The Dark Side; Digital audio equipment recommendations and setup.

I use a kora tubed DAC in my system. I have had this for about 12 years or more. I roll my tubes and just picked the the a Kimber select Digital Cable for it. Damn what a difference! Yes it cost a good bit of cash, but damn what great sound.
 
I use a kora tubed DAC in my system. I have had this for about 12 years or more. I roll my tubes and just picked the the a Kimber select Digital Cable for it. Damn what a difference! Yes it cost a good bit of cash, but damn what great sound.
Cables make so much more of a difference than I could have ever imagined before I fully got into this hobby.
 
Does anyone have any experience using one of the hi res streaming services on the old Chromecast Audio puck? I have Spotify but wouldn’t mind trying one of the others.
 
Nope sorry. I know they work but the sound quality is not the best supposedly. But to just have music in the kitchen it should be more than fine
 
Does anyone have any experience using one of the hi res streaming services on the old Chromecast Audio puck? I have Spotify but wouldn’t mind trying one of the others.

It won’t work with tidal connect but if tidal or Qobuz supports casting then you should be fine. One thing is that it is limited to 24/96. That will support almost all hi res steams but the few that are done at the top 24/192 will be compressed by it. Because it’s so small the DAC in it isn’t stellar so you’re not going to get the full benefit of the hi res but you could down the line connect it to a DAC, or an inbuilt DAC in an amp. The output is a hybrid digital/analogue port and if you connected a mini toslink to toslink optical cable between it and the optical in on a DAC or amp you’d be passing out the digital signal for them to process.
 
The issue with these little pucks, is that to get sound quality better than your phone you really need an external DAC. When you toss one of those in you are getting up there in price.
 
The issue with these little pucks, is that to get sound quality better than your phone you really need an external DAC. When you toss one of those in you are getting up there in price.

Gotta say that’s why I really love the raspberry pi and hat solution I use. It’s the perfect middle ground between those two stools. It also sounds great. It is every bit the equal of the old Sonos connect (not heard the new port) to my ears and at 1/5 of the price!
 
For those of you who like to listen to music on the go; a magsafe dac

Though for now I will stick with my dongle dac and holder
 
For those of you who like to listen to music on the go; a magsafe dac

Though for now I will stick with my dongle dac and holder


That’s kinda cool. I wonder if the likes of ifi with their hip DAC will look to make MagSafe versions in the future. Would defo make it more attractive with them stuck together in your pocket…
 
That’s kinda cool. I wonder if the likes of ifi with their hip DAC will look to make MagSafe versions in the future. Would defo make it more attractive with them stuck together in your pocket…
I'm enjoying the new hip dac2 at the moment - had it a day or so now and it provides a decent improvement. I'm yet to test it on the move, so it'll be interesting to see how I get on with it when on the train or tube etc and having to travel. This seems like a decent option to prevent loss or snagging.
 
I'm enjoying the new hip dac2 at the moment - had it a day or so now and it provides a decent improvement. I'm yet to test it on the move, so it'll be interesting to see how I get on with it when on the train or tube etc and having to travel. This seems like a decent option to prevent loss or snagging.

Yeah it’s always been the bulk and extra bit to lose that’s put me off. I only really stream on the go so I’ve sacrificed a bit of quality for the convenience of Bluetooth headphones the last 4 or 5 years. The more slick and integrated these get the more I’d be tempted. That said until I’m back on the tram again I really should probably stop looking at an the go options 😂
 
Yeah it’s always been the bulk and extra bit to lose that’s put me off. I only really stream on the go so I’ve sacrificed a bit of quality for the convenience of Bluetooth headphones the last 4 or 5 years. The more slick and integrated these get the more I’d be tempted. That said until I’m back on the tram again I really should probably stop looking at an the go options 😂
Bluetooth headphones?! Heathen! ;)
 
Bluetooth headphones?! Heathen! ;)

Hahahaha! It is streaming and podcasts lol. Plus at the time infinitely preferable to cables getting caught on poles, bags, other people on a packed tram 😂

That said I’ve not been on the tram since march 2020 and unlikely to commute that way until next January at the earliest, likely to keep a car park space until then, so I really should park the whole headphone debate lol!
 
Plus at the time infinitely preferable to cables getting caught on poles, bags, other people on a packed tram 😂
this. i used to have wired headphones but wearing them on the NYC subways? fuggedaboudit.

even just walking down the NYC streets, they would somehow get caught on some passerby and yank out of my phone. if i was sitting at home with headphones on, i'd want wired. but bluetooth were more than fine for a commute. now that i'm WFH probably permanently, i only use my bluetooth headphones for phone calls or travelling.
 
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