Music Servers VS Excellent Transports?

So fellows, what is your experience on the above?
I find that my cd player still sounds much better then my collection of hi rez. Wider and deeper soundstage, better high and low details. But then again my streamer are not the real high end one.

A bit like apples and oranges ... for a credible comparison, I reckon we should use the all-else-being-equal method as much as possible. Like same recordings but on different formats, same level of CD transport and music server. What is your comparison methodology? With servers/CAS/USB DACs, there are so many more things to factor in than a straightahead CD player or transport/DAC set-up ...

Try this:

Aurender S10

(Maybe you will change your mind)

Reference Quality Purpose Built For Audio.

From Web Site:

With the Aurender S10 you can start ripping and playing your CD’s immediately, without the need for a computer.

The Aurender S10 has 2 hard drives, a 2TB Hard-disk Drive (HDD) and a 64GB Solid-State Drive (SSD) which is much faster than a mechanical HDD.

Music is only played from the internal SSD. The internal HDD is automatically put to sleep mode while playing music, so the Aurender is essentially an all-solid-state device (no moving parts at all) when playing music. The Aurender smartly caches your recently played files, and also the songs in your playlist.

The Aurender server and iPad app are designed to be highly responsive when navigating your music collection, with the Aurender OS operating on the very fast SSD drive, and all music metadata being cached on the iPad, eliminating the need for constant back-and-forth communication between the server and iPad.

Clock accuracy is a key determinant of digital audio sound quality, and the OCXO clock used in the Aurender S10 is 10,000 to 100,000 times more accurate (and thus significantly less jitter) that the crystal oscillators found in most audio equipment.

On an average you can store 3 music CD albums in 1GB using lossless FLAC format. This means the Aurender S10 can hold about 6000 CDs worth of music!

There are 3 ways to get music into the Aurender – (1) Rip a CD automatically with an attached standard USB-powered CD drive (3) Plug in a USB storage device, and Aurender will automatically copy over music files (3) Full access from your PC/Mac to the Aurender’s internal HDD, as a standard SMB network server.

Many music file formats are supported, including FLAC, AIFF, WAV, Apple Lossless, APE and MP3, up to 24-bit 192-kHz resolution.

“Hands down my product of the [CAS 2011] show, and possibly product of the year, is WideaLab’s Aurender S10 music server.” – Chris Connaker, computeraudiophile.com

Looks good, Vince ... how much will that cost, though? From S'pore?

USD5,700.00 b4 shipping and tax, including SSD and 2 T HHD but no IPad.

Have a unit coming my way soon. You can have a go when it is here.

It is on wait list, heard that most buyers are diehard vinyl kakis.

Cheers.

Whew!

I think another forum member here already have the S10.

Must have a listen at raindrop audio one of this day.

bassraptor wrote:Whew!

And it is just a Transport.

But then when compared to RM100K plus CD transports....

VS126 wrote:USD5,700.00 b4 shipping and tax, including SSD and 2 T HHD but no IPad.

Have a unit coming my way soon. You can have a go when it is here.

It is on wait list, heard that most buyers are diehard vinyl kakis.

Cheers.

Bro,
Hope I can tumpang listen once it's with you...

With yr two Barrels pointing at me, How can I say no..

BTW, how is yr 37?

shbehmal wrote:So fellows, what is your experience on the above?
I find that my cd player still sounds much better then my collection of hi rez. Wider and deeper soundstage, better high and low details. But then again my streamer are not the real high end one.

Like you I prefer the CD to my CAS. Even with RR 176.4 KHz files, I still prefer the 44.1 KHz CD.
I am on my second CAS and yet without any success in achieving a SQ close to my CD transport.
CAS is the future but it has still quite a distant to go. Just like the early days of CD.

DrWho wrote:

shbehmal wrote:So fellows, what is your experience on the above?
I find that my cd player still sounds much better then my collection of hi rez. Wider and deeper soundstage, better high and low details. But then again my streamer are not the real high end one.

Like you I prefer the CD to my CAS. Even with RR 176.4 KHz files, I still prefer the 44.1 KHz CD.
I am on my second CAS and yet without any success in achieving a SQ close to my CD transport.
CAS is the future but it has still quite a distant to go. Just like the early days of CD.

