Making baby steps into Hi-fi

[Kittu]

Missed the major column in specs Prices.

 

[hydra]

Missed the major column in specs Prices.

I've edited my earlier post and added the prices

 

[Imrahn]

Missed the major column in specs Prices.

+1.....:yahoo:


EDIT:Oops, posted a bit too early.

 

[ajay124]

hydra

Your efforts and enthusiasm remind me of the state I was in, while putting together my system last year. Awake or asleep, I could think of nothing else. Every free moment went into handling, moving, tweaking, listening to, and wondering about my new toys! If your experiences follow a similar trail, then you too have a rollercoaster ride ahead Days of ecstasy, followed by days of depression. Days of clarity, followed by days of helpless confusion! You seem to have a better road map than I did, therefore your good days will out number your bad days! Looking back, all those good and bad days have coalesced into a pleasant memory

You seem to be handling everything quite rationally and logically. Above all, you are using your mind and ears. That is essential. It's helps when you take advise and learn from the experiences of others, but ultimately you have to walk alone. Those who rely too much on the words and impressions of others, will never experience the thrill of flying solo!

 

[Gijo George]

Congrats Hydra.:yahoo:

You've got a really neat set up for dedicated stereo. With the HTPC you've closed the gap on any missing link on what one could probably wish for in a home audio set up. Enjoy.
Regards

 

[gobble]

You cannot make out that the PC is running, from more than 2 feet away from the PC.

That's because you are running along with it, so your relative positions remain the same and it appears stationery.

Try halting your stride and watch your PC run away ... in the direction of my house

--G

 

[hydra]

...Awake or asleep, I could think of nothing else. Every free moment went into handling, moving, tweaking, listening to, and wondering about my new toys! ...

That's definitely me! hyeah: And thanks for the nice words. I do try to keep a straight head and plan things in advance.

That's because you are running along with it, so your relative positions remain the same and it appears stationery.

Try halting your stride and watch your PC run away ... in the direction of my house

So if I come home one day and find my PC missing, I know where to come knocking

 

[gobble]

Music PC Specs
RAM: Corsair 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3 1333MHz (2300/-)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar Essence STX (8800/-)

Does the fusion board support dual access memory? 2 sticks of 2GB would then give better performance than 1 stick of 4GB.

How much is the ST compared to STX?

--G

 

[hydra]

Does the fusion board support dual access memory? 2 sticks of 2GB would then give better performance than 1 stick of 4GB.

How much is the ST compared to STX?

You're asking a hardware-uneducated person this question. I remember from a review that this board has a single-channel channel memory controller. Is that what you were asking? Anyway, this is something I'll keep in mind for the future.

The ST is actually costlier than the STX by about 1k if you can manage to find it. It is supposed to give better sound as it has a better clock which reduces jitter below STX levels. I didn't consider it as PCI is an older standard, and my board has a PCIe slot anyway. Also there is lesser information on it out there, as compared to the STX.

Edit: In the Stereophile review, John Atkinson says both cards sounded pretty much the same to him.

 

[gobble]

You're asking a hardware-uneducated person this question. I remember from a review that this board has a single-channel channel memory controller. Is that what you were asking? Anyway, this is something I'll keep in mind for the future.

The ST is actually costlier than the STX by about 1k if you can manage to find it. It is supposed to give better sound as it has a better clock which reduces jitter below STX levels. I didn't consider it as PCI is an older standard, and my board has a PCIe slot anyway. Also there is lesser information on it out there, as compared to the STX.

Edit: In the Stereophile review, John Atkinson says both cards sounded pretty much the same to him.

'
Yes single channel or dual channel. You answered my question. And you dont sound like an hardware-uneducated person, considering your HTPC DIY setup you are clearly advanced. hyeah:

PCIe has more EMI noise that might affect the DAC hence PCI is preferable to the audiophile neurotic.

Thanks
--G

 

[hydra]

'
Yes single channel or dual channel. You answered my question. And you dont sound like an hardware-uneducated person, considering your HTPC DIY setup you are clearly advanced. hyeah:

Thank you I just read more and ask more questions. That's how I overcome the lack of hardware knowledge.

PCIe has more EMI noise that might affect the DAC hence PCI is preferable to the audiophile neurotic.

Aaaaargh! This is information I did not need!

