Tír Na HiFi

tony wrote:

Aleg wrote:

tony wrote:...

Wushuliu you do know Aleg is using a Naim dac that is bested by a sony walkman sized dac with shiny lights!

.....

Tony, my dear chap

I could continue testing using that walkman sized DAC with shiny lights if you've got more confidence in that one !! LOL :-()

I think I might have the first / only one in Holland ?!

Cheers

Aleg

Did you get one?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

If it indeed betters the Naim than that will free up some money for another purchase from Naim.
If not, it will make a hell of a DAC for my office system.

Cheers

Must post your results on ken's thread. It is obviously creating some stir in the market. LZ for me so I will be passing as the well is dry. Like Ken's when I heard it on my system but have found that the soundstage and warmth of LZ is what I really want.

I think that those lights improve SQ, big time...:)))

wushuliu wrote:

Aleg wrote:

wushuliu wrote:
Sorry but as much as I respect what those guys are doing as a fellow DIY'er it should not be a must for me to spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on Paul Pang Products, clocks, whatever flavor of the month cable/usb/card/SSD, power supply. etc. There is not enough consensus IMO on a lot of those items when it comes to MQN or even jplay. I need more than just a couple of guys' opinions on that stuff before I invest that kind of time and money. There are just too many variables.

I think you should, if you aim for the best sound quality.
If you don't want to spend time and/or money (and it doesn't have to be big bucks, as Nigel is keeping it low cost afaik), you will have to accept that it will be less than best. And that will become apparent on revealing software and hifi gear.

You can't have it all for nothing.

Cheers

Aleg

So MQN should be developed to satisfy 3 or 4 people (if that) with 'highly tuned' machines? Especially as the designer himself does not own any such machine?

I am all for the pursuit of low noise, improved audio performance via pc but I believe that constitutes a separate journey than determining how MQN should 'sound'.

As for your earlier snarky comment about my contribution to mqn that reminds I have not donated which I certainly should have done by now. So thanks.

yes its true i go to great expense to make pc improvement modifications cheap :)
most guys like cheap
there are many ways to improve the sq of the pc the best ones are cheap/free, especially for those that are already used to a bit of diy
anyway its much easier to upgrade the sq of a pc than amps etc

looks like we should be doing a group buy on these hugos
hugo,hugo,hugo.....
still have to get round to listening to one sometime

3.94

Motherboard modifiers.

I am happy to meet you guys half way.
I would be happy to adopt any mods which can be shown to reduce jitter and noise.
I.e. via real measurements, or majority feedback.

Maybe we should start an MQN PC modding thread which details/covers the mods that are recommended as an easy starting point.
I have already seen the Tir Na PC thread + 1 or 2 others you guys have posted on...... but they are very lengthy.

Curious to know if you already have measurements which detail your assumed reductions in rendering jitter and noise...?
Or are your improvements measured subjectively based on listening sessions?

FYI mods like the PPA usb card and motherboard clock, actually have the potential to increase jitter, due to longer cable runs and induced interference. I notice these mods are not supported by jitter / SNR measurements.

In all seriousness we are all after better audio, and I would be keen to see a thread which highlights say the top 10 PC mods.
Thoughts?

Hopefully this may minimise the gap on subjective feedback, and get us all on the road to audiophile nirvana.
It would provide interesting discussion anyway.

Aleg would you be happy hosting this..... ? i'm sure you have 5 off the top of your head... I have a few also.
I would also suggest we get a qualified electronics technician involved to provide real test data.... this would be nice...
Let me know.

FYI, for those that are interested:
Here is the PPA base usb card without the Chinese TCXO board

$12... from ebay
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-Arrive-U ... 233b5f9bb3

looking at the TCXO board, I believe it is from this website
http://yishenghifi.taobao.com/category- ... 7%B0%E5#bd

just with a 25m clock soldered on...

tcxo board has the following address:
http://shop33599005.taobao.com/

enjoy

2channelaudio wrote:....
Curious to know if you already have measurements which detail your assumed reductions in rendering jitter and noise...?
Or are your improvements measured subjectively based on listening sessions?
...

each time you take out a jitter in OS, you unlock about 0.1% of texture/details.
when i have done about 200-300 things, and correctly
i start to don't care about details/quantity.
too much... even with my terrible STX soundcard

in the end, i realize, quantity is nothing, can very easy to push for more.

texture quality totally depends on mqn.

people are confused with what to expect from software player.

there are things that can be delegated to OS/bios.

3.95 sounds ok

2channelaudio wrote:FYI, for those that are interested:
Here the PPA base usb card without the Chinese TCXO board

$12... from ebay
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-Arrive-U ... 233b5f9bb3

looking at the TCXO board, I believe it is from this website
http://yishenghifi.taobao.com/category- ... 5%C1%D0#bd

tcxo board has the following address:
http://shop33599005.taobao.com/

still need to locate it.
probably just a quick email would sort it out.

Yea the parts for a ppa usb v2 card can be bought relatively cheaply
I did have links for the exact parts at one stage

The Modded usb3 cards have a good sq effect because it takes the 24mhz clock signal provides it with a far cleaner supply giving it a cleaner waveform
And then it allows a clean external 5v to provide power to the dac although usb cable +5v injection is better again

All mods are judged by ear in a series of a b testing
And then cross referenced at meet ups when there's a bit of an audience
We never did anything with measurements as the end goal was better sound we didn't think using our ears was such a bad idea