[rklein]

I have bought from HDTracks on three different occasions.  The first time(Steely Dan & Bela Fleck) went without a hitch.  Great sound!!  The second time I bought Claudio Abbado conducting The Berlin Philharmonic playing Beethoven's 9th.  The sound quality seems very harsh sounding and in order to get a normal volume on playback, I have to really crank the volume control on my preamp.  The third purchase was a download of the Rolling Stones THROUGH THE PAST DARKLY (Big Hits Vol.2).  It shows up in my music library folder but upon playback there is no sound.  The signal light on my EE miniDAC lights up intermittantly(mostly it is not lit...).

Any ideas on this would be appreciated.  I have emailed HDTracks last night and hopefully will hear from them soon.

Thanks,

Randy

[ted_b]

Which version of Stones did you buy, 24/88 or 24/176?  I have 24/88 and it plays fine.  When I demoed the modded EE DAC I couldn't get 24/192 to play and it would intermittently light up; Wayne thought it was not enough signal voltage from the USB/SPDIF conversion.

[rklein]

I bought the 24/176 version.  The other downloads are 24/96 or 24/88.  I am using a modded boxed HiFace MKII by John Kenny.  This will be a big problem for me if the stock EE can't handle 24/176 or higher using a USB/SPDIF converter. 

Thanks,

Randy

[ted_b]

Randy, the HiFace should be no problem.  It is quite hot (although the Jkeny mod tones it down with attenuators).  I'd check there first...see if removing an attenuator (if possible) does the trick.  Again, this is all early am speculation that your issue is input voltage (which I'm dangerously slightly knowledgeable about, but really not qualified)...maybe it's more likely a file problem. 

[rklein]

Hey Ted:

I did try removing the 6db attenuator that I had connected to the DAC side.  Still no signal.  It is interesting that before the EE DAC, I was using an inexpensive Zhaolu 2.0 DAC that I had modded and it worked famously with a 6db attenuator on the DAC side and a 10db attenuator on the HiFace side.

Randy

[ted_b]

By the way, I never had EE DAC issues with 24/176, only 24/192.  BTW, Wayne's mods to the EE DAC are very very good. 

Hmm...prolly a file download issue.  Let's wait and see what HDTrack's response is I guess.

[rklein]

I will give a call to both Wayne and Bill O'Connell later today.

Thanks Ted

[rklein]

BTW, I may be getting the original tour EE DAC from Wayne after he does some more tinkering with it so I can also A/B it against my stock EE DAC.

You are right Ted... I will wait to hear from HDTracks before giving Wayne a call.

Randy

[rklein]

Just an update(mostly on HDTracks' great customer service!).

I am speaking with Bill and with Wayne concerning the 24/176 and 24/192 issues that I have been having with those types of downloads.

I also sent an email to Satish over at HDTracks about this problem and also about the sound quality on the Beethoven 9th conducted by Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic.  He responded inside of 24 hours and apologized for the sound quality and offered a complimentary download of anything available on the website.

That folks is called taking care of the customer

Regards,

Randy