Perhaps the likes of Vince and Jo Ki can show you the way ...

bassraptor wrote:
Perhaps the likes of Vince and Jo Ki can show you the way ...

Before jumping the gun, of course Dr.Who needs to find out if both the gentlemen above can sing his tune first

cheers

DrWho wrote:

shbehmal wrote:So fellows, what is your experience on the above?
I find that my cd player still sounds much better then my collection of hi rez. Wider and deeper soundstage, better high and low details. But then again my streamer are not the real high end one.

Like you I prefer the CD to my CAS. Even with RR 176.4 KHz files, I still prefer the 44.1 KHz CD.
I am on my second CAS and yet without any success in achieving a SQ close to my CD transport.
CAS is the future but it has still quite a distant to go. Just like the early days of CD.

Well said bro... resolution is one thing, sounding good or musical is another... not even close...

Looks like Wyred4Sound had also jump onto the music server bandwagon.

Wikin wrote:

bassraptor wrote:
Perhaps the likes of Vince and Jo Ki can show you the way ...

Before jumping the gun, of course Dr.Who needs to find out if both the gentlemen above can sing his tune first

cheers

This was what Joki had said on this subject which he posted in the HiFi 4 Sale Event thread.
" While the subject topic deals with Computer Audio System, I belong to the few that do not believe in computer hardware could be made to do music well enough to replace my dedicated yet able CD player."

Whichever system having lesser jitter would have a better SQ, be it CAS or CD.

strange....
i hv always felt cas sounded better than cd. ripped cd file sounded better than the cd played on cd player using the same dac.

DrWho,

Depends on when Joki said that. I think he changed his mind after he acquired the Bryston.

Actually I think he changed his mind just recently, after he listened to a new CD player.

Mind Your Own Business... MYOB
and
Make-up your own mind.... MYOM

cheers

sflam wrote:strange....
i hv always felt cas sounded better than cd. ripped cd file sounded better than the cd played on cd player using the same dac.

depends to what type of cd player you're referring to though..

sflam wrote:strange....
i hv always felt cas sounded better than cd. ripped cd file sounded better than the cd played on cd player using the same dac.

I believe it is incorrect to summarize which system is better. It is peculiar to the system and setup. Your CAS could sound better than your CD, you are right I believe you and can accept that. In another setup the CD may sound better than the CAS. Mine is just the latter case.
Just for info I am using the Auraliti PK100 and Auraliti assisted Bryston to design their BDP1.

@carz,
Joki posted his remark after he had his Bryston, just a few day before the HiFi4Sale CAS event.

bassraptor wrote:A bit like apples and oranges ... for a credible comparison, I reckon we should use the all-else-being-equal method as much as possible. Like same recordings but on different formats, same level of CD transport and music server. What is your comparison methodology? With servers/CAS/USB DACs, there are so many more things to factor in than a straightahead CD player or transport/DAC set-up ...

The comparison that I have done is the "all else being equal" method as you mentioned, same DAC, same pre and power and same speaker. Same track of the same album but on different media, one being on cd and the other on 24/192 WAV format. The cds beats the hi rez hands down on all front, but I did put a few tweaks on the cd player thought, I change the fuse and put vibration isolation devise under the cd player.

vs126, please let me tumpang listen when your aurender arrives...

DrWho and WongKN,

What CD Player did Joki acquired that now bettered the Bryston ? Was it the TAD600

Hey Vs126,
When your S10 arrives can accommodate a guy from NS?
Regards

sflam wrote:strange....
i hv always felt cas sounded better than cd. ripped cd file sounded better than the cd played on cd player using the same dac.

perhaps you do indeed have golden ears!

Hhhhmmmm the never ending debate of which format is better.

The answer to me will always be NEITHER. My believe is always different format gives DIFFERENT sound.

In my set up, not all the time CD is better than hi rez....and vice versa...heck...not all the time LP is better than CD and hi rez too...

All of them just sound DIFFERENT between each other.

From the web site:

With today's technology, clock and signal jitter can be lowered to a
point where their effects are negligible.

