Dead Can Dance - Aion - Radharc

[manisandher]

Jud, I'll take a listen this evening and get back to you. Without any processing in XX, the 24/176.4 file will be fed totally natively to the 1704U-K chips - hopefully any imaging will be well away from the audible band. We'll see... I mean hear.

 

Mani.

[AudGuy]

Mani, thank you ... after doing the "rip a record" thing myself I found that everything will have some influence in the results. Including the turntable, cartridge, step up coil (if used), the phone-stage, the cables and the ripping equipment.

 

My own efforts: I use an ok newish turntable with a 9" arm, a pretty good quality low output moving coil cartridge, a step up coil transformer, a modest phono-stage, Anaylsis plus and Silvercore interconnects, and a old P4 with Creative Labs Audigy 2ZS sound card for capture. After some testing it was quite apparent that more is better and I settled on using 24/176 capture rate.

 

Interesting choice of music, very similar to what I used to test with. I used a MOFI record of Dead Can Dance (Into The Labyrinth). This album was very well produced and used obviously excellent mastering technique. The music is pretty good also ...

 

I found that capture rates below 24/176 were merely good. They were clean capturing the essence of the vinyl quite well, so well in fact that I found that absolutely meticulous cleaning of the record right before capturing was mandatory. At first I thought all the not terribly evident ticks and pops were dust or minor scratches. This turned out to be wrong instead static was the culprit. When a capture is done at 24/176 or 192 it is quite evident that sound quality has stepped up a notch and easily equals the vinyl.

 

At first I was suspicious that the sound card might not be so good, wrong! This inexpensive PC sound card is quite amazing, given the price point it was marketed at. The fact that it is the better part of a decade old doesn't help much either but using the patch panel analog inputs and Gold Wave to record with produces results well worth the effort. Could I do better, certainly, but it would involve more money. Unfortunately, this hobby typically involves the More Money = More Results equation.

 

So now I am at that stalled point where I have recognized that if cheap gear can do this well then better gear will result in better recordings. So I will wait to rip my records because that is a monumental task that warrants the supreme effort. I am looking at ADC's and trying to make a choice, right now I am favoring the Lynx Hilo but who knows what I will think tomorrow.

 

Your posting made me think about what I had learned about sound and all that affects it during recording and playback. I have also found that it is hard to top a good record although, they are not all "good". Some are in fact quite mediocre. Similarly, some of my CD's sound very good ... surprisingly so indeed, and some of my SACD's are also very nice. Having said that though I am surprised how often I find the sound on SACD to be less than I would hope for. I suspect this to be the engineering bug...

 

provocative, very good ...

[wkhanna]

I am looking at ADC's and trying to make a choice, right now I am favoring the Lynx Hilo but who knows what I will think tomorrow.

 

FYI

Ayre Acoustics QA-9 USB A/D converter | Stereophile.com

[AudGuy]

FYI

Ayre Acoustics QA-9 USB A/D converter | Stereophile.com

 

Hi Bill, actually this is another one of the devices that is on my radar although it is more $$ and a little less available.

Not unobtainable, but in more limited supply and a trip into the big city is needed to attend the vendors shop.

 

Thanks for the ref...

[wkhanna]

 

Thanks for the ref...

 

You are V welcome.

I have not heard it in application. But I respect Atkinson's opinion.

Beyond that, a V talented designer I have the privilege of knowing has had few consults with the guys at Ayer.