Volumo

Way way too much brain power required these days with Computery stuff. I am really going off the idea Quickly. I think im realising why the wife keeps saying 'Are You Sure'! Thing is i just do not want a CD player any more. The easy way out is a general Laptop with streamer & outboard HDD but again i dont want wires & boxes all over the stereo.

I just wish records were not so noisy, prone to Ware, mistracking, Distortion, poor pressings etc etc. Life would be so much easier for me. On the contrary Vinyl is the next best thing to HELL in every respect even down to buying them sitting on edge wondering if they are full of tick & klicks, if the sleeve will arrived undamaged etc..

Probably something you’ve already thought of and dismissed but could you not buy 3 of the same player second hand and just cannibalise as necessary. You’d likely have music to the end of your days. It’s my plan for CD

Never tried anything to do with streaming. Not felt the need.

I don't mind messing about with computers, I'm always willing to have a bash at new things and cock-ups are all part of learning. I may even have set a record for destroyed Windows operating systems. Easy enough to re-install though.

I wonder what the score is with using Raspberry Pi with Linux?

Computer-based hifi makes my head hurt. CD all the way for me, especially now I listen mostly to classical music, for which vinyl is a right PITA. I couldn't give a toss whether the CD player is black, white, silver or any other colour. As it happens, both the ones I currently use (and the spare) are black.

I completely disagree. Never heard a CD player do what the Piallo Boss is doing, especially now it's been optimised with upsampling and the two LPSU.

I could be talking utter codswallop (and it wouldn't be the first time.), but I don't think it's a question of "1s" and "0s" being the issue. I think it's the elimination of the retrieval of data from the cd process and the digital noise, servo activity effects and the like, that are taken out of the picture with a streamer. That said, a well designed cd player should make such effects less obvious.

Interesting to note though, that Mr Lampizator who rose to fame with his cd tweaks, eventually reached the point and came to the conclusion that a streamer did actually outperform what he was doing with a cd player - and that was some years ago.

The retrieval of data process is no different regardless of what the data is stored on, that's the point I was making. 

Granted an optical disc has more chance of being damaged to a point where the data is irretrievable but up to that point it will not make any difference. That's mathematics, not theory so there really is no room for doubt. 

It could be argued that having to spin a disc could introduce some form of noise to the proceedings but I have yet to see anything but conjecture in that regard. And as you say, competent design should mitigate that even if it is possible. In any case any file system using a spinning hard drive would have the same issue, especially as hard drives are not designed to be dedicated to delivering audio. 

Once you have a signal stored in the digital domain there are a million ways to manipulate it to sound different. Different not better, but then we fall into the trap of assuming our personal preference is improved sound quality instead of just our personal preference. This is all that upsampling can do for example, change the sound, not improve the quality. 

They've already lasted long enough to prove that they made a difference. In my eyes they owe me nothing now as they have served their purpose and were cheap enough to be resurrected with a couple of better specc'd traffos.

They are actually far better than you'd think for the money. When funds permit, I plan on building a dual mono LPSU for the pi setup.

Again the point I'm making is that 'capturing' the data from a CD is not going to introduce any issues at all so a file based system has no advantage there.


there may be other sources of noise like RFi but potentially a file server system is just as vulnerable, it depends on the individual device and how it is engineered. This applies equally to any form of playback even analogue. So there is no intrinsic advantage to be had by reading your data from a hard drive instead of a disc. This is what some of the file people fail to grasp, possibly because they have no IT background, I don't know.

It seems to me that it is all the die-hard vinylystas who are pumping up the file replay idea based on a fundamental misunderstanding of how it actually works. Digital works very differently from analogue, it is nothing like a stylus tracing a groove. A CD is nothing like a vinyl record. A DAC is nothing like a cartridge or a phono stage. There are no parallels that can be drawn between the two mediums.

Just because you can track a record more accurately with a better deck arm and cartridge does not mean that you can improve the 'tracking' (i.e the reading) of a music file (regardless of what format it is on) in the same way. It either plays 100% correctly or it fails, there is no in between like with analogue.


As with all aspects of hi-fi 'just listening' does not tell you what is happening technically. You prefer the sound of 'x' file system compared to 'y' cd player. That's fine, no-one disputes your choice or opinion. But to then use that subjective experience as evidence as to what is happening technically is a big mistake. Reading utter bollocks posted by German blokes on You-Tube who are essentially making the same errors of logic will not help matters.

Ok, I'll have a watch.

Again, I can only say you're eliminating a process, and with it, associated issues like noise and power. Remember the cd tweaks like using a pen to coat the edge of the disc? It all came down to defraction, which using a pen effeced. One Audiophile Recording outfit used to have the reflective side of the disc "black", to cut down on reflections (I have an ABBA - oh yes) one that is like this. The 1s and the 0s are still coming off the disc with/without the disc being marked. With the disc marked however, the servo has a bit of an easier life and demanding less from it's supply.

I think of it like this:

I need 10 packets of chrisps for work a week. I can get two 6 mult-packs from Asda on Friday after work for the following week. Or I could just get I multi-pack if I can't be bothered to do much shopping and another later in the week, making a second journey. So it's:

2 Multi (12 packs) + (Asda + Energy) X 1/2 = 10 work meals (I don't just have the chrisps).

Alternatively, I could go the streaming route and simply get my chrisps from the vending machine at work - and cut-out the Asda chrisp-carrier option, and it's associated shopping hassle that goes with it. I'll still be getting my 10 packets of chrisps a week (albeit at a price, which I've not factored for simplicity) - but without the hassle of going to Asda for them. Naturally, I do buy them when shopping, as it's the cheapest option.

Well you might not think the pens worked -but any amount that tried them - did!

Servos no effect. Power EVERYTHING from one single 5V regulator, and anything can have an effect, including displays.

No, loads of people who tried the pens reported no difference. Although I agree how the power supplies are implemented can affect SQ, I don't think you will find anyone who disagrees with that. But unless the implementation is very poor we are talking minor effects at best, and that needs to be put in context with the rest of the system, see my post above.

My own simple rule of thumb for stuff like green pens: if it is sighted listening then a small perceived difference means in reality there is no difference. A big difference means there is actually a small difference. Jimmy Hughes thinks his speakers sound better facing the wrong way, that should ring some alarm bells, surely?


Anyway lets not get bogged down in the green pen viper's nest. We are taking about things that at best can make a teeny-tiny difference that are easily eclipsed by basic engineering shortcomings in most amps and speakers. IME much more effective to fix the issues there before we start tinkering around the edges.