The All Purpose Advice Thread

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

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. dasman66

    dasman66 Self proclaimed lazy ass - friend

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Mar 13, 2018
    Likes Received:
    2,462
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NW Pennsylvania
    Surprised scalpers haven't bought them to resell . They've been going $200 and over for months on ebay.
     
  2. aamefford

    aamefford Nothing like chamberpot coffee

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    1,092
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Between SF and Sac
    I’ve had the OG Bifrost MB and Eitr. It’s pretty good. I had the OG Gungnir MB and sold it. I ended up wishing I hadn’t sold it, and bought a BF2. Short answer is the BF2 is a very worthy replacement to the OG Gungnir Multibit, and I prefer the form factor. I run both the SE and balanced outputs into my Jot2. It allows some bit of adjusting the signal level coming into the amp. I can’t tell a difference other than volume level between SE and balanced. The SE to me is better than the OG Bifrost. Whether it’s $800 less the sale proceeds from your BF better is another story entirely.

    regarding Unison I find it better then Eitr. I frequently use it with an iPad source with Apple Music, which should be kind of puked, but it’s actually pretty darned good. My main source is an Allo digi+ signature - another flavor of Pi2AES type board.

    grain of salt warning - I’ve had the BF2 less than 6 months, and I tend toward new toy fanboy.
     
  3. shuto

    shuto Acquaintance

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2017
    Likes Received:
    30
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    New Jersey
    This will be a fun one, since I suspect all the options are bad, lol.

    Can anyone recommend a portable-ish, outdoor-friendly Bluetooth speaker under $200 (new/used/refurbished)? The only one that I've ever heard/ owned that is not trash and actually good is the Riva Turbo X, which I sold about 3 years ago. I was going to upgrade to one of their newer Wi-Fi options, but it looks like most of them are discontinued. The Turbo X had some issues with the battery, if I remember correctly, so I'm not super interested in grabbing an old one on ebay.

    I'm looking to use it on my back patio, which is is partially enclosed, and has really bad acoustics. Again, I'm not expecting miracles here.

    I thought about outdoor speakers, but I'm in the process of partially redo-ing the patio and don't want to have to install/uninstall/ reinstall them.

    I bought something new on Amazon that I'm unsurprisingly not thrilled with, the Soundcore Motion Boom. It's a fun mini boombox but the fr is pretty trash. I fixed it a bit with the eq app (brought sub-bass and upper treble down a few dbs), but it's still not great. I'm probably going to get something a bit nicer.

    The Sony SRS-XB43 sounds pretty good (for what it does) from what I've read but I really don't want to spend more than $100 on such a fundamentally compromised piece of tech.

    Thanks!
     
  4. lcmusiclover

    lcmusiclover Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 7, 2017
    Likes Received:
    912
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Oregon Coast
    We have a Bose Soundlink II Mini at work. Mostly used (before the virus) as a portable 'conference room' pair it with a phone and have a meeting. But I've played music to it (both via a wire and over Bluetooth). Sounds pretty good. It's quite small, and surprisingly heavy -- must be some magnets in there :) It has been discontinued, but you can still find them for a bit under $200.

    At home I've got an Oontz Angle. Not as good as the Bose, but only cost me $50ish IIRC. Strictly a casual 'hey lets have some music with these brats' kinda thing, but not unusable.

    Hope you find something.
     
  5. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

    Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    7,467
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Winnipeg
  6. shuto

    shuto Acquaintance

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2017
    Likes Received:
    30
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    New Jersey
    That's a very nice-looking speaker, @Armaegis. I'm intrigued. As an added benefit, it reminds me of a purse, which I find super fun. I am inclined to buy it just to harass my fiance and tell her that my "purse" is nicer than hers! I may have just talked myself into it.
     
  7. TheMadHatter

    TheMadHatter New

    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2020
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    13
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Home Page:
    I have a question about optical out from my TV. I have figured out how to play music from my Plex server through my Roku. I am using the optical out from the TV to my DAC. But I have noticed that the optical out from the TV is always sampled at 48K. Apparently, the TV resamples it to 48k no matter the source.

    There is one possible solution, something like this: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...pro_sw_hd4x1aud4k_4x1_hdmi_switcher_with.html

    However, this does add some complexity to the setup which is mainly used to watching TV. My questions are :

    How much does it matter? Does the TV resampling likely alter the quality in a meaningful way? Does anyone know a TV brand that does not resample this way (presumably a setting) - this may sound like overkill, but my current TV is only 1080 so this would be an excuse to get a 4k.

    Does anyone know of a switcher that has multiple HDMI inputs, extracts digital audio, AND has a remote control?

    Finally, am I wasting time because Plex to Roku is a bad idea in the first place?

    Thanks to anyone who has thoughts on this.
     
  8. fraggler

    fraggler A Happy & Busy Life

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2015
    Likes Received:
    5,085
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=41935

    I got one of the older, bigger Festivals(?) refurbished from Monoprice and it was mint.
     
  9. Climber

    Climber Facebook Friend

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2019
    Likes Received:
    137
    Trophy Points:
    33
    Location:
    Denver
    I have an AudioPro T3 that works fine for this. Well enough, actually, that I bought a (wall power only) T10 for the kitchen. There's a middle-size too, the T5. Far better than than my gf's JBL Flip 5 -- actually sounds a bit like music ;)
     
  10. bixby

    bixby Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,988
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Northern Colorado
    I have been using Plex on Roku for years but not for music. I suppose 48khz is native for Roku and HDMI out, but I may be wrong. Or it could be native for all tvs. Not sure if there is a way to set sample rate in Roku. There is a google rabbit hole just waiting for you. ;)

    In any case optical from my plasma to my $100 Schiit dac is very good for movies and tv (stereo or as the hip kids say , 2 channel). Subbing a much more expensive dac did not make a positive difference, yet using a cheap $50 dac was noticeably worse and lower $ even worser (sic).