 

[hydra]

Some updates.

BluTacked the speakers to the stands

I couldn't do much playing around with the setup last weekend and most of this week. I barely managed to listen to music for an hour a day this week.

I had a bit of time yesterday, so I thought I'd finally do what I'd been putting off -- securing the speakers to the stands with BluTack. I had checked with Magma about the best way of securing the speakers to the stands and he also suggested that I try BluTack.

Being the OCD nut that I am, I'd googled around a bit on the best way of using BluTack to secure speakers to the stands. (Nothing wrong in arming myself with a bit of information, even for a simple task such as this, heh heh). I did get a few tips, but did not get any photos or videos. So I thought I'd post a couple of photos of the process here. You know, for science

I cut the BluTack into (mostly) equal slices. (Four slices per speaker).


I tore off the slices and kneaded each into a small ball. I placed the balls close to the four corners of the top-plates of the stands, leaving enough space for them expand while getting squished.


Then I placed the speaker on the stand, making sure it was centered, and then pressed down and squashed the BluTack balls as flat as possible. I actually stood on a stool and used my body weight to push the speaker down so there would be maximum compression.

Initially, when I rolled the BluTack into balls, I wondered if I had used too much. But after the "squashing" process, I could see that I had used just the right amount. The speaker was separated from the sides of the top-plate of the stand by just about a millimeter (or maybe 2 millimeters at the most).


Corrected wrong way of levelling stands

I also played around a bit with the distance between the speakers, so as to improve the center image. I found that reducing the distance between the speakers by about 5 inches did the trick well enough for me.

I was dreading doing this, as the last time I moved around the stands, I took quite a bit of time to level the stands properly. Yesterday, I discovered that I'd been doing it all wrong earlier.

This is how the spikes were setup earlier:


Here, the spikes were setup at the highest position, so I did not have enough flexibility in both directions (= up and down) to adjust the spikes. As a result I had to do a lot of twisting-tweaking-twisting to get the level right.

Yesterday I changed the setup to this:


This is how it should have been all along. This setup let me level each stand in 30 seconds flat. Just a bit of turning of the "Cap" on the top of the spikes go the stands dead level, without any vibration or teetering.

The quest for more silence

With the monsoons having set in here, I don't use the A/C while I'm listening to music any more. I keep the ceiling fan at 50% speed, and at that speed it is very quiet. Since I keep all windows and doors shut, the room is now very silent. Now, with the room being very silent, the problem is that I can hear the slight hum of the fans from the Music PC The hum is not that loud, and cannot be heard at all with music playing, but lately I seem to be (unnecessarily) sensitive of PC Noise, even in my office. All that reading on building a silent PC has got me noticing something I never paid too much attention to before.

Well, it isn't something that can't be fixed, right? As a cure for the illness, yesterday I ordered a Lian Li PCI Fan Controller. It will sit in one of the spare PCI expansion slots/windows in the PC cabinet and I can control 3 fans with it.

It is perfect for my needs -- of the 4 fans in the cabinet, one fan gets controlled by the motherboard (I've got it running at 50% speed). The remaining 3 fans are getting 100% power from the PSU and are spinning merrily at 100% speed, generating a bit of hum. The Fan controller will help me slow them down and bring the hum down to (hopefully) undetectable levels.

 

[vasishta.sushant]

You could have modified the PSU molex plugs to use 5V instead of 12V. Would have fixed the fan noise without the introduction of the Lian Li Controller (another 3K I suppose).

You spend too much on unnecessary things. I should have thought that myself before ordering the Crimson Plus and Silver Screen (I've to admit I bought them seeing at your signature only).

Also I'd suggest you to put some kind of carpet under the stands. Those spikes are meant to be used on top of a carpet (and not on the hard floor. For that you'd require a flat base).

 

[hydra]

You could have modified the PSU molex plugs to use 5V instead of 12V. Would have fixed the fan noise without the introduction of the Lian Li Controller (another 3K I suppose).

You spend too much on unnecessary things. I should have thought that myself before ordering the Crimson Plus and Silver Screen (I've to admit I bought them seeing at your signature only).

Also I'd suggest you to put some kind of carpet under the stands. Those spikes are meant to be used on top of a carpet (and not on the hard floor. For that you'd require a flat base).

The Fan Controller comes to 1K shipped. It is good to know about the molex plug modification option -- didn't know that such a hack was spossible.

