Bongo Heracles
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Post by Bongo Heracles on Dec 29, 2022 21:30:16 GMT
Line is the built in phono stage. Super high level but line is basically designed to equalise components so everything is the same volume allowing you to switch between cd, tuner, turntable, etc on your amp without blowing your speakers up.
If you’ve ever plugged your headphones into a 3.5mm line out socket and wondered where the volume knob is, that’s the reason.
The phono out will produce a much lower output to go into your phono stage, so you should be able to just switch the cables.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2022 0:06:38 GMT
Cheers, have done a bit more reading and feel a bit stupid now, as I already understood line level, but didn't realise that selecting 'phono' would disengage the pre-amp altogether, which was my concern about whether an external pre would work (basically I wondered if it would result in pre-amping twice!)
Now of course to consider whether it's a worthwhile upgrade for the money.
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kal
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Post by kal on Dec 30, 2022 8:03:42 GMT
Line is the built in phono stage. You mean the opposite of this right? |
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kal
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Post by kal on Dec 30, 2022 8:07:04 GMT
Got a decent crop of LPs from very generous Xmas spends this year. Thin Lizzy, Jailbreak and Live and Dangerous (the greatest live album ever in rock IMO), and Van Halen (debut) and 1984. 1984 sounds HORRIFIC on the last couple of songs of side 2, especially the last song. Distorted mud and endless sibilance. It's not a long album either and the grooves are definitely not up to the spindle. I've gone the whole-hog today and re-levelled the table, arm, dug out the tracking scales and alignment protractor. Still no joy. I also run the AT95ML which is widely regarded as a cost-effective IGD killer. Over in the wilds of the Hoffman forums this particular, Chris Bellman-cut pressing is universally lauded as the best, with nobody mentioning anything negative. No problems with the later songs on the Thin Lizzy's. Duff pressing maybe? I absolutely adore the album and definitely want a copy but don't wanna throw good money after bad. The final song on it is a noisy one, with almost constant cymbal work. I wonder if it's simply been cut too hot and loud for the end of the record. I reckon they've not got past 'Jump' on the forum. Steve Hoffman forums are a good source for finding out if specific pressings are duff. A second turntable is useful for checking yourself. |
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Bongo Heracles
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Post by Bongo Heracles on Dec 30, 2022 8:10:51 GMT
Line is the built in phono stage. You mean the opposite of this right? I don’t think so. On the turntable with two outputs, the built in phono stage will give line level out and phono should give the non-amplified signal. |
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kal
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Post by kal on Dec 30, 2022 8:24:37 GMT
Phono is phono stage surely.
Line is the amplified signal.
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kal
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Post by kal on Dec 30, 2022 8:32:09 GMT
Wait sorry. I’m not reading the post properly. I thought we were talking about the amp. Ignore me.
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Bongo Heracles
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Post by Bongo Heracles on Dec 30, 2022 9:30:55 GMT
If youre after a decent, non-bank breaking upgrade, I can definitely recommend the ifi zen phono. You can usually get it on an ebay deal from peter tyson and its really good VFM. Ive got a zen stack on my second office turntable and the phono stage is great. Very low noise, irons out the rumble on cheaper turntables and gives really accurate detail.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2022 9:31:56 GMT
Got a decent crop of LPs from very generous Xmas spends this year. Thin Lizzy, Jailbreak and Live and Dangerous (the greatest live album ever in rock IMO), and Van Halen (debut) and 1984. 1984 sounds HORRIFIC on the last couple of songs of side 2, especially the last song. Distorted mud and endless sibilance. It's not a long album either and the grooves are definitely not up to the spindle. I've gone the whole-hog today and re-levelled the table, arm, dug out the tracking scales and alignment protractor. Still no joy. I also run the AT95ML which is widely regarded as a cost-effective IGD killer. Over in the wilds of the Hoffman forums this particular, Chris Bellman-cut pressing is universally lauded as the best, with nobody mentioning anything negative. No problems with the later songs on the Thin Lizzy's. Duff pressing maybe? I absolutely adore the album and definitely want a copy but don't wanna throw good money after bad. The final song on it is a noisy one, with almost constant cymbal work. I wonder if it's simply been cut too hot and loud for the end of the record. I reckon they've not got past 'Jump' on the forum. Steve Hoffman forums are a good source for finding out if specific pressings are duff. A second turntable is useful for checking yourself. Yeah, I'll maybe lend the LP to a friend as I am sans second table. It sounds almost like an overloaded signal, like there's not enough headroom for it at the end (talking in guitar terms relateable to me there, sorry if it doesn't make sense). |
