"but since I'm a member of the society to preserve useless knowlegde..." ANother member found!

Wat een heerlijke beschouwingen over audiofiele aangelegenheden... Dank je wel Hans!!

goede video's voor gestresste managers, verplicht een uur luisteren en kijken naar Hans, lekker relaxed hans top.

Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge and infos.

18 years ago I owned a soundblaster extigy usb with toslink / fiber optic, and it was far superb in comparison to a pci card or onboard audio

"In the old computer days, say a week ago.." hehe..

A big bravo from Morocco! Simple and clear. Keep going!!

Great video Hans, very informative!!

As always ..great info

Ahh some great info here. Many thanks!

I have a lot of troubles with USB powered sound cards having a very distorted audio on various laptops. Asus xonar u3 / dragonfly by audio quest , this sound cards tested on /acer aspire E1-532G, Acer Aspire 5733Z , lenovo B570e ,asus x551MA behaved very strange , mostly they had a very distorted sound unpleasant to listen but some times the sound just gets a lot better /cleaner instantly under some circumstances /after a long usage of the sound card ,some times after waking up the laptop from sleep with the sound card being plugged . Intel processor is the USB host controller for all of this laptops ... Could this be cheap design /noisy USB ports, and that the laptops are not supplying a sufficiently clean DC voltage via its USB ports?

Very nicely explained, thank you !

Thanks a lot for your informative videos!

Hans--excellent video... you've got me yearning for A+. One big question though... can I drag and drop entire playlists from iTunes into A+ and have them retain their order. The order is extremely important to me as I am a jazz fan who lists by session date rather than album. If I can do this, will I need to play A+ with iTunes open, and will this affect sound quality? Thank you.

Hans, I wanted to tell you something that happened to me at an audio meeting some years ago. We were having a heated debate about whether there was a difference in sound between an original store bought CD and a copy of that CD. The next meeting we had a computer set up to burn a copy of a recording that we were all familiar with and on axis it sounded identical however off axis there was a difference in the treble. We repeated the experiment a few times with the same results. Would you have any idea what might have caused this. Thank you for all your helpful videos.

How important is a soundcard in a computer for sound reproduction? Can you let us know how it effects the music going into the DAC and also what soundcard do you recommend?

Hello. What would be interesting are some tips bout the configration of a pc for optimum DAC output, say like settings in BIOS, ASIO driver, recommended Music player etc.

I guess I choose right, got a Mac mini, connected to my tv using HDMI, audio comes out spdif to my spdif switcher into my IGA and I can't imagine it sounding better but I'm sure can, I'm happy though

Thank you.

This is an excellent video. Thank you for a well spent 10 minutes in my day!

Hans, I am desperately trying to find what is the jitter measurement on the optical out of a late 2012 Mac Mini. I even wrote to Apple and posted on different audiophile forums. Any chance you can measure it or point me in the right direction? Thanks!

Hello Hans, I have a question about the combi of roon, microrendu and chordette 2cute. I would like to use roon in a config with a nas 2x2tb (mirrored) with audiofiles, a microrendu or macmini and the dac chord 2cute. Speakers active dynaudio or kef ls50(W than without the chord). When I use the microrendu, how and where the roon core and datafiles are installed? What is the best config in above case? Best regards, Mart

Is there degradation or loss of quality if we use mac mini playing music from a NAS drive (Apple Time Capsule)?

Great video.

Your videos are awesome, keep up good work Sir.

im trying to get better sound from a laptop, its run into an onkyo reveiver and 2 vintage speakers. i notice a big difference in sound quality compared to a little nettop i used to run. its almost like the sound card cant send out as much. almost like its missing frequencies or cant do many at once. is there something i can do to fix that? lets say i play a youtube video, same link, same stereo and wiring, it sounds completley different between the 2 computers

I currently run a mac mini with and outboard battery, do you think I should try a high quality LPS instead?

could you please give me your opinion on what may be better to store my music and have a dedicated music server: a mac mini or a lap top with an external hard drive, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much

Hi i like your videos. Now there is dacs with galvanic isolation, so i will be ok with any pc right? I am asking because de mac mini has an outdated processor used from 2012 and now 2017 i can get a better pc windows based, connected with the hugo tt with galvanic isolation

Ok my question is about the last part of your video. If I’m using Tidal or Qobuz through my streamer , to get the highest quality sound , is using the computer / sending the music from my computer via jriver , audirvana or roon software to my streamer the way to go ? Does it matter whether the software is installed in a laptop or mac mini in that case? Whether you are using bluesound node2i or dcs is this the method to get the highest quality sound when streaming? Or are there other ways? I’m only asking in regards to streaming. I feel totally lost in all these technicalities...

