Maximizing Audio Quality

You are wasting your time with “zeroes and ones / bits are bits” crowd. Give it up. Leave them be

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A krell connect is a killer device. As is their vanguard dac. The amplifier must have been sub par. Streaming Tidal mqa with roon is good. With the vanguard is another level. My opinion whatever that’s Worth

We’re talking Sonos Connect. I would imagine the Krell would be good.

You’re right. I forget sometimes.

Hi Gary,

I hope you decide that Roon is worth investing in. I am a lifetime subscriber and love it! First off I would say that you should trust your own ears. Audition different hardware and interconnects and enjoy it, after all it is the music that ultimately counts! I have a main living room system that I just love. Consists of a $4k music server, $5k dac, $2k integrated amp, $5k speaker system. I also use two Wyred 4 Sound modified Sonos Connects to take music to different rooms in the house. The Connects have a wonderfully useful software interface and play really nicely with Roon. I am not in any way connected to Wyred 4 Sound other than as a happy customer. Here is a link to their modified Sonos Connect page. https://wyred4sound.com/products/upgrades-and-mods/sonos-connect-modified

Darko did a review. https://darko.audio/2015/12/next-level-sonos-from-wyred4sounds-modded-connect/

See for yourself and I hope this is helpful to you.

-Richard

Interesting discussion everyone.

I have a Denon X8500H AVR, and Nvidia Shield (connected to the AVR via HDMI). My iOS stream to both from my iOS remote apps. I prefer using the Nvidia Shield as it sounds much better.

I don’t know know if using Nvidia Shield will take full advantage of Hi-Res media… DSD, 24bit, etc…
If Nvidia Shield is limited in quality, what other alternative can I connect to the AVR to get the full music quality without any downgrades? I would love to keep seeing lyrics on the TV.

Thanks,

Seif

"Dolby Atmos (pass-through) and DTS-X surround sound (pass-through) over HDMI

High-resolution audio playback up to 24-bit/192 kHz over HDMI and USB
High-resolution audio up-sample to 24-bit/192 kHz over USB
Audio support: AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, MP3, WAVE, AMR, OGG Vorbis, FLAC, PCM, WMA, WMA-Pro, WMA-Lossless, DD+/DTS (pass-through),
Dolby Atmos (pass-through), Dolby TrueHD (pass-through), DTS-X, and DTS-HD (pass-through)"

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Nope all you will get via Roon is 48/24 Android system audio or 48/24 via ChromeCast. The shield is capable of higher but the Android system resampling needs to be bypassed, which Roon and most apps don’t. I tried it with a squeezebox player and the same.

Connect a NuC via HDMI and install rock on it. You can get some low end ones that rock will run on. I have de3815 as an endpoint works brilliantly and cost £70 as a refurb.

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That is very helpful. Thanks CrystalGipsy.

I hope not. The sharpening filter in Photoshop makes a destructive change to the original image data by increasing edge contrast - not the sort of change you want to introduce into an audio chain.

First maxim of Photoshop - never over sharpen! Anyway, I would say that a cheap consumer unit could be at fault for potentially doing this, esp if not isolated from the rest of the audio chain. But the Sonore models with good clocks and power regulation with good power supplies don’t have that issue.

I do a lot of archival scanning of my music photos for fine art print sales - I was a master darkroom printer when I was younger but it (the chemistry) was killing me. Sharpening is especially important when going from analog to digital, but even CMOS sensors need it. It’s knowing when it looks natural and when to stop.

Correct, sometimes. They have tested trained ears such as John Atkinson, Larry Archibald and other reviewers, and they scored around 70-75% correct in these tests, and the statistics show they COULD hear the differences. The average person does not really know what to listen for to ascertain differences, so they don’t hear them. They just don’t know how to listen.

No, it is the opposite of wasting their money, if they can hear differences. I have made numerous upgrades to my system, and each one has significantly made music significantly more enjoyable, and far more likely to pull me into the music. Now, even if the intent it to have it as background music, even at fairly low levels, it sounds better than before at louder levels. And, at times, I get mesmerized by the music, and ignore whatever I was trying to do. All the money I spent to get my system where it is, IMHO, is money extremely well spent. You see, value varies from person to person. Apparently for you, the sound quality of what you are listening to isn’t as important to you as it is to me, and that is okay. To me, it is very important to hear additional nuances and detain that wasn’t there before a given upgrade. But your path you take is just as justified as the path I take, and vice versa. There is no right, no wrong. To each his own. It’s my money, and I will spend it as I see fit, and it’s your money to spend as you see fit. I quite often wish I couldn’t tell the difference, as that would have saved me a ton of money. . Oh well, it is what it is.

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Agreed, you don’t need to be an expert to enjoy music… your probably happier and better off if your not one.
Go see properly presented live music, buy the discs and play it at home, in the car wherever.

Rinse and repeat…

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Bye then…

Bye. Glad you found a solution through Amazon. Enjoy the music!

Good luck James. You were an active poster. Sorry to see you go.

What is your set up for streaming Amazon HD through you Oppo UDP-203? I own one as well.

Thanks James!

The vast majority of Amazon Music HD is only 44.1/16. Their hi res is Ultra HD, which at the time is far more limited than Qobuz, at least as far as the music I want goes. But, I am me, you are you, and you have to make decisions based on what you think will be best for your musical enjoyment. Hopefully, you made the right decision.