Ordinary crystal oscillators
have an accuracy of 10^-4 to 10^-5.

Temperature Compensated Crystal Oscillators (TCXO) have an accuracy of 10^-6.
Oven Controlled Crystal Oscillators have an accuracy of 10^-7 to 10^-8.


The next higher performance oscillators are based on Rubidium or Cesium
and are used to make atomic clocks.

OCXO clocks are 10,000 to 100,000
times more accurate than ordinary crystal clocks and the sound quality
difference is very noticeable.

In the Aurender S10, an OCXO clock and
proprietary reclocking with Field-programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) are
combined to ensure virtual jitter free performance and superb audio
performance.

The Aurender Music System is fanless to eliminate
vibrations, unwanted electromagnetic fields and noise emanating from the
fan.

Solid State Drives, which have no moving parts, are used to avoid
vibrations, electromagnetic interference, and latency found in hard disk
drives.

The use of solid-state drives vastly lowers processor access
times.

During playback, selections are automatically cached using
proprietary technology from the hard disk to the Solid State Drive.

The
hard disk then falls asleep and the music is played back using only the
solid state drive.

This design eliminates problems with sonic and
electromagnetic noise from spinning hard disk drives.

bassraptor wrote:

Perhaps the likes of Vince and Jo Ki can show you the way ...

.


No BR

I am no Guru. Just a music lover.

I will leave that to our Famed Guru JoKi.

DrWho wrote:

I believe it is incorrect to summarize which system is better. It is peculiar to the system and setup. Your CAS could sound better than your CD, you are right I believe you and can accept that. In another setup the CD may sound better than the CAS. Mine is just the latter case.
Just for info I am using the Auraliti PK100 and Auraliti assisted Bryston to design their BDP1.

@carz,
Joki posted his remark after he had his Bryston, just a few day before the HiFi4Sale CAS event.

Hi Dr. and HF4S members,

Perhaps I was not clear enough in my last statement...

I do not believe using computer CPU, laptop and/or Mini Mac for CAS streaming is fit for audiophile standard eventhough it is capable enough to "decode" music files in whatsoever guise. This is what I was saying bluntly and concisely. So, no beating around the bush and guess what I was trying to imply.

Those who are using the aforementioned method to handle your CAS, please pre-qualify your statement especially in comparing the two formats on the machine used. It is not doing justice to CAS when you are using computer equipment for the job; no matter what and how you tweak them. A truck is always a truck, meant to carry goods. Since some of you are using your computer machine/laptop to stream CAS, why don't you use the built-in CDrom to play your CD? That would be more fair. Do you think we should be talking about the audio fidelity as such?

In my system, my 47 Labs Flatfish, used as transport, failed to beat my Byston BDP-1; both of them are fed through my Bryston BDA-1 dac, both using the CD and the same is ripped in 16x44.1 stored in the same HDD I use during the CAS meeting at CMY+all the best tweaks I have. Is my 47 Labs an inferior cd player? May be? But do a Google what is its feat perhaps.

Yes, you are right, I also heard TAD600 CD player in my system not very long ago, and that player sounded better than my BDP-1+BDA-1 but do Google their costs. Having said that, both playback systems reproduced very similar sonic characters with TAD produces better image density giving music a touch more conviction.

I have no doubt that laptop or Mini-Mac can do CAS well, and like most of you clarified here before me, they offers the easiest and cheapest insight into CAS and laid the initial path and get the first taste into this format. Until it is mature enough then you jump in is wise! Whilst I respect and recognise such measure, BUT then to make sonic comparison between both formats using incomparable equipments, cannot hold water.

I am not at war to anyone, all of you are entitle to your opinion and free to use your computer to stream CAS, if CAS is inferior, so be it, and CD is terrible, I also own one. We are in it together whichever win or whatever loose.

Vince, I am no Guru also. But by what you wrote, which I do not know, you deserve to be a Guru.

Actually the topic of this thread has been debated many times before. And it is clear it will continue to be debate many times in the future.

Before you guys progress further, I suggest that you guys come to an agreement on the definition of CAS. I.e. exactly what constitutes CAS digital playback. I think I can see different takes on this in this thread.

all also are just "MM" with digital toys...

