It's taken two years but ...

Posted by: Hot Rats on 28 April 2013

... I think that I have finally achieved a streaming front end with which I am satisfied!

 

I think that the first thing that I have to flag up is that when putting together a streaming audio system, two things should be avoided. The first of these is a PC laptop that is running any incarnation of Mr. Gates' Windows operating system. I am now running Windows 8 and it seems to be operating on a more stable basis than Windows 7. I have no other software installed on the system. The second thing to avoid is external USB hard drives for fie storage. I have had two external drives fail in the past two years. I was so glad that I had setup backup drives. When the failed drives were replaced under warranty, I simply restored files from the backup drive. I am aware that a Mac and either SSD or NAS drives would probably work better but I am now retired from my career and upgrading funds are very limited.

 

When I purchased my Naim Audio DAC two years ago, I started with Foobar2000. I originally used the M2Tech Hiface but when it became available I upgraded to the HiFace Evo. I added an XPS to the DAC, which offered a significant upgrade as did the SR1 power supply that Paul Hynes made for me. I purchased this prior to M2Tech releasing their own power supply. I found that constantly recharging the battery was a hassle and when I went to the local Maplin store and purchased a cheap mains supply, the degradation of sound was quite unacceptable.

 

I am now using JRiver Media Center 18. Whether or not it actually sounds better as some claim I don't know but I like the easy to use interface. It also works very well with my iPad, enabling me to control the system remotely using the JRemote app. I recently purchased JPlay. Some love it and others hate it but after doing some listening tests with the trial version, I concluded that it improved the sound.

 

I still get drop out occasionally so I need to tweak JPlay to get the best from it. The support from the folk at JPlay is excellent and they have given me some things to try out. I just haven't had time to do this yet.

 

I now feel that my system is complete. Having retired from my career, I have more time for listening and more time for the family but I don't have funds at my disposal for future upgrades. I'm not worried. In addition to the equipment described above, I have an LP12 / Armageddon / Troika, CDS2/XPS and NAT02 as source components. Amplification is provided courtesy of NAC52 / Supercap / NAP250 and speakers are a pair of MkI SBLs.

 

It is more than thirty years since I came home with a 42/110 and a pair of Kans. My journey in hi-fi is now complete. I am simply going to enjoy listening to music. 

Posted on: 28 April 2013 by Hook

Hi Hot Rats -

 

Nice post and congratulations!  Glad to hear you have reached the point where your audio setup feels right for the long term.  

 

Your post is also a good reminder to me (and hopefully to other 50 somethings) that getting this done before retiring (to a fixed income) is a very good idea!

 

ATB.

 

Hook (posting these next 3 weeks from sunny South Africa)

 

Posted on: 28 April 2013 by Simon-in-Suffolk

Hot Rats, great post.. Enjoy the music..and it sounds like you are, that's what's it's all about.

Simon

Posted on: 28 April 2013 by Hot Rats

The pre-retirement final upgrade is exactly what I did Hook. I only intended to get my Troika rebuilt and then a lovely mint pair of SBLs turned up. I then had to have a decent amplifier to drive them and my CD5/Flatcap was no longer a good enough source component. I loved the NAC52/SBL combination. A friend of mine had one of the first 52s around. I sounded wonderful ... so much better than my chrome bumper 32.5/HI-CAP/250 with IBLs. He was running his SBLs active with two 250s but that system opened my ears to the possible. Since I first heard the 52 I wanted one. It is only recently that used prices have fallen sufficiently for it to be a reality.

 

Simon in Suffolk ... I am Simon in Essex!

Posted on: 28 April 2013 by Justin9960

Congratulations, you have achieved the final result, as Simon says, that is the goal for us all.

Posted on: 01 May 2013 by Hot Rats

... and to make things even better, I have managed to figure out how to play DSD files directly from JRiver Media Center 18 without having to convert them to FLAC files first!