Great article on "Analogue Warmth"

[Blizzard]

My sound is good but not perfect. If swapping in a $95 USB interface improves it, then why not.

Anyway - let us get back to our elephant in the room again - the business model is defunct since we can all do this (if we wanted) with our PC or existing servers. Unless, as I keep asking, you are the creator of this advanced dsp technology - no - thought not.

This is no elephant. I told you already, this is the future of audio.

Not sure what point your trying to make?

 

[Rodney Gold]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Studio_Technology
nothing new to see here folks...

 

[Blizzard]

I'm not sure if the Hypex I heard at Munich was the NC500; it was enough of an embarrassment that I preferred not to give it a mention. But how can you tell what goes wrong at a show- speaker placement, room problems, who's to know?



The 'Best' way to master an album is to avoid any processing whatsoever in the mastering process itself. Warm up the lathe by running it for about 20 minutes prior to operations. Do a few test cuts to verify the stylus temperature and angle (if correct, the groove will be so quiet its noise floor will be significantly quieter than the quietest electronics). Do a test recording of level on the outside of the lacquer beyond 12". I prefer to use a good tube amplifier- they interact better with the cutterhead due to the electrical characteristics. When done, regardless of the recording source (tape or digital master file) the LP will not have needed any EQ or compression to make it happen. This will give you the most neutral recording with the lowest distortion and widest bandwidth of any format available (playing it back is a different matter). It should not go without noting that any recording from any recording process will fit within the dynamc range of an LP without compression.

This will get you the best album, which will have the longest storage life of any media on the planet. And BTW much of this is exactly how LPs are done today. As far as I know, we are the only ones using a transformerless vacuum-tube mastering system. A strength of the amp we are using is that its distortion decreases linearly to unmeasurable at lower power levels, and it happens that on any LP mastering system the cutterhead uses no more than a small fraction of the total power of the mastering amp. What that means in this case is you can't measure the distortion of the amp at the levels being asked of it to drive the cutter. FWIW, this phenomena did not exist even 2 years ago- at that time, all the mastering amps in use had a distortion character that increased below a certain minimum power (which, I might add, they have in common with all class D amps...). IOW the amps we are using can do something that class D can't- essentially no distortion at lower power levels.



The problem you are up against as I pointed out earlier is while you can certainly model the target amplifier pretty well, you can't do that and then reproduce it without significant artifact. Class D and DSP just aren't there yet. I pointed out another issue with low level distortion in my response to Blizz above. For example if you want to model an SET, you won't be able to do it until you can sort out how to make the class D amp have no distortion at all at low power- that is something that all SETs have in common, and is part of their appeal. Class D can't do that; ergo it can't be used to model certain amps.

This BTW is why even a Hypex NC500 can't be used to model an Atma-Sphere MA-3. It can't make the low/non-existent distortion at lower power levels that the MA-3 can do with ease.

You are assuming vinyl is better than the very best digital, including next gen multibit DSD. Did you download some DXD files from 2L and compare with the quad DSD?


Anyways, if your amps are too transparent to emulate, they won't be a good amp to emulate, because the sound won't change.

 

[Blizzard]

I hate filter settings on dac's
Sounds like a fun idea blizzard just don't claim it's true emulation. If you had not done that no one would be arguing m8.
Loads of ways to make your music sound different based on the character of many world renowned amps. Loosely based lol.

Good luck with it.

Sleep with one eye open at all times lol

All DAC's have filters, whether you can change the settings or not. I suppose a guy like you would just leave it on default and that's it.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

This is no elephant. I told you already, this is the future of audio.

Not sure what point your trying to make?

Well Blizz - the elephant for you is:

> There is no value proposition to your product since you can buy a cheap hypex class d amp and add a filter on your computer.

> Or - you could use your existing amp and have a play with these filters. No difference other than your solution will be much more expensive than the $100 for a filter or 2 for your PC

 

[Blizzard]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Studio_Technology
nothing new to see here folks...

Wow I didn't know VST plugins were DSD compatible now. Great news!

 

[Blizzard]

Well Blizz - the elephant for you is:

> There is no value proposition to your product since you can buy a cheap hypex class d amp and add a filter on your computer.

