Playground for practical listening exercises

[Tony Tune-age]

You're not supposed to be watching the videos, just listening while reading the FB t's 'n c's... :)

Good point...

[Spannko]

You're not supposed to be watching the videos, just listening while reading the FB t's 'n c's... :)

Good point...

Lol :-) And there will be a test on the t&c’s tomorrow :-)

[ThomasOK]

Is it just me? I'm feeling a bit sea-sick after watching those videos, this up and down all the time ;-)
Anyway, on my iMac I actually preferred the 223, it caught my attention, whereas 125 just drifted along.

Maybe it would have been more fitting if "The Moldau" by Bedrich Smetana had been the music used. If you go about 1:15 in it always reminds me of big sailing ships crashing through the waves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOxIbhqZsKc

As to these clips, I find them relatively close but find I like 125 a bit better than 223. I do think 223 jumps out at you a bit more but 125 seems to me to be the better guitarist, more fluid and more assured and better real dynamics. Did not read T&Cs while listening but did switch over to some emails a couple of times and still enjoyed 125 more. :-)

[Spannko]

I see the electrical project is still very much underway :)

Yes, I’m still messing about! When I’ve found something which works, I’ll post some more recordings.

[Spannko]

Is it just me? I'm feeling a bit sea-sick after watching those videos, this up and down all the time ;-)
Anyway, on my iMac I actually preferred the 223, it caught my attention, whereas 125 just drifted along.

Ha ha, that’s me breathing! I’ll have to get an iPad holder.

[Spannko]

For the masochists amongst you, here’s a trio of 53.125 Vs 63.223 recordings.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tvqztrtp3zrct ... t.mov?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hrgr1w1o24m1q ... t.mov?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hnwqzgqmk8lxx ... h.mov?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/327b6dgcihu27 ... h.mov?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kdvi2w85he67a ... e.mov?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/b52n44rw1l1dj ... e.mov?dl=0

[Charlie1]

Still prefer 125, although close on the first track cos 223 seemed more upbeat.

I'm liking the sound of your system, particularly on the jj cale track with 125. Timing between bass and piano seemed out of sync on 223.

[tokenbrit]

Bach clips - no contest: 53 sounds like an accomplished performance; 63 sounds like someone practising but not understanding the music or not caring about the piece .. just rushing through it to be done with practice - quite awful in comparison, imo.

It's disappointing that Linn appear to prioritise features over musicality and don't seem to recognise any degradation. I have to believe that the musical mess is unintentional, but can't believe that they can't hear it... then they still put it out there as an official release. Wonder how many users have their DS konfig'd to download the latest version as it's released without realising the (potential) musical consequence. Latest certainly isn't greatest in this case, not to my ears anyway.

[beck]

........ stop listening to the “sounds” and allows us to respond to the music naturally.......

This cannot be said often enough.

I agree with the noble gents above. I would use 53.125.

[donuk]

Sorry if it has been discussed already in this long thread but in my view the advent of Katalyst has changed the performance of Linn Streamers beyond recognition. Not so much an upgrade, but more like buying a machine from a totally different stable.

And of course there are only two or three firmwares to choose from. I am happy enough with the latest one, but I am still basking in the joys of the upgrade.

I like the previous comments about reading something while listening. The improvements brought about by Kat are difficult to describe (certainly using conventional hifi magazine talk).

I first noticed how good the Kat was when I was reading a book while listening to some quiet church organ music. I looked up from my book expecting to see an altar!

Donuk sunny downtown York

[beck]

Sorry if it has been discussed already in this long thread but in my view the advent of Katalyst has changed the performance of Linn Streamers beyond recognition. Not so much an upgrade, but more like buying a machine from a totally different stable.

Donuk sunny downtown York

That is great to hear Donuk. Good for people using Linn digital.

Enlighten us. Make some clips.

[matthias]

For the masochists amongst you, here’s a trio of 53.125 Vs 63.223 recordings.

Thanks,
is your DS a Katalyst device?

Matt

[Spannko]

I first noticed how good the Kat was when I was reading a book while listening to some quiet church organ music. I looked up from my book expecting to see an altar!

