Audiophiles hifi appreciation thread old and new

On switching frequency - just plugged the Chromecast back in to see if I could get on with it now we have voice control set up (Sonos & Google Assistant is pretty wack). Took five minutes of swapping around cables in the cheap four port USB outlet before I could get rid of the old school dial up modem sounds coming out of the speakers. None of the configurations could get rid of the very high pitched noises coming out of the cabinet of components. I can hear those teenager / pigeon deterrents though so maybe I'm just sensitive to it.

Looks like DIY might be the way, did see some PMCs with all the specs. Only £79,700.00 over budget!

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Now, the reason I actually came here - gain structure again.

Chromecast > preamp > amp

Should I have the chromecast at 100% volume to get the best signal to noise ratio?

I’ve been using Chromecast for 2 days solid and it’s been fucking miserable even without interference. Once it connects it keeps on streaming which is great but every time I go to change albums or alter volume the playback software has dropped the cca connection leaving you unable to alter it. I then have to call up the google home app which may or may not still be connected, often it’s not. You then tell it to stop casting, go back to music app, do hard restart and repeat.

You don't want to overload the input of your preamp. You have to adjust them in case they disagree with the preamp about 0db. A lot of digital output 0db is ~20db to loud for an analog input that is designed to have headroom. However the argument from the digital side would be that it reaches the maximum headroom only when it's playing at it's very loudest.

You also need to consider the voltages they are sending/receiving and what they are expecting.

Yup

Better than the alternatives

If I’m sending digital to a preamp I keep software volume at 100%. Many playback applications take over OS volume control and lock it at full output.

Both PMC and Dynaudio are incredible. I'm just imagining how good those speakers must sound.

I've had different sets of PMC for 15 years, they provide excellent service and stand by their products 110%. I still have 2 backup PMC systems in case of emergency!!

Other than UPnP, Airplay2, I’d even rather use Bluetooth.

Also Class D related; if you want to keep full resolution and assuming the only analogue element in your chain is the low pass output filter/speaker coil, is the ideal volume control just a variable rail voltage on the output stage of your Class D power amp?

unless you have a much bigger house than we're imagining, that's going to lower your cut-off frequency by an insignificant margin once you're down to cable runs in the 10m range.

Thank you!
I'm only getting to an approximation of 12 meters because it's not going to be a straight line (fishing cables between joists trying to restrict floor boards lifting to the ones that have already been lifted and are damaged)
Will give this a go when I find time...
The modest speakers I have in mind are indeed 8 ohms

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So use one of those then

Sheesh

I’ll be using the Chromecast as source as it’s the only way I’ve got to get signal in (the DSP doesn’t take USB)

just cut the end off a gaming-laptop charger and screw it into a tda7498e board.

Elements of class G/H then?

For beginners, this is a good read https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/what-class-d-amplification

I don’t think it was me but there are a couple of different solutions I could suggest. One is to use a dedicated cloud storage solution (iCloud, Box, Dropbox etc) which includes a file sync app. Alternatively you could find an app that is essentially a nice wrapper for the unix rsync command. The former gives you cloud backup, the latter will probably be cheaper.

unison is a better option than rsync as it can handle merging changes from multiple bases https://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/

would not describe it as easy to set up, tho

Elements of class G/H then?

Not exactly, because it wouldn't use the input signal to control the rail voltage. If the volume knob controls the rail voltage, you don't need to apply any attenuation in the digital domain, so you don't lose resolution.
I was looking at some Class D modules which will run on anything from 12V to 56V, the lower limit presumably being the minimum required to operate the logic chips. If you separate the logic power supply from the HV rails powering the output MOSFETs, you can just use a normal small low power computer PSU to power the logic and you can set the output stage rail voltage to a more or less arbitrarily low value to make it quiet.

I guess I should just do it with some kind of automator on the directory, as you say some kind of wrapper for rsync.

Thank you for your suggestions.

I have a solution for you:
I have a spare - freshly serviced!
Much easier than lifting floorboards

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My chrome cast is being a tit at the moment. I suspect it’s the internet here. If it is the same in the new house it is going

That looks like a cool machine!
Never tried a tangential arm turntable before.
I dug my "second system" out of storage (old massive pioneer amp, my tweaked Lenco TT, and these little Teac speakers) and unlike the "primary" system (the one our toddler destroyed the MC cartridge of) it's nicely out of reach which made me want to connect an extra pair of speakers to it and put them in the kitchen/living area where we don't have music atm. But while I could find space for speakers, there's no room for another whole system.
Anyway thank for suggesting but I've got too many turntables (I've also got another Lenco I plan to re-plinth too)

I’ve been using Chromecast for 2 days solid and it’s been fucking miserable even without interference. Once it connects it keeps on streaming which is great but every time I go to change albums or alter volume the playback software has dropped the cca connection leaving you unable to alter it. I then have to call up the google home app which may or may not still be connected, often it’s not. You then tell it to stop casting, go back to music app, do hard restart and repeat.

I found that my Chromecast Audio only works reliably on a wired connection using an Ethernet adapter. Some apps also work better than others. Tidal’s Chromecast integration is particularly bad.

What do you think you have spent on this set up?

About what one might spend on a first cartridge upgrade. If you’re talking about a value proposition, let’s say I had an analogue front end and I wanted to alter the tone so I swapped cartridges to process the signal. It will either do what I want it to or it won’t. If I want to try something different I’ll have to replace it or something else as another arbitrary attempt at altering the signal.

It clearly doesn’t appeal to you as a method of controlling tone, but the ability to alter the signal not just overall but to each individual driver, switch it back again, get an immediate A-B, see it on a graph, measure response, calculate filters, adjust for room modes....

Value is subjective.

I was thinking more of the method that varies the rail voltage cleanly and efficiently whilst allowing sufficient current. Need to do more reading!

Not sure a PC PSU is clean enough for audio without lots of RFI screening.