The Dark Side; Digital audio equipment recommendations and setup.

Joe Mac said:
With the core I got lucky with an amazon marketplace deal on a damaged box NUC for one of the previous years models, I was quite patient waiting for that so keep an eye out those type of deals do come up. I think memory is pretty cheap at the moment so you should get the ssd, ram and hdd for storage for a fair price.
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That was almost too easy. There was a NUC5i3xxx discounted on the warehouse and 20% on the RAM, so I got this and a 120 SSD for 200£. And I have until January for return if that doesn't work, that should give me enough time to try Roon again properly!
 
apassant said:
That was almost too easy. There was a NUC5i3xxx discounted on the warehouse and 20% on the RAM, so I got this and a 120 SSD for 200£. And I have until January for return if that doesn't work, that should give me enough time to try Roon again properly!
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awesome. I got the 7i5 but just because that’s what the discount was on! all the recommendations say an i3 is more than enough. The only difference for me was a 2TB HDD but that was because I don’t have a NAS and one of those was cheaper than a NAS for getting the files off my iMac and into the Roon core all the time.
 
For those of you have gone to using the digital files ripped from CDs instead of playing the actual CDs, have you held on to the CDs? I asked @Ed Selley on Twitter a while back and he said he has not held on to the discs and he's never looked back.
 
Joe Mac said:
awesome. I got the 7i5 but just because that’s what the discount was on! all the recommendations say an i3 is more than enough. The only difference for me was a 2TB HDD but that was because I don’t have a NAS and one of those was cheaper than a NAS for getting the files off my iMac and into the Roon core all the time.
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I might get another HD later, but so far I'll think I'll just use the external usb drive that already has my files on it. Now I just need to grow the library, and/or leave Spotify to back to Qobuz (which I'll probably do, it's cool for commute / office but I'm annoyed by the quality each time I play it on my hifi).

Are you using the core headless with just the mobile app or do you have a screen etc on it? Do you know if ROCK supports Bluetooth keyboard / mouse?
 
apassant said:
I might get another HD later, but so far I'll think I'll just use the external usb drive that already has my files on it. Now I just need to grow the library, and/or leave Spotify to back to Qobuz (which I'll probably do, it's cool for commute / office but I'm annoyed by the quality each time I play it on my hifi).

Are you using the core headless with just the mobile app or do you have a screen etc on it? Do you know if ROCK supports Bluetooth keyboard / mouse?
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Yeah I’m on qobuz now too. The seamless integration with Roon is excellent and I love the fact that it makes the tracks on there part of my collection. I’m pretty happy with qobuz on my mobile too for commuting and just dialling back the quality over mobile internet.

The ROCK is completely headless. Once you’ve set it up all that shows on screen is its IP address. I used the app on the iMac, for the bigger screen, to get the music into it and manage my library and now I have it all set up I use the iPad/iPhone app to control it.
 
High Rant District said:
For those of you have gone to using the digital files ripped from CDs instead of playing the actual CDs, have you held on to the CDs? I asked @Ed Selley on Twitter a while back and he said he has not held on to the discs and he's never looked back.
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I kept the CDs. I was glad I did when I discovered FLAC, but I doubt anything would require me to rip them again. At this point, I mostly keep them so I can claim fair use.
 
apholden said:
I kept the CDs. I was glad I did when I discovered FLAC, but I doubt anything would require me to rip them again. At this point, I mostly keep them so I can claim fair use.
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I kept mine after I ripped to FLAC. I have the space to keep them, and it’s a decent backup for the files. I got space saving sleeves instead of the plastic cases, which reduced the space needed by quite a bit. Not at my laptop for a bit, so I can’t get the link, but search for Jazz Loft CD sleeves and you should find them.
 
do i need like very high end headphones to take advantage of 96Khz on a DAC... or will i be able to notice a difference on just these 20-20Khz M50s
 
duke86fan said:
do i need like very high end headphones to take advantage of 96Khz on a DAC... or will i be able to notice a difference on just these 20-20Khz M50s
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That would depend very strongly on your hearing. I have a few 96 kHz, 24-bit flacs. I can't hear any difference between them and the 48 kHz, 16-bit, 96 kbit/s opus files I converted them to, and my Sennheisers aren't exactly cheap. I've written it off as a limitation of my 40-year-old ears.

(Edit: ears, not eras. Must learn to type!)
 
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Joe Mac said:
Yeah I’m on qobuz now too. The seamless integration with Roon is excellent and I love the fact that it makes the tracks on there part of my collection. I’m pretty happy with qobuz on my mobile too for commuting and just dialling back the quality over mobile internet.

The ROCK is completely headless. Once you’ve set it up all that shows on screen is its IP address. I used the app on the iMac, for the bigger screen, to get the music into it and manage my library and now I have it all set up I use the iPad/iPhone app to control it.
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Cool! Do you know if the CD ripping feature (Roon Knowledge Base - Roon OS CDROM) works on a ROCK w the app from a Mac? (and if I need the CD player on the ROCK or on the mac in that case?).
 
apassant said:
Cool! Do you know if the CD ripping feature (Roon Knowledge Base - Roon OS CDROM) works on a ROCK w the app from a Mac? (and if I need the CD player on the ROCK or on the mac in that case?).
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I didn’t know about that! Ijust ripped my CDs on my Mac using XLD and copied them across because you can mount the internal HDD (or USB HDD attached to it) as a network drive on your Mac. Roon automatically picks it up and attaches the best metadata.
 
