Home Trial offer of modified Hiface USB devices

[tony]

John would love to try this out at some stage, I like the idea of the dac/hiface in one unit. I take it you havent gone into production with that yet. I am awaiting new speakers possibly 2 months away. My system would be fairly bog standard solidstate.cyrus cd8se and 8xp amp with psx-rs. Other issue for me is I am squeezed into a small rental so space is a bit limited.

[Ivor]

Other issue for me is I am squeezed into a small rental so space is a bit limited.

The Modded hiface has a damn fine headphone socket on it!

[tony]

I heard it at frans meet up. It sounds very good alright. I get the drift Ivor but I have a valve headphone amp.
I really want to here it with speakers and compare directly with the cdp. If it is as good as it sounded in fran's it would certainly open up options.

If Ciaran finds its comparing well with his dcs I think John will sell a truck load.

[jkeny]

John would love to try this out at some stage, I like the idea of the dac/hiface in one unit. I take it you havent gone into production with that yet. I am awaiting new speakers possibly 2 months away. My system would be fairly bog standard solidstate.cyrus cd8se and 8xp amp with psx-rs. Other issue for me is I am squeezed into a small rental so space is a bit limited.

No problem, Tony. Production units are imminent - consider this field-testing & evaluating in what league it competes. It sounds better than anything I have, hence I'm looking towards the high-end kit to compare it to - Lector, Wadia, dCs. But, as Fran said, I would like to see how it performs in more modest systems also.

As Ivor said, it also is a pretty good headphone amp - something we didn't listen to much at Ivor's but could bear some investigation. I know it won't drive AKG701s with any conviction but everything else it seemed to handle with aplomb.

[Fran]

I was just thinking about the files and formats that we have all mentioned so far here. It seems to me that it would be a good idea for Ciaran, DaveF, Tony (or whoever) to rip a selection of tracks from the CDs you intend to play to wav files using EAC in advance of the meet-up. Then burn those files to a DVD or similar so John can put them on his laptop to play through the hiface.

That way, each person gets to listen to exactly the tracks they want, there is direct comparison between CD and wav, the system owner is in control of what gets played, and of course they get to hear their favourite test tracks.

This removes any spurious effects from comparing say hi-res files to CD etc etc. It also removes any differences due to different masterings of different CDs etc.

Finally, it also saves time on the day, rather than waiting for EAC to rip a CD before playing it.

What do you think?


Fran

[Gerry D]

Excuse any ignorance that I may exhibit here. Please.
I've come in late on this thread and haven't read back on it.
If I'm doubling up on something here forgive me. Lazy.

Situation:
I use a NAS hardrive with about 1000 CD's copied to it as apple lossless files, played via a Sonos ZP 90 through an Arcam rDac.

Question:
Would these files sound different, or better, if played from the NAS via say a Macbook Pro or Mac Mini through the Hi Face DAC ?

Reason that I ask is that I would possibly upgrade the DAC in future but I don't know if replay quality is dependent on the DAC only, given that files are good, or down to the quality, and hence more cost, of that whole hardware chain.
i.e. Does the NAS hardrive impact on sound ? Does the computer impact on sound ? [ I surmise that the Hi Face takes info and processes it without the PC getting involved]
Don't want to store all these files on the computer.

I hope I'm making myself clear and that any answers might be in plainer English.
Thanks.

[Fran]

John can wade in here and give more specific details, but its likely that all of those things affect the sound to some degree. However, given what I heard in Ivors (and before that elsewhere) I would say that it would be a good improvement on the sonos. Definitely worth a try at least anyway.....


Fran

[tony]

"No problem, Tony. Production units are imminent - consider this field-testing & evaluating in what league it competes. It sounds better than anything I have, hence I'm looking towards the high-end kit to compare it to - Lector, Wadia, dCs. But, as Fran said, I would like to see how it performs in more modest systems also."

Hi John

The cyrus cd with the regulated power supply would be similar priced unit to the lector but a totally different product. It would be regarded as very fast,accurate but I would reckon much leaner sounding then the lector. As I said earlier if it holds its own against the dcs or wadia it would be a no brainer if one wants a realistically priced option for high quality playback with a pc/laptop. Very interested to see how it pans out. Wouldnt mind hearing it in one of those systems.

Frans idea makes a lot of sense. As it will be a fairly good while before I have a system working, I will have plenty of time to burn discs etc.

Pardon the ignorance but whats the dali cd?

[jkeny]

Fran, good idea - Exact Audio Copy takes about 15-20 mins or more to copy a CD onto HDD so if this was done in advance it would save some time. But please use EAC & not iTunes or equivalent.

GerryD, the Hiface needs a PC to connect to - it won't connect to NAS drive directly, unfortunately. Yes I would bet that it will sound better than the Sonos.

Tony, sorry if I called your system "modest" it was just my ignorance of the Cyrus range - nothing intended in my remarks. I didn't know what the Dali CD was either until Ivor told me that it was a standard reference CD used in lots of demos. It is well recorded with a variety of artists featured.

[james]

http://www.dali.dk/display_content.php/ ... %20CD.html


"...
The DALI CD

[W]e proudly introduce the DALI CD Vol. 2. The 15 tracks chosen differ in both musical style and rhythm.

Som track are well known, a few of them even true classic, others will introduce you to a totally new musical experience.

At DALI, we are driven by a raw passion for music and its honest reproduction in the domestic environment. The development and refinement of new technologies to increase the realism of the home entertainment experience is the main objective in our quest to create what we believe to be the best loudspeakers in the world.

With this music selection you'll experience fantastic artists who put their heart and soul into their music and you'll get to explore the full potential of your DALI speakers.


We love music. We love sound. This is the vision we strive to serve with every single DALI speaker.

The DALI CD
Antonio Forcione
Josefine Cronholm
Skunk Anansie
Cæcilie Norby
Dave Brubeck Quartet
Holly Cole
Loreena McKennitt
Janis IanElvis Presley
The Willy DeVille Acoustic Trio
SaybiaSafri Duo
Toto
Bo Stief Dream Machine
Filur
..."

james

p.s. I looked this up -- I don't actually have a copy ...