See, that's the beauty of digital. There's no full-size artwork with photos of musicians rocking their ponytails or similarly atrocious and ill-conceived fashion statements
MSB Select II arrival
- Thread starter Mike Lavigne
- Start date
See, that's the beauty of digital. There's no full-size artwork with photos of musicians rocking their ponytails or similarly atrocious and ill-conceived fashion statements
You can't; you need to buy a universal player, like from Oppo or Sony that plays SACDs and DVD-Audio and Blu-ray Audio and 3D Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray.
Some of the best high res multichannel music recordings are on Blu-ray Audio, DVD-Audio, Blu-ray Video, and SACD. ...Like Yes, Santana, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, Beck, The Stones, The Doors, Dylan and the rest of the gang. ...And of course the multitude of classical music on SACD (hybrid).
But you already new that.
Did you know that one of the Universal UHD BR players (plays all discs except HDCDs) is a Sony one (UBP-X800) for only $249 (on sale)?
• https://www.sony.com/electronics/blu-ray-disc-players/ubp-x800
($199): http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sony-UBP-X800-4K-3D-Ultra-HD-Blu-ray-DVD-HDR-Hi-Res-Player-WiFi/142463495939
Next is the Oppo 203 for $549: http://oppodigital.com/blu-ray-udp-203/
Or the analog hi-end brother, the 205 for $1,299: http://oppodigital.com/blu-ray-udp-205/
The only discs that those three above are not decoding are the HDCD ones; but everything else they do...hi-res stereo and multichannel.
Plus they can play hi-res audiofiles. And the Sony includes a bunch off apps as well. And, the Sony includes two UHD Blu-ray titles (a $50-60 value).
Sure, it ain't MSB or dCS or Trinity, but someone was just mentioning that Steve Wilson has remixed the classic Yes, Jethro Tull and King Crimson catalog.
And the three universal players above from Sony and Oppo can take care of that resolution.
As far as I read the blue-ray version includes " Original Stereo Mix LPCM 192kHz/24bit flat transfer from original master tape". Is it possible to rip it to a flac?
The MSB Select II plays FLAC files? If it does cool, then check if the hi-res music files you want are avail. If not I am not knowledgeable in the art of ripping hi-res audio from Blu-rays. But from SACDs you can. Kal might know what's possible to rip from Blu-rays, or some young hi-tek audio nerds.
Yes, it is possible to rip a Blu-ray Disc to a PC hard drive. You can choose flac or wave. There are a few programs that assist you with getting by the copy guard. I have several concerts that I did a few years ago (24/96) that sounded wonderful. And no I am not a young hi-tek audio nerd, just an older semi hi tech audio nerd. I lost the program I had used when I had a hard drive failure a few years ago and don't recall the name. If I come across it again or can recall it I will let you know.
I hope this helped.
I listen to lots of 'golden age' rock, jazz and blues. mostly all analog based and I have the vinyl or tape for it too. but the Select II is fine enough to not have me have to pull out the analog. quite a few of those I have 2xdsd vinyl rips tape transfers and they are wonderful. I'm getting the vinyl nuance and space, and it's fully satisfying. nothing flat or edgy about it, and has that meaty heft when it needs to. progressive rock is to die for of all sorts, as it has such a low noise floor that all that space and scale comes all the way through. my system allows for every bit of authority any recording can have to come through.
next time I go down this road i'll get into my perceptions a little and flesh out my views on these type recordings as viewed through the Select II/SGM.
sure; the Select II can do 'sounds', 'demo tracks', female vocals, and small scale 'spare' music like no other digital in my experience, but the soul of the music comes through when it exists on the recording.
easily the best trick of any digital is to be able to be intimate with small scale and solo classical, yet do full justice to whole picture of full scale orchestral. I've already described how the Select II masters those. so the rest just happens.
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You'll need to do two things. 1) De-encrypt the files 2) Extract the de-encrypted files as .wav or .flac.
Rip Blu-ray Audio: MakeMKV (for #1 above), DVD Audio Extractor (for #2 above).
