Halo everyone, i m here to ask opinion of my hifi setup.
I m using PC as my digital transport.

1. Esi Juli@ soundcard = Digital Toslink Out (analog board removed)
2. Monster M1000 Fiber optic
3. Behringer SRC2496 DAC = DAC ( modded)
4. Monster M1000i Interconnect
5. Harman Kardon Citation 25 = Preamplifier
6. Monster M1000i Interconnect
7. Adcom GFA-555 mk2 = Power amplifier
8. Transparent MusicWave Plus = Speaker cable
9. Monitor Audio R152 = speaker (slightly upgraded in crossover)
10. Belkin Surgemaster Gold (F9G726uk3M-GRY) = power conditioning
11. Koss 3KVA Industrial AVR (servo motor type) = power condition

for more info for my AVR http://www.kossups.com.my/v_series.htm

for more info for my belkin
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProd...oduct_Id=135041

What do u think of my setup? excellent? Cool? haha!!
Your comment is greatly appreciated..

Next project, Zapfilter and LClock for my DAC and R-Core transformer. then replace all F*CK up power cord with good ones.

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Added on March 23, 2009, 12:44 amCOOL!!!

This post has been edited by vir___killer: Feb 13 2010, 08:03 PM

i appologize for the sentence of "world of high end sound". lol just wanna attract u guyz.. sorry
haha.. you dun use the price of the set of hifi to determine the sound quality. It probably can known as high end equipment due to the price. But in terms of high end sound is about matching,.. And a cheaper price does not mean the sound low end. I emphasize its about matching, price doest not guarantees a good sound quality. No offense to people who own expensive hifi sets. Sound quality satisfaction is vary to different individual. As i am a DIYer, i go through all the tweaks and fine-tuning for my equipment. For people who never do any modification, its hard to believe that a modded machine will sound totally different at a glance. haha, wat do you mean high end stuff are not for mod? lol please share your setup to me if its possible... i m interest ur hifi setup!!! I may give u some useful comment as well!!

Conclusion, do not let the prices of equipment stunt you, u can buy some vintage stuff to play around.

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Added on March 23, 2009, 12:23 pmthanks for your support.. wat is ur hifi setup? do u mind to share?

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Added on March 23, 2009, 12:25 pmI only play lossless. APE OR FLAC. The pc is only for listening music..

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Added on March 23, 2009, 12:32 pmAudiosmile modificationReview after modd
Audiosmile modified Behringer SRC2496 is capable of recreating ninety percent of the sonic abilities of my $2500 reference DAC.
John Hoffman, Affordable Audio

Please justify why a pc will miss a lot of detail?




This post has been edited by vir___killer: Mar 23 2009, 12:32 PM

//well not missing the details but warmness and analog of the music...need to correct on that
pc sound very clinical and analytical but lack the impression or wat do i call the real ambience....very cold...lifeless...
u need a dac for it lol//

Hmm, this is an arguable topic.. depends how to match with.. hehe

simple formula --> bright + dull = natural. please correct me if i m wrong with proper justification.

Haha... if u say i m not then nvm lo... haha.. speechless kid.. haha if u have chance please learn about high end pc audio in STEREOPHILE, dCS scarlatti UPSAMPLER, Esoteric, belcanto, benchmark... haha kid..

This post has been edited by vir___killer: Mar 24 2009, 03:53 AM

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Added on March 24, 2009, 4:24 amhi mean kid in hifi.

This post has been edited by vir___killer: Mar 24 2009, 04:24 AM

True.. agree of the part of DAC.. that plays a more than 50% of sound quality production. the CD transport does make a difference of sound in quality.. but how many ppl can afford it.? so i just stick to DAC with computer. nothing without computer depend on how you setup ur computer.

1 thing must understand of the concept of cd transport. critical part of the transport makes a difference in sound might be the clock, digital output buffer stage. transformer as well of the cd drive mechanism must have certain quality of finished.. those are the factors of effecting the digital signal retrieving and transmitting. i guess. so far as i know.. please correct me with proper justification if i m wrong.

hahaha wat DAC u used for testing? i've not heard of exemblache DAC... mind to show me the web?

