The All Purpose Advice Thread

Discussion in 'Advice Threads' started by purr1n, Sep 26, 2015.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2015
    Likes Received:
    5,773
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    small island claimed by China
    Okay, more noob questions, but this is the right thread for them.

    The Nano Patch manual says balanced/unbalanced in/out, but looking at the schematic it seems that they expect you know what you're doing and will use the the same types of connectors on both ends, as in balanced in to balanced out and SE in to SE out, correct?

    Screenshot_20200426-100643_Adobe Acrobat.jpg

    So if my output is to a SE amp, I should be using SE inputs (RCA > TS ¼") and the same at the outputs (TS ¼" > RCA), correct?

    Edit:
    The SYS spec says "Input impedance: 10k ohms", so the Nano's 5k SE impedance is a more "difficult" load, but the Bifrost 2 shouldn't have a problem with this?
     
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2020
  2. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    89,777
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    Bifrost 2 has no problems.

    Yes, use SE In for SE out or BAL in for BAL out. Note BAL out is only 1/4". Don’t mix and match. It’s not a SE to BAL converter.
     
  3. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    89,777
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    Ditto. The Freya + solid-state buffer mode was amazing. I couldn’t tell the difference between that and a passive. However, in the end, I stuck with Freya S x4 Nexus. I didn’t need the tube bloom of the +, appreciated the deeper stage, and was in need of the richer tone of the S. I also needed a handy BAL to SE converter for the Yggdrasil.
     
  4. Senorx12562

    Senorx12562 Case of the mondays

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,274
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Bird-watcher's paradise
    So there would be a benefit to using bal out from Gungnir to Freya+ vs se to Saga even if the endpoint amp is se only?
     
  5. pechelman

    pechelman Acquaintance

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2019
    Likes Received:
    53
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    The Schiit guys had a lot of great things to say about the FS buffer over the F+; nuanced, layered, and rich.

    In the end, it was that assessment of theirs plus yours about the 4X as bold, rich, drive, and stage depth, plus the lower cost, stackability, and not needing to think about tubes won me over for the time being.

    Thanks all for the input / enabling. I'm proper excited to build up some xlr's, reconfigure the Aleph input, and get the freya s into the system this week.
     
  6. lagadu

    lagadu Facebook Friend

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2019
    Likes Received:
    238
    Trophy Points:
    33
    Location:
    PT/DK
    In my experience yes. I bought a Freya S because I wanted a new preamp for my speaker system. Once I had it up and running I figured I'd also give it a try and listen if I could spot changes to the sound by connecting my Starlett (it only has RCA input) to the Freya instead of to the gungnir SE out; the result is that the Freya is now part of that chain. Specifically the biggest thing that changed in my opinion was how it sounds sharper.

    Now I don't have a good means of distinguishing whether what I like in that chain is due to the difference in sound between the gungnir's SE and BAL outs or whether it's due to whatever changes the Freya is introducing to the signal but the overall result does have a different sound. No idea about the Freya+, though I would be surprised if the results weren't similar in that regard.
     
    Last edited: Apr 26, 2020
  7. Koth Ganesh

    Koth Ganesh Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    1,637
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Chennai, India
    Can someone please tell me how many felt layers are used in the back of the LCD 2.2 (non fazor) for damping?
    Thanks
     
  8. boredpanda

    boredpanda Almost "Made"

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2020
    Likes Received:
    251
    Trophy Points:
    53
    Location:
    Sweden
    I've just ordered myself a DAC (BF2) and an amp (SW51). I landed on those choices based on the fantastic feedback they've received here, that they've both had schlong awards and because they pop up in Hands' treasured list. Both items will be on the way soon and I realized that I'm going to need some cables. I figured a pair of RCA cables (I only have the free kind spaghetti cables) and a new USB cable (desktop PC -> DAC -> amp). Should be easy enough to just grab any kind of random cables, right? Wrong.

    I went to a couple of Swedish sites selling audio gear, went to the cables section and was presented with cables ranging from $50 to about $20 000 (ansuz signalz something). I just want decent cables, good enough kind of cables and I'm here, a little bit defeated, looking for some suggestions. Here's an example of an online store in Sweden selling cables. Divide the price by 10 and that's the USD price. Ideally I'd like to order in-country, but the rest of Europe works as well. Budget is probably somewhere between 0 and $300? Is that even enough?
     
  9. crazychile

    crazychile Eastern Iowa's Spiciest Pepper

    Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2016
    Likes Received:
    2,512
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Eastern Iowa
    The choices look pretty limited on that site. Maybe stick with what you have while your new gear breaks in and you get to know it. In the future if you still have the itch, then maybe see if there is a Wireworld dealer near you. They make some inexpensive cables (<$50 USD) That are pretty good. I've been using their stuff for 20 years. The only drawback is that some of their cables are higher capacitance, which can make them too smooth sounding in some systems. I'm not sure I can hear a difference among cheaper USB cables, but at least the WW stuff is well made.
     
  10. Pogo

    Pogo Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2018
    Likes Received:
    494
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    SoFla
    Chord C line of analog and digital cables gets good reviews, especially on What Hifi and are very reasonably priced.
    I've never used them but I have found many other cable reviews on WHF to be fairly spot on.
     
  11. Vtory

    Vtory Audiophile™

    Pyrate MZR
    Joined:
    Sep 12, 2016
    Likes Received:
    10,831
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    East Coast
    @boredpanda If not, check this out: https://www.schiit.com/products/pyst-cables

    To me that's something to pick when I really want to go high, along with AudioQuest (only the cheapest product line -- BQ is quite great)
    In a cheaper mood, my go-to is amazon basic and belkin.
     
