Stuff Jones

Glad to be of service. In fact, absolutely delighted that my suggestion might be even roughly right!

Now you come to mention it, I recall wifi drivers being mentioned as a regular trouble causer way back then.

This is one of those things that should have ceased to be a problem years ago, But hey, PCs and windows! Do run one of the DPC Latency checker tools, if they still make them for W10

I used LatencyMon. It finds potential Wifi issues and throttling might be to blame. I was told to disable wifi and switch my power setting on my laptop to best performance to avoid throttling.

The pops kind of come and go, but overall they've been reduced. It's all pretty mysterious to me.

It's fairly mysterious to me too, because even though I worked in IT, as a systems manager, I never studied computer science, and have only basic ideas of function at that level. I just know that audio is considered lower priority than video and some other stuff and sometimes lower priority processes just get told to wait. The wait can be long enough to cause drop outs.

Latin: cornu = horn (there's always one smartarse :P)

In the most ancient mythologies it is actually a solitary cob of corn on the head.

I have amperex and mullard tubes, as well. I'd take the amp over the mullards, but the rest of the chain matters (Pi2AES > Modi 3 > SW51+ > HD6XX (stock) / Elex). The (Blackburn) Mullards I have are bright-ish (seems there's some variance with this tube as there may be diff versions). Tungsram reminds me of the stock tube, but better.

@FlySweep - before I order, can you confirm that these are the ones you got?

http://www.nostubestore.com/2016/05/tungsram-ef1846ej7.html

yep.. looks identical to mine. Let 'em marinate for a while when you get 'em. I love the build quality in tungsram tubes too.. rugged af.

The source material is king. Everything down from there just needs to inflict the least damage to it. The speaker and room make the sound radiation system and should be always viewed as a whole, unless in very specific cases.

I was actually thinking more of headphones but wanted to be inclusive and cool and use @purr1n's preferred lingo. Headphones are transducers too, no?

Headphones are wildly inaccurate.

Interesting...I'd ask to define the term "absolute". I do think that the changes make the quality more apparent as the brain does adjust to the level of "quality" it's been listening to so we appreciate certain jumps in quality more.

What I mean is that after about a month of listening to new gear, we stop listening to SQ and just listen to music. We only listen to SQ again after gear changes, or when forced to compare with past gear. Or at least that's the case with me. This suggests that outside those comparison periods, our enjoyment of music remains the same regardless of SQ (except a major SQ downgrade that forces us to compare for longer).

So if I understand you, you're referring to the evaluation "period " as opposed to hen we settle in & enjoy. I think I do enjoy the listening to SQ to an extent but yes it is different than when everything is dialed in the way I want. I personally wouldn't say my enjoyment stays the same given other variables, but I get your point and agree.

Something is exciting you. New Campfires? ;)

Whoa that was weird. I wanted to post a period, because I had posted a link which might be construed as political and wanted to replace it.

Well, if you've tried all your own suggestions, and it's still not working...

Wonder if reloading firmware could possibly help. @Bina?

@DigMe Not sure if that would have any effect.

We have been going over this with StuffJones over emails for a few days. At this time it's hard to say if it's some issue on side of Q1 or just something on the PC side, as it was tested on only one computer.

We are working with our US dealer on some way how to fix it for him.

Best HOLE SIZE!
Best THICHNESS OF SILICON!

It depends. Heavy Metal files can be balanced out by Light Easy Listening files.

Surely compressed music weighs more than music with a high dynamic range? One only has to look at the wave form.

Would assume 24... what I use with my Gungnir Multibit and seems to work well.

16 bit audio signal can be delivered losslessly in a 24 bit container, so go for the higher number.

!

To the point exactly. That makes sense.

@famish99 - what about 16 (w or w/o dither) vs 24 bit?

I use 24 bit, but I've never tried testing both of them side by side and I've long moved on from foobar as my choice of player.

Use push mode. 24 bit is fine. You don't really need dither. Only use that dither setting if playing back a 24-bit file and selecting 16-bit.

https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/bandcamp-covid-19-fundraiser

Fiio X5 3rd Gen but only if you root it and get that custom kernel from HF. Still doesn't fix the Second MicroSD card slot issue.

I'm not looking for features, just the best SQ/dollar with the Solaris in a compact reliable package.

Fiio X5 3rd Gen or a cheaper used Sony.

I’m assuming OI affects the BA drivers in the Solaris and not the DD driver. Maybe it’s shelving the upper mid or treble to where you like it? I don’t think I’d describe Sony sound as rough from memory

Given that the Pixel XL has about 4.8 ohm OI, and I don't think Google has really put that much thought into audio since then, maybe the 3A is somewhere in that ballpark? I do prefer Solaris out of higher output impedance devices as well. My AK120 has 3.5 ohm OI, for instance.

Not weird at all. To me, ZX300 tends to make the upper-mid a bit hotter and the bass a tad leaner compared to stuff from Hiby or WM1A or even an iPhone. It's something I've noticed with both Andros and FDX1, a bit worse with the former. For something that has tube-like organic lows, its upper-mid and treble is quite solid-state-like.

So... One point each, so far...

Count Count would be proud.

He would probably enjoy a result of 3-4-5 more --- and not because of the clear winners and losers!

I am 20. I can't believe she is 43

Just checked it out after seeing this post. I was pleasantly surprised by the excerpt from Kashmir about 2 mins in.

And yes Shakira is impossibly beautiful, that's been the case for a while now :))

Shakira has been a hottie since before @spwath was born... and @Stuff Jones, I guess I updated my 'status' from your profile page on accident. No idea why or even how I did that :/

@gbeast is local to me and a friend IRL. I believe his interests and priorities shifted and there just isn’t the time to devote to audio. Last I heard he still has an Auteur and Aeolus sans any amp or DAC. I told him they would also be excellent decorations on a wall. I miss his passion towards audio but I believe his passion is being used to help others in new ways now.

I never met him but ended up with his Af, #9.

The last time I saw him he was riding off into the sunset, a smile on his face.