Hi Hans, very informative! I have a Mac Mini with my music ripped to external hard drive and stream tidal. Id like to reduce sonic noise as much as possible. Id like to use my IPad to run my music which i do currently via JRiver but am unable to use the Ipad to run Tidal. Will Roon allow me to do this? Im planning on purchasing the original Brooklyn to match to this system. Upgrading my cables too. Can I also insulate sonic problems from my Mini and DAC with external power supplies? Thanks for your time. New Patrean member here.

I am currently exploring the possibility of using a HTPC running Lunix (Ubuntu) as an alternative to a music transport. Do you think Linux is good enough to output hi-fi quality audio? I find that switching sample rates on Linux is not as easy as on Windows or Mac OSX. Are there any good tips on Linux as an audiophile transport or player for an audiophile quality DAC or hi-fi system? There are not many resources on this subject. Thanks.

Hans, It's not very clear to me the following question, even after reading you ebook: to achieve the best budget highest analog-like quality audio should I have: 1) a server connected to a network audio adapter (microrendu, sms-200, etc) connected to DAC, (2) a audiophile computer (nimitra, sms1000, etc) connected directly to DAC or (3) a high-quality media player transport connected to DAC (aurender, chord codeX, meridian, etc)?

What about toslink cable connection between pc and amplifier? I have an older amplifier that has toslink digital input but no hdmi. What would be the best digital interface ?

Hi Hans, I listen to a lot of DSD files that my MacBook Air first has to convert to DoP (my DAC only accepts that format). I recently bought a media player (an Android 4K media player with USB audio and DoP) that does the same trick: basically I can use the media player as a transport and don't need the MacBook Air at all. So my question is: is all DoP conversion alike? Or could there be differences in sound quality? My rationale is that the DSD64 or DSD128 is relatively prone to error (it works or it doesn't work) so any changes would immediately be detectable. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!

Hans seems to mentioned that Qobus/Tidal are already streaming MQA. Not yet I think . I wish. Do you know when Hans?

geweldig en leerzaam. Love your channel.... you earned a sub.

Goedemorgen Hans, I have a little dilemma, My hifi is a Hegel h360 I like use Tidal and also I want buy music. Right now I’m using play music through airplay. My question is, I like to buy the mac mini 2018 to connect direct to the h360, is a good choice of you think there is a better product and situation, by the way I like your book very much. Regards, Michele

Using Gold or Silver glitted HighEnd USB cable helps for better PC-fi Audio?

How about audiophile ubuntu? it claims to be bit perfect audio. I have a nice system and a Arcam IR DAC using the digital coaxial out of my pc to the coaxial input of the Arcam it sounds better than using the USB. So should i be using a Mac?

Greetings Hans, my operating system is OSX and I am streaming music from my computer to the micromega WM-10. I am not having a big digital collection (about 200GB) and they are all ripped CDs using itunes in separate hard disk. In chapter 5 of your book you are mentioning that you have not tried storing the collection in a SSD because of the size of your collection therefore you can not comment if it proves sound quality. Do you have any updates about this? Since my collection is rather small would you suggest using SSD for storing music? 250GB of SSD is not that expensive at all...

Hi Hans, thanks for your very informative knowledge. I recently got roon and have a lumin D2 network streamer. Can you recommend some good audiophile computer as a roon core device that would improve the sound over using my Mac computer. Something with a ripper would be good but not essential. I don’t have a huge budget but between €500-1000 would be great. Really appreciate it. Has to be compatible with iPhone/iPad. Many thanks !

Use EAC in secure mode for ripping and utilize AccurateRip. Simply selecting a lossless format on a ripping program is NOT enough to ensure bit perfect copies

If you have a mother board with a optical output can I use that to connect to dac amp

I have an old Macbook Pro 2009 lying around. If I disconnect the internal plug to the monitor from the motherboard, theoretically, would it make the Macbook Pro as good as the Mac Mini? Thanks!