If a computer does not sound good as a rm10k cdplayer, i wondering how studio works in producing recording haha.

true... like wat you said, studio equipments are not cheap. i know there is a limitation of PC sound card where ESI Juli@ that i used is known as SEMI-PRO grade only. haha. However, in order to make a PC as a good source transport i had go through some SOS kind of magazine shows of studios setup. hmm.. i also know that, some serious sound card runs firewire... but i dun know wat is it for..

My vision, make my playing source alike studio setup. who knows.. may b i will go to custom make a ultra high quality transformer for my PC, with solid cap finished motherboard.

For my behringer SRC2496 DAC, i have a clear vision of modification.
1. Custom R-Core transformer or toroudal transformer.
2. Separate power supply for digital and analog part as like (zapfilter and LClock)
3. Fully recap with rubycon capacitors if still available
4. check signal capacitor
5. check digital input pulse transfomer

afterall, Lclock outputs the clock to my esi juli@.
i will keep my progress of the game updated as when my current upgrade project done.!! stay tuned. i will post some picture or video here... Hope your all will like it.

with those mods i mentioned, i believe my playing source guaranteed will stands a minimum of RM10k kind of sound quality.

I wouldnt say CD Player quality are not good. It is good if and only if you have alot of money!!!!! not in a good value of paying as comparing to PC setup. CDP's owner can deny or disagree towards my words.. But dCS world digital conversion pioneer has proof of my statement of vision.

We have found that sending uncompressed digital audio data from a PC to a high-quality standalone D/A processor results in sound quality that is indistinguishable from playing a CD on a regular player. Cited from Stereophile by John Atkinson

all my thoughts modifications of transport and dacs were generated after i knew that many high end hifi manufacturers are producing source machine for PC.

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Added on March 25, 2009, 5:47 amClick here for Monster M1000i review. who are suppose to say things bad until they listen into it? hehe
click here for More pro...

As a person who is more than 10years experience of being a music lover... i came out with a conclusion or definition that audiophile loves good recordings and an appropriate setup that suits or satisfying his or her taste of music. nothing more that. simple like 1+1.

This post has been edited by vir___killer: Mar 25 2009, 05:49 AM

I M BACK here again for something freaking NEW and surprise....

recently, i just mod with my soundcard lol... analog part from my ESI juli@ was removed.. some chips add sanyo OS-CON as decoupling capacitors...

the best part is the power source of soundcard must be isolated from your CPU PSU... in order to get an AUDIOPHILE accurate and quality of sound.. quality of power source for ur digital transport judges the sound u can go regardless of how high end dac chip or watever brand of soundcard. but i only recommend computer as digital transport instead of dac in a computer..

A relatively good Transfo PSU is built for my soundcard digital part..
The PSU consist of 2 stage LC filter total with 120,000uF capacitance (Chemi-con SMH 16v 10000uF/each) of input filter for 5V regulator.
For temporaily situation, Rubycon ZL 10V 220uF cap is used for 5V output before my juli@ 3.3v reg
Hence, audiophile obbligato 0.15uF premium gold film cap is added on an OVERKILL 6V 10A EI-core transfo for AC noise filtering even though i have main conditioner.....