WongKN wrote:Actually the topic of this thread has been debated many times before. And it is clear it will continue to be debate many times in the future.

Before you guys progress further, I suggest that you guys come to an agreement on the definition of CAS. I.e. exactly what constitutes CAS digital playback. I think I can see different takes on this in this thread.

Isnt it self explanatory ? CAS is COMPUTER audio system. so it must be running on a computer. if no computer is involved e.g. digital files on hard disk + digital player, then its not CAS.

>>>>Yes, you are right, I also heard TAD600 CD player in my system not very long ago, and that player sounded better than my BDP-1+BDA-1 but do Google their costs. Having said that, both playback systems reproduced very similar sonic characters with TAD produces better image density giving music a touch more conviction. <<<<

Joki,

Did you try connecting the TAD600 (using it as a CD transport) to the BDA-1 ? And connecting the BDP-1 to the TAD600 (using it as a DAC) ? Was wondering if it was the TAD600 Transport section OR DAC section that won the day ?

Isnt it self explanatory ? CAS is COMPUTER audio system. so it must be
running on a computer. if no computer is involved e.g. digital files on
hard disk + digital player, then its not CAS.

So then, is the Aurander, or your CliC, or the BDP-1 into a DAC CAS or not CAS ?

Bryston , Aurender .... they all use some form of embedded Linux.

Ask any OS aficionado, and they'll tell you that u can pretty much use the same OS to run custom programs and routines to control anything from a microwave oven cooking profile to an ICBM guidance algorithm.

And to run Linux, the hardware itself is pretty much a "Computer" already. And i'm guessing that how the Aurender connects to the HDDs and SSDs are via SATA. So the Aurender hardware pretty much has all the same controller ships as in a laptop or desktop motherboard.

Maybe someone can take a snapshot of the Aurender innards to reveal either an Intel or AMD CPU inside ?


Either way ... LINUX ROCKS ! hahahaha....

wongkn wrote:
Before you guys progress further, I suggest that you guys come to an agreement on the definition of CAS. I.e. exactly what constitutes CAS digital playback. I think I can see different takes on this in this thread.

cas has been defined as
1) computer audio system
2) computer as source
3) computer audio source

the word 'computer' appears in all three definitions that i found in the net. so i suppose cas has to be computer (or laptop) based.

the problem is that many digital music players/streamers/servers use modified computer mother boards for e.g. the bryston. so are they considered 'computers'?

Personally, I think the distinction is the way the music content is stored. Broadly looking at it, music is stored in CDs & CD players are used to play them. Digital files of various formats & resolution are stored in different medium be they solid state or spinning HDD or other means & play through players like streamers, CAS etc. Of course within the subset of the these digital file players, there are many different configurations & the way digits become music through speakers. So I would say that these belong to the same group although they are quite different from one another, just more similar when compared to a CD spinner. Make sense ?

'digital music' includes cd, cas and streamers/servers. so it is an 'umbrella' term.

beneath it are the 'branches' - cd and cas.

if the distinction is the way music content is stored, then 'cd source' can be defined as files stored in optical media. this includes cd, cd-r, cd-rw, hdcd, sacd and dvd-a.

then cas can be defined as digital music players playing file formats such as mp3, aac, aiff, flac, wav, apple lossless, etc, stored in non-optical media such as hard disks or solid-state memory or thumb drives or sd cards. thus cas defined this way would include pc, laptop, notebook, streamers, servers, digital music players, etc.

the operative words are 'optical storage' and 'non-optical storage'
makes sense?

WongKN wrote:Isnt it self explanatory ? CAS is COMPUTER audio system. so it must be
running on a computer. if no computer is involved e.g. digital files on
hard disk + digital player, then its not CAS.

So then, is the Aurander, or your CliC, or the BDP-1 into a DAC CAS or not CAS ?

For the sake of not to confuse the laymen, when one ask me whether Bryston, CLiC etc are CAS based, my answer is no.

I prefer to stick to CAS to be music played from a computer...physically a computer with keyboard, mouse, Windows, Leopard, Microsoft Word,iTunes, Windows Media player, INternet Explorer... etc...and not talking about processor inside the Bryston, CLiC etc is still running on some sort of 'computer' program or platform.