But did you hear the ones I mentioned or only mass market stuff from that time period?
I think the magic sauce with Kassandra is the no-holds-barred power supply design...
Brad, if you think the Marantz CD12/DA12 was mass market, think again.
It handily beat all the digital I heard at the time, incl the early Meridian 207 and 208.
And critically went toe to toe w the Linn Sondek LP12 tt which was King Of The Hill in the UK in the 80s.
At £2500 at the time, I was so impressed but so short of funds, I was ready to sell a kidney or two to fund purchase and ditch my lp collection (and in those days I was rabidly anti-digital).
I heard it recently and it remains totally amazing, but it's as rare as Hen's Teeth, and probably only kept together by gossamer thread being three decades old.
It remains Ken Kessler's digital player of choice.
I don't always rate his gear, but for him to have stuck w such an old piece must say something for it's quality.
It handily beat all the digital I heard at the time, incl the early Meridian 207 and 208.
And critically went toe to toe w the Linn Sondek LP12 tt which was King Of The Hill in the UK in the 80s.
At £2500 at the time, I was so impressed but so short of funds, I was ready to sell a kidney or two to fund purchase and ditch my lp collection (and in those days I was rabidly anti-digital).
I heard it recently and it remains totally amazing, but it's as rare as Hen's Teeth, and probably only kept together by gossamer thread being three decades old.
It remains Ken Kessler's digital player of choice.
I don't always rate his gear, but for him to have stuck w such an old piece must say something for it's quality.
I pretty much agree with you regarding this differentiation between recording quality. I heard greater contrast with my analog rig. However, there are some dacs that get awfully close...but not quite.
let's not get confused here.
I had no problem with Spirit's (Marc) comments or questions about comparison's to vinyl (or anyone's); the issue I had was that he stated this;
he made the case that to justify it's price the Select II had to more than get close to vinyl. I disagreed.
at no point did I ask him to not post about this or anything.
Ked took a normal 'Ked-Spirit' shot at him suggesting he take it to Micro's thread......but that's just forum noise and we all should automatically filter that out
Now, wait a minute Mike, it is you yourself that has declared (in your system) that analog is the reference. Why then should you have issue with Marc asking to justify the price/performace of the Select II as to how close it approaches your own, self declared reference? I mean, it is a REALLY expensive DAC that should be approaching or even surpassing even the best analog on a like for like recording. I think to justify its price it should be getting more than close to your previous reference it should surpass it. If it is not then what justifies the price?
You have been dragging this thread along without any concrete comparison to analog. Just fueling speculation. You don't expect any of us to believe that you haven't made such comparisons already, do you? Most of us would make these comparisons straight away because that is THE big hanging question. How does it compare to your self-declared reference? Gear-o-philes want to know. Can you dump your analog and live happily ever after in MSB-land? Is it really apples and oranges?
I think we should all be appreciating Mike for what he brings us, even though many will not have the room or gear to follow his recommendations. He simply said analog is better, but he is not comparing and enjoying both. He is not trying to better his analog with his digital. I am sure in future if he wanted to do that he would look at another cart, Arm, tone arm cable etc
So, the answer is no, you haven't heard any of the ones I mentioned and mostly heard mass market stuff at that time. Meridian 207 was originally using a 14bit chip and only in the "pro" version went to 16bit. I have never heard a good Merdian cd player (notice the absence from my list). The 208 is bitstream and it is a crappy player (thought about buying one but heard it and went "no way"...so boring sounding).
Your Marantz story just proves my point. There were great DACs from that period and the Marantz wasn't even really one of the best. It seems there was a version with the TD1541 double crowns and a version with the BB PCM58 (a good 18 bit R2R). Both of these DACs are agruably inferior to the PCM63/1704 or the AD1865/1862 or the Ultra Analog D20400A.
Another couple to add to the list: Accuphase DC71L and DC91.
I dumped my vinyl rig and living very happily in my CH Precison, all digital land
. So it is possible.I just wonder when this analog vs digital debate will come to an end? I do not see the point, both formats has its strenghts.