Now we in critical part of transmitting a ULTRA HIGH ACCURACY of digital signal
A very very very GOOD computer music player is needed.. if u think its FOOBAR2000... then my answer is NOPE...
FOOBAR2000 is a stone age quality player for computer... now my new player is a japanese player call uLilith with memory CACHE buffer for playback source.. with a music platform software call cMP2 your sound definitely is HIFI quality.. just dont bother those people who still says computer will never sound good. hahaha. through my listening experience and research, computer definitely can become an high end transport cost like minimum rm10k and above.
for those people who are still stubborn or not willing accept the truth of technology is quite pity lo..
hmmm. but 1 thing must bare in mind computer soundcard will never get an hifi quality of sound in stock mode. u need to get into operation of soldering then only can.

its quite hard to for me to take picture to proof that my setup as i allocate all my funds into AUDIO... so sorry.
but u can go and check it out later. i will try to get some picture for ur all.




this is some serious freaks who change their sound card REG to audiophile grade that costs more than rm100+ and also legendary BLACKGATE AUDIOPHILE E-CAPS. LOL

You can get a high end sound with cheap price... but time and research must be done and 1 more important thing...
OPERATION surgery of your component..
WAHAHAHA wat a sound that better than CD PLAYER... u can think about it.

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Added on September 6, 2009, 1:29 pmhey one more thing to remind ur all ... pls don use fiber OPTIC for digital out...
i m sure you will never get a good sound due to the optiical transmitter limitation of the soundcard...
the best is u make urself solder a high quality coaxial straight from ur soundcard pulse trans then to your dac.best connector would be BNC instead of RCA.






GOOD LUCK.

This post has been edited by vir___killer: Sep 6 2009, 01:36 PM

ya.. but it really can turn ur computer into real transport if running good dedicated power supply..... if u did that. hmmm but unfortunately. many ppl who in hifi still don blive the art of DIY...

This post has been edited by vir___killer: Sep 6 2009, 11:56 PM

you are exactly rite lol. but it really takes time.. hmm making a sound out is simple.. however, making a good good sound is hard and hard LOL.. some ppl as i know, they took more than 10years in tube amp development.. that sounds better than those branded like ARC, mCintosh... bla bla ..with just all standard cables not even audiophile cable..
it was absolutely stunning.. they are just reaching the way to high end in the other way round instead of spending couple of ten thousand or hundreds of thousand. they probably have more than 20 years of listening experience.. hmm i think i still consider as rookie in the hifi world..
perhaps i m better than ppl who just getting their money to spend on those branded stuff.. many ppl like owning high end systems, i got nothing much to talk about it. but other thing, how much do they know..
playing hifi is not just listening.. for ppl who know tweaks and mods, they will be more enjoying.... just like me.

by the way, do u play hifi ? if yes, mind to share ur setup info? hehe.

LOL.. who the heck is this speaking lol..

like wat i said .. it takes time in finding the real sound. in the other way round.. btw how much u know about it..
know nuts ha.. just like my fren all bla bla..

i did mixing around with friends in playing real instruments.. i dont mean that high end gear is useless.. just DIY is the other way round to get u to high end.

if you are not a music lover then please dont .... around here la.. hehe

"real and proper sound comes with a price.." is not 100% TRUE.

probably 50% only true. hey kid, may b i need to tell u something.. even tough u change one capacitor oso makes the sound different.. sound is just about tuning.. there is nothing that call proper or not..
When u buy a brand A cdplayer sounds good in a system A, it might not sounds good in system B. Its about matching.

I think u better keep quiet abit and learn something from here wat is call high end sound. can ah? then only we discuss again ya boy..

This post has been edited by vir___killer: Sep 7 2009, 08:42 PM

watever la.. u just stubborn here.. lazy to bother u.

lol you mean audionote stuff like their silver oil capacitor? LOL. can b vcap or MCAP silver wat.. now no budget yet la... slowly.. hmm after i finish my sound card power then i will put a ANALOG TUBE STAGE on my DAC.. Then i dun know how to say leh!!!



