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Kii THREE

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Purité Audio

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Analogue playback won't be technically 'better' it will almost certainly be a lot worse, some people like the added distortion though, in the same way they might enjoy valve amps.
If you already have a record collection then of course use a turntable , if you don't then stick to Tidal or Quboz both lossless streaming services.
Keith
 
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Made some tests with my turntable and some files in Tidal (Not with the Kii, waiting for the stands). Listened to some music, always in the digital version and the analog one in about 80db. To my ears, most of the musics sound pretty much the same.. There were some musics that the digital version sounded better to my ears, but in a few times not, specially the "The Police Synchonicity" record, that sounded pretty bad in the digital version. Maybe something related with the mastering? My old Dac? Or I am just plain crazy? Weird, isn't?
 

oivavoi

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Made some tests with my turntable and some files in Tidal (Not with the Kii, waiting for the stands). Listened to some music, always in the digital version and the analog one in about 80db. To my ears, most of the musics sound pretty much the same.. There were some musics that the digital version sounded better to my ears, but in a few times not, specially the "The Police Synchonicity" record, that sounded pretty bad in the digital version. Maybe something related with the mastering? My old Dac? Or I am just plain crazy? Weird, isn't?

There are several possible explanations for this. One thing is that digital versions may actually be remasterings that are worse than the original mastering for the LP - because they are more compressed. Google "loudness wars" and you'll find a lot of information and opinions :)
Or it may be that the versions are just different, and you simply prefer the vinyl version.

Another thing is that digital playback is more faithful to the recording. You hear what is there, plain and simple. Vinyl playback may add some color, increase the midrange somewhat for example. This may make the high frequencies sound less fatiguing on bad recordings.

But digital recording is technically superior to vinyl. Even an el cheapo google chromecast has higher fidelity than very expensive turntables.
 
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There really isn't much point in comparing vinyl and digital, enjoy them both for what they are.
Keith
 

Kal Rubinson

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There really isn't much point in comparing vinyl and digital, enjoy them both for what they are.
There really isn't much point in comparing vinyl and digital since the Kii will convert the analog to digital anyway.
 

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The Kii's will accurately reproduce that vinyl 'loveliness' though.
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There really isn't much point in comparing vinyl and digital since the Kii will convert the analog to digital anyway.
That's for sure. But seems
to me that Keith is right when he says some digital remastering are worse than the original, so maybe the problem is not the media, but what is recorded on it. Makes a lot of sense to me, and fits my small experiment. Maybe this is one of the reasons some people think analog is better. Well, if that's the case, an analog recording that sounded better due to superior mastering it will sound equally better if properly digitalized, right?
 
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After all, if vinyl was just superior, everything would sound better on it, right? Well, in my small "experiment", this was not the case.
 
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Hello,

Do you think is a good idea to invest in analog audio (turntable) with the kii? Is it possible to have a better sounding analog record than its digital version in the kii system, even though all analog signal is converted from analog to digital?
Of course if the mastering is better.
 

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The digital recordings of vinyl that I have heard sound like vinyl
Yep, I have hundreds of files that I needle drop recorded with Audacity. I did some a/b listening back when I was doing the ripping and they sounded identical to me. (rice krispies, wow/flutter, etc: and all included) LOL
 

amirm

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Analogue playback won't be technically 'better' it will almost certainly be a lot worse, some people like the added distortion though, in the same way they might enjoy valve amps.
If you already have a record collection then of course use a turntable , if you don't then stick to Tidal or Quboz both lossless streaming services.
I recently did a comparison of my Reel to Reel tracks to the same ones available in Tidal. In every case the mix and mastering was far worse than tape. Seems like there are a lot of incompetent people out there remixing these 60s and 70s music for CD/streaming consumption. Distortion was not a factor and if it was there, it was the bit that I heard in some digital masters.
 

