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"Man, things are never as they seem"
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Michael Lavorgna • May 11, 2012 • 13 comments
I had a fairly lengthy and pleasant exchange (30 some emails back 'n forth) with reader Tom D. that began with Tom asking how he could get iTunes-based music to play through his recently purchased Marantz AV7005 AV Preamp/Processor. But that was only the beginning. While we came to a workable solution for Tom's specific situation (which I believe is rather unique so not worth getting into the details here), I found his comments in one of our most recent emails well worth sharing:
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Are User Manuals Passé?
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Michael Lavorgna • May 07, 2012 • 28 comments
I ask because of a number of recent incidences where I relied on a User Manual only to find it out of date. Most recently in an ongoing email exchange with reader Tom D. who has some questions about the best way to get what he wants from his Marantz AV7005 Preamplifier/Processor. And one of the things he wants is iTunes to control his music library. A seemingly simple request.
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Apple Whimpers Out (again)
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Michael Lavorgna • Mar 17, 2012 • 1 comments
Reader Chris P. sent me an email worth sharing:
I've been scouring the web to see if anyone is reporting new audio features on the latest apple tv. Apple is very light on their audio spec page and I've been secretly hoping Apple would quietly enable higher res streaming to the updated device (to go with the higher res video).

Guessing this wouldn't be a public announcement until Apple itself offered higher res music via iTunes. Probably just wishful thinking but would appreciate any news or thoughts if there are in fact any new features or benefits.

Thanks!

Following on the heels of rumors suggesting that Apple may offer 24/96 streaming from iCloud or downloads from iTunes or perhaps endow the latest version of Apple TV with the same higher resolution-ness, Apple's recent events and new product releases have come and gone not with a bang but a whimper.
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Ask AudioStream & An Apology
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Michael Lavorgna • Jan 02, 2012 • 0 comments
Preamble
In the film The Days of Wine And Roses, Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick are a couple (and a couple of alcoholics but that's another story) who live in a roach-infested apartment. At some point Joe Clay (Jack Lemmon) is fed up so he sprays the roaches in his apartment and his neighbors are not happy. They explain that all he's done is move the roaches from his apartment to theirs and there's an unwritten apartment-dweller's law that you should just leave roaches alone, "You get them all stirred up, and what's the good? You made a mess. You've gotta think about other people, you know." And finally, "You've undermined the whole base of metabolism of the building."

I received this email from "Joe":

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Ask AudioStream: Down Sample Dilema
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Michael Lavorgna • Oct 26, 2011 • 3 comments
Hello Michael,

I'm very enthusiastic to see a site dedicated to computer audio. One thing would help immensely is to see an article clearly explaining what happens when file bit rate doesn't match either USB or Dac bitrate.

Take a file at 24/192hz, via USB 1.0 into a 96hz Dac? What happens? When are files upsampled? When are files downsampled? What is the file bitrate? What is the USB bitrate? What is the coming Dac bitrate? And what is the Dac output bitrate?

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Ask AudioStream: Will an external DAC help?
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Michael Lavorgna • Oct 11, 2011 • 1 comments
Hello Ask Audiostream,

I am presently using a Logitech Duet and accompany reciever to get my music to my Stereo System that is a room away from the computer. It seems to work realy good, but I have some questions about the operation of this hardware and software. Does the computer use the sound card to process the bit stream? Would a external DAC help and how wuold I hook into the Logitech system.

Thank you.

John

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Ask AudioStream: USB or S/PDIF?
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Michael Lavorgna • Oct 07, 2011 • 11 comments
I recently bought a Wyred 4 Sound DAC1. I also have a Musical Fidelity V-Link.

Would you expect better performance with 16/44.1 files using the USB input or the coaxial RCA S/PDIF input (through the V-Link) on the DAC1?

Also, what are the relative merits of the coaxial RCA vs. TosLink S/PDIF inputs, assuming grounding is not a problem with RCA?

Thanks,
Steve

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