Thats me though....in fact is not to confuse the laymen. Its actually not to confuse myself.

CAS = played by a program (iTunes, Foobar, Winamp etc)on a computer

Non-CAS = played by the the streamer itself (Bryston, CLiC etc)

"Whichever system having lesser jitter would have a better SQ, be it CAS or CD." By Dr Who.

Fully agreed with the above statement, but sometimes I think it has to do with the quality of the source recording also. Some studio master sounds down right awful.
Before I did my tweaks, the streamer sounds better then the cd player, only the xrcd playing on my cd player is comparable to my hirez, but after I change the fuse of my cd player to hifituning one and put Symposium rollerblocks under the cd player, it totally transform into a different beast and I never look back from that point on.
Anyone tried the above tweaks before and what are your experiences?

shbehmal wrote:" but after I change the fuse of my cd player to hifituning one and put Symposium rollerblocks under the cd player, it totally transform into a different beast and I never look back from that point on.
Anyone tried the above tweaks before and what are your experiences?

SHB...

Similar tweak, but mine was a tweaked out by placing "squash ball's"...it definetly transformed the SQ. They are held in place 10/20 cent size washers. The balls are not cut into half's.

There is much clarity on the instruments that are being played, especially the smallers bits of the music, vocals sound much firm and solid. All in all better separation.

Other then that no experience in CAS or Non CAS, the max i have ventured was playing MP3 songs via MP3 player via RCA / USB via DAC. Will explore someday but for now just enjoying my current setup....

where and how much was the rollerblocks ?

cheers

Good supports can make a big difference. A few of us have elicited excellent results from the MS Elite magnetic supports. I have yet to mess with fuses.

Btw, my non-CD digital path is streamer-based.

- CDs ripped to non-compressed FLAC using dBpoweramp.

- Files transferred to NAS (a QNAP running 2 x 2TB Western Digital hard disks in mirrored config).

- NAS streamed to Ethernet port of Linn Majik DS digital streamer, controlled via Linn's Kinsky software on iPad.

- I use an Ayon CD-1s tubed CD player, which has 16/44.1 and 24/192 modes.

- The Majik on its own is fabulous, but performance is upped a few notches when I route its digital output into the digital input of the Ayon. So much so, I can hardly tell the difference between streamer and CD player!

- I've also used the streamer with the Bryston DAC with excellent
results, but that's too expensive for now ... waiting for the dedicated
Audiolab DAC, if it comes out!

A year ago, I was messing about with iTunes/mediamonkey on my laptop,
via a cheaper USB cable and DAC, didn't do much for me, apart from the
endless hours of music on tap!

Am also quite impressed by the Bryston BDA-1 ... less of a hassle to set
up than a NAS. I would say my streamer/audio player adventures are only
beginning ... importantly, I'm keeping an open mind.

For a physical and mental work-out, I still fiddle with the turntable to see how far it can go ...

wingman wrote:

shbehmal wrote:" but after I change the fuse of my cd player to hifituning one and put Symposium rollerblocks under the cd player, it totally transform into a different beast and I never look back from that point on.
Anyone tried the above tweaks before and what are your experiences?

SHB...

Similar tweak, but mine was a tweaked out by placing "squash ball's"...it definetly transformed the SQ. They are held in place 10/20 cent size washers. The balls are not cut into half's.

There is much clarity on the instruments that are being played, especially the smallers bits of the music, vocals sound much firm and solid. All in all better separation.

Other then that no experience in CAS or Non CAS, the max i have ventured was playing MP3 songs via MP3 player via RCA / USB via DAC. Will explore someday but for now just enjoying my current setup....

where and how much was the rollerblocks ?

cheers

As of now, still no authorize dealer in Malaysia or Singapore, so I bought direct from US.
The rollerblock junior is USD 169 set of three, I put them under my speakers. The rollerblock series 2+ is USD 399 but the best is the roller block series 2+ with grade 3 super ball, it is USD 599 set of three, they provide the leanest and smoothest sound with the most quite back ground, I put them under my cd player. I think they are well worth the investment, as you put each set under your components, they back ground become more and more quite and focus on high and lows increases with each addition. I also bought a piece of 14 x 19 svelte shelf, but the improvement is minimal, may be not worth investing, but beware, there are some chinese made imitation on the market, if the price is cheap you might get fakes instead of genuine ones. They also inform me they are going to hook up with a Singapore base dealer soon.

bassraptor wrote:Good supports can make a big difference. A few of us have elicited excellent results from the MS Elite magnetic supports. I have yet to mess with fuses.

