How do you listen to music?

[Kegemusha]

FLACS (16 and some 24b) saved in a NAS and backuped in another HDm then I use sonos app to stream to some speakers (multi room) and and old connect my main Ncore amp. The Sonos system (1 connect and 3 play1) was bought very cheap as 2nd hand.
Then in my desk upstairs I use Foobar if I want sound from PC or bubbleUnp to a couple of old chromcasts audio, all music from the same NAS.
A cheap and stable system, but the Sonos connect I am thinking of switching it for the wiim pro.

The I have a spotify account too.

 

[davidebond]

To @sejarzo: many thanks. I use Foobar200 and my device is: "ASIO: foo_dsd_asio" as required by Topping. The volume of windows 11 operating system is 100% (also the volume of Foobar2000 is at maximum). The gain in mathaudio is at 100% and also the gain of jds lab atom amp is at 100%. I can adjust the volume of the amp, but it ought be too loud to listen to. To @Steve Dallas : I am sorry, but I am not able to explain my thought better. With a less demanding headphone I was able, without amp, to detect with the outmost clarity the end of Tchaikowsky 6 and not only with the sforzatos. The end of the second mouvement of Nielsen 2 is not audible. I can hear all only with a file 24bit/96khz downloaded from Presto. Otherwise, no matter what recording, I don't hear the last pizzicato of double basses (and the bars before it).

 

[sejarzo]

To @sejarzo: many thanks. I use Foobar200 and my device is: "ASIO: foo_dsd_asio" as required by Topping. The volume of windows 11 operating system is 100% (also the volume of Foobar2000 is at maximum). The gain in mathaudio is at 100% and also the gain of jds lab atom amp is at 100%. I can adjust the volume of the amp, but it ought be too loud to listen to.

Ah yes, I forgot about "pure" DSD playback requiring the ASIO driver. I only use PCM files.

On the other hand, Foobar must convert DSD to PCM before you implement MathAudio as that component, and I assume any others in a Foobar DSP stack, can only work with a PCM stream. DSD cannot be equalized without first transforming it into a PCM format.

You also note use of a 24/96 file, so I am confused by the need for that dsd_asio component.

Here is what I see when I open the ASIO menu in Foobar, double click on the Topping ASIO driver, and then the volume button.

What I fail to grasp is what you mean by "I can adjust the volume of the amp, but it ought be too loud to listen to" or similar comments in your previous posts.

Where is the volume knob on the Atom set for most of your listening? If you find it too sensitive, then use low gain on the Atom.

 

[JanesJr1]

I don't download much because I fear to lose my music.

With access to 95 million recordings on a streaming service, you're worried about losing your music?

That's facetious, but just a little. I have some old LP's that are no longer available, but that's the extent of my risk. Meanwhile, I have been sampling at least 50 times more music in any given period than I did when I was paying hundreds, no thousands, of dollars for CD's and LP's. Back in the day, there were hundreds, no thousands, of recordings that I never listened to because I couldn't afford more discs than I was already wolfing down. Streaming strikes me as as music security, not risk of loss.

 

[davidebond]

To @sejarzo : right. Why I did that? I installed asio and topping driver according to the guide. Usually, I listen to pcm or flac files. But I purchased this dac for the possibility one day to play dsd files. In any case, I clicked on "Topping USB Asio device", but nothing happened. No volume. No window at all.

 

[Steve Dallas]

With access to 95 million recordings on a streaming service, you're worried about losing your music?

That's facetious, but just a little. I have some old LP's that are no longer available, but that's the extent of my risk. Meanwhile, I have been sampling at least 50 times more music in any given period than I did when I was paying hundreds, no thousands, of dollars for CD's and LP's. Back in the day, there were hundreds, no thousands, of recordings that I never listened to because I couldn't afford more discs than I was already wolfing down. Streaming strikes me as as music security, not risk of loss.

With streaming, you have no control over which edition of a given album is on offer. Some mixes and masters are much better than others. I use streaming to explore new music, listen to background music, etc. I purchase the edition I want of music I love.

 

[JanesJr1]

With streaming, you have no control over which edition of a given album is on offer. Some mixes and masters are much better than others. I use streaming to explore new music, listen to background music, etc. I purchase the edition I want of music I love.

With streaming, you have no control over which edition of a given album is on offer. Some mixes and masters are much better than others. I use streaming to explore new music, listen to background music, etc. I purchase the edition I want of music I love.

