The HiFi thread

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
There is a lot on the web about compression and codecs but this is a good summary I found and stole:

Bluetooth was not originally created for audio entertainment, but to connect phone headsets and speakerphones. It was also designed with a very narrow bandwidth, which forces it to apply data compression to an audio signal. While this design may be perfectly fine for phone conversations, it's not ideal for music reproduction. Not only that, but the Bluetooth could be applying this compression on top of data compression that might already exist, such as from digital audio files or sources streamed through the Internet. But one key thing to remember is that a Bluetooth system doesn't have to apply this additional compression.

So depending on the source and receiver and the codec and other things it can be fine but as I read that most of what people have will compress the signal to suit and that is where it falls down.

And yes an F1 engine. I also have a rod and some timing gears and a rocker.
 

link1896

Mr Greenfield
There are better sounding options that use wifi.

Google discontinued the chromecast audio, second hand these are worth silly money on eBay. Christ I’ve got one somewhere in a junk box.

This might be ok. No experience https://a.aliexpress.com/_mPimFK6


Also a modern chromecast hdmi could be used with a hdmi audio stripper. Audio stripper feeds out spdif or analog, which I have done successfully . On power up it wanted a display connected but then display could be turned off. Computer monitor that’s got a spare hdmi port that’s running display port or vga for the computer connection.
 

Oddjob

Merry fucking Xmas to you assholes
Best option is a secondhand thin client or laptop off eBay. You can then run moode audio or Vooumio to stream network music and run flac files via USB to a good DAC like a Topping.

Sent from my M2012K11AG using Tapatalk
 
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smaj

Likes Dirt
Bluetooth always reminds me of USB-C -- so many different parts of the standard that you can implement (or not). They even have bandwidth reservation/QoS in what seems like an early version (https://studylib.net/doc/7712645/bluetooth-quality-of-service), which should help fix problems like you're seeing with mouse causing dropouts, but who actually knows what's been implemented in which hardware (and if it even works)?

Did the F1 parts race?
 

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
F1 parts were from an active car after it was retired. I bought them from an Irishman named Brian who coincidentally lives very near and knows some of my grandfather's family in county Mayo. Brian is reverse engineering the engine and has the provenance of the two (?) he has. Google will reveal as will the F1 forum.
 

link1896

Mr Greenfield
Best option is a secondhand thin client or laptop off eBay. You can then run moode audio or Vooumio to stream network music and run flac files via USB to a good DAC like a Topping.

Sent from my M2012K11AG using Tapatalk
Tidal is very good for sound quality, though the app was written by a fool.
 

wesdadude

ウェスド アドゥーデ
I tried Tidal because I was sick of Spotify bugs but it's full of issues too. Atmos is neat but it's only supported on a few devices and they don't have a Linux client. At least they pay artists a slightly bigger fuck all. Maybe I'll give Qobuz a shot next.
 

link1896

Mr Greenfield
I tried Tidal because I was sick of Spotify bugs but it's full of issues too. Atmos is neat but it's only supported on a few devices and they don't have a Linux client. At least they pay artists a slightly bigger fuck all. Maybe I'll give Qobuz a shot next.
You can do tidal via web browser and avoid the app all together.

Atmos Music is fun, not sure it’s going to gain enough momentum. I built a full sized Atmos theatrical mixing suite that also does music here in Melbourne. I always love watching the guys mix/master/foley a movie or tv show . “Fuck no, that scream doesn’t sound like he is being eaten alive by a shark, do it again, and why the fuck were they laughing on set and only sent us one take”.

Almost always comes out as a polished finished product……s2e2 Russian Dolls. 2 camera composite scene of a conversation in a door way. Lip sync is out on one angle, in on the other. Three mouse clicks to get right in post. But 16 hr day, 27 coffees later, shit happens.
 

smaj

Likes Dirt
Brian is reverse engineering the engine and has the provenance of the two (?) he has.
That sounds like an awesome project.

Atmos Music is fun, not sure it’s going to gain enough momentum.
I got some upfiring Atmos speakers on a whim after I bought my new receiver. Atmos Music is pretty fun to listen to (both the "hall effect" type and the spot effect type -- I don't know what the exact terms are). This was on Apple Music.

Foley guys always look like they have the most fun.
 

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
Wife's imusicplayer is mostly dead so she was looking for another DAP of some sort without using her phone. Don't ask.

I was also looking at a DAP for the stereo in the study without relying on the computer or pad plus have a DAP to take camping to play through various headphones. I have a nice DAP in the main stereo but didn't want anything that cumbersome or expensive.

After much investigations I settled on a Hiby R3 Pro Sabre which would nominally do all that was needed for wife's exercising listening etc. Small and easy to use etc etc.

The R3... arrived today and armed with a fresh download of music on the micro SD (see quick question thread for more details) I am absolutely stunned at how good this thing is. Simple quasi android operating system makes loading music and playing a simple process and it sounds GOOD.



I did some testing and my ear says this order from best to very average:

Direct feed from the DAP, BT from the DAP, aux in from pad, aux in from computer, BT from Pad or phone, BT from computer.

Clearly the computer BT is just about devices and not music and down on bandwidth. The DAC in the DAP is superior by a huge margin to anything else but you would hope for that to be the case.

There is an update to its bigger brother the R5 which includes a class A response and alternative DAC profiles. So like a sad puppy or addict I ordered one, or preordered it because they are not available here yet. I will test the R3 and R5 back to back and see if I can pick anything at all. Reviews (I have read so many reviews) say the class A sounds almost perfect but sucks a lot of power, easy to sort that out with a cable at the desk.

Anyway has been a good learning if not fucking expensive experience... And it gives me a chance to create some sexy aux in cabling...
 

Mica

Likes Dirt
At the risk of opening up another rabbithole of expensive toys....considering a nice little mini hifi for the play room/home office.

Spend a lot of my life on digital radio and also stream a bit of music too and the time to upgrade my faithful little JBL Bluetooth/DAB speaker is well overdue. As well as music also planning of plugging into a PS4 or Switch for a little gaming and movies on the projector. Not looking for thumping bass or massive volume just quality sound and a solid long lasting unit.

Not looking at big budget ($1-1.5K) and so far liking the look of Denon. Namely the D-M41DAB or CEOL N11DAB.

The CEOL is appealing with the built in streaming and therefore some future proofing should I stream more in the future and a nice clean all in one solution, though not much info/reviews around.

Plenty of rave reviews about the 41 and happy with the idea of running an external streaming device such as the HiBy (thanks Dales Cannon) or just bluetoothing in the phone/laptop etc which may be better for future proofing as can always upgrade/change that device rather than the entire system.

Planning on popping into the videopro down the road from the office but prefer the advice of a bunch of middle-aged mountain bikers rather than a salesman.

Any advice/ideas as to how to spend my money greatly appreciated. Obviously bonus point awarded for avoiding giving Jerry Harvey any of my hard earned $$


edit - Bit of searching still going, the Yamaha MCR-B270D looks like a good option too for a lot less $
 
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Tubbsy

Packin' a small bird
Staff member
We have a BenQ Home Cinema W8000 in lieu of a TV for about four or five years; works really well if you don't need to watch TV in daylight hours. Pull down screen attached to a beam on the ceiling so it all disappears when not in use.

Over the years the fan has started to kick in noisily more often which is a bit annoying - I've replaced the bulb and cleaned out the dust - but other than it's been great. The only feature that would be neat is if it could skew the picture so it can be placed in a corner rather than straight on.
 
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