beerandmusic

^^ +1 I think i will start a thread called "I don't care what they say"....

i have tried a few different cables and have had many different dacs. I currently use an audioquest forest, although i wouldn't swear it is any better or not than any other usb cable. personally, i believe Miska in his suggestion that in his testing that using a standard usb cable with ferrites has been more effective than any of the fancier cables he has tried.

I would not believe any results, either pro or con, if one is better or not. I just started a thread saying how my turntable all of a sudden feels really good (different). Not going to say it's better or not, just a good different. There are just too many variables that different listeners will have, mainly dealing with "their setup" Those listening to DSD 256 with a high end DSD compatible DAC will obviously have a different experience than someone playing the same DSD file through a cheap pcm only dac with software settings that convert it down, as just ONE of many possibilities...not to mention some people clearly have more sensitive hearing than others, and some people know certain parts of certain songs that are trained to listen to certain passages etc.... I would think that there should be a measurable way with an expensive DSD microphone or with how to measure sensitivity etc...if there is not any way to measure any differences, then i would find it difficult to believe that to the very vast majority people could hear differences. my opinion, until someone can convince me otherwise, will remain that speakers and amp make up 95% of the quality of a sound system and who cares about the other 5%. you can play a low res 192 mp3 on a nice amp and speakers and it will sound 10 times better than a dsd file on a lesser system. Buy the best speakers and amp within your budget that "YOU LIKE", and learn to enjoy what you have....life is too short.

I don't care what some say about vinyl can't be better than digital.... I just moved and one of the last things i have done during the moving process was hook up my turntable. I used to play a record once a month or so, but have gotten out of that habit over the last couple years.... Well, after just hooking up the record player (i have had the stereo hooked up for over a month), i just had to test it and played america as it was the first record i picked up.... It just felt good...really good. Better or not, i may have to go back to playing an album a month again just to get that "good feeling".

I have been using it with alexa for awhile...i love it.......i have been using it a long time...even before ultra hd...the convenience with alexa makes it well worth it....rarely do i pick up a device, turn a knob, or do anything other than to speak where, when, what, volume, etc...

$50...or i forget how much the actual cost of the linux was....but i followed it as much as i cared to and bought the linux...I still have not implemented it though, but it was the only thing i thought was worthy of consideration in that entire 1000 page thread. In all seriousness though, if i would opt for the sotm or the sonore, i would likely buy the sonore because i don't believe the digital front end should really make a difference and sonore is less....not because i thought the sonore got better reviews....it's nice the enet->usb intfc supports roon, but i am not a roon user. It would be nice if archmiago's blind test in other thread included both the sonore and sotm...but i doubt he did....my guess is that honest opinion would not be able to distinguish, given same ps, dac, amp, speakers....so might as well go with what's less.

>>What's the consensus on ethernet cables? who cares

I have ALWAYS had a very difficult time believing that the digital front end would make much difference, that if there was any difference that it would be very difficult to distinguish even in a blind test....that said, i do believe that cd's will sound different based mostly on their dac, but if you used a digital output into the same dac, that again, it would be very difficult to distinguish differences, let alone which one sounded better for all types of music. My guess is that if you do get enough people doing the test, that there will be no concensus as to one digital front end being superior to any other. as always...put your money in your speakers and your amp!

i must admit that sounds awfully tempting....

every review i have read that compares the sotm to the sonore preferred sotm...i never read computeraudiophiles review...but it doesn't sound like it was a comparable review if the PS was not comparable....plus many of the people in the monster thread ditched their sonores to go to sotm, and then later to just go to a $50 linux solution...that's where i would look, if i was looking.

down to $400... https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/1/9/18176089/lexar-first-1tb-sd-card-price-date-ces-2019

I was very curious myself as imho, no other amplifier sounds like a mcintosh. Instruments seem in their own space and has a deep and wide soundstage. It is warm and tubelike in comparison to other amps. Pass labs threshold sounded closest to me than any of over 2 dozen amps i tried to come even close to comparing...but none bested the mcintosh (at least in a 5K budget or less). it also is well known for giving full range even at very low volume (i believe that is due to autoformers, not sure). I did ask an amplifier designer what he believed was in the circuitry that made mcintosh stand out from others...his response was that the magic to house sound is in the windings....that may or may not be true, but that is what he told me....

finally saw it tonite...even better than I anticipated! highly recommend

wireless isn't the answer, because you will still need a reciever. The music should reside in the player and properly isolated. Wireless will be the most used method (since youngest generation use their phones for everything), but for ideal SQ, the music will reside in the player and be properly isolated....I like idea of sd card. Of course with option of both wireless and network input for convenience with circuitry that is turned off when not in use.