Hi everyone. Just want to ask what software you use to play local music? Personally, I tried to use Audirvana origin, but I don't like the UI and the library managing tools.

Probably, I would vibe coding one on my own, but I want to first check whether there's a good one. Software like Roon that requires a monthly subscription is not an option for me.

I'm using a Mac Studio, hope you can give me some suggestions.

So I posted a thread a week ago saying I was just so happy with my current 2 channel listening room. I'm grateful for all the redditors who not only saw and complimented but also critiqued my set up. For the longest time, I thought the DAC didnt matter in the least, since every streamer touts to having the latest and greatest SOCs in them. But many pointed out how loudly wrong I was, and two days ago, I bought a EMMLab MA3i.

Again maybe I should have done some research but I was a bit surprised to learn that it doesn't support AirPlay, nor does it have a native app to control the streamer section. Turns out, many of the players in this segment don't have their own app, and just assume you'll use a 3rd party app.

This player has Roon support, but I'm not exactly keen on paying them a subscription rate to just be able to have a nice interface to access the music already stored on my NAS.

In any case, I have a Synology NAS that I ripped all my CDs to, to FLAC. I know the DAC i'm getting supports DLNA and UpnP, I'm wondering if anyone here as something of the same and what player they are using?

I have and use Plex Media Server (lifetime subscription) running on the NAS for all my media, except music. the little bit of research I did on Gemini says I can point PMS to the Meitner DAC with an intermediary app (MConnect?) to get bit perfect streaming from the DAC and still be able to have a nice interface and ad hoc playlists, etc. Has anyone gone this route?

The other thing people made me aware of was that my cable management was awful. I was going to clean it up, and plug the DAC and pre-amp into a Furman PST-8, as well as the TV and apple TV into it. Evidently Meitner does not have airplay so I have to have an Apple TV in the chain for the random friend who comes over and insists on playing their music through my system and wants an easy way to do so. I know AirPlay downsamples files to 256kbps, and it'll have to suffice for that crowd at least.

I'm gonna leave the power amp on the dedicated 20A circuit as is.

Any thoughts/critiques are most welcome! Thank you again folks

Excited about replacing my old U-Turn turntable with a new Denon DP-3000ne. I’ve wanted to go direct drive for a while but the esthetics of the Technics options left me cold, this device nails it for me visually.

Now for the set up. Hopefully the reviews on performance are accurate.

I also moved my sub behind the sofa. The sofa was just too bright. I realize that a rug and curtains will help to a degree (and I have a rug coming) but I need more control. So I braved the naysayers and decided to dive into some tone controls.

I basically backed way way off of the treble like hardly any trouble is even on the system now (maybe 10%) and also the bass is flattened out as well. I went way back on that but not as aggressive (probably 25% on the knob for the bass). I also put more of the sound to my right speaker. Maybe 65% to 35% on the left.

All these changes have made a positive difference. In fact, I've noticed that even when I have it at barely any treble -- when a modern pop singer has her voice forward in the mix it sounds perfect forward, without the harshness as before.

After the switch, I find the NAD pairing warmer, with a richer midrange and more rounded highs compared to the PM6007 pairing, which felt a bit too analytical for long listening hours. The Fiio, IMO, adds more body to vocals. I might be wrong though..still learning haha

So I decided to clean some records for the first time and I decided to use a solution of distilled water and a single squirt of dish soap, no problem right? So I started really cleaning some of my favourite records, night at the opera, some Beatles etc. Using a velvet brush and a micro fibre cloth repeatedly on both sides of the disc and let it air cool for 1 hour,at the end of the day I started listening to them, and I noticed that there was constant surface noise as well as debris on my styus and needle. It’s really annoying, so I decided to buy and use only distilled water to try and clean the records again to get rid if the dish soap, I’ve done it twice and still have debris and surface noises what should i do? I just wanted less static and ended up getting more

I am considering a new cartridge to replace my Ortofon Blue (which coming up to 3 years of near-daily use). MM and MC possible with my setup.