  12. moriya

    moriya Acquaintance

    Joined:
    Apr 20, 2020
    Likes Received:
    53
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    San Francisco
    Blue Jeans cables seem to be great for the price - US company, but I see they have a UK site so I'm assuming you can at least get them shipped to Europe?
     
  13. fastfwd

    fastfwd Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Aug 29, 2019
    Likes Received:
    993
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Silicon Valley
    $300 is more than enough.

    USB cable is easy: For the best performance, simply purchase a cable that is certified by the USB-IF. DO NOT buy an "audiophile" cable that is not certified -- its performance will be no better, and is very likely to be worse.

    Belkin is a respected cable manufacturer and a member of the USB-IF. Their cables are certified and are not expensive. These examples are priced at less than $10 on Amazon's USA site, and can probably be found for a similar price on Amazon UK or Amazon Germany (or wherever you shop from Sweden):


    For RCA interconnects, I have lots of old Kimber PBJ, so that's what I use. In the USA, those cables cost around $100 for a 1-meter pair. But a shielded, competently designed cable from someone reputable like Blue Jeans Cables will sound basically identical, and those cables are significantly less expensive, at around $35 per 1-meter pair. Blue Jeans ships internationally.

    Enjoy your new system. Don't freak out about cables.
     
    Last edited: Apr 27, 2020
  14. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 1, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,115
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    A Cell
    I basically agree with the above said concerning usb cables, no need to spend lots of money.
    When it comes to IC I do not want something which is praised as being the Holy Grail using gobbledegook sold by a big company spending lots of money on advertising.
    In Germany there is Funk Tonstudiotechnik. One guy developing gear mainly for audio studios. His data sheets tell you a lot about the product. For SE IC:
    http://www.funk-tonstudiotechnik.de/BS-2v2-Info-englisch.pdf

    http://www.funk-tonstudiotechnik.de/BS-2-Test-englisch.pdf

    Price:

    http://www.funk-tonstudiotechnik.de/preise.htm#Lichtleiterkabel

    This is well made stuff worth its price.

    A better solution would probably be finding something local in Sweden along the same lines.
    I always prefer buying local from small businesses to chugging my money at big international companies whose marketing budget seems to be at least equal to there development budget.
     
  15. boredpanda

    boredpanda Almost "Made"

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2020
    Likes Received:
    251
    Trophy Points:
    53
    Location:
    Sweden
    Yeah, you're absolutely right. I don't think I'm in their target audience.

    Nice - I've seen some AudioQuest available here, though mostly the pricier stuff. I will take a closer look for sure.

    That's great advice, much appreciated!

    Even though I'm not specifically looking to spent lots of money, I did send an e-mail to Funk Tonstudiotechnik and ask them for a price including shipping. I really like the idea of supporting companies like that, and their cables look very nice. Thanks for pointing me in their direction!

    Thank you everyone, for your help and suggestions!
     
  16. Smipau29

    Smipau29 New

    Joined:
    Apr 21, 2020
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    1
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    Would the Bluesound Node 2/2i be a good match with the bifrost 2 for Bluetooth connections?
     
  17. ader

    ader Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2015
    Likes Received:
    65
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Are there particularly good replacement pads for the LCD-3 that don't over-depress in the front the way the stock ones do? Mine were modded by dBel to sound more even than stock (tbh, I haven't heard them stock in like 7 years, so I only vaguely remember the difference made), so I don't really want to change the sound much more with pads, rather just evenly distribute the pressure -- as is now they just awkwardly clamp on my cheekbones and lightly touch everything else -- it's genuinely retarded how not-designed/engineered most aspects of Audez'e headphones are. ZMF Universe pads essentially do the same thing Audez'e ones do, and they have no such clamping issue.

    Also, would anyone happen to know if pads for TH900 Mk.2's fit the original TH900's?
     
  18. squishware

    squishware Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 17, 2019
    Likes Received:
    424
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    on a whole other plane
    RE: Cables
    USB cables two feet or less per Schiit.
    I have had a few USB cables made by Ghent Audio (thanks SBAF).
    http://www.ghentaudio.com/
     
  19. RedFuneral

    RedFuneral Facebook Friend

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2016
    Likes Received:
    213
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    CT, USA
    I'm looking for a new DAC under $500, any needed USB-Coax filters would have to fit the budget.
    Criteria would be smooth but dynamic sound, maybe warm, willing to sacrifice on technicalities to get there. Matching with an Asgard 3 & LCD2C-Closed and trying to thicken & smooth out the sound without making it too dead for classical/bluegrass. I generally like NOS & slow roll-off filters.This purchase would be more trying to get something extra than being annoyed by the sound of my current SMSL DAC(what is annoying is the noisy USB input & non-standard connectors making external filtering impossible.)

    I'd jump back into a Metrum Flint in a heartbeat if I could find one with MK2 modules for a decent price but they're gone now. Curious about the Airist. Am I missing any options here? Doesn't have to be R2R.
     
  20. JeremiahS

    JeremiahS Almost "Made"

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2015
    Likes Received:
    286
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    Jakarta, Singapore
    Hi guys, I have not posted in a while so is this the correct place to discuss about an old DAC that I managed to borrow recently? I'm just curious because it appears that the unit has been modified heavily so I wonder if you guys know about this particular mod?

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: May 2, 2020
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page