This has been my experience too, Don. When your mind is completely occupied with something and sub-consciously you realise something good’s happening, you know you have a good system!

[Spannko]

Thanks,
is your DS a Katalyst device?

Matt

My DS is pre Katalyst, but my Akudoriks have been upgraded to Katalyst.

[Spannko]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. But, you guys have given me a real dilemma!

Anthony suggested that I have a listen, and I agreed with him that 63.223 sounds very good. However, most of you feel that 53.125 is more musical!

Listening in the room, 63.223 sounds more energetic, which most of you have detected but feel that it’s a bit hurried compared to 53.125. Listening live, 63.223 makes 53.125 sound a bit slow and boring, but am I just being impressed by some aspect of the presentation? We know that these recordings can strip away the HiFi artefacts, leaving just the raw musicality, so I’m left a little bit unsure!

To be honest, I’m still not 100% happy with my setup (mainly electrical supply and NAS support), so I wonder if this is affecting the outcome? The electrical supply and NAS support are more important (and influential) than the firmwares, so I’ll repeat the comparison again when I’m happier with the setup.

In the meantime, I’ll stick with the more impressive 63.223, because I’m a bit shallow like that! Lol

[Charlie1]

Your system so best to use the one you enjoy most.

If you do opt for 223 then it would be prudent to go back to 125 in a couple of weeks and check if anything has been somewhat missing. If not, then happy days.

[beck]

To be honest none of them are perfect but what is?

Do as Charlie1 said. It is sound advise.

[Charlie1]

...none of them are perfect but what is?

You can get this silver colour disc, a bit smaller than a 7", and apparently ... [rolleyes]

[ThomasOK]

If you are shallow maybe you'll enjoy this song (note, however, that the title is "Shallow" not "Mellow" so it might not be your cup of tea):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_8UmXv5Xac

I've been listening to it a lot lately as they finally re-released the Deadwing album on vinyl a few months ago (they only pressed 300 copies on vinyl when it first came out and I wasn't going to pay over $400 for one of those).

[ThomasOK]

It's funny, when I listened to the six clips my first thought on the Partick Street clips was that it was good he got to do a lot of 663 practices before he got around to doing the actual 125 performance. On the Bach I can hear a bit more attack on the instrument on 663 but the flow and intonation are more musical to me on the 125. Finally on the J. J. Cale it was nice to hear that he didn't slur his words on 125 as he did on 663. So yeah, I have to agree with tokenbrit's comments on this. Definitely prefer the 125 renditions.

I also agree with donuk on the improvement on the Katalyst DAC technology. I have done a few comparisons and the improvements are the kinds that I find real musical upgrades make - more musical information coming through, better timing and easily more enjoyment but with a less "Hi-FI" and less fatiguing sound. Indeed the Katalyst DAC units have the most analog sound I have yet heard from digital streamers. A recent comparison showed an AKDS with Katalyst easily more musical than a Klimax DS/1.

[Sopper]

A recent comparison showed an AKDS with Katalyst easily more musical than a Klimax DS/1.

Seriously?

[ThomasOK]

I'm afraid so. Everybody here felt the same way and it wasn't particularly subtle.

[Sopper]

I'm afraid so. Everybody here felt the same way and it wasn't particularly subtle.

What would be the chart then, nowadays?
#1. KDS/3
#2. KDSM/2
#3. ?
#4. ?

[matthias]

What would be the chart then, nowadays?
#1. KDS/3
#2. KDSM/2
#3. ?
#4. ?

Is the KDS/3 superior to the KDSM/2 ?

Matt

[ThomasOK]

Generally it seems to be felt that the straight DS units are superior to the DSM units of the same range if you only need the streaming capability. Since my experience has been that units with a single function (preamp, power amp, tuner, CD player, streamer, etc. have been more musical than multi-purpose units I wouldn't be surprised for this to be the case with DSMs (although I have not done a direct KDS vs. KDSM comparison).

With that in mind I expect the list would go:
1) KDS/3
2) KDSM/2
3) ADS/3
4) ADSM/3