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Yep, I have hundreds of files that I needle drop recorded with Audacity. I did some a/b listening back when I was doing the ripping and they sounded identical to me. (rice krispies, wow/flutter, etc: and all included) LOL

But of course vinyl is better and digital is so lacking in transparancy
 
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Another wonderful Kii THREE review from an actual user, courtesy of 'gearslutz'

End of day 1 with the Kii's. They have exceeded my expectations.
In every way they are just "right" to my ears. Hard to put into words how extraordinary that is for me.

Love the tweeter. The mids are open and detailed. You can hear into them like they are a great 3-way without being at all midrange forward. (I view the Kii's as being a 2-way+sub) Sub lows are tight and controlled and ridiculously extended. Kick drum punch at 90-110 hz is great and exactly what I would want.
Records across all era's and styles sound exactly as I have come to know them to sound. The Kii's don't impart their own sonic agenda.
Orchestral recordings are easy to hear deep into the tone of the hall. (amazing how many good speakers color the room tone and make different records sound more similar than they really are). Phase is astonishing and a bit disconcerting at first. Records that are muddy sound muddy. Harsh records sound harsh. and F'n massenburg, fillipetti, cherney, etc etc - sound amazing, as expected.
Overall Kii's are extremely neutral speakers. Beautiful to listen to.

A simple summary would be that if you are looking at speakers in this price range, they are worth the small investment in shipping costs to demo them in your room.

couple small points I'd like to add -
- don't let speaker threads induce M.I.S. (monitor insecurity syndrome).
you know what I mean. reading threads gets your mind wondering and potentially feeling uncertain of your monitors which can further lead to D.Y.M syndrome (defending your monitor syndrome) and the endless involuntary forum posting the results. If you're happy with your work flow - rock on. No new speaker is worth stressing about.

- I'm getting old and have a natural bias against DSP speakers (as well as a bias against DSP plugins, DSP guitar modeling etc etc). My preference would be for tried and true cross over designs, class A or tube amps etc. and all that is just limited thinking to be honest. Nothing matters but the resulting sound coming out of the speakers. Sure you can type in forums until your fingers fall off defending your/our biases but its really just BS.
Mixes matter. Masters matter. personal bias's ....... less so.

- there are two paths in choosing monitors. A) pick a speaker, learn the **** out of it and get work done.
the other path - B) is the long hard quest to find a speaker that fits the way you HEAR music and maybe if lucky one that nudges you a wee bit towards better mixes.
I chose the latter path but highly recommend path A. Your bank account and spouse will both be happier.
If you are unfortunately like me and just can't stop wanting for a speaker to hear it your way, maybe the Kii's are worth considering. (And you have my deepest sympathies).

I'll be back in a few weeks after I really get working on them. Much to discuss about the remote, the latency settings (the low latency mode sounds excellent and in a way is more comfortable to listen to as its what we've all come to aurally expect from speakers instead of the hyper accurate phase of the higher latency mode).

and yeah - get the remote. Worth it to instantly toggle between the latency modes at the very least.

weenie details -
I was only listening via analog inputs. flat. No boundary tweaks. Prefer to get to know a speaker in its flat stock settings before messing with them.

and NO they don't have the soundstage of my ATC 150's or floor to ceiling towers. how could they? Some of the recent criticisms of them seem a bit ridiculous to me and a bit suspicious timing wise as Kii's are just rolling out to US dealers. If you have a giant room - then get some big @ss speakers. But if you sit in the near to mid field and are in anything like a usual size room ...... just sayin.
But I honestly recommend just being happy with your current setup and making lots of music with it. Music matters. All that matters. that said - tonight was an awesome night of just listening to music and getting lost inside the vibes. Just floating and lost. Yeah, the Kii's might be keepers.

Keith
 

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gearslutz said:
...the low latency mode sounds excellent and in a way is more comfortable to listen to as its what we've all come to aurally expect from speakers instead of the hyper accurate phase of the higher latency mode
That's an interesting viewpoint. Especially as phase is inaudible*.

*not what I believe, but thankfully most of the hifi industry does, leaving me feeling very smug with my phase-accurate speakers.
 
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