MEASUREMENTS: MQA Filters on Mytek Brooklyn & Thoughts on USB Doohickeys
Hey folks... It's summer and I'm in and out of town doing a bit of R&R mixed with the day job. I sent my friend with the Mytek Brooklyn and Fireface ADC a package of the MQA "Render" tagged files...
View ArticleINTERNET BLIND TEST: MQA Core Decoding vs. Standard Hi-Res Audio
Introduction: Well my friends, the time has come... Yes, it's another Internet Blind Test! As a "more objective" hobbyist blog, within these pages I try to demonstrate facts, figures, and opinions as...
View ArticleMEASUREMENTS: The AudioQuest Dragonfly Black MQA filter set...
Good movie from the 90's! Just a quick note while we're doing the MQA blind test! A few weeks ago I posted on the Dragonfly Black and the MQA filter impulse responses. I noted that based on Måns...
View ArticleREVIEW: SMSL A6 integrated amplifier - Part I: Overview and Subjective...
SMSL A6 at home in my living room system with Tannoy Mercury Mx2 speakers. Doug MacLeod's Break The Chain (2017, Reference Recordings 24/176.4 downsampled to 88.2kHz, DR16) playing over Logitech Media...
View ArticleMEASUREMENTS: SMSL A6 as DAC (Part II)
SMSL A6 Integrated Amp - playing through USB 24/352.8kHz signal. Notice the matte/satin finish of the aluminum case. Probably need to wipe it down once awhile if dusty. As I mentioned last week with...
View ArticleMUSINGS: The 3 Main Home Computers 2017 (Workstation, Server, Gaming) &...
In the heat of summer, it is nice to get some time off to fix up around the house and do something that I typically take no pleasure in - rebuilding computers and reinstalling the OS & software!...
View ArticleMUSINGS: Increasing the Dynamic Range of compressed audio with DSP... (And is...
Sadly, the good doctor's diagnosis applies to too many of the recordings we listen to these days. I mentioned last week a recommendation for July Talk's Touch album at the end of that post. There are...
View ArticleMUSINGS: How much amplifier power do you really "need"? Why not test for...
Much has been discussed about amplifier power over the years; here for a short primer, here for a contemporary take with advice from Crown, and here for an oldskool audiophile take on the matter when...
View ArticleMUSINGS: Evidence of digital player jitter with asynchronous USB DACs? Melco...
The UK magazine Hi-Fi News & Record Review is interesting. Like Stereophile here in N. America, it includes objective measurements. Over the years, I've seen times when they have criticized...
View ArticleMQA Core vs. Hi-Res Blind Test Part I: Procedure
Introduction: As you are probably aware, through the last 2 months on this blog, I've been collecting data to determine the audibility of decoded MQA versus the same piece of music originating from...
View ArticleMQA Core vs. Hi-Res Blind Test Part II: Core Results
As you know, Part I - Procedure is now published. Within it, I laid out in detail the test, how it was constructed, and how data was collected. Today, we'll embark on the exploration of the data...
View ArticleMQA Core vs. Hi-Res Blind Test Part III: Subgroup Analysis
This is Part III of the summary and results of the MQA Core decode vs. standard PCM Hi-Res blind test following from the "core" results last week. At this point, we know that if we look at the "big...
View ArticleMQA Core vs. Hi-Res Blind Test Part IV: Subjective Results & The Wrap Up...
After having gone through the "core" results and subgroup analysis from the MQA Core vs. Hi-Res PCM Blind Test, let's review and post some subjective comments gathered in the survey. This provides an...
View ArticleMQA: "Final" thoughts... On Politics & Paradigms.
Cartoon looks about right and reflective of MQA... From article here. In the last few weeks as I was preparing the series of posts discussing the MQA blind test, I noticed The Absolute Sound (TAS)...
View ArticleMQA: FINAL "Final" comments... Simply put, why I don't like MQA.
Looks like an interesting art exhibit :-). I know... I said the previous post was "final". But I just had to kick the horse one more time. :-) Seriously, if you're sick of MQA chatter already, don't...
View ArticleHOWTO: AMD Ryzen 7 1700 overclocking to 1800X speed while maintaining power...
Greetings from Asia. Okay with all the recent chatter on MQA, let's take a little break from audio for a bit and talk about something much less controversial :-). In fact, this is downright basic for...
View ArticleMUSINGS: On DSD, tagging, compression and conversion... Time for WavPack 5.
Many moons ago (back in 2013), I discussed DSD audio. While over the years I've talked about DSD from a a number of different angles (eg. JRiver realtime conversion listening, PCM <--> DSD...
View ArticleHOWTO: Integrating WavPack 5-compressed DSD into Logitech Media Server (LMS).
piCorePlayer streaming WavPack-compressed DSD128 (1-bit, 5.6MHz) to TEAC UD-501 from recent nightly version of Logitech Media Server 7.9.1. As I mentioned last time, it's great to see that DSD...
View ArticleMUSINGS: Thoughts on fake 4K, post-truth and film "format folly" (70mm film &...
Since returning from my Asia trip. I see that new toys for Christmas have now been released including the new Xbox One X (which I mentioned a few months back). Although it seems like there may be...
View ArticleMEASUREMENTS: Oppo Sonica DAC and Bluetooth 4.1 (Low-Complexity SubBand...
Merry Christmas everyone! Hope things are going well out there. As you know, earlier this year, I had a look at the Oppo Sonica DAC including measurements with the "fixed" firmware. Over the last few...
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