PC Based Audio Systems... Anyone here use them?

They've managed to squeeze the power supply right into the new Mac Mini. No external power supply and less clutter.

Hmm ... and they say it runs cooler ...

The old Mac Mini used to have a separate brick power supply outboard like a notebook. People sell linear power supply to replace the oem switch mode supply. Now, the new mini has an integrated power supply presumably switch mode as well. Gonna be difficult to replace stock supply with something better if possible at all...

Of course Apples claims the integrated solution is better !

BTW purepower rocks.

bassraptor wrote:How is the new Mac Mini powered, any idea? Apple says it runs even cooler. Anyway, whether wall-wart, brick or whatever, it will go into my PurePower ... can't go wrong there!

bassraptor wrote:Hmm ... and they say it runs cooler ...

Testament that Silicon still has room for alot of improvement, unlike tubes/valves (for example).

ha ha ... btw, anyone download movies from the free sites? Why is it that on my laptop and PC, only VLC plays these back - Quicktime and WMP Classic don't seem to have the necessary video codecs in default .... anyone care to share? Just watched The Book of Eli on my desktop ...

Yup, been torrenting alot lately. Same here, only VLC plays back AVI sucessfully. WMP the wimp has audio but no video. I think you need to install the DivX codec for WMP to play AVI properly.

Here's a bonus though, my PS3 has been able to play DivX since a system upgrade last year so it's another great reason to get a PS3!

Actually, I also have the Tivx HD6500 media player, which shud do it nicely... but on loan to a friend for a while, shud get it back today to experiment with.

VLC prides itself in being able to play anything under the sun.

Especially good feature is the ability for VLC on Macs to "override" the digital audio port and stream encoded channels such as Dolby 5.1 or even DTS natively to your A/V amp. Unlike Quicktime player which only outputs PCM (2 channel stereo downmix) unless u install OSXJack or some workaround hack.

Basically, with VLC on a Mac (any Mac except MB-Air), the Apple computer turns into a total home entertainment processing engine. (1080i for now).

Cool, I'll stick with VLC then ....

After much test with a Mistral amp(again), Citypulse DAC and a MA RS6.
Foobar has lost it's edge for quality music playback.

Music is muddy/veiled and simply not engaging compared to Jriver media center 15.

Anyone tried others like XxHighend or cMP-Cplay(horrible UI but sounds rather okay..)?

i've been using media monkey or winamp. both sound good.

Media monkey is great ...


Now distracted with downloading high-res movies; wife can't believe the audio and video quality of movies I've shown her. Expecting to burn out my current PC in coming month. Mac Mini beckons ...

I use to visit my friend at Alor Setar to buy speakers. I was amazed by his audio room. Looked like a mini cinema and elegant. He are more to home teater and use the flac with 16 trigig (?). With the bluray source, i heard the sound were very2 crispy, detail... But i dont know if it is good for musical. Maybe not coz they will sounds bright, i guess...

Theaudiohub wrote:After much test with a Mistral amp(again), Citypulse DAC and a MA RS6.
Foobar has lost it's edge for quality music playback.

Music is muddy/veiled and simply not engaging compared to Jriver media center 15.

Anyone tried others like XxHighend or cMP-Cplay(horrible UI but sounds rather okay..)?

What is your output device and buffer length setting for Foobar?

There are two of us here who are into cMP^2.

out device was wasapi/KS via City pulse USB.

Buffer was 0.5 seconds on Jriver and default 1000ms on Foobar

bassraptor wrote:I'm just going to plug everything into my PurePower.


Anyone can recommend a good display for the new Mac Mini? It's got HDMI.

Bass, I have a bit of a concern about pluggin a computer into the Pruepower. The A/C outputs of the Purepower are not individually isolated and a computer may introduce cross contamination into the rest of your components. Just a thought but I surely hope not. What do you reckon?

Actually, I'm planning to plug my laptop into an outboard filter, off the wall just to hear what happens.... right now, it's plugged into the PurePower, no issues ....

Good to know Senor Reptore. Probably unnecessary but I have an AC Enacom plugged into one of the receptacles of the 1050. Someone once said that the AC Enacom is like an asprin. If you have headache then taking it will give you relieve. If you don't have a headache, taking it does nothing.

bimmerman wrote:

bassraptor wrote:I'm just going to plug everything into my PurePower.


Anyone can recommend a good display for the new Mac Mini? It's got HDMI.

Bass, I have a bit of a concern about pluggin a computer into the Pruepower. The A/C outputs of the Purepower are not individually isolated and a computer may introduce cross contamination into the rest of your components. Just a thought but I surely hope not. What do you reckon?