Universal stereo tube output stage. Complete module including the specially designed over spec power transformer for 115 to 240 V operation. Hybrid anode follower with circle of two CCS using ECC88/6922/6DJ8/6H1/6CG7 (not included); S/N ratio > 100 DBA, 2V RMS into a 10K THD is around 0.1%, 20 Hz to 20 KHz <-0.5db, output minimum 10V RMS on clip into 10K load <1% THD, output impedance is 75-100 ohm; one board can do stereo RCA output tube stage for a DAC, two boards can do balance output tubes stage DAC. One board could make a nice simple line stage, two boards could be configured as a balanced line stage, or an RC RIAA between two boards would make a nice phono stage with about 40 DB of gain, or two boards with a 10K LCR and a 10K termination resistor would be an easy way to build an LCR phono stage. Also includes Obbligatto coupling capacitor.

i will slowly upgrade la.. Audio for me is long term interest.. no need to be 2 rush

In DIY method to high end, we takes lots and lots time to fine tune the sound. tats the enjoyment of experience too instead of buying 1 set of rm100k system.
Battery as power source for hifi is hard to design as the quality of AC.. heard from an expert.. the current is slow and u losses detail. tats y i forbid that then go for AC for my soundcard.

LOL... hmm... may b i can tell some of my experience.. hmm may b you can try to make a dedicated power supply for ur digital transport soundcard. and .. another superB playback software called uLilith with customizable memory buffer running under cMP, i blive it would be one of the best solution as transport.. the weakness of foobar is not transparent enough lol.. i did use that previously. until i seen uLilith. the software was developed by a group of audiophile in JAPAN.. And they are really SERIOUS FREAKS... LOL. GOOD TO TRY. The playback source like your audio file, is crucial during the phase of transmission. uLilith is able to load up the entire audio file to your RAM then playback. That is one of the solution of reducing jitter. Like the latest innovation of PS Audio PerfectWave Transport concept.
one of the weakness of computer digital out of using USB, i guess it would be the reclocking phase of your DAC. Jitter might appear at there.. Thats why, i am using ESI juli@ that using clock oscilliator at 22.5792mhz@44.1,88.khz,172khz and 24.576mhz@48khz,96khz,192khz. as well as my DAC matches the clock oscilliator is the same. Next time i can install another audiophile clock like newclassd neutron star and Audiocom or VSE Terrafirma uberclock LOL.. UBERCLOCK WAS INSANE TOO.

nevertheless bios setting, windows setting, and configuration jumper in your computer motherboard makes a big difference too. For example, the led light of your hdd or any other led lights. it generates plenty of noise that definitely affect your sound listening.. hmm.,.. if possible you can try the PC power cooling high end series PSU. it is quite good but, i dont think it is good for soundcard.. sound card itself should isolated with any other power source. hehe. connectors of your digital out better is to soldered.

your system setup IS QUITE CHOON! for me LOL... but i cant say anything before i experience it.. LOL.. good to talk to you here..!!! hope to keep in touch.

This post has been edited by vir___killer: Sep 9 2009, 05:12 PM

i guess pc power cooling might be the best... still remember cMP transport ?
they uses intel platform.. although i m using AMD oso but old cpu they say is something better but i forgot edy. LOL
if you own a lian li with fanless casing it would be better even u change your cpu fan to passive. totally noiseless
i guess u shud try back windows xp for audio lol.. so far still the best..

i m gonna try winxp 64bit today.... as i just finish my STUPID EXAM...

This post has been edited by vir___killer: Sep 9 2009, 11:14 PM

CHECK THE LATEST MOD OF ESI JULI@


Dedicated power supply's REGulator... 1% accuracy. Lower noise than 7805


Sanyo OS-CON SH as power bank for REGS


DIRECT COAXIAL OUT!!!


NEW REGS for 3.3v ESI JULI@ chips.. REPLACE LOW PERFORMANCE STOCK REG MT1117
ANALOG DEVICES - ADP3338AKCZ-3.3RL7. - LDO REG, 1A, PRECISION 3.3V, SOT223

Manufacturer:
ANALOG DEVICES
Order Code:
1651283
Manufacturer Part No:
ADP3338AKCZ-3.3RL7.
RoHS : Yes
Description
LDO REG, 1A, RECISION 3.3V, SOT223
Voltage Regulator Type:LDO Fixed Positive
Max Input Voltage:8V
Max Output Voltage:3.3V
Max Output Current:1A
Dropout voltage:0.19V
Percentage Accuracy:0.8%
No. of Outputs:1
Min Supply Voltage:2.7V
Max Supply Voltage:8V
Termination Type:SMD
Case Style:SOT-223
No. of Pins:3
Operating Temperature Range:-40蚓 to +85蚓
Max Operating Temperature:85蚓
Min Temperature Operating:-40蚓
Base Number:3338


COAX WITH ETI PLUGS.


