Hi folks,
A friend of mine, Gregor, posted this today in the German www.aktives-hoeren.de Forum (translated via deepL)
ND8006 / Bluetooth / Tidal / Disenchantment
Hello everyone,
Yesterday I had an audiophile experience that I can hardly understand.
I was visiting a listening session where I noticed that Tidal was being controlled with a
laptop via Bluetooth and the Marantz streamer ND8006.
This is actually the worst way to listen to Tidal.
When I intervened, the host replied that it was only controlled via Bluetooth
and Tidal is transmitted directly to the streamer.
My subsequent research revealed that this is not the case and that the option via Tidal Connect
does not exist and that Tidal can only be controlled directly via a special Heos app, which is very inconvenient, but should be the most optimal in terms of sound.
Therefore, I expected an obvious improvement by using the Heos app, which
compared with Bluetooth. We were 4 people who are not completely unfamiliar with audiophile listening.
The streamer has Bluetooth 3.0 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)
The most important elements of the chain consist of
Speakers: Isophon Vertigo + Velodyne subwoofer
Amplifier : Restek Vektor + Extract mono power amplifiers
Streamer : Marantz ND8006
Is Bluetooth perhaps better than its reputation?
Is the DAC ESS9016 of the streamer that bad?
Have I overlooked something important?
Is it better to look for another hobby in old age due to deteriorating hearing?
In any case, I was very disillusioned by this fact. After all, one undertakes enormously expensive measures
in the hi-fi sector for only minimal improvements and then something like this.
Any thoughts?
Best regards
Gregor
Well, I was part of this little Group of 4 audiophiles, aged between 55 and 65 years…..
And I answered this in the same Forum:
Hello dear forum members, hello Gregor,
I think the differences yesterday were so small because the 32-year-old Vertigo doesn't have a REAL resolution after all.
A lot has happened in the last 32 years, especially with the cone suspensions.
Strangely enough, the huge, 50-year-old Altec loudspeakers played very freely and analytically in the home of another participant in yesterday's listening test: Peter. But Peter also uses brutally good horn-tweeters in addition to his Altec E-614 Speakers!
Our ears are actually still very good. And MP3/Bluetooth is not soooooooo bad.
At my home in the midfield distance to the speakers (HobbyHifi WaveMon 182/22, which have drivers with extremely low mechanical losses [better than 99% of the available full range drivers!!!]), the difference would have been bigger.
Best regards,
Thorsten
Any thoughts regarding the signal path of what we experienced yesterday / our age and hearing losses / Bluetooth quality / my answer to Gregor?
We also listened to an analog source (Transrotor Record Player with Goldring MM-System) the second half of the evening and all of us thought this was a good bit more enjoyable…….
Cheers,
Thorsten
A friend of mine, Gregor, posted this today in the German www.aktives-hoeren.de Forum (translated via deepL)
ND8006 / Bluetooth / Tidal / Disenchantment
Hello everyone,
Yesterday I had an audiophile experience that I can hardly understand.
I was visiting a listening session where I noticed that Tidal was being controlled with a
laptop via Bluetooth and the Marantz streamer ND8006.
This is actually the worst way to listen to Tidal.
When I intervened, the host replied that it was only controlled via Bluetooth
and Tidal is transmitted directly to the streamer.
My subsequent research revealed that this is not the case and that the option via Tidal Connect
does not exist and that Tidal can only be controlled directly via a special Heos app, which is very inconvenient, but should be the most optimal in terms of sound.
Therefore, I expected an obvious improvement by using the Heos app, which
compared with Bluetooth. We were 4 people who are not completely unfamiliar with audiophile listening.
The streamer has Bluetooth 3.0 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)
The most important elements of the chain consist of
Speakers: Isophon Vertigo + Velodyne subwoofer
Amplifier : Restek Vektor + Extract mono power amplifiers
Streamer : Marantz ND8006
Is Bluetooth perhaps better than its reputation?
Is the DAC ESS9016 of the streamer that bad?
Have I overlooked something important?
Is it better to look for another hobby in old age due to deteriorating hearing?
In any case, I was very disillusioned by this fact. After all, one undertakes enormously expensive measures
in the hi-fi sector for only minimal improvements and then something like this.
Any thoughts?
Best regards
Gregor
Well, I was part of this little Group of 4 audiophiles, aged between 55 and 65 years…..
And I answered this in the same Forum:
Hello dear forum members, hello Gregor,
I think the differences yesterday were so small because the 32-year-old Vertigo doesn't have a REAL resolution after all.
A lot has happened in the last 32 years, especially with the cone suspensions.
Strangely enough, the huge, 50-year-old Altec loudspeakers played very freely and analytically in the home of another participant in yesterday's listening test: Peter. But Peter also uses brutally good horn-tweeters in addition to his Altec E-614 Speakers!
Our ears are actually still very good. And MP3/Bluetooth is not soooooooo bad.
At my home in the midfield distance to the speakers (HobbyHifi WaveMon 182/22, which have drivers with extremely low mechanical losses [better than 99% of the available full range drivers!!!]), the difference would have been bigger.
Best regards,
Thorsten
Any thoughts regarding the signal path of what we experienced yesterday / our age and hearing losses / Bluetooth quality / my answer to Gregor?
We also listened to an analog source (Transrotor Record Player with Goldring MM-System) the second half of the evening and all of us thought this was a good bit more enjoyable…….
Cheers,
Thorsten