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Bongo Heracles
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Post by Bongo Heracles on Dec 30, 2022 9:42:51 GMT
I drove myself insane chasing IGD on a couple of albums. On recent half speed master of DJ Shadows 'Endtroducing', the end of the first side is completely blown out on the right channel. Pissed about with my system for ages until I said 'fuck this' and took it back. The exchange copy was blown out in the same place, so its the recording, but it was a lesson that my system is largely fine so anything that doesnt sound fine is a record problem.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2022 10:00:06 GMT
If youre after a decent, non-bank breaking upgrade, I can definitely recommend the ifi zen phono. You can usually get it on an ebay deal from peter tyson and its really good VFM. Ive got a zen stack on my second office turntable and the phono stage is great. Very low noise, irons out the rumble on cheaper turntables and gives really accurate detail. Cheers, I automatically disregard anything with 'I-' in the title in general, but have researched - it does seem well regarded and appears to have a better signal to noise than the more expensive Cambridge one. I think the headphone amp feature is driving the Cambridge price up but that feature is supposedly mediocre anyway. The Schiit Mani 2 has entered the picture now although it doesn't seem widely available in the UK. That would have the advantage of when the door goes I could say 'oh, just some Schiit I ordered' rather than 'a £200 snake oil item you won't even know is on'. |
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Bongo Heracles
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Post by Bongo Heracles on Dec 30, 2022 10:09:28 GMT
Yeah, the schiit stack does seem like a default 'best bang for buck' recommendation but if they dont want to sell over here then I think Ifi cover that space very well.
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Post by username on Dec 30, 2022 20:10:49 GMT
I’ve got a free trial of Apple Music via Xbox. Why can’t I cast Apple Music to my CCA via iOS or Mac? Seems backwards. And Spotify still hasn’t introduced their HiFi tier. Trying to figure out the best way to get the highest quality music through my system. Options are Xbox via optical, OS X via Bluetooth 5.0, OS X or iOS via Chromecast. Maybe I should drop Apple Music or Spotify for Tidal then I can cast their CD quality streams at least.
Xbox Apple Music app doesn’t output their lossless streams - can’t find whether it’s still outputting CD quality though.
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kal
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Post by kal on Dec 30, 2022 20:53:56 GMT
No Apple device streams above 320kbps through Bluetooth, with the exception of the Tidal Master streams that have some sort of magic codec.
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Post by freddiemercurystwin on Jan 14, 2023 21:22:23 GMT
So as part of the living room revamp Mrs Mercury has allowed me to get my ancient mahoosive TDL RTL3's out of storage to provide the sounds for the TV, instead of the soundbar/SW we have now. I also need an amp, I had always planned to get a S/H Arcam Delta 290 off ebay as these are remote controlled and I know they sound great but finally after getting round to finding one off ebay it turns out you cannot actually turn the amp on/off with the remote and I don't want to have to leave it on all the time given energy prices and Mrs Mercury will soon get peed off if she has to actually push a button on the amp and she'll just leave it on anyway. So can anyone recommend a decent amp that's remote controlled and preferably older (so probably about £600 new) so I can find one cheaper (£150-200ish) on ebay? So finally found a suitable Amp off marketplace, an immaculate Yamaha A-S501 for a bargain £130, felt slightly guilty haggling the seller down a little as she was selling off her deceased uncles wares and didn't have a clue. Anyway it's nothing special but does the job and this and my old speakers are so much more refined than the soundbar and it has the crucial power control from the remote and also has an optical input as an added bonus. |
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Kay
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Post by Kay on Jan 22, 2023 19:30:01 GMT
Its Tidal actually available in the UK? I've been trying to sign up for their £2 for two months offer they have on at the moment (which is advertised on google and a bunch of tech websites), except on the plans page it just shows me the prices in dollars. I then can't put my card details in as it wants a US zip code. I've tried on mobile and different browsers but I can't seem to get to the UK version of the site, even through googling. What am I doing wrong?
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Bongo Heracles
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Post by Bongo Heracles on Jan 22, 2023 20:04:37 GMT
You’ve not got a VPN running by accident?
I think I signed up through the app but just had a look at the site and it’s showing in £££s fine for me.
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Kay
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Post by Kay on Jan 22, 2023 21:12:32 GMT
Nope, no VPN! It's bizarre. The only thing I can think of is that somehow I registered with a US region account. Might just have to go back to Spotify...