Btw, my non-CD digital path is streamer-based.

- CDs ripped to non-compressed FLAC using dBpoweramp.

- Files transferred to NAS (a QNAP running 2 x 2TB Western Digital hard disks in mirrored config).

- NAS streamed to Ethernet port of Linn Majik DS digital streamer, controlled via Linn's Kinsky software on iPad.

- I use an Ayon CD-1s tubed CD player, which has 16/44.1 and 24/192 modes.

- The Majik on its own is fabulous, but performance is upped a few notches when I route its digital output into the digital input of the Ayon. So much so, I can hardly tell the difference between streamer and CD player!

- I've also used the streamer with the Bryston DAC with excellent
results, but that's too expensive for now ... waiting for the dedicated
Audiolab DAC, if it comes out!

A year ago, I was messing about with iTunes/mediamonkey on my laptop,
via a cheaper USB cable and DAC, didn't do much for me, apart from the
endless hours of music on tap!

Am also quite impressed by the Bryston BDA-1 ... less of a hassle to set
up than a NAS. I would say my streamer/audio player adventures are only
beginning ... importantly, I'm keeping an open mind.

For a physical and mental work-out, I still fiddle with the turntable to see how far it can go ...

I think you should try out the fuse, you will get significant improvement from it and each only cost RM 250++. In terms of value for money, I think it is a sound investment.

Now I am sure my china made streamer is the main problem, because both cd player and streamer are fed to my W4S DAC2 but the difference is just night and day.

Got to wait and see how vince's Aurender perform.....

Cheers

shbehmal wrote:"Whichever system having lesser jitter would have a better SQ, be it CAS or CD." By Dr Who.

Fully agreed with the above statement, but sometimes I think it has to do with the quality of the source recording also. Some studio master sounds down right awful.
Before I did my tweaks, the streamer sounds better then the cd player, only the xrcd playing on my cd player is comparable to my hirez, but after I change the fuse of my cd player to hifituning one and put Symposium rollerblocks under the cd player, it totally transform into a different beast and I never look back from that point on.
Anyone tried the above tweaks before and what are your experiences?

The significance of HiRes medium is proportionate to the amount of jitter in a system. Layman language: In a system with less jitter, the HiRes medium becomes less significant.
If your CD player/transport does not have a power supply filter, replacing your IEC socket with a Schiffner IEC filter would have similar effect like the HiFI Tunning fuse. There are many ways to reduce jitter in a digital system.

elhefe wrote:

WongKN wrote:Actually the topic of this thread has been debated many times before. And it is clear it will continue to be debate many times in the future.

Before you guys progress further, I suggest that you guys come to an agreement on the definition of CAS. I.e. exactly what constitutes CAS digital playback. I think I can see different takes on this in this thread.

Isnt it self explanatory ? CAS is COMPUTER audio system. so it must be running on a computer. if no computer is involved e.g. digital files on hard disk + digital player, then its not CAS.

Good point! Perhaps we should all rephrase it and substitute "CAS" to digital music files playback system?

The giss of the matter is the digital music file stored in hard disc or flash drive; not about the computer irrespective of whatever name it is...

bassraptor wrote:Good supports can make a big difference. A few of us have elicited excellent results from the MS Elite magnetic supports. I have yet to mess with fuses.

Btw, my non-CD digital path is streamer-based.

- CDs ripped to non-compressed FLAC using dBpoweramp.

- Files transferred to NAS (a QNAP running 2 x 2TB Western Digital hard disks in mirrored config).

- NAS streamed to Ethernet port of Linn Majik DS digital streamer, controlled via Linn's Kinsky software on iPad.

- I use an Ayon CD-1s tubed CD player, which has 16/44.1 and 24/192 modes.

