Loudspeakers: spikes or decoupling?

[Dave2002]

I've been reading up on the RME ADI-2 DAC (£800). It seems to be a cut down version of RME's ADI-2 Pro DACs - more suitable for domestic use. Multiple filters, USB/RCA/Optical input, XLR/RCA Outputs, fascia lights automatically turn off, headphone outlet, etc, etc.

If the reviews are to be believed (which is very much open for debate) it is tremendous value for money and reportedly performs equal to or better than consumer DACs twice or treble the price. The drawback is that your local HiFi shop is very unlikely to stock it, so no home trials.

https://www.rme-audio.de/en/products/adi_2-dac.php

The lights off feature would appear to be useful for some, perhaps even many. Then listening in the dark would be possible - msg 54.

Is this unusual in pro or semi-pro kit?

Up to now this this kind of kit hasn’t really been of interest to me - due to a limited “need” for it, and lack of funds. That might be about to change though, so suggestions for pro (or near pro) kit compared with domestic consumer kit might be of much more interest to me in the next few months. I haven’t really been aware of RME or MOTU up to now. Are there any other such “pro” manufacturers recommended?

Jayne might recommend used equipment, and it might be that an easy “solution” to the home trial issue would simply be to buy a used one, and then resell it if it doesn’t suit, which seems to be what she does. Slightly more risky would be to buy new.

How does one find out about this kind of kit? Presumably the suggestion from a few around here is that a device like this connected (say) to a Mac mini would cost significantly less for equivalent “quality” of some fancy consumer oriented device - perhaps £1k versus £2+k.

One disadvantage might be that such equipment would not fit in with the decor, or be too confusing to use for other family members.

Just noticed the post about the paper clips - nice. Really, taking Rupert Sheldrake’s name in vain! I knew him once. To be fair, his ideas on morphic resonance were perhaps just speculation, and I think he has admitted that there’s little evidence for it - but an idea worth putting out there. Some of the newer ideas about quantum entanglement might fit with MR, though. Perhaps MR as an idea is similar in merit to homeopathy - though even there putting ideas forward is not in itself a bad thing. It’s later, when evidence (or lack of evidence) emerges that one should become sceptical - very sceptical.

See http://www.skepdic.com/morphicres.html

[jayne lee wilson]

Not so much buy and sell, more a case of getting the kit on SOR - most dealers I use(d) were happy to offer this - you pay for the item, have a week or two to audition it, and then return if it does not please...usually you'd pay the return postage, fair deal to me.

But the T&A DAC 8 was the last major change in 2013 (merely USB upgrades and some mains cables since then), I knew early on it would be very hard to improve on it, that all-revealing instruments-and-acoustic thing, good even sound on all the inputs, helpful settings... it really felt like a DAC for life...... just google the reviews... and it looks good, and feels almost as velvety smooth as your feline floof....
There's a DSD version out now too.

Personally the aesthetics of the kit do matter... of course the sound has to be right, but there are some models I wouldn't want to live with on looks alone, e.g. some of those vast, elaborate silver & gold Musical Fidelity bling-blings of a few years ago, or the bland fridgelike crates that succeeded them... I happily gave house-space to their earlier more functional power amps though, those hefty cylindrical XA-200s, which made me smile every time I came in the room...

https://www.vintagechief.com/musical-fidelity-x-a200-mono-power-amplifiers-21788-21789

They'd cheer you up wouldn't they? Deadly functional really... (and talking points....Tank Engines, Vacuums.....IIRC the diameter was 17cm, so they had a certain presence...... I never drew a face on them though....)

[Mal]

Like Jayne I use a Mac Mini with an asynchronous DAC attached via USB. As a source it sounds wonderful to these ears - and the DAC is a fairly modest Project S2 Pre.

Does it give you much more than the Mac itself?

Radio 3 sounds great through my Senn HD 650s plugged directly into a chrome box (not even an amp!), and I've never felt the need for a DAC. Have you encountered "bigshot" on the audio forums? He seems to have a lot of audio knowledge and is a "Mac alone" fan:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/imac-onboard-dac-vs-external.640264/

[Mal]

Difficult to write those Proms notes that way....

Not still using pen and paper?!

You obviously need a Stuart Hughes’ iPad 2 Gold History Edition, "the front frame for the iPad is made from Ammolite, with sections of T-Rex thigh bones “shaved into the Ammolite”. It also features an 8.5ct diamond on the home button. All told, the iPad has been decorated with 16.5ct of small diamonds, an 8.5ct single diamond, 57 grams of T-Rex bone, 750 grams of Ammolite stone, and 2000 grams of solid 24ct gold..."

[vinteuil]

Not still using pen and paper?!

You obviously need a Stuart Hughes’ iPad 2 Gold History Edition, "the front frame for the iPad is made from Ammolite, with sections of T-Rex thigh bones “shaved into the Ammolite”. It also features an 8.5ct diamond on the home button. All told, the iPad has been decorated with 16.5ct of small diamonds, an 8.5ct single diamond, 57 grams of T-Rex bone, 750 grams of Ammolite stone, and 2000 grams of solid 24ct gold..."

... I think carrying two kilos of gold around wd be quite tiring.


.

[Richard Barrett]

Does it give you much more than the Mac itself?

Radio 3 sounds great through my Senn HD 650s plugged directly into a chrome box (not even an amp!), and I've never felt the need for a DAC.

I'm sure you would be able to tell the difference without much difficulty. Since my DAC travels with me and I can't always be bothered to unpack it, I often find myself plugging the laptop directly into the stereo (or headphones) via a minijack cable and it sounds fine for casual listening, but if I then put in the DAC the difference is immense. And, as Lordgeous, MrGG and I have said, it doesn't have to be an expensive one. The one I'm currently using is a MOTU Ultralite Mk4 which cost 550 euros or so. As well as for home listening I use it on the road (in my concert at City University at the beginning of May for the information of those members who were there) and I just mixed, edited and mastered a CD recording on it at 96kHz/24bit, so why pay more as they say. As for the lights being distracting, it doesn't even need to be in a place where it can be seen at all!