You are right on this count.

when foobar is playing, try to give high priority. my foobar buffer cant set more than 1000ms.

My LiFePo4 battery (1500mAH) looks so big, 50% more than AA.

chua55 wrote:when foobar is playing, try to give high priority. my foobar buffer cant set more than 1000ms.

My LiFePo4 battery (1500mAH) looks so big, 50% more than AA.

What output device are you using? KS or ASIO? Latency could be the issue. Can use the DPC Latency Checker to
verify:http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml

PCI Latency Tool (http://www.madeinsoftware.it/openlab/Utilities/Schedevideo/LtcyCfg2.3.zip) can be used to set device latency for higher priority? [Am not too sure about this. Have not try]

My buffer size is at 50ms for ASIO4ALL with this settings for office computer:





Is your battery rated at 3.3V?

Yes. just measure and it reads 3.283V. I need to solder wires to the leads and wrap with some black plastic mat and terminate with the connectors. It will look something like this. This picture is not my unit.

Hi all,

I'm now into PC base system. My PC setup using Silverstone M16HT casing come with IMedian music centre and remote control. running direct thru Asus Essence Sound Card feeding Stello DAC2000 mkII. The quality of music quite impressive leaving my esoteric DV50S relegated to playing movies and SACD. Recently just received M2Tech Evo hiface. The music just improves further. On 12 girls band Ferry to Yardan the sound of whirling wind is on the back and on top of my head. amazing.... haven't tried foobar yet..

@mohdfudz

Congratulation on your new found sonic improvement. Welcome to the digital world of music.

tycham wrote:@mohdfudz

Congratulation on your new found sonic improvement. Welcome to the digital world of music.

Thanks tycham,
I'm now searching for portable 9V battery power supply for my hiface Evo. Anybody can guide me to the supplier.

mohfudz wrote:
Thanks tycham,
I'm now searching for portable 9V battery power supply for my hiface Evo. Anybody can guide me to the supplier.

Page 2 of this thread had a recommendation on on-line battery supplier.

LiFePo4 is the known for low noise battery. Some of the toyshop carry the LiFePO4.

You may need to custom make the connectors.

I had the modded hiface (with the lifepo4) and although the improvement is slight, I love it so much. For the past 2 weeks, I had been using it more than any other times and the battery is still going strong.

I will try the other teralink x2 with dedicated power supply and see how it sound.

Blackcat velose just arrived. hope this little fellas with cryo connectors is driving a superbike and not a littlebike.

Yo yo yo Chua!!! How goes the Velose??? Dying to hear your comments. Things are not good at my end. My pair of Neutrik BNC with true 75 Ohms arrived from UK too but problem!!! The centre pin cannot fit the core of my DHLabs D-75. I need to look for BNC connectors with larger centre pins and just use the pins with my neutriks. Looks like i've hit a roadblock for now...

Would have been great to have a Veloce vs my Neutrik/DHlabs duo!

Looks like the road ahead is a little windy for you, perhaps it presents more challenge to you like the car in the picture.

Would like to thank kkthen for kindly demo the stereoVox XV2 and also after reading all those reflections on transmission cable. The XV2 is a very thin cable but pack a muscle.

That car in the picture was parked outside your house not so long ago. It has near 50:50 balance and with a little effort, it goes sideways wonderfully

Well, you've heard the DHLabs before. With full BNC I suspect it could get better still. Just curious how much more it can improve.

How's the Veloce so far? Do share...

at the moment I am outstation but happen to listen to another setup based on the QLS550.

it is the sdcard based transport with no spinning parts and it sounds wonderful too, with monica, lightspeed and F5. talking about the beauty of diy.

mohfudz wrote:

tycham wrote:@mohdfudz

Congratulation on your new found sonic improvement. Welcome to the digital world of music.

Thanks tycham,
I'm now searching for portable 9V battery power supply for my hiface Evo. Anybody can guide me to the supplier.

this is where I got the battery and charger.

http://www.szwholesale.com/18650-32vrechargeable-battery1865032v-p-1139.html

bimmerman wrote: My pair of Neutrik BNC with true 75 Ohms arrived from UK too but problem!!!

Sorry to hear about your problem. Which model of the Neutrik BNC are you using? I am looking at NBB75SI.

I got the NBNC75BLS7 and I guess the S7 means 0.7mm pin. No choice as in Malaysia it's hard to find stuff. But for you my friend, you have your Sim Lim and I believe you can find yours there.

chua55 wrote:Looks like the road ahead is a little windy for you, perhaps it presents more challenge to you like the car in the picture.