Question: Sir, Hi, I just bought a Blue Sound Node (The latest one). The very reputable seller, Crutchfield advised using iPhone to play the music. Do I need a computer?

Good video

Like your videos. I really want to hear more of your opinion regarding today's computer for audiophile, especially internal dac. Do PC's internal sound cards, like those high-end models from Creative Labs or Asus, are all considered not an ideal way to have excellent audio? They have many features on them that they boasted to able to produce high fidelity audio. Features like high-precision clock, high snr, clean power supply, hyper-grounding, emi-shielding, bla-bla. TIA.

I do not consider myself a hardcore audiophile but I do like having high quality audio when listening to music. I enjoy my music very well by plugging my Grado headphones to my Macbook. However, I might consider getting that AudioQuest Dragonfly as my DAC / AMP. I do not know what to expect with that setup because Grados are low-impedance headphones.

Did I mishear or did you say in one of your videos that audirvana was planning its own hardware?

Wonder if a 80 plus gold power supply would be better than my 80 plus bronze. Probably not as much of a difference as just getting a power conditioner? I built my PC (pre built systems are a rip off) and use a USB dac with an ifi ground isolator.

Dear Hans, thank you for this interesting explanations. Would be interesting to know your opinion regarding Intel NUC computers for home HiFi Audio. Is it suitable to stream audio via USB and as an alternative option via HDMI. Here is the link to inter NUC portfolio www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/nuc/products-overview.html. this NUC computer also has USB3 interface and because it better shielded than usb2, would be better to use it with external DAC like IFI (which is also has USB3 connection)

Which format is better to download mqa file ? Wav 32 bit 96000 or flac 24bit 96000?

I follow you regularly and appreciate your material. I'm curious to see if i'm missing something on my computer. I am connected from my PC to a Marantz 5009 receiver with an external Emotiva Amp and a Bowers and Wilkins 805 Diamond setup. I also have a set of HD 800 Headphones hooked up to a Schiit Audio Gungnir DAC and Asgard 2 Amp for the headphones. While I can tell a difference between the speakers vs the headphones I cant for the life of me tell a difference between better quality audio files. I purchased from HDtracks Norah Jones Come Away With Me and Miles Davis album at 192 - 24 and would play the Spotify version against the high res track through Foobar. I have also taken the NPR audio blind test along with the Tidal blind test and am unable to tell a difference between any of them. I am wondering if i'm missing something from my computer because everything I am doing is through my PC. I am going through my PC audio out HDMI on my video card to my Marantz and out from my motherboard via Toslink into the Schiit Audio Gungnir. I do have the output in Windows 10 to reflect the top studio quality of 192 - 24. I have watched your video on the differences between 192 and 44.1 but am having trouble telling the difference between Spotify (high quality - Premium) and the 192 files. I feel like I have a great ear (which is why I thought it necessary to purchase higher end equipment) and want to be capable of hearing the difference between an MP3 and a 192 file. Something that is easy for me to tell is a well recorded song vs a poorly recorded song. I'm trying to figure out if there is something else on my PC whether it be a setting or a piece of hardware that is getting in the way of me noticing the difference between the two. Thanks Hans

Hans ,I Love that Line...

What is your thought on the Brennen music player?

Hello Hans I bought your ebook File Based Audio and eventhough I found it very informative, I haven't found an answer to two questions I have. I have a very revealing system and I listen to all my music streaming with Tidal app going to my R2R DAC with a nice USB cable. My Notebook has an Intel i5 processor, 4 Gb of RAM and Windows 10. I find the sound of my system very good, but always as an non-resting audiophile I keep on looking for improving the sound bit a bit. My two questions are: 1. Related to your book. Considering that I want to keep on streaming music because I love the almost endless universe of songs offered at a glance, I would like to have an appropriate PC for the task. Which one or wich components inside and OS would you recomend as minimum? 2. Not related to your book. Last night (late) I was listening to music at low levels (my family was sleeping) and I was amazed on the sound of my system. It was better than normal and I knew it happened due to a cleaner power line at those hours. It made me think about buying a AC power supply or a filter to accomplish that sound during day time. There are A LOT of options out there and I don't have the knowledge, nor the endless money or the time to buy blindly. Could you recomend me a good price-quality ratio solution for that? I live in Argentina, we have 220V and 50 Hz current supply. Thank you. Regards

