re: Audiophile/Vinyl Thread - Post Pics, Advice, Questions, Setups, etc.

Update on my soundless player: my wife pulled the whole stylus off, not just the plastic protector that was set to come off per the instructions

River Man,

After an Auld Lang Syne on the outdoor system at midnight, I cued up Dr. John’s “do you know what it means to miss New Orleans” as I have a few old friends in town who grew up here and moved away.

I notice a big difference between 320kbps and 16bit/44.1k (CD resolution), however there are only some pieces of music that I find a slight noticeable difference with by jumping from 16bit/44.1k to 24bit/96k—mostly modern jazz stuff (Diana Krall, Patricia Barber), and some mid ‘80’s fusion Jazz, most on the GRP label (Dave Grusin, the Crusaders, Patti Austin, Pat Metheny)...and believe it or not, the LivePhish app with their entire library of shows (I subscribe to the 24/96 stream version).

...but just streaming in an old Boston album—16/44.1 is fine and jumping to 24/96, I don’t notice.

I only play hi-res (24/96) streams/files on the 2 big systems using reference level DACs...anywhere else, it won’t matter.

Where I find that I can hear differences is in music that was either originally captured/recorded in extreme high resolution (like the new jazz stuff mentioned above (Boston, Led Zeppelin, and most everything else from that era were not), on music that was recorded, mixed, and mastered all on new 2-inch Ampex 456 tape (that shite wasn’t cheap—so not many bands opted for brand new tape), for every link of the recording chain (it cost tens of thousands extra back in the ‘70’s for that amount of tape), on Studer pro decks (again, stupid expensive), running at 30ips, AND on music that was engineered by someone who knew what they were doing (Alan Parsons, Steely Dan, Christopher Cross, Quincy Jones). It is well known that Roger Waters and Donald Fagan were real pain in the arse perfectionists in the studio, but 40 years later, their end results are still used as references for sound.

I bought and downloaded a 24bit/176.4k file of MJ’s ”Thriller” from HD Tracks—it is superior to any other format of that record that I own. The most noticeable aspect was it wasn’t as loud as the others—because it was remastered and NOT COMPRESSED!!...if you want to hear it louder, well that’s what amplifiers are for.

I have 2 DACs that are DSD/DXD capable and have used it once in 3 years just to try it out.

Hu_Flung, keep in mind I am listening with an $8k DAC and $100k+ rig...that is why I mentioned that in the car, it isn’t necessary.

On Thriller, the low end is snappier and tighter, and the dynamic swings are bigger.

One of the best ‘phones I’ve heard, regardless of price, is the Sony MDR-Z7 ($595 MSRP—$450 on Amazon).

Some of the other Sony MDR series are excellent, as in I would put them up against anything out there under the $4000 range, and are available at some walk-in stores or online if you look.

The Sony MDR v-6 is a giant slayer, and has been in production for 30 years, and has been and still is the reference of many a recording studio engineer, and are available on Amazon for $160.00.—an insane value.

I’ve had a pair of MDR-v4 and MDR v-6 for over 25 years—the only thing I’ve heard through this system that bested them was the Focal Utopia, but at a cost.

Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You (VMP 12/19)

Aahhhh...the Kenny Burrell debut album! I have the original 1956 Blue Note release (not the reissue).


Great record man!

It's from the Tone Poet Audiophile Remasters series that came out in 2019, I picked up a few titles when Amazon had a buy 2 get 1 free promotion going on. Ive been pretty impressed with these pressings.