Chicago Polkfest???

halo

Joey_V wrote:

Either way, I'm still bringing my FLACs. You can probably hear better than me, that's fine. But this is for real and I dont understand why people have this bias against FLAC.

To dismiss it entirely is something I dont personally understand.

Joey

See above post.

btw - I'm not dismissing anything. I've tried it and IMHO, compared to the original, it isn't as good.

Joey_V wrote:

FLAC is lossless and is a compression file of the original wav file, only to be uncompressed during playback. FLAC is basically a zip storage form of wav... but it is full wav. FLAC is essentially CD.

Hence, FLAC is better than Satellite since that is lossy, if I'm not mistaken.

Joey

Compressed only to be uncompressed to make it "essentially" CD quality. You just made my point for me - "essentially" is not "exactly" CD quality.

halo

HTrookie wrote:

There is no way I'm taking the AL-III's on that road trip....sorry, but those ribbons are too damn delicate and I don't want to get there and start hearing scratching and buzzing....

Sucks on the the ribbons but I completely understand. It is your gear after all

HTrookie wrote:

I will take the BADA player, and I would also take the 3.1TL's if there is interest.

Yes on both please. We need SDA's and I'm very interested in the BADA CDP.

Polk65

I'm not going to eat it or even peel it, I want to feel it. Satellite audio leaves much to the imagination. If there's a better option than ipee or ipod, bring it on.

heiney9

Victor, from my own pov, FLAC as a medium is exactly the same as a conventional wave. But precautions need to be taken when extracting the wav from the cd, that’s strike #1. Also using a laptop, or home computer as the vehicle is strike #2. and finally running it thru some kind of external server is strike #3.

FLAC all by itself is exactly the same info as on a conventional cd, but as outlined above are where the compromises come into effect.

I completely echo your disdain for FLAC, but it has everything to do with how the end signal is delivered and nothing to do with the FLAC encoding at all.

Fundamentally FLAC is completely lossless and it’s a great way to archive because each file is about 25-30% smaller, but the extraction and delivery methods are the usual suspects.

halo

nevermind.

Joey_V

heiney9 wrote:

Victor, from my own pov, FLAC as a medium is exactly the same as a conventional wave. But precautions need to be taken when extracting the wav from the cd, that’s strike #1. Also using a laptop, or home computer as the vehicle is strike #2. and finally running it thru some kind of external server is strike #3.

FLAC all by itself is exactly the same info as on a conventional cd, but as outlined above are where the compromises come into effect.

I completely echo your disdain for FLAC, but it has everything to do with how the end signal is delivered and nothing to do with the FLAC encoding at all.

Fundamentally FLAC is completely lossless and it’s a great way to archive because each file is about 25-30% smaller, but the extraction and delivery methods are the usual suspects.

Is it FLAC that you're concerned about or the medium through which it is sent? I dont understand where all this FLAC disdain comes from, I dont understand why some of you think that going FLAC is worse than covering your ears with mud (so to speak) that you wont even listen to it at the gathering? That's awfully arrogant.... sort of like saying that your ears are too good for FLAC or the minutia of difference the encoding/decoding makes. Last time I checked, no one here, including me, have what it takes to claim "golden ear" status. No one here has a room like Mike Lavignes. No one here has $40,000 speakers with $40,000 interconnects and listens through a Rockport TT with Dartzeels or Tenor amps at the helm. Regardless of amount spent, no one here, I believe, has the right to say, "I wont listen to FLAC at the gathering."

That's so BS.

Last time I checked, this was a group of people meeting for the love of music... remember the mantra "It's all about the music?"

Yet some have prerequisites of what that consists of.

To tell you the truth, the only time I hear a difference in FLAC is through which source it is played. When I play a CD through the Ayre CDP, it sounds different, but that is definitely attributable to the $6,000 component moreso than the CD itself. With the Transporter there, I dont understand where all this disdain comes from when the Transporter is as good as a DAC can be with regulated linear power supplies and the works.

Audio-elitists need to get down from their pedestals....

Joey

PS
Hey, if someone has an MP3 of a song that they really like but couldnt find on CD or lossless, I'd like to hear it. I have absolutely no problem listening to music in less than "perfect" quality.

PSS
I just want to bring my FLAC because there are songs here that I reference for my Summits and these are the songs that I'll use to demo them and work with them while positioning the Summits to make sure that things sound right. Geez guys... no need for audio snobbery. I expect this from people from AVS, not from here.

