I think you truely forget how good it is if you haven't listened to it in a while.

For a while i've been happy just listenin to my ipod and mp3's and thought they sound "roughly" as good as cd's on my hifi, but after sitting listening to some music for the past hour or two i can honestly say mp3 doesn't even compare!

If only i got the time to listen to my Hifi More often. The only reason i actually am at the mo as my girlfriend and her mother are in the house so i needed somewhere to hide


My Hifi includes
Marantz CD17 mk1
Marantz PM17 mk2 ki sig
Monitor Audio GR10
Apollo rack
ixos exotic cables

Tis GREAT!

 

Couple pics of mine
5 wharfdale rubiance speakers
Toshiba 32wlt66
Denon avr1802
Opimum 3 tier piano black glass stand
Bandbridge cables

Plus other bits and bobs

ImageShack - Hosting :: kif0176ol3.jpg

ImageShack - Hosting :: kif0178gu0.jpg

 

Have a try of DFX to enhance your mp3s. You will have to play around a little with its sliders.

With DFX on winamp I cannot hear the difference between my mp3s and my CDs. OK, I use AV kit and not Hifi, but they are KEF eggs so a reasonable. Even with only 128kbit mp3s I just cannot hear the difference between them an CDs.

Maybe I have been unlucky and just got poor CDs, the two I tried were Gladiator and The Beech.

 

As an self-professed audio snob, I hate MP3 with a passion. Even at the higher bit rates, it's STILL compressed!! Now I wouldn't mind if the compression "sounded" nice (by the very nature of compression, the sound will change), but it doesn't Now Minidisc, that's a different matter - sounds really analogue (imo)

But give me a proper audio setup any day

FWIW, try listening to DVD-a (audio) - spectacular sound

Dan

 

it really does depend on the cd that you play on how much of a difference you can actually hear.

Listening to anything by Michael Jackson or Paul Simon on mp3 in my opinion cannot compare to a good hifi system.

 

Try listening to DTS-HD master audio

 

Same principle - 96KHz (over 2x the bandwidth of a regular cd )

Dan

 

As the man says....

Especially if it is a decent 5.1 mix. DSotM did it for Stereo, Brothers in Arms did it for CD. I reckon Porcupine Tree's DVD-A 5.1 albums will do it for surround.

 

REM is quite good too

Dan

 

I spent a lot of money on hifi when I was younger and more naive. Really it's about the music, not the last word in sound quality.

 

True, but I would also question that. I've had the great pleasure (as have others on this board) of working some of the best studios and mix rooms in the world
Yes, the music is very important, BUT when you've heard the music as it was recorded and mixed, a home-based system doesn't even come close. Even the expensive stuff.
Bear in mind you've got the acoustics of the room and the circa £1million of kit......

Kinda puts it all back in to perspective!

That's when I gave up with home hifi. I've got a nice system, but it is insignificant when compared to a studio

Dan

 

...and yet, in commercially significant terms, nobody cares

I have a couple of SACDs and DVD-As, and certainly they sound good - but I wonder how much of that is due to the technical differences between them and CD, and how much is down to the fact that the recording doesn't have all the life compressed out of it. But 99% of the music I want to listen to simply isn't released on these formats.

If they were going to succeed, one of them would have done by now.

The sad thing is, the better the equipment I listen on, the clearer it becomes just how bad the recordings are that I'm listening to. Yet the record labels are only just getting to grips with the idea of selling music downloads that aren't crippled by encryption. Maybe in another 10 years or so they'll work out that at least some people might actually want better quality than CD too?

 

Indeed your never going to recoup whats lost in the translation - and if your actually trying your missing on something new

 

I'm happy enough with my ARCAM AV300 / DV79 and Bowers & Wilkins Speakers.

Love to crank it up really high when the house is Sans Wifey

 

20 years old and retired until I have a dedicated listening room now as AV equipment has taken over music....

Cyrus DAD7
Cyrus II + PSX
Linn Basik (Akito/K5)
Mission 764i

The speakers are now my front pair in a 7.1 DD/DTS surround set-up with a 50" screen. I lost interest in music as the time to read reviews, listen to good radio shows to find new material, and concert going faded off towards the end of my 20's. Movies give a quick hit and good buzz, but I do miss listening out for the intricacies of a beautiful piece, well recorded and done justice by good equipment. I tended to reserve this passion for frequent visits to a mates house who'd made his way up to Red Rose amplification and Wilson Benesch speakers but he's just emigrated and enjoy the fairground amusement of my AV system at home

 

All thats missing is some proper floorstanders.

I still use MP3, but only at 320kbs minimum and most certainly not ripped using media player or iTunes (quality is pants may as well rip[ in 128kbs ).

 

"Proper" Hifi
Musical Fidelity
kW DM25 DAC
kW DM25 Transport
kW Tube (6112) Line Preamplifier
kW 750 Power Amplifier
ProAc Response D38 speakers
Nordost ValHalla Interconnects and speaker cable.

Sounds awesome especially with MFSL Master recordings

 

I cannot tell the difference between vinyl, CD, low and high bit MP3's, WMA's etc.

 

Then this is the place for you -------->

 

I love vinyl. Such a glossy, warm sound. Like you can dip your wick in it. Too much said thereMakes CD sound like Fisher Price My First CD Player. But I have Marantz (lower end) separates with a Kenwood Trio turntable. Love Dark Side of the Moon with the lights out, supping on a glass of vino.

 

I've got two set ups, in the family room:

Panny TH5070X
Denon 1930
Onkyo 605
Sky HD
Kef 2005.2

In my 'listening room'

Quad 909 Poweramp
Quad 99 CDPS2
Monitor audio GS20 Gold Range floor standers.

Music on this set up from a good quality CD is just fab, best £x I ever spent. I'm thinking of adding a record player at some point

 

Corradoboy, could you kindly put up some pics taken from the side view of your TV install? It looks really good but not quite sure I understand what you've done.

Thanks and sorry for the hijack

 

Daz, how/where does one get MFSL recordings?

 

I've gotten a few from Ebay.

Have two copies of Joshua tree. One that I actually use but the other is still in its original cellophane.

They vary in price and can be very expensive.

But the sound quality especially through decent, properly set up kit is second to none.

This one is pretty hard to get hold of, expect it to go for alot more.

Pink Floyd The Wall MFSL 2CD Ultradisc Gold Disc on eBay, also, CDs, Music (end time 21-Feb-08 09:13:09 GMT)

Cheers

Daz

 

As you said Dan, Us who have hat the pleasure working in such places, I am happy with my home system "and the fact i can pop to the studio if i want high end" I have a Sugden headmaster pre/headphone amp "my studio buddy" into a Rotel RB1080 (200 wpc) into Tannoy D50's the Cd player is due for an upgrade to maybe a Cyrus CD8se, It works for me

 

I had no idea gold plated discs were mfsl.

I had enigma, cross of changes that cost me a fair packet and was in a very limited run and i have to admit it sounded stunning, far less colouration when compared to normal compact discs.

 

Haven't got time at the mo', sorry. It's just a very large piece of oak veneered MDF with a hole cut in it exactly the same size as the TV. It has feet which hide behind the front speakers stood to the floor, and a simple bracket to the wall to hold in place. Lighting is Ikea Dioder multi-colour LED's.

 

Is there anything on the sides? ie what can you see if you stand 90 degs to the TV?

Thanks

 

I'm a bit confused by these mfsl recordings. A quick search reveals only mfsl cds from bands in which I have no interest. Are all/most cds available in mfsl format? If so from where?

Thanks

 

Also can someone tell me what these cds are all about? Have they been illegally burnt?

Thanks


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