Hey all,
Long time, no post. The questions:
1.) I am looking for a "perfect" rendition of Widor's Toccata. I realize that is 100% subjective, so some parameters are in order: I prefer it on the slow-paced side, but not a funeral dirge. Deep, room-shaking pedal work a must. Preferably available in a digital format, but vinyl is ok too. I already have copies of Frederick Hohman (MP3), Ian Tracey with the BBC (MP3), and Virgil Fox (way too fast - CD). Hohman is more my tempo, but Tracey I think has better bass. But, both are crap quality, and I'm sure there's more out there.
For those interested my setup is a Windows 10 laptop with JRiver > Audioquest Coffee USB > Schiit Wyrd > Shunyata Venom USB > NAD M51 > Audioquest Sky RCA > NAD T757 using Enhanced Stereo setting > (4) KEF Q900 and (1)Q600 center + (2) SVS PB-1000 subs. No tweaks/power conditioning.
Question 2.) Referencing the above setup, my ultimate goal is to swap out the laptop for an Aurender N100 or similar, and, more importantly, the NAD for a NON-OVERSAMPLING dac. I have become more and more convinced that oversampling is the cause of the "digital" and "mechanical" sound I'm hearing. I'm sure the laptop doesn't help, but oversampling sounds eerily similar to soundcards/receivers that take analog and go to digital and back to analog again. It smells of unnecessary/unnatural tinkering. I'm looking for non-oversampling DAC suggestions in the $2-4k range, cuz that means I can find them for half off (my real budget).
Commsysman, nice to see you're still here. I don't see bierfeldt's name on the recent posts, hope he's still active.
Hey all,
Long time, no post. The questions:
1.) I am looking for a "perfect" rendition of Widor's Toccata. I realize that is 100% subjective, so some parameters are in order: I prefer it on the slow-paced side, but not a funeral dirge. Deep, room-shaking pedal work a must. Preferably available in a digital format, but vinyl is ok too. I already have copies of Frederick Hohman (MP3), Ian Tracey with the BBC (MP3), and Virgil Fox (way too fast - CD). Hohman is more my tempo, but Tracey I think has better bass. But, both are crap quality, and I'm sure there's more out there.
For those interested my setup is a Windows 10 laptop with JRiver > Audioquest Coffee USB > Schiit Wyrd > Shunyata Venom USB > NAD M51 > Audioquest Sky RCA > NAD T757 using Enhanced Stereo setting > (4) KEF Q900 and (1)Q600 center + (2) SVS PB-1000 subs. No tweaks/power conditioning.
Question 2.) Referencing the above setup, my ultimate goal is to swap out the laptop for an Aurender N100 or similar, and, more importantly, the NAD for a NON-OVERSAMPLING dac. I have become more and more convinced that oversampling is the cause of the "digital" and "mechanical" sound I'm hearing. I'm sure the laptop doesn't help, but oversampling sounds eerily similar to soundcards/receivers that take analog and go to digital and back to analog again. It smells of unnecessary/unnatural tinkering. I'm looking for non-oversampling DAC suggestions in the $2-4k range, cuz that means I can find them for half off (my real budget).
Commsysman, nice to see you're still here. I don't see bierfeldt's name on the recent posts, hope he's still active.