The Vega has arrived! In all honesty, the set up of the Lightning DS app was not easy, and it took forever to finally get it connected.
Just letting it run for now. There is supposedly some break in with these, but I will say that my initial listen to the difference between the Vega G1 and the Marantz HD-DAC1 that it replaces is every bit the sonic difference that I got when I switched from a Vincent PHO-8 phono to the Sutherland Insight. I have maintained that was the single greatest jump I made, but the Vega is bringing the same feeling. Music is just blossoming. Everything feels bigger, taller, wider. The instruments are MUCH more identifiable and separated. I’m pretty blown away. Cat seems to like it. 7279DA07-89E7-4BDD-8583-DD1548D0A701.jpeg3078D1C8-7946-441E-BDA0-06053363C7DA.jpeg
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Slimwhit33 said:
The Vega has arrived! In all honesty, the set up of the Lightning DS app was not easy, and it took forever to finally get it connected.
Just letting it run for now. There is supposedly some break in with these, but I will say that my initial listen to the difference between the Vega G1 and the Marantz HD-DAC1 that it replaces is every bit the sonic difference that I got when I switched from a Vincent PHO-8 phono to the Sutherland Insight. I have maintained that was the single greatest jump I made, but the Vega is bringing the same feeling. Music is just blossoming. Everything feels bigger, taller, wider. The instruments are MUCH more identifiable and separated. I’m pretty blown away. Cat seems to like it. View attachment 24068View attachment 24069
View attachment 24070View attachment 24071
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Whew that's a big jump! You're really got a world class system coming together. I wish I had less life happening at the moment so I could catch up. My time will come eventually!
 
displayname said:
Whew that's a big jump! You're really got a world class system coming together. I wish I had less life happening at the moment so I could catch up. My time will come eventually!
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Thanks so much! You’ll get wherever you want to go.

It’s been a fairly quick journey, made possible with some luck, timing and good fortune. My decision to set up a music room came in a two year sweet spot after all of my student loans were paid off and all my kids are a couple years from college themselves.

I’m pretty done at this point. I might mess with a new cartridge next year, and get myself a vacuum record cleaner, but I truly believe I have my end game equipment in my Luxman, my UltraDeck, and the Forte III’s. Early indication is that the Vega won’t be going anywhere either.

Now it’s all about getting lost in the music.
 
Slimwhit33 said:
Thanks so much! You’ll get wherever you want to go.

It’s been a fairly quick journey, made possible with some luck, timing and good fortune. My decision to set up a music room came in a two year sweet spot after all of my student loans were paid off and all my kids are a couple years from college themselves.

I’m pretty done at this point. I might mess with a new cartridge next year, and get myself a vacuum record cleaner, but I truly believe I have my end game equipment in my Luxman, my UltraDeck, and the Forte III’s. Early indication is that the Vega won’t be going anywhere either.

Now it’s all about getting lost in the music.
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I dream of the day I'm done with student loans. They are less daunting every year, but I still have a little ways to go.
 
I recently ordered a NAD CD player, before I start buying cd’s is there any advice on what to look out for both pros and cons. I have over the last year acquired a lot of vinyl and obviously along the way I made plenty of mistakes and bad decisions and would like to avoid as many as possible as I start to add cd’s to my library.
 
Dylanfan253 said:
I recently ordered a NAD CD player, before I start buying cd’s is there any advice on what to look out for both pros and cons. I have over the last year acquired a lot of vinyl and obviously along the way I made plenty of mistakes and bad decisions and would like to avoid as many as possible as I start to add cd’s to my library.
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Generally speaking there is less to worry about with CDs than vinyl. Unless they are properly beat up they should just play. Like anything just enjoy it. My attitude is if something is worth vinyl (I love the album/it’s a great package/it’s been mastered and pressed with care for the format) that’s where I go. If it’s something I kind of enjoy but don’t love, is a fun nostalgia trip or the vinyl pressing is notoriously poor I’ll pick up the cd. At the end end of the day though this whole music collecting thing is meant to be fun so just try to enjoy it as a different flavour to vinyl and don’t feel that you need to “catch them all”.
 
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Hi all -- Acoustic Sounds has the Chord Hugo at $1400 and the Mojo at $349. Is the Mojo still a good purchase? (I'm mindful that it is a couple years old, etc. and don't really know this space....).
They seem like great deals, but obsolescence?

httpss://store.acousticsounds.com/d/109527/Chord_Electronics_Limited-MOJO_Mobile_Headphone_Amp__DAC-Headphone_Amplifier
 
Slimwhit33 said:
The Vega has arrived! In all honesty, the set up of the Lightning DS app was not easy, and it took forever to finally get it connected.
Just letting it run for now. There is supposedly some break in with these, but I will say that my initial listen to the difference between the Vega G1 and the Marantz HD-DAC1 that it replaces is every bit the sonic difference that I got when I switched from a Vincent PHO-8 phono to the Sutherland Insight. I have maintained that was the single greatest jump I made, but the Vega is bringing the same feeling. Music is just blossoming. Everything feels bigger, taller, wider. The instruments are MUCH more identifiable and separated. I’m pretty blown away. Cat seems to like it. View attachment 24068View attachment 24069
View attachment 24070View attachment 24071
Click to expand...
Yowser -- any reviews on that Luxman?
 
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