To airport or not to airport?
Posted by: thesherrif on 27 August 2008
The setups:
1) ( My) Sony Vaio laptop running itunes with all settings set for optimum output, lossless files ( Kate Bush "Aerial"), Wireless to Airport Express, toslink to Beresford latest DAC, analogue (Chord) to Naim Supernait, Teddycap power supply, NACA5 to Neat Momentum 4i speakers, Albert the cat, bottle of good Zinfandel
2) My (ex) friend's set up: Macbook pro, 24 bit 44Khz 2 channel output from a ripped cd, optical output via Monster toslink to Beresford DAC.... the rest the same as above.
3) As (1) above but toslink from Airport Express to Supernait (ie using the Naim SN dac)
4) play the cd directly from a Sony SACD 777ES (superclocked) into the SN analogue input
The experiment:
Playing the same tracks synchronised and switching from source to source on the front of the Beresford...
then configuring the system to use the Naim DAC
The audience:
Me, ex friend, ex friend's missus, Albert the cat, neighbours possibly.
Results
1) Naim DAC............ pretty damm good
2) Sony laptop via AE to Beresford DAC ...... better than Naim SN DAC
3) Mac to Dac...... better still ( and by that I mean NOTICEABLE). Ex friend's missus said "even I can hear that", Albert went and grazed some more at his bowl, Ex friend looked happy, and I'm now looking at a dedicated MAC solution
4) very good, but no better or worse than (2)
ok, I didn't try the Mac direct to the SN dac, but (2) above didn't entice me into doing that, and time was short. Unscientific I know, but Zin is a terrible anti scientific potion.
Conclusion
I reckon I have carried out a scientific experiment and proved conclusively that a good Zinfandel is a cracking good wine and Kate Bush "Aerial" is a stonking cd no matter what the set up. The Beresford DAC driven directly from a MAC was wonderful and I'm now wondering about a shoot out between the Beresford and the Lavry DA10. Whatever happens, the AE has to go; as good as it is, there is a better solution musically. I'm going to invest in a MAC and connect directly to a DAC, be it Beresford, Lavry, or something else. I'd like an Altmann jobby but the thought of a pcb squatting on a lump of spruce and driven by a car battery is a bit much to get my head around ( and Albert would want to "mark" it).
If anyone has compared a Berseford directly to a Lavry I'd love to know about it.
1) ( My) Sony Vaio laptop running itunes with all settings set for optimum output, lossless files ( Kate Bush "Aerial"), Wireless to Airport Express, toslink to Beresford latest DAC, analogue (Chord) to Naim Supernait, Teddycap power supply, NACA5 to Neat Momentum 4i speakers, Albert the cat, bottle of good Zinfandel
2) My (ex) friend's set up: Macbook pro, 24 bit 44Khz 2 channel output from a ripped cd, optical output via Monster toslink to Beresford DAC.... the rest the same as above.
3) As (1) above but toslink from Airport Express to Supernait (ie using the Naim SN dac)
4) play the cd directly from a Sony SACD 777ES (superclocked) into the SN analogue input
The experiment:
Playing the same tracks synchronised and switching from source to source on the front of the Beresford...
then configuring the system to use the Naim DAC
The audience:
Me, ex friend, ex friend's missus, Albert the cat, neighbours possibly.
Results
1) Naim DAC............ pretty damm good
2) Sony laptop via AE to Beresford DAC ...... better than Naim SN DAC
3) Mac to Dac...... better still ( and by that I mean NOTICEABLE). Ex friend's missus said "even I can hear that", Albert went and grazed some more at his bowl, Ex friend looked happy, and I'm now looking at a dedicated MAC solution
4) very good, but no better or worse than (2)
ok, I didn't try the Mac direct to the SN dac, but (2) above didn't entice me into doing that, and time was short. Unscientific I know, but Zin is a terrible anti scientific potion.
Conclusion
I reckon I have carried out a scientific experiment and proved conclusively that a good Zinfandel is a cracking good wine and Kate Bush "Aerial" is a stonking cd no matter what the set up. The Beresford DAC driven directly from a MAC was wonderful and I'm now wondering about a shoot out between the Beresford and the Lavry DA10. Whatever happens, the AE has to go; as good as it is, there is a better solution musically. I'm going to invest in a MAC and connect directly to a DAC, be it Beresford, Lavry, or something else. I'd like an Altmann jobby but the thought of a pcb squatting on a lump of spruce and driven by a car battery is a bit much to get my head around ( and Albert would want to "mark" it).
If anyone has compared a Berseford directly to a Lavry I'd love to know about it.