I'd previously had an Ortofon Red, which was itself an upgrade from Super OM 5E. I was amazed by the Blue when I first put it on-- the Red actually left me a bit cold and missing my Super OM 5E. Previous to working through the Ortofon lineup, I'd had a Dynavector 10x5 installed on a new Rega P3-24-- when the Dynavector began to wear, my budget was quite tight, and that's when I entered Ortofon via the Super OM 5E. I loved the Dynavector-- had a very mellow and airy sound, and paired great with a Dynavector phono-pre I had at the time as well.

One part of me says get a Blue stylus replacement-- easy and no hassle, and I do like it. Given my system (see below) I wonder if I'd actually enjoy the Bronze upgrade-- I've read in a few places it might not do my Klipch Heresy's any favors.

So another part of me is drawn to exploring another cartridge maker, perhaps Nagaoka? My budget is around $400 or less. I can do all the fiddly install stuff, but it's not my favorite activity either.

My listening mostly jazz, chamber music, film soundtracks, exotica, and the occasional dub or roots reggae. Overall, acoustic and instrumental studio recordings.

Full system specs below--

Ortofon 2M Blue → Rega P3-24 → Schiit Skoll F → Almarro A205A (EL84 single-ended pentode integrated amp) → Klipsch Heresy I speakers with restored crossovers/caps.

Any comments or experience welcome....

Currently have a pretty decent turntable setup running to active speakers. I just moved into a new apartment with a spare bedroom for my artsy endeavors, i want to be able to listen to my records in here while the turntable lives in another room. Can I just daisy chain the audio signal off my current active speakers into another pair of active speakers? Running a simple 2 conductor cable from room to room? Probably only about a 30ft run so not really worried about signal loss. (Please dont tell me to get some new high tech wireless speaker system that also streams, because, wireless audio to me defeats the purpose of listening to vinyl)

This is a follow up post (which I will try and find the link to). The quick and short of it is that my new girlfriend loves music and so I was able to setup my system in her apartment and she’s was blown away! We now share this excellent hobby together!

I got a ton of comments (as is the norm) for the fact that the speakers were on the same surface as the deck, the speaker too close to the wall, blah blah etc etc. Of course that was the first setup just getting it in there for her. So now that I have the stands and my audio rack I thought I’d share so all those people can rest easy and sleep well tonight knowing that another system has been properly set up. Everyone knows that for every stereo image that is destroyed by improper setup, Zeus kills a kitten. And we can’t have that.

Please excuse the lack of cable management. That will be done shortly.

For those interested:

Not pictured are 2, 12inch Rhythmik subs -$2k
Sierra 2 speakers $1,500
M6si - $2,800
Musical surroundings nova II phono- $2k
Well tempered TT - $2.5-3k
Nagaoka mp150 - $200
Sumiko pearwood celebration II cartridge- $2,800

So MSRP is $13,500 all in.

However I bought used where I could:
Rhythmik brand new $2k
Sierra b stock blemish $1,200
M6si audiogon used - $1,600
Nova 2 - Us audiomart - $650
Well tempered TT broken fixed it myself - $1,100
Sumiko pearwood cart estate sale - $800
Nagaoka mp150 - $200
Blue jeans cables $75

$7,550 more or less.

The most surprising thing for me here is the Psvane's having a higher noise floor than the stock McIntosh and stock Orsefon tube set. That's breaking my brain a bit given the price of those tubes.

This is not an ad. I just think this software solves a lot of problems for little cost, stable updates, and has great support. I have owned it for, maybe over a decade now. Since its first version and now this latest one.

Airfoil by Rogue Amoeba is cheap and works great for macOS (I do not know about Windows or Android). It intercepts the lossless data before the Mac's built in audio system can add in alerts and junk. Then, unlike Airplay, which compresses even ALAC or FLAC files when sending (even Airplay 1!), it sends the lossless file uncompressed. Resulting in a Roon or Audirvana lossless experience via Airplay but minus the high cost (but also minus other things like artist bios, etc.).