- The Majik on its own is fabulous, but performance is upped a few notches when I route its digital output into the digital input of the Ayon. So much so, I can hardly tell the difference between streamer and CD player!

- I've also used the streamer with the Bryston DAC with excellent
results, but that's too expensive for now ... waiting for the dedicated
Audiolab DAC, if it comes out!

A year ago, I was messing about with iTunes/mediamonkey on my laptop,
via a cheaper USB cable and DAC, didn't do much for me, apart from the
endless hours of music on tap!

Am also quite impressed by the Bryston BDA-1 ... less of a hassle to set
up than a NAS. I would say my streamer/audio player adventures are only
beginning ... importantly, I'm keeping an open mind.

For a physical and mental work-out, I still fiddle with the turntable to see how far it can go ...

Bass...

As you have said rightly....the MP3 setup was there for endless hours of music on tap without any spices...

Good to know that your "Majik" is working magically for your streaming duties. To me at least there are tried and tested methods to derive every ounce of juice from either the CAS or Non CAS method.

I believe that pricing is a factor that not many have ventured into this realm and if they do the "China" made products would cover the GAP.

That gives a newbie like me a road map to explore. Thanks.

Giving me the early itch to explore....should i scratch .....hmmmm;)

Cheers

shbehmal wrote:"Whichever system having lesser jitter would have a better SQ, be it CAS or CD." By Dr Who.

Fully agreed with the above statement, but sometimes I think it has to do with the quality of the source recording also. Some studio master sounds down right awful.
Before I did my tweaks, the streamer sounds better then the cd player, only the xrcd playing on my cd player is comparable to my hirez, but after I change the fuse of my cd player to hifituning one and put Symposium rollerblocks under the cd player, it totally transform into a different beast and I never look back from that point on.
Anyone tried the above tweaks before and what are your experiences?

The major enemy of cd players, jitter and nothing but jitter. If anything cd players of the past are even better engineered and constructed than today's overpriced and over reviewed units. Sony' s CDP series built and engineered in the 80's and early 90's were engineering marvel pieces but the use of cheap crystal oscillators for clocking and the FET output buffering stage ( for best looking and measured signal waveform ) does more harm than anything to the sound from them thus always criticised to be very mechanical and digital sounding. Careful reconstruction and bypassing of these ( purist approach ) yields one of the best sounding player's ever built.

Changing the fuse does make that significant change , everything seems to be brought out more but as many as I bought years ago playing with these tweaks, I eventually took it out as it was inducing fatigue bringing out too much of everything thus being un natural. Significant if one's system is high in resolution.

In any case all digital formats ( be it cds or CAS ) irregardless of sampling rate levels and price, are inherently flawed if compared to a properly setup vinyl source.( music sources were analogue to begin with ) You'll be surprised how a lot of instruments played out there in actual can be easily reproduced accurately by vinyl but altered significantly when listening to digital, doesn't matter how good the remastering was. IMHO

I know its off topic in this thread but I dropped digital ( at its best , for me that is ) as soon as I heard a good vinyl even at the expense of inconvenience ( hassle of flipping records and not having a remote )

Back to the topic, CAS or Cd transports, which the better, well depends, to know one gotta compare a fully stripped out fully dedicated music server unit ( no SSD's in here please ) with a fully decked out modified ultra low jitter cd transport and see which is better, and I pick the latter for musicality.

I can tell you this much that too much accuracy translates into clinicality as well.. go figure

CAS = Computer Also Sing~~ haha

IMO, Nothing more than just another method of carrying the audio media.. for better convenient sake. We are just splitting hair here to define which is better. LP better than SACD? I seem harder to justify nowadays.

We should look at it as which media suite us, or suite our laziness?? Each of the purposely build source will have no doubt give us great pleasure of music reproduction, be it a disc transport, Media transport, CAS, or the ancient "table turner" , also the one that has been very much neglected Radio receiver.

Those that own more than 1 source is similar like those who enjoy polygamy~ vietnam wife, Japanese wife, Indian Wife, European ..haha. me included, as I have CD, LP, and also Receiver ... Haven't we man ever satisfied with just 1? (Just for laugh only ok )