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kal
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Post by kal on Jan 23, 2023 7:11:43 GMT
Why do you want to use Tidal?
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Bongo Heracles
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Post by Bongo Heracles on Jan 23, 2023 7:37:07 GMT
It’s better quality than Spotify, it works with my DDJs and they don’t give Joe Rogan any money.
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kal
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Post by kal on Jan 23, 2023 7:39:08 GMT
I meant the specific use case. In the vast majority of cases it’s not being used in a way that means it’s better than Spotify (Bluetooth and Apple devices).
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Bongo Heracles
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Post by Bongo Heracles on Jan 23, 2023 7:47:46 GMT
Among other things, with playlist porting apps, you can bounce around services taking out free/cheap trials pretty much indefinitely if you want to save a bit of money.
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Kay
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Post by Kay on Jan 23, 2023 9:51:44 GMT
Yeah, I'm just being a bit cheap and trying free trials or cheap offers for different streaming services. Tried Apple Music last month as well. Tidal is the same price as Spotify so if it works well enough I'll consider switching for good.
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Bongo Heracles
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Post by Bongo Heracles on Jan 23, 2023 10:04:07 GMT
When I switched away from spotify, I did try a load of them and found there isnt any such thing as a perfect streaming service. None of them will work with all your devices, not all of them have a 'connect' feature straight out of the app, not all of them will do 'hi-res' on all of your devices, not all of them even do hi-res and so on...
Tidal was the least worst but I still had to swallow it not being supported by Alexa (which was the most minor of the downsides).
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kal
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Post by kal on Jan 23, 2023 10:15:55 GMT
I’ve done most of them now, and if higher quality streams isn’t your priority Spotify wins on almost every other possible metric. The only other exception is if you’re particularly into classical/jazz/world music then Qobuz is good, but generally Spotify has the best selections of music, the best playlists, the best general functionality and is probably the best value wise. The quality is also absolutely fine for anyone not using audiophile equipment.
I’ve settled on Tidal because it suits my use cases best, but I’m constantly irritated by it not having music that I used to have on Spotify. It’s great if you’re into current stuff but it really doesn’t have the same depth of electronic niches from the past that Spotify has. It’s very US-centric so all those more localised genres are limited to Now That’s What I Call UK Garage type stuff.
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Post by tonyferrino on Jan 23, 2023 10:33:52 GMT
Tidal is great if you're interested in integrating an online service into a local Plex or Roon system. You can get a small discount by joining via Plex if you have a paid account. The way it makes the integration invisible (if you want it to) is awesome.
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Bongo Heracles
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Post by Bongo Heracles on Jan 23, 2023 10:42:35 GMT
Yeah, its curation and community playlists are much worse, which is a shame. Spotify is, technically, the best service and I probably would have swallowed the unfathomable lack of HQ music but them shutting off the API to third party apps killed it dead, for me. I use my DDJs quite a lot and having all the music to play was fantastic so it was one of the biggest considerations when migrating away from it.
But tidal does the connect thing pretty well and for most other things it matches or isnt a million miles away from spotify so I am happy with it for the time being.
And Daniel Ek seems kind of evil.
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kal
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Post by kal on Jan 23, 2023 10:51:29 GMT
Yeah Spotify is a bit annoying with some of its technically limitations, but then a few months of Apple Music quickly put those into perspective. AM’s sole benefit at this point is being great value as part of the One subscription thing, but otherwise it is quite amazing how many different ways it manages to disappoint. My absolute favourite is proudly giving everyone free high res music and immediately (but silently) prohibiting anyone using their devices from using it wirelessly.
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Bongo Heracles
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Post by Bongo Heracles on Jan 23, 2023 11:18:45 GMT
Yes, I did take a trial of AM and some of its decisions are baffling. Its a shame because it is the service I would probably go for, all things being equal, because I like my walled garden.
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kal
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Post by kal on Jan 23, 2023 12:03:09 GMT
I was totally up for AM as again, great value, I too like my walled garden, and the high quality thing is a big deal to me. I went all in (transferred all my playlists) but didn’t realise the technical limitations of Apple Music until I had it.
Slightly blows my mind that you could buy some £500 Apple Headphones to listen to Apple Music stream Apple Lossless files to your Apple Phone, and you won’t receive a lossless output. Even more bonkers is that Tidal have managed to find a codec that allows high res files over Apple Bluetooth, and Apple themselves don’t use it.
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