> Or - you could use your existing amp and have a play with these filters. No difference other than your solution will be much more expensive than the $100 for a filter or 2 for your PC

Go do it then. And get better results.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Go do it then. And get better results.

You just said that in your last post to which I responded that I liked my sound.

 

[Atmasphere]

You are assuming vinyl is better than the very best digital, including next gen multibit DSD. Did you download some DXD files from 2L and compare with the quad DSD?


Anyways, if your amps are too transparent to emulate, they won't be a good amp to emulate, because the sound won't change.

Actually, the problem with the latter is that emulation will be inferior by adding distortion. It will be audible over the source. Regarding the former, its not an assumption. I find an awful lot of people have misconceptions of the capacity of the LP. I've had the best digital in my room a number of times and it simply doesn't hold up. The newer tech has to be available in order to be in the running. You stated yourself that its not available so that much is still pie in the sky. I suspect you've not really heard what LP can do- you've only heard how it can get messed up, which, just like digital, are many and varied.

 

[Blizzard]

You just said that in your last post to which I responded that I liked my sound.

Sell all of your gear, go get a $1000 class D amp, this software, and produce better sound.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Wow I didn't know VST plugins were DSD compatible now. Great news!

Not yet but as you have repeatedly told us - this is the future so they'll be available albeit not called VST. Implementable on your computer for cheap.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Sell all of your gear, go get a $1000 class D amp, this software, and produce better sound.

Lol. Why would I want to do that when I hate class d amps and the filters are not available in the market, my amps are more powerful and stable into tougher loads, I like listening to vinyl, and I am happy with my system.

 

[Blizzard]

Actually, the problem with the latter is that emulation will be inferior by adding distortion. It will be audible over the source. Regarding the former, its not an assumption. I find an awful lot of people have misconceptions of the capacity of the LP. I've had the best digital in my room a number of times and it simply doesn't hold up. The newer tech has to be available in order to be in the running. You stated yourself that its not available so that much is still pie in the sky. I suspect you've not really heard what LP can do- you've only heard how it can get messed up, which, just like digital, are many and varied.

Reality is we are moving forward with technology, digital is getting better and better. Vinyl is not the future of audio, it was the past.

And as far as distortion goes, I agree, but it's clear that many like this sound, or else you wouldn't see so much popularity with poor measuring gear. The DSP itself is completely transparent.

 

[Blizzard]

Lol. Why would I want to do that when I hate class d amps and the filters are not available in the market, my amps are more powerful and stable into tougher loads, I like listening to vinyl, and I am happy with my system.

You hate class D because you have never heard a good class D amp for 1, and for 2, they are devoid of the colorations that you like.

 

[Atmasphere]

Reality is we are moving forward with technology, digital is getting better and better. Vinyl is not the future of audio, it was the past.

And as far as distortion goes, I agree, but it's clear that many like this sound, or else you wouldn't see so much popularity with poor measuring gear. The DSP itself is completely transparent.

Actually, The LP is on the rise. You can get them at Barnes and Nobles, as well as Target. That is not the past that is now. Every single pressing plant in the US is backed up 6 months.

It is a false statement to say that the DSP is completely transparent. Its simply not credible.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

You hate class D because you have never heard a good class D amp for 1, and for 2, they are devoid of the colorations that you like.

Would you rank the class ADH of Devialet good?

 

[Purite Audio]

No mate I would bugger about with it all the time and it would cause much distress to my relationship to music. I know all dac's have filters lol.

NOS dacs don't .
Keith.

 

[Rodney Gold]

The one good thing blizzard has given us is entertainment ... kudos for that.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

NOS dacs don't .
Keith.

Keith - on a separate note, do you think that Illusonic, Trinnov etc will move towards doing their processing in dsd?

 

[Blizzard]

Actually, The LP is on the rise. You can get them at Barnes and Nobles, as well as Target. That is not the past that is now. Every single pressing plant in the US is backed up 6 months.

It is a false statement to say that the DSP is completely transparent. Its simply not credible.

Anyways I wouldn't expect a guy who's been making tube amps since 1976 to come on here and say class D combined with DSP is superior. So no point of discussing this further. People are going to continue to buy tube amps no matter what technology comes out.

As for LP on the rise, it's just a fad. I don't expect it lasting much longer than 5 years.