender, Antipodes, SOtM, Small Green Computer, Baetis Audio for
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MUSINGS: Convenience, lossy audio, societal trends, and worsening sound quality?
IMO, a realistic graph of audio formats and quality first discussed here.
Last week, as I was browsing the internet catching up on the news after a long day out doing touristy things in China, I came across this interesting post on Stereophile. A whimsical look at the proverbial crystal ball and presenting a rather dystopian audiophile future of 2116. For some reason, the protagonist seems to
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My Favourite Movie Audiophile Scene
Well, I had a great time away in Asia and glad to be home in Vancouver!
Just wanted to share with everyone my favourite "audiophile scene" from a movie :-). It's at the start of the Chinese movie Infernal Affairs (無間道, 2002). I remember watching it at a buddy's place when it first came out - maybe around 2003 and was just blown away by the movie! I guess Martin Scorsese must have been impressed
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