:mad:

Ricardo

Ok; let's stop arguing; everyone has a right to have preferences, and no equipment should be banned; if someone does not want to hear to a particular piece of gear, it's time for him/her go grab more beers for the rest of us

heiney9

Look I didn't jump in to act like a snob or "ban" things from the meet. And Joey_V you don't need real expensive equipment like you mentioned in your post to hear the differences. Me personally, I'll still listen and I'll still attend and we'll all have fun and I won't be critical. But stop trying to convince me the differences are minor and that you need golden ears and expensive equipment to hear a difference. MY only point was not to turn this into a "well we have FLAC's to listen to so why bother with cdp's and dac's and transports, etc. When you own a high quality DAC you'll find many of the differences talked about in this forum are much more apparent, whether it's cables, transports, spikes, media, etc. It doesn't take 40K worth of equipment to notice.

I guarantee when you finally get some cables and a true high end source Joey, you'll came back and realize what all the hubbub is about. I'll say it again as humbley as possible it's a damn shame to have the awesome gear you have and using the computer as a source and the cables you own. Upgrading the source and cbales will put you in a whole other notch performance wise.

And yes Victor, I agree with what you said before you edited it to read Never Mind d .

halo

HTrookie wrote:

Ok; let's stop arguing; everyone has a right to have preferences, and no equipment should be banned; if someone does not want to hear to a particular piece of gear, it's time for him/her go grab more beers for the rest of us

Fine by me. I said what I had to say.

Joey - can you please stop bringing up the Benjamins? If you want to live by the rule "It's all about the music" stop pointing out how much the gear cost and just listen to the music. IMO you are creating a playing field that is not level. No one is going to give another piece of gear consideration if it's meager price tag is below that of your lofty Summits, Plinius, and now your new preamp

- I see you went back and edited your posts to remove the price of your new pre.

halo

heiney9 wrote:

And yes Victor, I agree with what you said before you edited it to read Never Mind d .

Thanks. I edited it because I don't want to argue (with anyone) about it anymore.

This is going to be a friendly get together and we're all going to have a good time.

Joey_V

H9... I'm not trying to convice anyone of anything. If you can hear the difference fine, you have better ears than me when you have the original CD and a CD burned from FLAC to wav. End of story.

Victor... you brought up benjamins before I did on this thread. You had to make sure that Mike was completely correct in the minutias of his statement. Fine, whatever made you do that is ok with me, I just question your motive. Ever since you sent that pm to me about how it's all about my gear and with that "sarcastic face on it", something clicked in my head that suggest "something isnt right here". I mean, what is it that you're trying to prove by making sure everyone is politically correct in what they say? Are you trying to prove that your gear is better than mine and that one doesnt have to spend an absurd amount of money like I did? Fine... so what if your gear potentially is better than mine. Big deal. So you got your money's worth. That's fine, say it outright and dont beat around the bush. BUT, dont tell me that I brought up the benjamins first... because you did.

I dont like arguing. I just wanted to bring my system.. as a whole. But apparently, some here prefer to bash parts of my system before even hearing it. Excuse me if I dont have the best CDP or the best cables. I'm sorry that I cant upgrade everything at once.

And H9... you dont need to show me what true sources can do, I've heard it and I know what it can do. For me, the SB3 works perfectly fine at the moment. Is there better? No doubt.

I just dont like arguing and this Fest is getting off on the wrong foot.

Joey

Lowell_M

Ok....get your minds back on thinking about the fun part....gear.... H9, should I bring my Radio Shack Gold Series IC's? The group might like the special hum that they provide.

Joey_V

Halo wrote:

Are you going to bring the Onix mini's too? If not when are you bringing them over???

Dont think I can bring 2 extremely large speakers at once, Victor. The Minis will have to stay or the Summits do. It's one or the other.

Joey

MikeC78

Come on guys, can we all relax a little bit here?:)

This gathering isn't about who has the largest ****, it's about different gear and different tastes. Can we just have fun and enjoy ourselves?

Joey, you are more than welcome to bring over the FLAC. I personally want to hear it, and we can all make assumptions of it on Joey's gear when someone passes me a cold one!:D

BTW Joey... You are bringing the Summit's!! Please?

Joey_V

Hey Mike,

I just wanted to have fun... but I dont like it when people bring their audio snobbery to a Fest.

I'll bring my FLACs since the host says it's ok.

Joey

heiney9

Joey_V, I'm not trying to bash anything. For ME, logically I can't get my head around having incredible speakers, amp, and pre and then skimping on the source and the delivery (cables) of that source. To ME it's like buying a Ferrari and then putting Pep Boys tires on it. That's my only point, and the argument that you don't have the $$$ to upgrade those area's seems a bit weak (to ME) cause you keep buying more and more stuff . I don't want this turn into a bashing session. I am looking forward to meeting everyone and seeing what makes them tick about this hobby. In person I'm really not that judgemental, it just comes off that way in the words on the screen.

Aaron if you still have those bring 'em along

I'm done with this part of ChicagoFest.

