KISS may get me up and running - am I on the right path?

[Smitty77_7]

Greetings and many thanks as a 1st time poster. Have done much reading, and searching - and appreciate this boards knowledge bank...

 

Background current path:

Computer > Cat5 > Squeezebox Touch 'DAC bypass' > Coax to GR Research Lite DAC60 > RCA's out to Cary Cinema 11 'bypass' > to Amp/Speakers.

 

I've been tube rolling with the DAC60, and overall enjoy the sounds. A mix of Pandora,Internet Radio, etc. The DAC60 is limited to 24bit 96kHz - which I've enjoyed quite a bit.

 

What has changed:

New PC for the house, with Windows 7. A desire to try downloading of up to 192 sounds.

 

Questions and request for opinions:

-The Cary Cinema 11 is supposed to have a pretty good DAC with the Burr-Brown PCM 1796 - that supports up to 192.

-PC is upstairs in the office, with 90' run Cat5/RJ45 cable to HiFi area.

-(Question/Opinions) Convert RF45/USB > to Musical Fidelity V-Link2 > coax to Cinema 11 DAC?

-Will the RJ45 to USB cable conversion hurt much, if any?

-Is the V-Link2 for this USB conversion - a reasonable price approach? Wanted the ASYCHRONOUS - and can't afford a Wavelength:)!

 

I have other questions, but still searching to see if I can find those answers. I do enjoy the GR Research mod'd DAC60 sounds (the tube rolling has been a blast) - but, thought for less then $150, I could start to learn about the higher content sound streams available now. (And yes, I hope this does not get me in trouble with the board members - I do still spin LP's, and find I continue to like this sound quality the best.... Thus, my desire to compare the higher quality sound streams to the LP's...)

 

TIA - and best to you all,

Smitty

 

[realhifi]

It is not quite as easy as downloading hi resolution (24/192) and playing them from your computer to a dac.

 

Not sure if you realize but the Squeezebox will handle 24/96 so you can wirelessly (or wired) pull those signals from what you already have into the CARY to give it a try pretty painlessly. Just use a good RCA digital out from the Touch into the CARY and bypass the USB convertor all together for starters.

 

Not sure what you are thinking by using a RJ45 to USB convertor.

 

PS. If you have a very good vinyl system now I wouldn't be looking at getting better sound right away with 24/192 unless you are prepared to spring for a very very good dac.

 

[Smitty77_7]

Thanks David! (And, my advance apology for long winded questions...)

 

I have A/B between the Cary and the DAC 60 upon occasion. I liked the tube influence, and the BB PCM1704 DAC chip does a good job. I use the SB Touch coax out as the source for this. So that has let me test the waters at 24/96

 

I'm not running the SB3 Touch in a wireless config, using the CAT5/RJ45 input. My main PC is in an upstairs office, and I did not run any USB cable sources to the Audio/Media center when pulling wires (two CAT5 runs were pulled). So, that is my thinking about converting RJ45 to USB. And with the asynchronous V-link USB, expect a cleaner feed to the DAC's, whichever one I end up using. (I may have misunderstood this, but I think even a less jitter/better timed feed from V-link2 to my DAC 60, would be better then the SB Touch Cat5 feed?)

 

Vinyl has been fun, and is my choice of audio whenever available. But, the wife does not spin LP's. So, by expanding to a computer fed system, one with all of our available music ripped and or downloaded if new - this should provide her with a simpler method of listening?

 

It is the move to expand our options with ripped CD's and downloads of new songs in the higher rates, that makes me ponder the move to 24/192. As you mentioned, new DAC's are expensive...

 

One other question. At the level of my gear, if I call my 24/96 fed DAC 60 (GR Research mod's with items like Black Gates, and other goodies.) with 6922 tubes that I've settled on - let me call that the a current '8.5' on a scale of 10 in sound listening enjoyment. With 24/192 via the V-Link2/Cary DAC combo - any opinions of sound improvement, if any? Any thoughts of level of improvement percentages? Or, on levels of improvement with the asynchronous USB feed to the same DAC 60?

 

David/Gang I apologize if I don't ask this in the right way. I'm very much a rookie on all of this, and continue to surf/read/learn as much as I can absorb. Just don't have a full grasp on things yet:)!

