@
Confused I agree it is unlikely with a re-clocker on the CI. The only indication I have is the rather dramatic difference in SQ described and the fact that there are two SRC chips on the CI, but only one on the old Duet board. The new one is an AKM chip. Antoine commented on this a long time ago when the first image of the CI was published.
(12-May-2018, 10:35)Confused Wrote: [ -> ] (12-May-2018, 10:23)cereal killer Wrote: [ -> ]@Confused
Are you listening to your system or your music?
I am listening to my system, and that's the problem! I have always suffered from this, if I am not happy with the system, then I do tend to listen to the system, and not the music. This is why I put so much effort into testing and evaluating kit, because once I am happy that all is good, I forget about the system and enjoy the tunes. It takes a lot of effort sometimes, but I can get to a point where in my mind I know the kit is more or less optimised and working as it should. I then forget about the kit, and music takes it's proper place again.
Maybe it is a curse? I have been interested both in music and in how things sound for as long as I can remember, literally since 5 years of age. But worry not, it is interesting and I am enjoying the journey. That said, I am currently at the point where I have had enough of messing about with kit for now, so I am hoping for a happy resolution soon.......
Sounds as if you've become preoccupied with the system ..... IMHO, it would be prudent for you to strip back the system to: Beta 14 > NAS > router/switch > Devialet AIR. Find a few new albums and simply listen music.
A mini update for the weekend. I spent some time listening to the convolution filters that Thierry sent, I have provided some feedback to Thierry, who will be sending me some updated convolutions next week. (He is busy this weekend) Plus, I am busy myself currently, so I will not get to listen to these until next Saturday.
There is a point here, I am sure some folk are reading this thread and thinking that all this nonsense is going on for EVER! The fact is I am very busy with other things at the moment, so free time with my system is severely limited, hence every tiny iteration with what I am doing seems to be taking weeks, simply because it is taking weeks.
I had a bit of a chuckle at @cereal killer" 's comment above. Don't get me wrong, I understand and appreciate the comment, as I said myself I have had enough of tinkering for now. The thing is though, I would not consider that making two changes, a firmware update and switching to AIR, as something that would stop me thinking about the system and let me simply listen to music. My brain would be thinking about the firmware change, and thinking about how things sound back with AIR. Once I had a feel for the firmware change, I would be thinking is this just with AIR, or would these changes still be apparent with AES/EBU? I would then need to go back to the Mutec / SOtM kit to check, you get the idea. I should also mention that I do not own a NAS! So stripping back my system would involve buying yet more kit. (OK, I am joking a little here, I could use my PC and AIR) Oddly enough, I do have a way 'strip back' and simply listen, and that is to chuck some vinyl on the TT. I achieved a similar result last weekend, this involved visiting a local Italian restaurant, drinking a modest (?) quantity of Valpolicella, then home for some tunes. The thing is, I do understand how my mind works, I do need to analyse, test, change and tinker and analyse again, to the point I am happy all is good. This has to be done logically, step by step, and avoid changing two things at once, if you notice something good or bad and you have changed two things, you are lost. Once this is done, then my brain can forget about the system, and I can enjoy the music, exploring what I can find in music new and old.
I shall end on a positive note, I have been working through the SOtM invoked issues in what I would consider to be a logical and considered way. This has lead to a clear conclusion in my mind that there is nothing wrong with the SOtM kit, but the changes introduced by the SOtM kit have highlighted issues I have in other areas. So far I have two solutions to the 'other' issues, arguably three, plus some other things that can be put on the 'to do' list for future consideration. This morning I was doing some listening with an iteration one of those solutions, this was using some of my favored demo tracks, so not exactly trying some new albums and simply listening. The good news here is that things were sounding good, sometimes with demo playlists I might try a minute of one track, switch to the next, listening to different things and then moving on. Today, I was letting tracks play through, I was listening and enjoying the music. It's taken a while but I'm getting there! Also, once I have finished this little adventure, I will switch to Beta 14 and try with AIR, you just never know. But one thing at a time....
I shall update further next weekend, and provide some detail on the above when I have sufficient time.
Hi,
I do want to say I really really appreciate the diligence and contribution by all (especially Confused) on ways to improve the SQ of our system!
I do have a question. While it is being determined whether Beta 14 may match Mutec combos (usually for a music service or computer source), I have sources which relies on optical which Air cannot cover. Would a Mutec MC-3 +USB and/or Ref10 improve on the SQ for such?
Thanks in advance!
yes it will. But at least a REF10 is completely over the top for such sources, e.g. a TV.
(15-May-2018, 03:02)gabbabe Wrote: [ -> ]Hi,
I do want to say I really really appreciate the diligence and contribution by all (especially Confused) on ways to improve the SQ of our system!
I do have a question. While it is being determined whether Beta 14 may match Mutec combos (usually for a music service or computer source), I have sources which relies on optical which Air cannot cover. Would a Mutec MC-3 +USB and/or Ref10 improve on the SQ for such?
Thanks in advance!
@
gabbabe - Welcome to the forum! I would say that there is a very good chance that the Mutec MC3+USB would improve a typical source via Toslink. You may not be aware that we have a thread dedicated to the MC3+USB, if you have time to read it there is a lot of good information there.
https://devialetchat.com/showthread.php?...=MC3%2BUSB
Regarding Beta 14, there seams to be very mixed reports so far from those that have tried it, some say it makes kit like the Mutec redundant, improves bass, and so on, others have reported that it reduces bass, others that it makes no difference. So that is clear! Like many things, it is probably system dependant. I am very intrigued by Beta 14 now, I am certainly looking forward to trying it myself.
I agree with @
Vivialet 's comments. A REF10 + MC3+USB is over £4k's worth of kit, so to use it to improve the feed from a TV or similar would be slightly crazy.
That said, it occurs to me that I have not tried my TV via the REF10 clocked MC3+USB, so it might be crazy, but if you have the kit already, why not!
A polite notice to posters on this thread. There is an absolutely splendid thread that covers Beta 14 (FW 12.2.12), I mean, it really is a most lovely thread.
It is also an interesting thread, because there appears to be a vary varied range of views regarding the SQ of Beta 14. More Beta 14 views and posts there please!
For the Beta 14 posters on this thread. I can advise that when I have time, I will have a head to head test of Beta 14 AIR versus the SOtM & Mutec kit. If Beta 14 AIR holds it's own, this would be such an interesting result that I absolutely promise to post about this in detail and with total honesty. Nothing else would do!
I'm not even sure if it is beta 14 that rocks, maybe. But beta 14 is the first time that AIR was working and the first time I have tried Roon. And the combination of beta 14 with Roon/AIR sounds better here than Roon with the Mutec kit. So it can be Roon/AIR that brings the difference.
