Naim Uniti cd playback better than flac?
Posted by: friend007 on 13 July 2010
After painstakingly converting most of my cd's into flac files, i find that the cd playback of the same sounds better. is it just me or you naim specialists agree?
Posted on: 13 July 2010 by gone
I don't think anyone can make any informed comment until we know what you were using and what you are comparing it to.
For example:-
How was the FLAC ripped?
The premise behind your question seems to be that there's a problem with FLAC compression?
I'm tempted to say that if your CD sounds better, then stick with it. Damn, now I've said it.
For example:-
How was the FLAC ripped?
The premise behind your question seems to be that there's a problem with FLAC compression?
I'm tempted to say that if your CD sounds better, then stick with it. Damn, now I've said it.
Posted on: 13 July 2010 by friend007
i used eac to rip my cd's and found the settings on eac forum for optimal quality(size no object).
Posted on: 13 July 2010 by Wazza69
Not that reviews mean too much but a number of magazines commented that they found the same
Posted on: 13 July 2010 by friend007
Hello Munch,
if there is a way to tag WAV files, i would probably use the same. even though the files are huge, the hard drives are really cheap these days.
if there is a way to tag WAV files, i would probably use the same. even though the files are huge, the hard drives are really cheap these days.
Posted on: 13 July 2010 by graham55
As a matter of interest, how COULD transferring CDs to another medium actually improve the sound? It could only be equivalent or worse, surely?
Posted on: 13 July 2010 by friend007
graham55, i never mentioned that it should sound better than the original source. its just that flac is at the least supposed to sound the same if ripped properly.
Posted on: 13 July 2010 by Hook
Hi Friend007 -
Welcome to the forum.
What CD player are you using?
How are you streaming your FLAC files? Are you using a PC? A Squeezebox? An external DAC?
When you get a chance, would be helpful if you updated your profile so we could see what your system looks like.
Hook
Welcome to the forum.
What CD player are you using?
How are you streaming your FLAC files? Are you using a PC? A Squeezebox? An external DAC?
When you get a chance, would be helpful if you updated your profile so we could see what your system looks like.
Hook
Posted on: 13 July 2010 by friend007
System
Naim Uniti
Harbeth P3ESR
Flac files are played either directly through USB (either stick or hard drive) or streamed through Twonky Media Server.
Naim Uniti
Harbeth P3ESR
Flac files are played either directly through USB (either stick or hard drive) or streamed through Twonky Media Server.
Posted on: 13 July 2010 by Hook
quote:Originally posted by friend007:
System
Naim Uniti
Harbeth P3ESR
Flac files are played either directly through USB (either stick or hard drive) or streamed through Twonky Media Server.
Hi Friend007 -
How dull of me not to notice Uniti in the thread title -- my apologies!
When John Atkinson of Stereophile measured the Uniti in last March's issue, he noted:
"...Any jitter-related spuriae with CD playback was below the threshold of the Miller Jitter Analyzer; however, I did measure 78 picoseconds peak–peak when the same J-Test signal was played back from a USB drive, this rising to 236ps p–p for iPod playback, and to 454ps p–p for an external TosLink datastream...."
Am sure it is debatable whether this level of difference in jitter is audible, but it does seem to jive with what you are hearing.
Hook
Posted on: 14 July 2010 by james n
quote:how COULD transferring CDs to another medium actually improve the sound? It could only be equivalent or worse, surely?
The chance to get data off the disc securely and error free - a server / PC solution if done properly should be better than a CD player.
James
Posted on: 14 July 2010 by js
I wonder how much a random error really affects the overall perceived sound. I think there's more to it but I couldn't say what that is.
No surprise to me that lossless is inferior in use. Been saying it for years.
friend007, try DBpoweramp and batch convert your FLAC to wav into a (new/sub) folder. You'll not have lost your FLAC. The uniti should be able to read the new wav files. In theory it should make no diff as to when the file is converted but it certainly does sound better if it's brought back to wav before playback.
No surprise to me that lossless is inferior in use. Been saying it for years.
friend007, try DBpoweramp and batch convert your FLAC to wav into a (new/sub) folder. You'll not have lost your FLAC. The uniti should be able to read the new wav files. In theory it should make no diff as to when the file is converted but it certainly does sound better if it's brought back to wav before playback.
Posted on: 14 July 2010 by friend007
thanks js. i will try to get hold of dbpoweramp and try your suggestion.
even the exact audio copy software i am currently using converts the cds to wav first and then to flac.
even the exact audio copy software i am currently using converts the cds to wav first and then to flac.
Posted on: 15 July 2010 by Alamanka
We discussed this also in another thread.
Personally I found that played on the NaimUniti, the volume is louder from CD than from UPNP files.
I am also using .flac file created with EAC.
We learned in this other thread that the Uniti actually contains 2 DAC modules: one for the CD, another for external sources. However the 2 DAC would be identical models.
No confirmations or explanations were given in the other thread regarding the difference in volume levels. So I do not know if this is specific to my own machine or the files I am using or if this is something observed by others as well.
Personally I did a blind test at home with some volume adjustment: no difference of quality was found consistently. Speaking for myself, if there is a difference in quality between CD and .Flac, it is small enough to fall within my own tolerance level.
Personally I found that played on the NaimUniti, the volume is louder from CD than from UPNP files.
I am also using .flac file created with EAC.
We learned in this other thread that the Uniti actually contains 2 DAC modules: one for the CD, another for external sources. However the 2 DAC would be identical models.
No confirmations or explanations were given in the other thread regarding the difference in volume levels. So I do not know if this is specific to my own machine or the files I am using or if this is something observed by others as well.
Personally I did a blind test at home with some volume adjustment: no difference of quality was found consistently. Speaking for myself, if there is a difference in quality between CD and .Flac, it is small enough to fall within my own tolerance level.
Posted on: 15 July 2010 by Pev
I'd go a little further and say to my ears in my UNITI system flac sounds better than cd. When ripping via EAC I've been surprised at how many perfect looking discs need a lot of tries to get an error free copy - some have had to be cleaned twice. All played without problems as cds so there must have been a lot of error processing/interpolation going on.