i really hope Joel is offline....

[Craig M.]

i've got a cyrus cdxtse and dac xp on home dem at the mo.

i've only played a few songs so far, but it's very clear to both me and my missus that the xtse is superior to the mac mini as a transport.

both hooked up via toslink. files on the mac are lossless aiff and alac. all the settings in itunes are correct/off.

the mac is harsh and a bit shouty in comparison, leaner in the bass and brighter in the treble.

poo.

poo, poo, poo.

 

[Craig M.]

you can wipe that smile of your face joel

 

[John Duncan]

Yeah but how much are they?

 

[Craig M.]

not that much more than the mac which is solely a music machine in my house.

 

[lordmortlock]

Interesting. I spent lots of time a few weeks ago AB testing itunes/airport/optical connection into quad cdp2 dac and cd (obviously using the same dac) when I was considering a dedicated music server upgrade and honestly couldn't tell which was which.

I put the cd on then started itunes a few seconds later so I could switch between the two. Either my ears aren't as good as yours or the cyrus transport is better than the quad transport.

 

[chebby]

I am assuming the test was Mac/iTunes lossless vs Cyrus transport, with both using the same Cyrus DAC?

Not a totally unexpected outcome.

On a far more humble level than your experiment, I found the CD5i superior to laptop + (TC-7520) DAC with iTunes & lossless.

I dare say a much better DAC would tilt the balance, but then I would have to use something like the CD5 XS (or a dedicated transport) to compare and I cannot (a) be bothered (b) afford to try.
I still have uses for the DAC that see it employed every day one way or another. It is not all about lossless vs CD players (as regular users of Spotify - for instance - will tell you.)

 

[Craig M.]

yes, mac + lossless V xtse + cd, into the dac xp.

lord, whenever i compare sources i find that switching rapidly between cdp's playing the same song at the same time (or transports in this case), shows virtually no difference. i always have to listen to a few songs and then when switching over again, the difference is easier to discern. in this case, it was almost immediate - within 10 secs i could tell it was a lot better.

 

[lordmortlock]

I'll give that a try later.

 

[JoelSim]

Quelle surprise

 

[fatboyslimfast]

/smug

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Craig M.:
yes, mac + lossless V xtse + cd, into the dac xp.

lord, whenever i compare sources i find that switching rapidly between cdp's playing the same song at the same time (or transports in this case), shows virtually no difference. i always have to listen to a few songs and then when switching over again, the difference is easier to discern. in this case, it was almost immediate - within 10 secs i could tell it was a lot better.

Have you tried streaming instead.

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

Interesting stuff.

I'm forever extolling the virtues, practically and sonically, of HDD-stored music. In my particular set-up, (system details below), I can clearly discern the superiority of the streamed Lossless files versus the CD.

The Beatles in mono, ripped to the Mac in Lossless and streamed back downstairs is an unalloyed audio joy. The perfect meeting of old and new technological worlds.

 

[Anonymous]

lordmortlock:
Interesting. I spent lots of time a few weeks ago AB testing itunes/airport/optical connection into quad cdp2 dac and cd (obviously using the same dac) when I was considering a dedicated music server upgrade and honestly couldn't tell which was which.

I put the cd on then started itunes a few seconds later so I could switch between the two. Either my ears aren't as good as yours or the cyrus transport is better than the quad transport.

thats not the same as using optical from mac to dac as your using the ae in between

i tried the same a while ago and found the ae to be perhaps a touch warmer but thats all

the cyrus apparently has relatively high jitter so maybe using the external dac cuts this out and thats what your hearing

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Charlie Jefferson:Interesting stuff.

I'm forever extolling the virtues, practically and sonically, of HDD-stored music. In my particular set-up, (system details below), I can clearly discern the superiority of the streamed Lossless files versus the CD.

The Beatles in mono, ripped to the Mac in Lossless and streamed back downstairs is an unalloyed audio joy. The perfect meeting of old and new technological worlds.

Couldn't agree more. I think that streaming definitely makes a difference.