The Audio Source Shootout

[venkatcr]

1800 !! Good god this is 2009!! Does it take 209 years to post a review?!!

Grrrrrrrrrr, this will make me forget all your funny jokes and be ready to berate you!

Anyhow I know you are all impatient. I will post the review tomorrow. Unfortunately my house now is full of kids who are hanging on to my shirt tails and they don't let me sit on the keyboard even for a few minutes. Running after them, by end of day, I am do tired.

Cheers. Aaaaaagh Konark let go of my hair, baba. I am coming, I am coming. !!!!!!!!!

Cheers again.

 

[moserw]

hey vortex, is it amazing and splendid for its sound quality or for some features, interface aspects? how much difference does the software make to the sound quality?

It is way above anything else in terms of SQ. Interface is minimum in fact. Software does make a lot of difference in terms of SQ, especially the drivers used, output rate, resampling rate, the amount of RAM the s/w uses, etc. Till now Foobar was the best but cPlay raises the bar way higher. If coupled with the right system specs and SC it will beat CDPs hands down.

A few cons though with the s/w that it's audiophile quality meaning it will only play FLAC and WAV formats, nothing else like MP3, and not even APE.

 

[anm]

A computer gives a lot of flexibility - of choosing the best cabinet, cpu, motherboard, RAM, sound card, OS, player, drivers, formats and what not.
However, for someone looking to get a system done, so many choices, so many installations, turn into a nightmare. And then if you ask, there are so many opinions out there that it becomes a huge project to close. A CDP, or something like squeezebox makes that decision very easy.

regards

 

[thevortex]

hey vortex, is it amazing and splendid for its sound quality or for some features, interface aspects? how much difference does the software make to the sound quality?

Sound quality and sound quality alone, psycho! Visually it is not quite a sore - but that is all one can say about it.

The question that you asked is something I asked myself about 2 years back. Ever since foobar, xmplay and a now-defunct player called Quintessential, I never looked back. Software players have a huge role to play in what comes out hitting your ear! It is mostly related to a plugin called ASIO available on most players - the basis is to avoid Windows processing the sound signals using its own kmixer (a sound component inbuilt in the operating system). However different players implement ASIO differently and when resampling comes into the picture there is a huge difference between different software players.

And cPlay is the king of all software players - insofar as I know

 

[thevortex]

Updated just yesterday, hence been on a listening spree since this morning with Porcupine Tree, Jimi Hendrix and now starting with Buffalo Springfield. It sure makes my music sound better, way better in fact.

Moser - did you ever write a review on your new active monitors? I am keen on reading your thoughts and how you see them different from passive speakers driven by external amplifiers.

 

[moserw]

Moser - did you ever write a review on your new active monitors? I am keen on reading your thoughts and how you see them different from passive speakers driven by external amplifiers.

Well I would not be able to write a long review so I've not done it yet. In terms of SQ, they pristinely clear, great with soundstage and imaging too.

Coming to passive vs. active there are lots of opposing views with some claiming the amplification done by the speaker manufacturer is better tuned and will end up sounding better when compared to external amplification. I've worked with studio monitors in my church particularly with Mackie so with the limited budget I had I went with the ADMs. For their budget (Rs. 60-70K) they outperform everyone else. From all the speaker + amp combos I've heard nothing in that price range will come close to the ADMs. The only con with them is that they are not really loud and also I believe at the top end of their line unless of course one is willing to look at professional audio gear for their home.

For me personally they are great but I had to settle for them since I did not really have the budget I desired at that time. Planning for an upgrade and when that happens will move the ADMs to the Panasonic plasma or LCD since both sound so crappy in terms of their SQ despite having brilliant PQ.

 

[moserw]

A computer gives a lot of flexibility - of choosing the best cabinet, cpu, motherboard, RAM, sound card, OS, player, drivers, formats and what not.
However, for someone looking to get a system done, so many choices, so many installations, turn into a nightmare. And then if you ask, there are so many opinions out there that it becomes a huge project to close. A CDP, or something like squeezebox makes that decision very easy.

regards

You are absolutely correct. I will never ask someone to invest in a PC for music unless of course they have a good budget or are spending the same amount on a CDP. On the other hand if someone already has a PC at home then I will definitely recommend the PC be converted to the source since with just a few h/w upgrades, a new SC and at a much lower cost they will have a way better source than any CDP.

 

[srikarkav]

Hi vortex,

Hope you remember me from the shootout.


I downloaded the cPlay 2.0b29 and songs sound so feeble on it. I have a xfi sound card. What am i missing here?

Thanks,
sri

 

[moserw]

Hi vortex,

Hope you remember me from the shootout.


I downloaded the cPlay 2.0b29 and songs sound so feeble on it. I have a xfi sound card. What am i missing here?

Thanks,
sri

Sri,

At the bottom right there will be volume controls. Put it to full volume i.e. 0.0 instead of whatever it is. If it's already at 0.0 then revert back and let's take it from there.