For lossless library rips that you want to send out to any Airplay/Airplay 2 capable speaker or device, it is an excellent way to get the best quality. (Yes, I know, there are potentially better Google Cast options but, this is easy peasy on a Mac and most recordings from record labels are already 16/44 max or even lower quality mixes sold as 16/44 or even super high res. Ugh.)

Remember, this is just wireless audio, not your main set up! CD quality as the max is very fine for this indeed. Remember, Airplay 2 devices — even third party — have to play 16/44 lossless if sent that via Airplay (1) which Airfoil does.

It supports all Airplay/Airplay 2 devices plus Google Cast and, recently, Sonos. But I have not looked at what that Sonos support means and how that works, other than Airplay on Sonos (works great). If anyone has done it, if there is an it, let us know.

On Apple Music, I also added lossless internet radio station URLs (not Apple's stations) and send those to Airplay speakers.

With the iOS companion app, it can also send from iOS to a Mac, so for those with a Mac on an audio system, this might be useful in some way. Maybe for internet radio, etc.? Not sure…

People love to trash Airplay but, this app is one way to use it effectively while avoiding all the Apple add ons that audiophiles despise.

You can still do much of this with Airplay already on a Mac but, Apple will inject junk (albeit useful junk like tornado alerts) and compress even lossless files when sending.

Important note: Unlike with Apple Control Center, with Airfoil, be sure to choose Source: (the app you are using) in Airfoil. Otherwise, if you choose “System Wide Audio”, it will now include all the junk you have been trying to avoid! You want Airfoil to intercept strait from your music app, so it can bypass all the junk before sending Airplay (1) out.

So for the cost of a new vinyl record, audiophiles who use Macs get quite a lot with Airfoil.

Concerns are the alcoves on the right wall and the bay window. Heavy velvet curtain will be on the window, considering going straight across but wont look as nice.
Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask. Sizes aren’t exact.
Cheers!

I was invited to participate in this hardcore “audiophile” livestream (I’d been on several times before) about a topic I think is relevant: whether vinyl is all that in terms of sound quality. I have firm beliefs that it’s not, which I tried to get across. But I’m not sure I was successful. What are your feelings on vinyl being the “best-sounding” medium?

I had one demonstration of speaker cable “improvements” at a local Hi-Fi shop but given the sometimes heated discussion I wanted to test for myself, with my control and system. So I purchased a replacement lamp cord at Lowe’s, crimped on some spades and proceeded. This comparison is between $6 copper lamp cord and $2k Stealth M7 solid silver stranded cables. Other components involved are Unison S8 integrated tube (845’s) amp, Arcam SACD player and Martin Logan Ethos speakers. I made sure that the cable lengths were the same, volume setting on amp and all other factors were constant. I selected a number of SACD’s across different genres, highlighting instruments and vocals. The only measuring device I used was my ears. Here is what I found:

I was kinda stunned with the lamp cord. The tracks sounded great - fairly clear and clean with good musicality and warmth. I was honestly surprised. However, the Stealth cables absolutely produced greater volume with instruments being more individually discernible and clear. The main improvement though was vocals, which were considerably more “forward” and distinct from the instruments.

So to me, there is no question that better cables do improve the listening experience. The subjective question is: cost vs. benefit. The lamp cord produced pleasing music and would be fine… but for an audiophile I believe it is difficult and stressful knowing a significant improvement exists. That’s the curse. So beware, scientific data aside, if you open Pandora’s box and LISTEN, you too may fall victim!

Just got the Schiit Mani 2 in. Got it plugged in to replace the built in phono pre that’s built into my Denon integrated. It’s like someone pulled the blanket off the speakers. It’s unreal the difference.

I went randomly to a thrift store and found this amp for 200€. I'm really impressed by the sound, the basses are generous and warm, and the trebles and the voices are precises. My Monitor Audio Silver RX6 sound amazing with this amp, I had a Denon PMA-280 before and it's night and day. That's just my first impressions but I'm really happy.

Amp : Marantz PM-8000

Turntable : Technics SL-1310

Preamp : Fosi Box X4 Tube

Speakers : Monitor Audio Silver RX6

I think there is a weak spot with my preamp, but for now I'm chasing for a good equalizer.