True enough. But on the other side, the majority of non-classical music i listen to is pre-2000, and the streaming versions now are on average far better than at the time of the original CD's or LP's. For classical, the average cut is often recorded and produced better to begin with, and I've had good luck in careful searches for obscure recordings between Idagio and Amazon HD. There have been stunningly good classical recordings in recent decades. Most of the dynamic compression and such has been popular music after 2000 and I seem not to find not all that much to like there, and the recent non-classical recordings that I do happen to like have had good recordings. So it's working out for me as, on balance, a big net positive. Maybe it's partially just good luck.

My perspective is affected by not having listened to music for 20 years until fairly recently (for various reasons). The before/after comparison of recording quality (again, on average) between records&CD's/<1999 vs. streaming/>2019 is starkly in favor of the latter. I still have the hundreds of discs from the earlier period to compare to.

Your formula of screening and discovery via streaming and buying the best sounds like good middle ground!

 

[davidebond]

I listen to Mahler 6 with a Sennheiser HD 2.3l. The sound was impossible to listen to, because It was overhelmingly loud. How Is It possibile that a headphone with more impedence lack of Power and precision with an amp? Did I made something wrong?

 

[Holdt]

Home:
Spotify to Chromecast Audio to MiniDSP with Dirac Live calibration to power amp to floor speakers and SVS PB2000.

On the move (car or running):
Spotify to iPod Pro with noise cancelling on and eq'ed with my personal audiogram.

Notes:
I have had much gear in my time. Both portable and HiFi.
The two most groundbreaking purchases I've ever experienced were Dirac Live and the iPods Pro.
iPods Pro are brilliant! -With the personal audiogram it has sublime sound quality from high to low and the fantastic noise cancelling makes it even better.
I was so hesitant when I unwrapped the cheap white plastic thingies but boy was I mistaken.
I've since tried to imitate the sound I heard from the iPods in my HiFi system and with many hours with REW and rephase it got much better but not quite.. Then I plunged and bought Dirac and fifty experimental profiles in it finally have the tonality and sound quality where I can lean back and not have to fiddle anymore. It's been months since I last have had the MiniDSP hooked up and I'm settled.

Reg. Spotify I have had Tidal for a while but couldn't justify the lesser user interface because I can't hear a difference what so ever between lossless and the highest Spotify quality even if I really wanted to.

I tried so hard but got so far, in the end it doesn't even matter. -So I quit it and went back to Spotify.

 

[davidebond]

Surprise! I solved my problems. Today, after setting any volume to its maximum, I plugged my headphone directly in the dac. I heard a terrific noise. I must diminish the volume. This is hearing. I tested it with the beginning of the Valse, with the finale of the second mouvement of Nielsen 2, and with the beginning of Bruckner 5. The sound was powerfull and limpide. Any detail was present and the sound was "round" and warm (thanks also to the fantastic headphone). I don't know, why with the amp, without gain the volume was inaudible and in any case, also putting it to its "upper limit", it didn't reach the power of the dac without amp. I must diminish both the volume of foobar2000 and of the dac to listen to the first book of Bach's Well Tempered Clavier. It was really also a splitting noise. The unique problem is that when the screen becomes black the music switches off. Then I set that when the pc is connected to a socket the screen is always active.

Thanks to anyone of you!

Best,

davide

 

[Jimbob54]

Surprise! I solved my problems. Today, after setting any volume to its maximum, I plugged my headphone directly in the dac. I heard a terrific noise. I must diminish the volume. This is hearing. I tested it with the beginning of the Valse, with the finale of the second mouvement of Nielsen 2, and with the beginning of Bruckner 5. The sound was powerfull and limpide. Any detail was present and the sound was "round" and warm (thanks also to the fantastic headphone). I don't know, why with the amp, without gain the volume was inaudible and in any case, also putting it to its "upper limit", it didn't reach the power of the dac without amp. I must diminish both the volume of foobar2000 and of the dac to listen to the first book of Bach's Well Tempered Clavier. It was really also a splitting noise. The unique problem is that when the screen becomes black the music switches off. Then I set that when the pc is connected to a socket the screen is always active.

Thanks to anyone of you!

Best,

davide

My guess is you were outputting less than 0db (full volume) to the Atom from the DAC

 

[davidebond]

No. Es tut mir Leid, but it is not so. I set the volume of the dac to 0.0. As a matter of fact, inserting the headphone directly in the dac produced a non tolerable sound. I ought diminish to 4.0. And all was clear: the player lifting the digits from the keyboard, its breathing, the noise of the room where he played. I followed any suggestion from you and from the forum. Everything was at the highest volume.