I think you should have talked a bit more about options for sound cards / DACs - since although newer motherboards have higher quality audio output (PCs are catching up with MACs finally) but if you care about music you really want a decent soundcard for playback. Preferably something with optical / TOSLINK or similar digital output interconnect. You obviously need a DAC/amp that can take this though, or some kind of adapter/converter. For analog PC output, you pretty much always need a basic line level transformer isolator to get rid of the CPU buzzes and hums (the noise you can hear moving your mouse or CPU etc) - although it will always be there a little at high gain levels. I hear that using an 'Audioquest Jitterbug' plugged into a USB port will help audio output potentially (I am not sure if this will help with analog? I'd hope it would). But you want to at least use USB, ethernet, optical toslink, firewire, thunderbolt or whatever digital/data connection you can, rather than an analog audio output, since almost no computers are well designed for this purpose. Another last option if you must use analog output - if say an ART DTI doesn't cut it as an isolator, try a proper line level DI with a ground lift to see if the issue is grounding (you can go crazy on power regulators/conditioners etc also to try to help with this).

Why not use a motherboard that has a dac-up usb port for clean power/amp/dac?

Hans - I have your book, and listen for all I'm worth to your videos, but have complete novice questions. Please tell me if what I'm trying to achieve is even possible, and which category (audiophile computer?) I'm in. I'm on a trial with Tidal. They only allow download to mobile devices, but I want to use my MacBook Pro. Can a playlist from Tidal stream successfully in HQ, or does the file need to be stored on my device? I purchased a nuForce DAC-3. Hooked it up. Played a tune from iTunes expecting the DAC to divert the signal to itself, but it didn't. Still hearing the sound from the Macbook. Where in your book or on your channel can I learn about a system such as I'm devising, or am I doing something that just is ill fated?

Hans - Im trying to find the best solution for me. I have 3000-4000 personal CDs. I would like to rip them as FLAC and put them on external HDDs and then be able to stream them over my home network either on my laptops or cell phones. I dont want to dedicate an always on PC for this audio only project (dont need movies/video capabilities). Need to decide if the Raspberry Pi and those type of mini PCs would be best or something else? I have Amazon Prime and many of the CDs I bought didnt have AutoRip capabilities so I cant play them thru Alexa. I have a annual Plex Pass account currently. I have a Western Digitial MyCloud EX2 Ultra NAS (2 bay) which currently only has 2 TB drives in it but I plan to put my FLAC hi res rip music files on a different Western Digitial external 5 TB HDD .. Any ideas or thoughts are appreciated. Going to watch your RIPPING video now.. Love your channel. Thanks for all you do.

I really don't get the problem with PC, if you just use optical cable as an output into a DAC with its own power supply? Don't you skip all of those problems and you actually on the cheap side?

You forgot to add the link to the TOP RIGHT corner, @ 3.55

Can you achive a good sound quality by using external dac that is connected to stationary pc via usb cable?

Solution : ditch CD/network player, use Toslink with good quality DAC. This way any computer is audiophile grade for dirt cheap. You did not talk about the underlying sound layer at the system level that gets replaced with bit perfect playback.

Re-upload?

And why should a rebuild desktop, not using the onboard usb or audio with descent cables and offcourse not a cheap psu have. So not using a desktop, neither mac or win 7 or above and watercooled to keep the computer easily within the 30 degrees range, with studio soundcards or the less scoring usb soundcard, since they miss power( the cheap onboard ones or pci-x Without 12v connection)? The annoying thing which hifi peoples have is, they want only here the source: so interconnects should be neutral, but no, cable x sounds warmer etc., that interlink shouldn't do a thing if it's a right one,??agree??. I have a perfect soundcard with phono input, and doesn't add a thing, bjt hifi lovers talk nonsense in my opinion, since their main purpose to use overexpensive interlinks and nonsense like powersupplies etc. is to bring with the use of bulbamps, which s/n are very low, is the warm natural sound they give.Give me the system and i'll record your phono amp output stage super lineair andbelieve me.... nice for studio use, but you don't want that sound. Nobody ones real digital sound ,it's what it really is, and if i plackback over my hybrid mackie mixer it allready sounds way wARmer, since it's components add a nice smooth glow . That whole hifi stuff is based on contradictions, but an interlink should act like a copperwire on a pcb and you may be also a nice engineer, but you talk in your own commercial way.....sad