Digital Insights
5 June 2020
In order to assess a high-end digital cable, one needs to refer to a standard. But what defines the baseline? And how do USB and Ethernet cables compare to the traditional S/PDIF and AES/EBU cables?
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21 December 2018
Don't commit the tragic mistake of interchanging your instrument and speaker cables. It's a complete waste of energy and you end up spending more for replacements.
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28 December 2016
Although called digital amps by many people, most "digital" amps aren't digital at all.
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27 April 2014
Genelec 8050 and Wadia 121 with a Computer Source in the secondary setup.
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18 November 2012
Even a music server turns out to be sensitive to its placement
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9 May 2012
Kernel Streaming for Winamp 5
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It is widely known that kernel streaming is the way to go in order to obtain the best sound.
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24 April 2012
CD Ripping
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Sometimes I come across things in the wonderful world of audio that drive me nuts.
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26 December 2011
WAV and Tagging
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WAV or AIFF files may appear to have tags when they are accessed through applications such as iTunes and Winamp, but in fact the data may only reside in these apps' database, because they don't actually write tags to these files themselves.
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18 September 2011
There are a couple of methods for sending audiodata over an usb cable. Here's an explanation of the principles behind them and the advantages of one over another.
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25 August 2011
The physical medium on which your music files are stored has an influence on the sound when played back from it.
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24 August 2011
Winamp 5 has a few settings you should know about that have a large influence on the sound
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24 December 2010
Lossless Audio (FLAC)
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Lossless computer audio file formats such as FLAC are technically lossless indeed. But do they sound the same as a WAV?
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26 October 2010
Mac compared to PC, two iTunes sound enhancements and a range of DA-converters and USB interfaces
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24 August 2010
Optimizing iTunes for Windows
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This popular program for Mac and Windows needs some tweaks in order to make it sound good on Windows
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25 July 2010
Computer Audio – SSD versus HDD
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This may be hard to believe but the type of drive also has an influence on the sound.
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9 July 2010
SACD and DSD
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SACD promised even more perfect sound forever. It was hoped that it would replace CD and revitalize the music market. Alas it did not, but the DSD format is still around. Here are my thoughts on the subject.
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20 October 2009
There are quite large differences in sound among CD transports. Yes, even when you only use the digital output, still you can hear differences in the perceived speed, attack, and fluidity.
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5 June 2009
As always, both methods have their own advantages, but there is one unique clear advantage to taking the integrated player route.
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5 June 2009
Does a separate transport and DAC sound better than an integrated player?
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18 May 2009
This apparently simple player secretly has some fine tuning abilities hidden in its configuration menu.
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2 April 2009
Do digital cables really make a difference in sound? And if so, what are the differences?
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16 December 2008
When recording LP's, what sounds better? Digitized or recorded analog?
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21 June 2008
Upsampling explained by means of two reference dCS components: Delius DAC and Purcell upsampler.
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