Would like to thank kkthen for kindly demo the stereoVox XV2 and also after reading all those reflections on transmission cable. The XV2 is a very thin cable but pack a muscle.

Hello Chua. Do you get your veloce?

Yup, I think chua said he got his veloce. but waiting for his comments...

[quote=
Well, you've heard the DHLabs before. With full BNC I suspect it could get better still. Just curious how much more it can improve.

How's the Veloce so far? Do share...

[/quote]]

Hello Bimmerman. I got one pc Dhlabs but with canary rca plug. Compare to my acoustic zen silver byte & stereovox xv2. DH labs is sound musical but not as detail as acoustic zen & stereovox. May be one day I come to visit you & bring stereovox to let you try.

Hey there KKThen, I made 2 pairs of DHLabs, one pair is WBT RCA to Furtech BNC and the other pair is WBT RCA to RCA.

My findings are similar to yours. The RCA to RCA (even though using expensive WBT RCA) has very poor detail. But when we tried the RCA/BNC at Chua's place we achieved very good results. Same cables but was surprised to learn that BNC is so much better than RCA.

Would be great to try out your Stereovox. Is it RCA or BNC or RCA/BNC?

KKThen, I also have a DHLabs AES/EBU cable but no chance to try as I don't have a device with AES/EBU output.

bimmerman wrote:

Would be great to try out your Stereovox. Is it RCA or BNC or RCA/BNC?

Stereovox digital cable actually is BNC, but come with BNC TO RCA adapter. So it can use as rca or BNC. Bro please PM your phone & address to me, I find one day to visit you.

Been years since I bought anything from them but can consider Farnell or RS components. They should have something u can use.

bimmerman wrote:Yo yo yo Chua!!! How goes the Velose??? Dying to hear your comments. Things are not good at my end. My pair of Neutrik BNC with true 75 Ohms arrived from UK too but problem!!! The centre pin cannot fit the core of my DHLabs D-75. I need to look for BNC connectors with larger centre pins and just use the pins with my neutriks. Looks like i've hit a roadblock for now...

Would have been great to have a Veloce vs my Neutrik/DHlabs duo!

bassraptor wrote:


Now distracted with downloading high-res movies; wife can't believe the audio and video quality of movies I've shown her. Expecting to burn out my current PC in coming month. Mac Mini beckons ...

May i know what software do u use to download hires movie? I have never downloaded any movie from the net before

joeling wrote:Been years since I bought anything from them but can consider Farnell or RS components. They should have something u can use.

bimmerman wrote:Yo yo yo Chua!!! How goes the Velose??? Dying to hear your comments. Things are not good at my end. My pair of Neutrik BNC with true 75 Ohms arrived from UK too but problem!!! The centre pin cannot fit the core of my DHLabs D-75. I need to look for BNC connectors with larger centre pins and just use the pins with my neutriks. Looks like i've hit a roadblock for now...

Would have been great to have a Veloce vs my Neutrik/DHlabs duo!

Yup, it was RS Components in Glenmarie. Took them 3 weeks to order from UK. But they only carry selected BNC stuff in sizes small, smaller and smallest. Hey i'll try Farnell. Thanks for the tip Joe!

In this instance, I think RS is a slow. I remember buying from farnell and they send parts from US within 1 week for a RM 0.50 resistor. So I am back for the cooking of digital cable. 200 hours?

so my initial hour of listening to black cat is nothing short of excitement. but first the facts from blackcat, it is not directional and they are wonderful. they require 3-4 weeks of solid playtime and 60days money back.

that means it is stilll a long way to go.

Now the music. I would say it is another best investment in cable. It is very detail, accurate, open sound, extended and dynamic.

The test tracks are the

1. inger marie - let it be me
2. Amanda - rose
3. jennifer - aint no cure
4. warrior of heaven and earth - Dacoit Duet
5. Take Dake - Korea Idea
6. Tutti - dance of the tumblers

More pictures here
We had an outing yesterday.

Testing out the virtue 2.2 and various DACs

I like sound proofing done there.

After I put in the blackcat, I had a switch to playing rocks.. those old rocks like Roxette or the Madonna. I must be out of my mind. But it seems I can get them to play right. Those blackcat are a little bit "dangerous".

how come no more updates liao?

Any new things you're playing with Chua?

Theaudiohub wrote:how come no more updates liao?

We are all busy enjoying the music.

nothing much. just that I hav modified the hiface with LiFePO4 battery and added a blackcat velose cable and running the unit with 24bit/96k.

I got chance, wants to try out a behringer to detect the dead sound in the room. I can use use the behringer to low pass the signal to the bass biamp unit.