experimenting if I can hear the difference with good gear

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envydd

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Hi I have been happy listening to CDs and tried some nuforce amps and klipsch bookshelf speakers. During the holidays I asked myself if I should try some new speakers .... put an arbitrary budget and picked up a LS50 passive pair.  Still breaking in .... also trying to see what new amp etc.

Software engineer by profession and have an interest in DIY electronics.

FullRangeMan

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Re: experimenting if I can hear the difference with good gear
« Reply #1 on: 18 Jan 2018, 01:23 am »
Welcome Envydd :thumb:

Phil A

Re: experimenting if I can hear the difference with good gear
« Reply #2 on: 18 Jan 2018, 02:24 am »
Welcome!

audioengr

Re: experimenting if I can hear the difference with good gear
« Reply #3 on: 18 Jan 2018, 02:36 am »
If you are S/W engr, you should google the Raspberry Pi. You can buy this SBC for about $40 on Amazon and the Digione stacking board for $100 and have a really nice server or Roon Bridge that gives you excellent low-jitter S/PDIF coax output to any DAC or SS receiver.  Roon is a popular playback software. 

All of the software and hardware options are available, just select them in menus.  No real programming necessary.  Just flash a SB card with the image of Dietpi OS using win32diskimager, which is free and plug the SD card into the Raspberry Pi.  Then use PuTTY as a remote terminal into the SBC to talk to it.  Just need 5V supply, Ethernet cable and a laptop on your LAN.   DietPi has all of the options that load automatically, menu driven.  The software pieces are all free.

You can have a DLNA with Jriver or Audirvana+ or Roon endpoint or a Roon server for about $150 total in hardware.  Many companies are selling small boxes to mount the boards if you want them in a chassis, like HIFIBerry.

I'm a hardware engineer, but I was able to easily write some shell scripts to run on it as well, as I need to get the sample-rate of the playing track out of the board.

There is lots of help online for Raspberry Pi because it is a DIY SBC that can be used for anything from robotics to music players.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

ArthurDent

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Re: experimenting if I can hear the difference with good gear
« Reply #4 on: 18 Jan 2018, 05:57 am »
Greetings & Welcome to AC envydd   :thumb:

envydd

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Re: experimenting if I can hear the difference with good gear
« Reply #5 on: 18 Jan 2018, 06:57 am »
Thanks folks, for the welcome and the advice.

JLM

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Re: experimenting if I can hear the difference with good gear
« Reply #6 on: 18 Jan 2018, 12:59 pm »
Welcome envydd.

The quest for different/better sound is the consummate audiophile function.  It can be a never ending journey (at least until your brain, ears, or wallet gives out).  Some thrive as hunters, others are hobbyists, and a few actually just want to enjoy music at home.  To better cut to the chase I suggest these steps:

1.)   Prioritize what sonic attributes you most value (bass, treble, detail, imaging, timbre, etc.)
2.)   Focus first on speakers that address those priorities, then the room (what most audiophiles severely under value)
3.)   Try very hard to find the ideal room (available, right shape, acoustically isolated)
4.)   Learn to read 'between the lines' of reviews, but do read (do the research)
5.)   Attend shows (to learn the available range and find out what to veto),
6.)   Visit shops and local clubs (take your own favorite recordings)
7.)   Take notes when auditioning (forces you to critically listen) and limit how long you critically listen (avoid listener fatigue)
8.)   Home audition should be your last step before purchase
9.)   Pick source(s) before pre/power amp (power amp only serves chosen speakers)
10.) Avoid marketing hype regarding tweaks, most are complete wastes of money.

timind

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Re: experimenting if I can hear the difference with good gear
« Reply #7 on: 18 Jan 2018, 06:57 pm »
Welcome to A/C. The advice above from JLM is very good.

With a change from Klipsch speakers to the LS50s you should hear a major improvement. If you don't, I'd say stop trying and just enjoy listening to music on whatever suits your budget.

JakeJ

Re: experimenting if I can hear the difference with good gear
« Reply #8 on: 19 Jan 2018, 02:02 pm »
Hello and welocme to AC, envydd.  Good luck with the experiment...and don't too surprised if you find your wallet getting thinner!