SOUND: .... STILL BURNING IN... WILL UPDATE LATER...

This post has been edited by vir___killer: Sep 15 2009, 06:11 AM

my DAC is Behringer SRC2496 MODDED. my wish is to make it like this...

(According to Dr.Lamp: "Have I found the best DAC in the World ? I can assure you - I am DAMN CLOSE !")
Also, 2 weeks later

The modded behringer was put to test with the Audionote champs: DAC4 ad DAC2. Both have huge investments in blackgates inside, better tubes, PIO caps etc.
DAC2 has the good old BB PCM63 and DAC4 has AD1865.

Behringer was for the first time an equal fighter. Even with the 17 000 Euro (plus 1000 Eu for blackgates and upgrades) the Behringer sound was in my opinion more interesting, with wealth of details presented bin a very natural fashion. Behringer was drawing me into the music. Audionote DAC4 had to fight very hard to match that.
After 2 hours - the scale started tipping on the Audionote side because of long warm-up of Blackgates. But the fact that such battle was almost equal - is phenomenal success. Behringer is a real mature champion. In my case - the cost did not exceed 200 Euro. Even without my cheap buying price and with somewhat more realistic lampization price - the total cost should not exceed 800 Eu. Wow !

Concerning AN DAC2 SE - the battle (in completely different system) was also interesting. In that system I preferred AN DAC2 because of its super natural "jazzy atmosphere" but on detail, space and rhythm - AN had no chance. So it was down to a personal taste thing.

http://www.lampizator.eu/LAMPIZATOR/TRANSP.../Behringer.html

Thats y... I STILL WONDERING MANY PPL SAYS TAT EXPENSIVE IS GOOD HA? LOL especially a kid name called fevercrash lol

This post has been edited by vir___killer: Sep 16 2009, 02:33 AM

lol... i have no idea when i can done it like tat.. as i m still burning in with my latest mod with my little Juli@... so... stay tuned la.. i will keep my self update..

seriously i dun know how to do it my self like lampizator.. may b some 1 can guide or i take some time to consult some pro or my sifus...

it's not something easy to be fine-tuned to perfection sound.. haha. takes long long time man..

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Added on September 18, 2009, 11:13 pmLatest news of burning in my Juli@ after 50HOURS...
sounds like.... hmmm RM10k transport la..
don know how to mention it..

Soundstage.. warm, detail.. dynamic.. accurate.. nevertheless REAL sound..

bear in mind to DIGITAL CATEGORY OF AUDIOPHILES....
JITTER IS ANALOGue that has a straight relation to power.... Power source is the core of sound quality regardless of how high end chips or component....

look at my mods of JULI@, A REAL HIGH END oscilliator CLOCK has not installed ... wat if it has installed? lol..
sorry to your all.. i have no camera yet.. cant show u my trafo and power filter stage... previous picture was taken by my friend.. hehe
i expect the real sound of my MOD .... after 100hours.. with Sanyo.. OS-CONs...



will keep ur all update...

This post has been edited by vir___killer: Sep 18 2009, 11:20 PM

latest mod with power amps

Obbligato Copper caps 0.1uf
1 for AC bypass cap
4 for DC rail bypass cap

Black Gate N 50v / 4.7uf
2 for input signal coupling

100hours later it sounds warm, transparent, open sound.. nice bass oso..

i have just posted my external power supply of my sound card too!

This post has been edited by vir___killer: Oct 5 2009, 01:45 AM


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