Bright sounding SB2

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mca

Bright sounding SB2
« on: 10 Feb 2006, 06:07 pm »
Received my RWA modified SB2 a couple of days ago (thanks Zybar!).

I got it all hooked up and playing and it is sounding noticably brighter than the CD/Ack combo that it replaced.

I am using iTunes with Apple Lossless because I cold not figure out the EAC/FLAC setup. Could this be the cause of my diminished sound quality?

Paul_Bui

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Bright sounding SB2
« Reply #1 on: 10 Feb 2006, 06:39 pm »
Is the SB2 fully broken in?  In other word, how long has it been used since the mod?  Those BlackGate and Auricaps take some time to sound good.

I'm not sure if using iTunes with Apple Lossless would contribute to the bright sound, as I don't remember that was my impression when I had an iPod and used Apple Lossless files along with EAC WAV files.

Anyway, my finding is a bit different.  Compared to the SB2 (as transport)/AS NOS DAC, the SB2 analog out sounds somewhat darker.  Are you comparing the CD/Ack to SB2 analog out or as a transport?

I would try to rip several tracks to EAC/WAV (really easy) and see if there's any difference.  Setting up EAC/FLAC will come later, and many AC members including me can help you with that.

mca

Bright sounding SB2
« Reply #2 on: 10 Feb 2006, 07:34 pm »
Quote
Are you comparing the CD/Ack to SB2 analog out or as a transport?


I am using the modified digital out of the SB2 to the same Ack Dack.

I believe the unit has been fully broken in. Zybar?

zybar

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Bright sounding SB2
« Reply #3 on: 10 Feb 2006, 07:49 pm »
Quote from: mca
Quote
Are you comparing the CD/Ack to SB2 analog out or as a transport?


I am using the modified digital out of the SB2 to the same Ack Dack.

I believe the unit has been fully broken in. Zybar?


Hmmm...

It is fully broken in and I wouldn't call it bright.

Could it be that you are receiving much more info form the SB2 instead of the previous transport?

I have never heard the SB2 with Apple Lossless so I can't comment there.

George

Loftprojection

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Bright sounding SB2
« Reply #4 on: 10 Feb 2006, 08:03 pm »
Which CDP were you using as a transport in the Ack?  I'm interested by your input because I'm currently looking at the SB to possibly replace my CD player however I'm very concerned with sound quality.

As Paul_Bui said, use EAC to rip in regular .wav format just to make sure Itune is not part of the problem.  I've stuggled also like you to setup EAC with FLAC and finally decided to rip everything in .wav anyway.  Harddisk space is cheap now so I told myself why bother with an encoding format.

mca

Bright sounding SB2
« Reply #5 on: 10 Feb 2006, 09:51 pm »
Quote
Which CDP were you using as a transport in the Ack?



I was using a Onix XCD-88 as the transport.

Paul_Bui

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« Reply #6 on: 10 Feb 2006, 11:47 pm »
Quote from: mca
Quote
Are you comparing the CD/Ack to SB2 analog out or as a transport?


I am using the modified digital out of the SB2 to the same Ack Dack.

I believe the unit has been fully broken in. Zybar?


Sorry for my ignorance.  I forgot Zybar's unit is a digital mod.

mcrespo71

Bright sounding SB2
« Reply #7 on: 11 Feb 2006, 12:22 am »
What version of the Ack dack do you have?  The earlier ones were extremely smooth- I thought perhaps too much so, but it was a pleasant coloration.

Michael

JoshK

Bright sounding SB2
« Reply #8 on: 11 Feb 2006, 12:25 am »
I thought my stock unit was too laid back if anything, not detailed enough and I prefer laid-back to analytical.

Reminded me a bit of the original Ack without the midrange bloom.  Super smooth.

mca

Bright sounding SB2
« Reply #9 on: 11 Feb 2006, 01:05 am »
Quote
What version of the Ack dack do you have?


It's the 2.0 ultra resolution version. Souns very good when teamed up with the Onix as a transport.

Folsom

Bright sounding SB2
« Reply #10 on: 11 Feb 2006, 02:15 am »
Itunes + mpeg4 = not that great sound though.

Paul_Bui

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« Reply #11 on: 11 Feb 2006, 04:27 am »
Quote from: mca
Quote
What version of the Ack dack do you have?


It's the 2.0 ultra resolution version. Souns very good when teamed up with the Onix as a transport.


Synergy is key.

Nick B

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Bright sounding SB2
« Reply #12 on: 11 Feb 2006, 04:35 am »
mca        if eac is causing you trouble (like it did me), you could try easy cd-da extractor. it is much more user friendly software than eac, but it is not free

lonewolfny42

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Bright sounding SB2
« Reply #13 on: 11 Feb 2006, 08:15 am »
Quote from: Nick B
mca        if eac is causing you trouble (like it did me), you could try easy cd-da extractor. it is much more user friendly software than eac, but it is not free
Here's the link for it.... http://www.poikosoft.com/

Paul_Bui

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Bright sounding SB2
« Reply #14 on: 11 Feb 2006, 11:55 am »
Quote from: lonewolfny42
Quote from: Nick B
mca        if eac is causing you trouble (like it did me), you could try easy cd-da extractor. it is much more user friendly software than eac, but it is not free
Here's the link for it.... http://www.poikosoft.com/


Thanks for the info.  Sounds very promising.

jermmd

Bright sounding SB2
« Reply #15 on: 11 Feb 2006, 01:59 pm »
I heard Zybar's RW modded SB many times in his system and it definitely wasn't bright. George does use a Tact unit to flatten the frequency aberrations though. I have a stock SB2 and Bolder modded SB3 and in my system the sound is just right-but I also use the Tact :wink: . Does the Onix transport have a reputation for a warm sound?

zybar

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Bright sounding SB2
« Reply #16 on: 12 Feb 2006, 06:22 pm »
Mike,

Any change on the RWA SB2 or is it swtill sounding bright in your system?

George

mca

Bright sounding SB2
« Reply #17 on: 12 Feb 2006, 07:17 pm »
I think the bright sound is probably a combination of things. Poor low frequency response of my room/system and and more detail coming through with the SB2. As DOS said, the iTunes setup probably is not helping.

I am going to try setting up EAC again today and see if I can get some FLAC files going.

Mathew_M

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Bright sounding SB2
« Reply #18 on: 12 Feb 2006, 07:51 pm »
I find my SB3 to sound 'brightish' but it's not the fatiguing kind.  I think it's a combination of room acoustics (vaulted ceilings) and more detail coming out of my 626 ribbons from a pure digital source and amp.  Put it this way, sibilance is no longer a problem for me and even when it does rear it's ugly head on a few poor recordings it's very tolerable.

mca

Bright sounding SB2
« Reply #19 on: 12 Feb 2006, 09:04 pm »
OK, I got EAC setup and recorded one CD worth of FLAC tunes. I still need to figure out how to configure a few things.

Setup EAC to create seperate folders like so:
Artist
   Album
      Songs

Right now, it's just plopping all the various songs on my H drive.

Then I need to figure out how to get the Squeezebox/Slimserver setup to recognize Foobar as my player.  

I'm getting there and really want to give this FLAC thing a go. Any help with the above would be appreciated!