Joey_V

heiney9 wrote:

Joey_V, I'm not trying to bash anything. For ME, logically I can't get my head around having incredible speakers, amp, and pre and then skimping on the source and the delivery (cables) of that source. To ME it's like buying a Ferrari and then putting Pep Boys tires on it. That's my only point, and the argument that you don't have the $$$ to upgrade those area's seems a bit weak (to ME) cause you keep buying more and more stuff . I don't want this turn into a bashing session. I am looking forward to meeting everyone and seeing what makes them tick about this hobby. In person I'm really not that judgemental, it just comes off that way in the words on the screen.

Aaron if you still have those bring 'em along

I'm done with this part of ChicagoFest.

H9, that's fine... I understand your point. No offense taken, seriously. Now I understand where you come from. 100% cool with that. For you, you'd probably take a different route, but this is my route. I am waiting for that perfect source to come by. Whether it be the Transporter or an Ayre CD5xe... we'll see where I go with my adventure in the years coming.

H9... glad to finally understand where you are coming from.

I apologize if I misunderstood you before.

Joey

heiney9

Joey_V wrote:

Dont think I can bring 2 extremely large speakers at once, Victor. The Minis will have to stay or the Summits do. It's one or the other.

Joey

For me the different speakers are the most important thing. So the more the merrier. It's a long ways off, but I was thinking that those who have too much gear to haul might get some help from others who are close enough to help transport. I may be able to pack another set of speaks if need be.

Perhaps when it gets closer you could drop a pair at your parent's place in Huntley and I could meet you there and transport them the rest of the way, etc, etc. A bit early to be discussing, but a viable option nonetheless.

Joey_V

heiney9 wrote:

For me the different speakers are the most important thing. So the more the merrier. It's a long ways off, but I was thinking that those who have too much gear to haul might get some help from others who are close enough to help transport. I may be able to pack another set of speaks if need be.

Perhaps when it gets closer you could drop a pair at your parent's place in Huntley and I could meet you there and transport them the rest of the way, etc, etc. A bit early to be discussing, but a viable option nonetheless.

What I could do is start moving the gear to Huntley... the Summits, Minis, and the rest of the gear. Then I could use some help going from Huntley to Mike's place.

The only problem is that you have to understand that the Minis are larger than their name implies. The Minis are 150lbs each and come in crates that are larger than the Summit boxes themselves. How and why? I do not know.

Joey

Lowell_M

:rolleyes: I just realized what I can bring for gear that would contribute to the enjoyment of the weekend since my system is rather plain........

:cool: One of my other hobbies is home brewing. I could bring a couple kegs (5 gal ea). What kind of beer do you all like? (No...I don't make a Budweiser clone)

heiney9

a_mattison wrote:

:rolleyes: I just realized what I can bring for gear that would contribute to the enjoyment of the weekend since my system is rather plain........

:cool: One of my other hobbies is home brewing. I could bring a couple kegs (5 gal ea). What kind of beer do you all like? (No...I don't make a Budweiser clone)

Nothing wrong with plain. Crate up the 555 and bring her with. It's bested many amps in the past and is a very enjoyable piece. Might just surprise many Adcom detractors.

MikeC78

Matti-

That's cool, I'd be more than happy to drink some home brew!! I'm more of a light beer drinker here, I'm trying to keep my girly figure.

Joey_V

A_Mattison,

Bring whatever you want to bring. I want to hear as many as possible. It's going to be a learning time for me....

And bring the home brew!

Joey

Lowell_M

heiney9 wrote:

Nothing wrong with plain. Crate up the 555 and bring her with. It's bested many amps in the past and is a very enjoyable piece. Might just surprise many Adcom detractors.

Will do! I still haven't gotten a chance to open her up much since it arrived Monday. Been too busy. What I have listened too sounds great though! Hey, when might I be able to get a copy of that demo CD you had at my house?

I'll bring the ADCOM.

Lowell_M

MikeC78 wrote:

Matti-

That's cool, I'd be more than happy to drink some home brew!! I'm more of a light beer drinker here, I'm trying to keep my girly figure.

Alright, I'll make a girly figure beer and some real beer of some variety.

MikeC78

Thank you!:D

amulford

You guys are sure gonna have alot of gear to listen to...Sounds like fun.

When are you going to find time to eat, drink, and be merry?

heiney9

Once the gig gets closer I'm sure we'll pare down the actual gear. Eat, drink, be merry and listen to gear. That's the order I plan to follow

ND13

Am I gonna have to wear my "FLAC" jacket when I come to the Chitown PFest??;)

SCompRacer

ND13 wrote:

Am I gonna have to wear my "FLAC" jacket when I come to the Chitown PFest??;)

Now that deserves a WAAAAAAAAAAA!:D