Ian Dunmore
pfm Member
I have to admit I am genuinely impressed with the Arcam, it sounds very close to vinyl just need to sort out the downscaling, ultimately it will go back if I can’t sort it as do feel cheated
Streaming music
- Thread starter Ian Dunmore
- Start date
Definitely needs to go back. My streamer sounds much better than vinyl. No pops or clicks
Ian Dunmore
pfm Member
I’d dread to think how much a streamer that sounded better than my Pro-ject Perspex, Ortofon Quintet Black and Trichord Diablo (plus NCPSU) would cost...Definitely needs to go back. My streamer sounds much better than vinyl. No pops or clicks
Oh, a streamer and DAC for a couple of grand would sort that ;-)
Ian Dunmore
pfm Member
I genuinely don’t see how that is possible? Vinyl is superior to CD and surely the best you can stream online is CD quality?
Man in a van
pfm Member
Vinyl is superior to CD? Really? I think you'll find plenty of evidence to suggest otherwise. They sound different but no question which is capable of the best quality though I accept there are those who prefer the sound of vinyl.
As for "the best you can stream online is CD quality" comment, that is completely untrue. To make that statement more puzzling, isn't your original post concerning the Arcam's ability to deal with higher than CD quality?
Not to my ears, and that was a LP12/ARO/Geddon vs a squeezebox touch (streaming ripped CDs).
hahaha. I must be deaf. Got me a lot of £££ when I flogged the vinyl gear though.
I do sometimes miss the overblown, mellifuous presentation...and the pops and cracks. Not for very long though.
SteveH, it never ceases to amaze me how the vinyl mania has caught hold like tulip madness in Holland.
I look at people buying £25 records to play on £25,000 LP spinners and just shake my head. That was me 30 years before I got sick of returning inferior records with warps, scratches, pops and clicks.
But vinyl is better say the zealots.
Enjoy your deafness. What you've saved on vinyl can be spent on a hearing aid.
I look at people buying £25 records to play on £25,000 LP spinners and just shake my head. That was me 30 years before I got sick of returning inferior records with warps, scratches, pops and clicks.
But vinyl is better say the zealots.
Enjoy your deafness. What you've saved on vinyl can be spent on a hearing aid.
manicatel
pfm Member
I do think vinyl can sound better, & I am one of those who will spend £25 on an LP if it means something to me.
Sadly, My tt is nowhere near the £25k mark though. A quarter of that maybe.
I also thoroughly enjoy music via Tidal.
If I had only started down this Hifi road recently, I doubt I would have the same system I currently have, but hey, “ if my Aunty was my Uncle, she’d have bo***cks” as they say, so a lot of people who have been into Hifi for many years may well have worked out how to get vinyl to sound so good & stuck with it.
The bang for buck of a streaming front end, such as Bluesound is fantastic, & I do agree it takes more ££ to get a vinyl front end to equal it.
Sadly, My tt is nowhere near the £25k mark though. A quarter of that maybe.
I also thoroughly enjoy music via Tidal.
If I had only started down this Hifi road recently, I doubt I would have the same system I currently have, but hey, “ if my Aunty was my Uncle, she’d have bo***cks” as they say, so a lot of people who have been into Hifi for many years may well have worked out how to get vinyl to sound so good & stuck with it.
The bang for buck of a streaming front end, such as Bluesound is fantastic, & I do agree it takes more ££ to get a vinyl front end to equal it.
Strictly Stereo
Trade: Strictly Stereo
There are some solid reasons why a streamer can potentially beat a conventional CD player, even using the same source material (the original CD and a bit-perfect rip of that same CD, for example). A conventional CD player has to recover the bits from the disc in near real-time. If it runs into difficulties reading the disc, it has to guess what the missing bits should be or conceal the problem some other way, such as muting the output briefly. A streamer can look much further ahead at the ripped version and there are robust mechanisms built into modern computer networks to ensure that the transfer from server to client is bit-perfect.
Sibbers
Earthling
It requires Perl Modul IO::Socket::SSL on the server. If you have that or know what that is then it’s not daunting.
Man in a van
pfm Member
Well, I'm a glass half full person and encourage others to be the same.
The only (well documented) problem is for folk who persist in running LMS on a NAS, when £30 on a rpi3b would solve all their ills.
Lots of help and advice on this forum and the SlimDevices one; not daunting at all.
Ronnie
Man in a van
pfm Member
Ian Dunmore
pfm Member
Yes! Here is the response from their customer services, they were really helpful!
Hi Ian,
Thanks for your call today - hopefully the attached will help you.
To enable Critical Listening mode, this has to be done BEFORE connection to the device, so after starting up the PlayFi app, before you tap on the device, tap the hi-res icon (IMG_8884) - this will then light the icon & select critical listening mode (IMG_8885). You can then select your music service (in your case, Tidal) with Critical Listening Mode enabled.
Note - after an update (usually forced by the PlayFi app, and they have had a couple recently) it is a requirement that you power cycle (turn the rPlay device off & on again).
Best regards,
Arcam Support
Ian Dunmore
pfm Member
It appears that an update was all that needed, they also don’t mention in the manual that you need to switch the unit off and on again for the updates to take affect
Ian Dunmore
pfm Member
Thank you but doesn’t answer my question regarding vinyl and cd?
Julf
Facts are our friends
I assume you meant to write "I prefer vinyl over CD"? If not, I would love to hear in what way you feel vinyl is superior - clearly that is not true for measurable, objective parameters such as dynamic range, SNR, frequency response, speed stability, distortion etc.
Ian Dunmore
pfm Member
Which question?