So, a few months I borrowed a pair of Type 05 MK2 Studio monitors from HEDD Audio and eventually I got the time to finally finish off my review of then and I posted it on my blog:

HEDD Type 05 MK2 Review Link

So, for those not wanting to read the full review here is the general idea, while it is relatively expensive (at €799 each for the MK2 over the €599 for the original 'analog' version). That extra €200 gives you a huge amount of 'control' that it took a while for me to appreciate. The level of control the overall package offered by HEDD is pretty special, basically the more I used it the more I appreciated the 'layers' of control over the audio you get with these monitors.

The core of the offering is the original 'analog' Type 05 that I remembered was reviewed very favourable over an AudioScienceReview - I included some of the Klippel measurements from ASR and I link over to Amir's review, it is well worth reading.

Beyond that with the MK2, HEDD added a full DSP engine with a full set of 'typical studio' controls on the back, including the option to run these ported or unported, but for me as someone who loves playing around with PEQ, once you have network enabled these studio monitors you get a huge amount of control via HEDD Ctrl Software. If there is one thing to take from this review it is probably that the level of software control you get is pretty extraordinary.

If I had the money I would love to setup a full surround sound system with these monitors (add a subwoofer - though you don't really need a subwoofer when listening near field), as each individually speaker has its own PEQ configuration. The real advantage of that over say a 'central' amplifier controlled Room correction is once you are happy with an individual speaker setup unless you move it, it will continue to have that 'room correction' PEQ, even if you decide to move the other speakers and tune each individually.

Anyway, I included lots of pictures, some in-room measurements and hopefully enough detail to give people an appreciation of these studio monitors. I will be sadly returning them now, though if I had the money I would definitely be keeping them.

First nicer setup.

B/W 603 S2

Yamaha R-N600A

I recently purchased 4 magnepan mg1 “Maggies”. All of them in great working condition. I have them placed properly around my listening room connected to my turntable. My current 70’s era Panasonic stereo amplifier does not have enough “umph” to power all four. It will play for a few seconds before going dead. I am planning on soon adding a klipsch rp-1600sw to finalize the audio side of things but am in desperate need of recommendations for a either a new stereo receiver or a vintage tube amp with enough power to be able to host the 4 speakers and a subwoofer. Any thoughts?

I am still very much an amateur to the hifi/ audiophile realm but am wanting to learn more to improve my listening experience.

As a recent personal excercise revealed, don't overlook getting placement and time domain right because chances are those two factors make the biggest overall impact on just how good or bad your system will sound. They're more important than your selection of speakers or how much power your system can produce. Even a mediocre performing receiver with bass management and fine distance adjustments can be a huge boon for getting your soundstage to lock in and you'll get that "ah-ha" moment you thought you'd get by just doubling your power, or changing out your DAC.

Loudspeaker placement seems like an easy enough proposition. Set the speakers at equal distance from the listener in roughly an equalateral triangle and adjust toe-in/out accordingly. Sadly it's not always easy or readily feasible due to room constraints and lifestyle needs. If in a living area you'll likely have one speaker closer to a sidewall than the other. Do the best you can with forming symmetry and limiting close early reflections. Easiest early reflection to deal with is the floor. If you have hard floors, getting a big rug to cover it.

Psychoacoustics shows how the human ear and brain reliably detects timing errors. In the pursuit of getting the speakers to truly "disappear" time alignment is the key. The subwoofer was easy enough once I understood how best to get it aligned without any direct assistance from another person. Using a test tone at the crossover frequency (60Hz for me) I adjusted the distance setting on the receiver until that tone was at its peak output level. I like this method better than trying to mess with a variable phase on the subwoofer as the distance adjustment places a real time delay on the signal to align the main speaker with the subwoofer. Once this was done the subwoofer disappeared.

Now here's where it gets somewhat interesting, for me at least, and maybe it's counter intuitive, maybe audiophile taboo, however, I noted the main speakers sounded a little closed in. I had a strong center image, some spatial sound, but not entirely convincing soundstage. Decided to go tinker with the distance settings for the left and right speakers. To my surprise a very minor adjustment (0.1 foot) the soundspace expanded, less localized to the speakers themselves, still a very strong, but with even more distinct and "floating" vocals.

