zottel

Jot 2 + Clear Mg is one of my favorite combos.

Wait 5 days:

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/why-do-we-keep-seeking-totl-explained-by-math.12545/

@crenca No. Of course, the end game will actually live up to it’s name, this time. Who in their right mind would expect anything else?

I could have heard that without the RU6/bal, too, definitely. But it wasn’t obvious before, that’s the difference.

One fun thing I've noticed is that once I hear some fine detail on a good chain, it likewise becomes pretty evident on chains where the same was previously inaudible to me. Makes comparing gear directly a bit weird.

I’ll try without the Jot in between later or tomorrow.

Instrument separation on balanced out is so good that I’m not sure yet if it actually is good. :) It’s great to be able to dissect the music, to hear every detail separately, but it’s on the verge of sounding unnatural.

Ok, currently listening to Timeless on RU6 balanced vs. SE.
Yes, there is a difference: Balanced is a bit cleaner overall, and there’s more bass on SE. The difference is smaller than on the Jot, and the cable might play a role, too. Not sure yet which I like better.

It seems the choir on Thursday evening was where I got it. 10 others are ill, too, not all of them positive in tests yet, but most.
Which leaves hope that I might not have been contagious on Saturday morning. I’m vaccinated 3x, my parents 4x … Let’s see. No symptoms or positive tests in the family yet, either.

The Omicron BA4 and BA5 have more breakthrough cases and vaccines seem to do nothing. Booster supposed to be out by the fall. Be well!

Get well soon!

Spent the whole afternoon yesterday trying to figure out if RU6 NOS + external upsampling is really so good or not, and how it compares to other devices and if it depends on the gear I’m using, yadda yadda.
Should have just listened to music.

Flicking the input switch on the Jot 2 switches seamlessly between ESS card and RU6. Perfect.

The two are remarkably similar. I didn’t think it would be so hard to tell the difference.
The ESS card is a little, little bit brighter, and I think I hear a bit more smoothness in voices with the RU6, but that might well be expectation bias.

Headphones directly from RU6 vs. from Jot 2, that’s a different story, that difference is easily recognisable.

RU6 is like my GF = It is heavenly with anything I throw at it.

Oh my god, I’m still unable to pick up my jaw from the floor. RU6 NOS + external upsampling is so much better than anything I’ve heard before! Plankton galore.

I had never considered using RU6 in NOS with external upsampling, would be a cheap way to get into that game.

How about the *texture* of the mid-bass? Timeless mid-bass is somewhat "soft/pillowy/floppy" and lowest mids a bit lean; I'm interested in sources that minimize the perceived disconnect between.

I hear no disconnection with the RU6 (don’t have the Bolt at hand right now). But, TBH, I’m not sure if I would hear it even from a source that is known to sound disconnected.

In management studies you define synergy as: 1 + 1 = 3. I think they forgot about something...

And????

Hehe, didn’t post at first because I was strongly underwhelmed and considered returning them. Not much detail from the Bolt, better from Jot 2, mushy bass and too much of it, tinny treble, recessed mids.
Now I’m finally convinced that break-in is really a thing, at least during the first few hours. And not only mental break-in. The sound has completely changed since the beginning, fortunately. :)

Listening from the Bolt now, getting wonderful detail, especially in the bass. This can’t be mental break-in.
The rest might be, though: The treble is becoming less and less tinny, instruments sound less plasticky, mids are more pronounced. I’m thoroughly enjoying them now. \o/

Easily done!

Neither Amazon nor Cayin have confirmed shipment, though, although I ordered around 9am already. :(

for 7Hz, should have ordered a iFi GO bar instead of that RU6

They won’t necessarily be played together, though I’m still intrigued what sound they’ll produce as a team. :)

A used Mojo 2 would fit in the budget, too. Sigh. Too many options.

Timeless + cayin ru6 should be around that budget and fill in two of those three needs perhaps?

Thanks for the tip with the RU6! It hadn’t been on my radar, and as I always wanted to dip my toes into R2R, this is a great idea. Another option. X-)

About to move into a new house with hard floors. Gonna be echo city.

At least you can put rugs on floors. It’s the concrete ceiling I’d worry most about if I wanted to turn our living room into a listening room. I don’t, because the rest of the family don’t care about hifi and don’t like my music. :)

Yeah, we are definitely getting some rugs.

Not sure yet if I should trust what I think I hear, or if that only means going down a rabbit hole that will cost me lots of money for stuff that only happens in my head.

I should call this my endgame and stop reading this forum immediately. Or anything else hifi-related.

Earnestly, while I liked other gear a lot before, there was always that nagging suggestion in the back of my mind that other stuff must be much better. Now I can read about an SR-1a, e.g., and think: “Sounds interesting, but my main HP is so great, why bother?”
There’s still quite some nagging about DACs in my head, though, and possibly amps.

Yaaaais, join the light side.

You might like Anna von Hausswolf. She is on bandcamp.

@Cryptowolf This is really cool stuff, thanks for the tip!

Simon Preston's recording of Bach's Organ Concerti on DG is exciting stuff. Incidentally, some of them are Bach's transcriptions of Vivaldi string concerti; and Bach wipes the floor with him.