 

Best,

Smitty

 

[Mark Powell]

The V-Link II goes only to 96K (I have one), so it is no use if you want 192K. I have heard that there may be another MF converter either available now, or to be available shortly, that does do 192K.

 

A personal opinion. So far I have not been impressed by Hi Res files. The few I have seem to lack the 'life' and 'drive' of 44.1 files ripped from CD. This may be just distortion from CDs, the ripping process, and so on, I am not sure, but the life and drive is definitely there.

 

As my previous MF V-Link/Cambridge Dacmagic combination only went to 96K I used the facility in JRiver 17 to downsample my 192K files to 96K. Now I don't have to as I have a new 192K capable DAC. So I tried this -

 

1) CD rips at 44.1K. Lots of 'life', 'attack' and 'drive'.

 

2) 96K downloads. Not the excitement and involvment of ripped CDs. But mabye more 'forward into the room' and therefore more sense of 'being there', though this is very subtle.

 

3) 192K downloads downsampled to 96K by JRiver. Totally indistinguishable from (2).

 

4) 192K downloads played at 192K. Totally indistinguishable from both (2) and (3).

 

I may come to prefer the Hi Res downloads. I am trying to convince myself that they must be 'better' because they are supposed to be. But I am not at all sure.

 

 

 

[realhifi]

If it is just your wife looking to listen to a music collection and she doesn't listen as closely as perhaps you might (on your vinyl say), then I would honestly be tempted to simple use the Squeezebox either wired or wirelessly into your dac that you have currently. When I see questions and posts like yours I sense that there is still a bit of a disconnect in what computer audio is or isn't and what it is that people can expect from it. IF you have (as it sounds like you do) a terrific vinyl playback system then to equal that sound you will need to spend more than what that costs equivilantly in digital hardware. At least. What is so wonderful about streaming and digital computer music is, as you have already found, that the lower end of the price scale rewards you with great digital playback. Yes, you can always do better. But, get your checkbook out. The point is that at the lower end of things the differences are more often than not fairly superficial and tend to be debatable as to which one is actually "better" than the other.

 

So your lowly Squeezebox into a decent dac can quite honestly play with some pretty big players when playing back 16/44 or 24/96 . So until you are ready to find out what that next step into digital playback is you may want to set that Squeezebox up for your wife, keep buying vinyl for yourself and slowly but surely look into what the next level of digital playback is. Just be warned, it's not a small step.

 

[Smitty77_7]

Mark - Yep, I should have typed V-Link3, not the 'two'. It's available now for about $349 or so, providing up to 192.

 

David/Mark - It's more then just making it easier for my wife, it is also for us to have all of our music available with the ease of one source of data. We are RV'ers too, and plan to do several months on the road over the years ahead. I'd like to have all of our music copied and available to us on a portable external drive. (Have not started the upgrade to the RV HiFi system yet, but Peachtree I've been following as a possible all in one capability. As we also will be watching movies, I'm considering a Meridian G95 too, as it is a 'one box' solution. The V-link would be pretty easy to move into the RV while heading out, to feed the Meridian. Admit this is not Meridians best all around DAC, but the lower ends of Meridian's DACs, are better then many manufactures top of the line. (For the record (some pun intended) - I suggested to my wife that we remove the RV's washing machine, and that it would allow me to install my turn table, phono and related gear. Oddly, she did not jump on this...)

 

I'm going to take a bit more time on the home front. As I do enjoy the 24/96 sound from the current SB Touch to DAC 60. I'll play with the 192 downloaded music, after I do a bit more 'thinking' on the basics of computer audio feed to HiFi...

 

Appreciated both of your responses, and I'll keep banging around and reading on the site - and ask other questions as they come up.

Smitty

 

[Paul R]

I second David's thinking. A Squeezebox Touch is several things, one of which is a very good digital player. It's easily, when hooked up with a 75ohm RCA cable to a DAC, as good as a Mac hooked up to the same DAC.

 

It's also one tough little bugger. The built in Dac is also good enough for party tunes and such as well.

 

It is, perhaps, one of the best entry machine into Digital music out there. And when controlled from an iPhone or iPad, or from an Andriod device, amazingly convenient too.

 

 

-Paul