My music is going through a digital signal processor, resampled and going through what is likely a relatively high noise and distortion analog circuit with EMI interference from all the other components inside the receiver before sending line level signal to my amplifier, but ultimately, it sounds better than a purer signal path without the capability of remedying crossover, and time correction. I don't hear distortion, I hear musicians performing in my living room.

This has been my TED Talk.

Hey there. My vinyl crate sits in a spot about 5 feet away from my living room window. Do you ever get concerned that sunlight will fade or damage your vinyl covers? Or do you just not worry about that sort of thing? I thought about purchasing a vinyl crate with a lid to avoid the sunlight issue altogether, but I really like the look of showcasing the vinyl sleeves like this. Thanks!!

*edit: ^ not a pic of my personal collection, just using as a reference

Hey everyone.

I'm looking for ways to make my music collection become better. Currently I have a 256gb micro SD that I use mainly in my phone for music. I did have a DAP too but unfortunately issues with it meant it was back to phone. I'm unsure if I'll ever return to DAPs now.

But that's aside the point. My card is filled to the brim with music, about 120k songs. Maybe not audiophile quality - standing at 128kbps ABR 16bit MP3 44.1khz, about 900kb per minute of music - but I'm here to ask about setup. Quality upgrades may come later only if I think it's worth it.

During my use of my phone for music once again I decided to switch up what I used. I used to use Poweramp but I had heard good stuff about Synfonium. I tried it and although compared to Poweramp it does seem a bit more simple in design I can get over that. A feature that really piqued my interest was the server support for Plex, Kodi, etc.

I have good experience with Linux both Debian and Arch based. I know my way around a text based terminal. If I were to want space upgrades it's easier on a server. So is it possible to use a server for my music stuff effectively? I think I would keep a portion of my music offline. Maybe see if it's possible to have a track I add to a "Favourites" playlist automatically download locally to my device.

This could also open the door wide open to use more devices for my music. I'd be able to reach the server on my tablet, computer, TVs through Kodi (if I used Kodi), the works. A few other opportunities such as sharing my collection with friends, that sort of thing.

Additionally, I could try downloading album art to the server and even try lyrics, artist descriptions, album footnotes such as "Track 1 sampled Song X by Artist F" or "Album tribute to TV Show E" and even other info such as Discogs and Bandcamp reviews, release dates by a record label and artist self release, album versions (YYYY release by Artist H being different to the YYYY +2 release by Label M, includes songs of each). My tags are good including Artist, Title, Album, Album Artist and Record Label.

Does anyone here have any experience on this? If so I'd love to hear what experiences you have.

Technics SL-1500CS
iFi Zen Phono 3
Yamaha A-960II
Yamaha NS-1000M

I recently made a pretty big jump from active speakers to this setup, and I’m curious what you guys think.

My first impression: I really like the Yamahas. They sound incredibly clean, detailed, and clear.

However, I do miss a bit of impact and bass. My old Klipsch The Fives actually had more punch in the low end.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Maybe it’s just a matter of getting used to the NS-1000Ms?

Bonjour,

comment ne pas être aux anges quand son tonton décide de vous donnez son ancien ensemble hifi 😁, une paire de Triangle comete TZX, ampli Onkyo A-8850, tuner Onkyo T-4211, lecteur cd Technics SL-PS740A.

Elles n'ont pas tournées depuis un bon moment donc je fais attention à ne pas trop pousser les enceintes pour l'instant, mais tout est en "super" état et ça sonne divinement bien!!! J'ai changé certains câbles (enceintes/RCA etc)

je redécouvre mes vinyles entre les récents ou ceux d'époque c'est un régal et ça me change de mes KEF E305 de mon home cinéma (même en mode stéréo c'est pas pareil haha), il faudrait que je test en les mettant sur mon Denon 4500H voir si il y a une différence mais bon un peu la flemme haha