JP
Hey Morricab, Go easy on our Mike--he replies with restraint and non combative and sensible replies--unlike some I could mention on some forums where this subject unleashes all out war!
I'm sure he'll get around to confiding the million dollar question when he is good and ready
Meantime I'm enjoying the banter--keep it coming guys
BruceD
I'm sure he'll get around to confiding the million dollar question when he is good and ready
Meantime I'm enjoying the banter--keep it coming guys
BruceD
Brad, the UK was a bit of a Third World country in the 80s, we didn't have much access to cdp's other than the Meridian and Phillips etc.
Grahams HiFi in N. London was THE destination for Linn and Naim which was where 95% of British audiophiles were spending their cash.
Absolute Sounds was selling Accuphase, Krell, Wilson, Apogee etc, but one didn't gravitate there, esp as a dirt poor student at the time.
Maybe had I gone there, my first system would have been all-US ie VPI tt, Accuphase cdp, Krell amp, Wilson Watt Puppy or Apogee Duetta spkrs.
So, yes I can't relate any experience of these 80s digital alternatives.
I thank my lucky stars I didn't succumb to the lifestyle audio concept Meridian 207Pro and M20 active spkrs, that I was a cat's whiskers close to doing.
I find it hard to believe the CD12/DA12 wasn't one of the best, have you actually heard it?
I read somewhere that Mr Marantz himself, Mr. Ken Ishiwata considers the player the greatest creation in his illustrious career.
Quite how he ended up subsequently designing the SA1 is beyond me, undoubtedly the biggest foul up in my audio buying history.
Grahams HiFi in N. London was THE destination for Linn and Naim which was where 95% of British audiophiles were spending their cash.
Absolute Sounds was selling Accuphase, Krell, Wilson, Apogee etc, but one didn't gravitate there, esp as a dirt poor student at the time.
Maybe had I gone there, my first system would have been all-US ie VPI tt, Accuphase cdp, Krell amp, Wilson Watt Puppy or Apogee Duetta spkrs.
So, yes I can't relate any experience of these 80s digital alternatives.
I thank my lucky stars I didn't succumb to the lifestyle audio concept Meridian 207Pro and M20 active spkrs, that I was a cat's whiskers close to doing.
I find it hard to believe the CD12/DA12 wasn't one of the best, have you actually heard it?
I read somewhere that Mr Marantz himself, Mr. Ken Ishiwata considers the player the greatest creation in his illustrious career.
Quite how he ended up subsequently designing the SA1 is beyond me, undoubtedly the biggest foul up in my audio buying history.
Brad, good luck trying to shake Mike's tree.
I don't think you'll get any more success at a definitive answer than I did LOL.
I'm surmising that the races on digital and analog are converging, they remain seperate, but more in parallel than ever.
But like the story of the Hare And The Tortoise, digital isn't leapfrogging analog.
Where we can all agree is that cutting edge digital is so impressive these days, and what we analog-philes find so unique about vinyl's presentation remains as special as ever.
For me, I'm just happy that I've found digital I'm really happy with, and there's great options at the $5k level w non oversampling/non filtered/R2R dacs and streamer options that really perform and are not chopped liver, the latter being my only components spend for 2018.
But I'm not giving up on lps ever, and am planning raids on all the s/h record shops in my part of the world.
I don't think you'll get any more success at a definitive answer than I did LOL.
I'm surmising that the races on digital and analog are converging, they remain seperate, but more in parallel than ever.
But like the story of the Hare And The Tortoise, digital isn't leapfrogging analog.
Where we can all agree is that cutting edge digital is so impressive these days, and what we analog-philes find so unique about vinyl's presentation remains as special as ever.
For me, I'm just happy that I've found digital I'm really happy with, and there's great options at the $5k level w non oversampling/non filtered/R2R dacs and streamer options that really perform and are not chopped liver, the latter being my only components spend for 2018.
But I'm not giving up on lps ever, and am planning raids on all the s/h record shops in my part of the world.
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