    Not sure what benefit you will get from a 4k TV, could be the exact same $2 dac chip in that TV as your current one.
     
  11. TheMadHatter

    TheMadHatter New

    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2020
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    13
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Home Page:
    I would expect the TV DAC to be crap. But perhaps it has setting that allows pass-through of the digital audio without resampling to 4k.
     
  12. Ksaurav402

    Ksaurav402 Friend

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    May 7, 2019
    Likes Received:
    2,062
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    NY
    I don't think it's the TV but the roku that sends 48K..same was the issue with optical out of Apple TV 3. Roku and all are made for movies and hence they always send out 48K
     
  13. TheMadHatter

    TheMadHatter New

    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2020
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    13
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Home Page:
    You are correct it seems. I just tried an audio extractor I bought at Best Buy and it doesn't change things. So if it (sample rate) matters to me enough, (I am not sure it does), I need to find a different "solution". I have other ways to work the problem. For now, extractor goes back to Best Buy.

    According to this thread, https://community.roku.com/t5/Playb.../Hi-Res-Bit-Perfect-Audio-Support/td-p/618073, I just need a different (more expensive) Roku device. Though I may still need an extractor depending on what my TV does.

    The truth is that I do most of my critical listening at my desk (not in my living room) with a different set up. I was just excited by the idea of playing my collection in my living room using my Roku remote. I can still do that as long as don't bother to imagine that I can tell whether 44.1 ->48, 88 -> 48 or 96 -> 48 makes any appreciable difference ( I would bet zero dollars that I can). I am probably better off spending my money on another set of headphones (where the real fun is ).
     
  14. Ksaurav402

    Ksaurav402 Friend

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    May 7, 2019
    Likes Received:
    2,062
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    NY
    You will hear if the upsampling is bad. Generally it will be overly warm and rolled off. If I'm using Roon or Audirvana then I will use these players with my selected filter to upsample to 48k then let Roku do it. If its possible then may be set player to output at 48k and that will make sure your music player is upsampling then Roku
     
  15. shuto

    shuto Acquaintance

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2017
    Likes Received:
    30
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    New Jersey
    @fraggler

    I wanted a Festival when it came out, but I just couldn't justify it since I didn't have a great use case for it considering its size and price. Since then there have been 3 or 4 times I seriously considered it. I'm not sure I've had a piece of gear that I thought so hard about but never bought.

    I just grabbed a Riva Arena used, which is cheaper and more portable (though doesn't sound as good, from what I've read).

    One day, I'll end up with one!

    Thanks, everyone, for the suggestions.
     
  16. Jay

    Jay Facebook Friend

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2015
    Likes Received:
    172
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    GA, USA
    As I've stated in other threads, I know very little about electricity and circuit designs. So, I could use your advice on this.

    My headphone amp says very clearly in the manual to only use headphones with impedance 16-600 ohm. I'm considering buying a set of planar headphones that are 15.5 ohms. Obviously, the amp won't instantly blow up and the headphones won't melt if I make this pairing; however, the fact that some stereo amplifiers have problems with 4 ohm speakers like overheating and clipping, this has me wondering about what the long-term effects on my headphone amp would be if I drive cans that are at the lower limit of their rating. Is there a similar risk of overheating and clipping?

    Thanks.
     
  17. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2016
    Likes Received:
    10,696
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NOVA
    Home Page:
    I wouldn't sweat it - if you try plugging speakers (4-8ohm) into a headphone amp then, yes, I'd be concerned. But 15.5 vs 16 ohms won't cause any issues if the amp meets UL ratings or is otherwise properly designed. Not knowing precisely how the amp manages to pad its output (via a set of resistors, I'm guessing) 15.5 versus 16 is likely within the range of the actual resistor parts tolerance.
     
  18. Climber

    Climber Facebook Friend

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2019
    Likes Received:
    137
    Trophy Points:
    33
    Location:
    Denver
    Frankly, it's a little odd that they didn't just round up and call it 16ohms. Nominal impedance for speakers/headphones is more or less an average value anyway -- a full impedance curve jumps around quite a bit, as I'm sure you're seen -- so there's wiggle room in that part of the number already. In fact, I can't remember seeing a fractional impedance spec on anything I've ever owned.
     
  19. Jay

    Jay Facebook Friend

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2015
    Likes Received:
    172
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    GA, USA
    Thanks to both of you. Better safe than sorry by asking.

    Since it's a planar and its impedance is rather flat, that's what got me thinking some more. There's no "padding" when the impedance rises on various frequencies.

    As far as the fractional impedance, the marketing material says 16, but when reviewers tested it, it was pretty much between 15-15.5 across the board.
     
  20. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Apr 15, 2020
    Likes Received:
    12,239
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    Home Page:
    So I’ve discovered that a passive preamp isn’t ideal to run powered monitors because of the long cable run after the preamp (6-8ft).

    I love the tonality and neutral FR of my monitors and don’t want to mess with it. Hence why passive us so appealing. I really need my speakers to be a reference not just “sound nice”

    I need a remote.

    does anyone have any suggestions for a buffer preamp or active preamp with remote that is transparent and neutral?

    The Freya S or Freya + in buffer mode are the only ones I know of.

    thanks for any advice!
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page