The All Purpose Advice Thread

It's not an absolute must, just nice to have. What options are out there if that requirement is taken away?

I actually considered building a Soekris 1921 or 1942 but it's a bit of a pain to DIY a chassis.

 

If you willing to build your own DAC, that's the most cost effective alternative for sure.

Chassis work has always been a PITA, but nowadays nice boxes can be bought from many suppliers. I have stumbled upon this Italian website a few days ago. Alternatives are these from France, cheaper ones from China, etc. There was a good German supplier too, but I can't find that now. If you don't like to drill and/or want perfect quality, laser cutting services are available everywhere.

 

I can assure you that my best amps were not balanced and my best setups didn't have balanced going on. I will put it like this, i was once in your shoes and thought i should focus on balanced and i couldn't be more wrong. Focus on good gear, whatever the output it has (if it may fit your needs ofc).

 

I'm aware of how it's useless for sound quality. It's mainly because my current speaker amp is balanced only that I want balanced.

 

I've been going through my CD collection, cataloging, moving to new space saving sleeves, etc.

Some discs have finger prints and smudges. I'd like some suggestions on the best, easily available, accessible way to clean CDs.

Thank you.

 

A soft, damp cloth. Wipe radially, not circumferentially.

 

Sometimes you need it and I was once that way and bought an Emotiva DC-1 which was about the cheapest balanced DAC I could find new and these days I think I'd have a hard time saying that it bested a Modi 3 (I only would say I prefer its attack more). The other option that may be within your budget (since I'm not super familiar with UK secondary market prices) could be a used Dangerous Music Source.

I would say that if you don't know what your sound preferences are, you should definitely try to find a place to audition several DACs if possible since their differences are relatively subtle.

 

Any particular water - if our tap water isn't "hard" and if it is very drinkable, would that work? Or, does this get a little more... uh... specific, like vinyl - using distilled water?

 

Any water. And dry them with a dry cloth before playing.

 

Out of curiosity, is there a reason you use your "mid-fi" day to day rather than hi-fi? Save (lifespan) or don't want to deal with waiting for tubes?

 

Yeah...I was considering replacing my speaker amp to not have to deal with having to stick with balanced. It's kind of a pain having to chose balanced only...

If I do that I'd imagine there are a lot more options at the price point I'm looking at.

 

Exactly - it's on, plugged in, ready to go. It's also connected to a computer, which is a daily-driver of media source.

Last - and perhaps this is just me - when I plug into a good system, I'll be there for an hour or two, minimum. It should not be a click-click next-track experience. It is a buckle-up, and go for a long ride. The world stops. And sometimes you have to stop too, for the more intense moments in the sound. It is less like TV and commercials - more like feature-length film, at the cinema - the good local cinema, with no audience distractions, and while viewing an engaging film.

 

There are plenty of ways to convert SE to Bal and vice versa. The architecture of your amp will dictate what sort of conversion scheme is necessary and if you like it, the converters would probably be cheaper than a new amp.

There are plenty of good SE DACs for the price, but they're a bit like shoes, you can't blindly recommend them, they're highly dependent on the rest of the chain and your personal preference. For example, I would agree with people who have suggested the dac1321 as well as I would add the Modi 3 are both very good for the price ie highly resolving with good stages, but I would buy neither for myself (I don't like the decay on the dac1321 or the attack on the Modi 3).

 

I dislike those sorts of converters, I think it introduces unnecessary components into the signal path when a better option would be to just not use them in the first place.

 

Simply question ...i have sony nc31e. I never seen a jack like this. It works only with sony mobiles.

Which adapter should i buy for listening with other devices?

 

The NC31EM spec sheet says

Connector:
3.5 mm audio jack, 5 pole
Use with:
Optimized for Xperia™ Z2 and Xperia™ Z2 Tablet.
Note: MDR-NC31EM will not work with devices that do not have a 5-pole audio connector.​

Leave it to Sony to create a proprietary 5-pole 3.5mm connector. One review says that you can plug it into a standard 3.5mm stereo jack and it will work, but without active noise cancelling. Have you tried that? The 5 poles are probably L, R, ground, mic, and power (for noise cancelling circuit). However, noise cancelling probably also applies equalization and it may sound bad without it.

 

Only with one works others not. Sounds like is not fully connected.

So nomadapter for that think at all?!

 

From searching on Google, only Sony uses this connector, and even Sony uses it on only a few products. It is incompatible with everything else. I doubt anybody wants to make an adapter (not enough customers).
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/3-5mm-jack-with-5-rings.799983/

 

Thanx a lot.

Does anyone knows which external cd writer to choose for eac?!

 

Have you tried a thing called Google?