About the cables, I bought them keeping in mind the fact that I'm likely to upgrade my equipment later. They are a bit of overkill for my current kit, but I'll not need to spend money on upgrading cables for quite a bit of time, now that I have got good cables.

I do admit I spend a bit more than is necessary, but I buy things always keeping the future in mind. I have had enough experience with upgraditis uncontrollablis on the car audio front, so now I plan well, to make sure that I don't have to sell (and change) every component when I upgrade two or three components. Also, I like to get the best out of everything I buy. This may involve spending a bit on other minor items to make sure that the system as a whole performs better -- both now and later

A carpet is definitely in the works. I've measured the area I intend to cover and I just need to find the time to get out into the city and shop around. I virtually work from home (the office building is next to my house) so I'm mostly stuck right here most of the time :sad:

 

[magma]

Aaaaargh! This is information I did not need!

i remember telling you this when we spoke!
that many enthusiasts still prefer the older PCI !

 

[magma]

Some updates.

BluTacked the speakers to the stands


Yesterday I changed the setup to this:


This is how it should have been all along. This setup let me level each stand in 30 seconds flat. Just a bit of turning of the "Cap" on the top of the spikes go the stands dead level, without any vibration or teetering.

nd bring the hum down to (hopefully) undetectable levels.

My dear friend
did you forget to add the lock nut or did i forget to mail them to you?

also the spikes dont need to be so high up
what you have done is correct ( except that youve not added the lock nut ) but you can turn them all a bit lower so they dont protrude out this much!
And once you add the lock nut you will barley even see the thread- that looks neater

Check how ive done it one some pics on my website

 

[hydra]

i remember telling you this when we spoke!
that many enthusiasts still prefer the older PCI !

Yup, you did. I said that half jokingly

In any case the motherboards I was looking at had only a single PCIe slot so it wouldn't have made too much difference

My dear friend
did you forget to add the lock nut or did i forget to mail them to you?

also the spikes dont need to be so high up
what you have done is correct ( except that youve not added the lock nut ) but you can turn them all a bit lower so they dont protrude out this much!
And once you add the lock nut you will barley even see the thread- that looks neater

Check how ive done it one some pics on my website

No, you did send the lock nut to me. I'm using it under the bottom plate (duh! ) now. I did see today from the pics on your website that it is supposed to be above the base-plate. Will remedy it today itself, heh, heh.

Earlier I'd kept the spikes all the way down, with just the cap on top (and the lock nut locking the position from the bottom of the base-plate). It does look neat that way, but I found it easier to adjust the levelling the way I have them now.

I think moving the lock nut to the top will solve both issues. Thanks for the heads-up!

 

[vasishta.sushant]

Hydra dude, I wish I could meet you sometime and..........kill you (and then kill myself).

I bought this Crimson Plus Interconnect and that Silver Screen Speaker cable, just by seeing your signature....and your thread (and then visiting whathifi). Got them today at my office.

Damn ! What are these things :O I was expecting the IC to be sturdy and it looks fragile and the speaker wires were expected to be little thinner. The speakers wires are thicker than an AC's 15A power cable. The first thought that came to my mind was that I made a fool of myself :rotf:

Anyway, I am sure these will sound just great once I'll employe them in my setup. Will be looking forward to some good pair of banana plugs and some shrink tubing.

 

[hydra]

^^ hahaha

Those are good cables. You shouldn't regret getting them. The SilverScreens are a bit thick, but they look nice that way, don't they? The interconnects didn't feel at all fragile to me.

I'm also planning to pick up some good banana plugs and heat-shrink. I haven't been able to get out and visit the MX Zone in the city yet.

Before you use the speaker cables, you should know that Chord recommends that you use them in a particular direction. The "The Chord Company" print on the cable should be such that the "The" is on the Amplifier side (and not on the speaker side). I'm not sure if this is really needed, but since they recommend it, and since it does not cost anything extra to do it, I think it will be a good idea to follow this. They also have a nice pictorial on their website on how you should strip the cable, use heatshrink, and terminate it.

 

[vasishta.sushant]

^^^
Any idea what dimensions of the Shrink Tubing is required ? I am most probably using the Nakamichi Banana plugs with them. Will discard the outer cover and use the shrink tubing instead.