 

[gobble]

Hi vortex,

Hope you remember me from the shootout.


I downloaded the cPlay 2.0b29 and songs sound so feeble on it. I have a xfi sound card. What am i missing here?

Thanks,
sri

Dont forget to remove the cotton plugs from your ears :lol:

cheers

 

[thevortex]

Hi vortex,

Hope you remember me from the shootout.


I downloaded the cPlay 2.0b29 and songs sound so feeble on it. I have a xfi sound card. What am i missing here?

Thanks,
sri

Hello Srikarkav - please try what moser has suggested. The volume is normally set to -30 by default if I remember right. Please set it to 0. Also ensure that the Phase is set to 0.

Do try both resamplers - SRC as well as SOX. I am partial to the SOX - it sounds better and consumes less resources. But your mileage may vary.

How have you connected your Creative X-fi card to your Amp/Receiver? Also you might need to download the Recursive Cue Creator and cPlaylist Editor. They are invaluable and absolutely necessary tools where cPlay is concerned.

 

[cooltoad]

Thanks Vortex, I was using 20b28, didnt know this version was out. Marked improvement as you say rightly, no jitter which was present in the previous version. Yet to tweak it for optimum performance. Will be great if there are some taskbar play control buttons like foobar.

Could you pl throw some light on setting up AWE, phase and bandwidth for better performance.(can i set the buffer to auto for my acer 1.6ghz and xfi with 1.2gb ram)

 

[ashwin59]

Hello venkat sir,

The review coming any time now?
Looking forward to it eagerly.:licklips:

Thank you,

Regards,
ash

 

[thevortex]

Thanks Vortex, I was using 20b28, didnt know this version was out. Marked improvement as you say rightly, no jitter which was present in the previous version. Yet to tweak it for optimum performance. Will be great if there are some taskbar play control buttons like foobar.

Could you pl throw some light on setting up AWE, phase and bandwidth for better performance.(can i set the buffer to auto for my acer 1.6ghz and xfi with 1.2gb ram)

AWE is for advanced RAM allocation. I would just set the buffer to auto and let the RAM be managed by Windows. If you want to go the whole hog, then you would have to choose cMP instead of Windows explorer, use AWE to specifically manage RAM allocated to cPlay and have a set buffer size as well.

The easier way would be to set the buffer to auto. If this does not work or if there are performance issues then we need to see if we need to manually allocate buffer size. I hope you have more than 1 GB RAM. If so, you should have no problems with buffer set to auto.

Lets keep discussion on cPlay in another thread. This one is for the Chennai Audio shootout. Sorry for the diversion guys

 

[sushanthace]

Venkat Sir,


Desperately waiting for your review on the shootout.

Please post soon

 

[moserw]

How does it perform though? I do believe it was part of the shootout right? BTW how come no one else is writing about the shootout? Might be Venkat sir is busy, but surely the others can post something???

Double post but worth a mention I believe. Cmon guys. I believe quite a few attended it. If Venkat Sir is busy fine. The others can at least post their thoughts. Its been a couple of weeks now.

 

[psychotropic]

hey moser, i've posted my observations, and for the reasons stated, I don't have too much more to offer! The others are perhaps just deferring to Venkat's detailed review which we're expecting soon.

Double post but worth a mention I believe. Cmon guys. I believe quite a few attended it. If Venkat Sir is busy fine. The others can at least post their thoughts. Its been a couple of weeks now.

 

[srikarkav]

Hi Guys,

The DV99 edged out the Marantz and Oppo with the given amp and speakers. Except may be with a track from Katie melua and tamil number from Varanam Ayiram. The tamil number sounded very bright if i recall rightly and Katie's voice sounded too breathy and not silky at all with the DV99. The Oppo is by no means a underperofrmer. For all in one player its definitely VFM.

My personal feeling is the MArantz CDP didnt go well with the amp used. It sounded bright and the vocals dominated the music. Where as my marantz cdp does not sound bright at all paired with the marantz amp and gives a very balanced and sweet sound thro the 9.2s. The sound stage is also great.

Now that i have got the Oppo 980 I will try to compare it with the CDP paired along with the marantz amp and give my impressions.

I think a dedicated CDP will always win the race if it is paired with the right equipments.

cheers,

 

[Jagat]

Grrrrrrrrrr, this will make me forget all your funny jokes and be ready to berate you!

Anyhow I know you are all impatient. I will post the review tomorrow. Unfortunately my house now is full of kids who are hanging on to my shirt tails and they don't let me sit on the keyboard even for a few minutes. Running after them, by end of day, I am do tired.

Cheers. Aaaaaagh Konark let go of my hair, baba. I am coming, I am coming. !!!!!!!!!

Cheers again.

Has the review been posted as yet??

 

[rallynut]

Has the review been posted as yet??

yeah,been waitin a while myself for a detailed and eloquent review courtesy venkat.was good to get impressions from sri,psycho,and others who were in attendance.oh well,the wait goes on.cheers