Arx owners and digital sources

[Aus10]

I just want my A5s :(

It's funny as you all know that I am a audio noob. I was actually looking at Axiom awhile back. My main hobby is computers and in that world generally speaking the more you pay the better the item is. So I thought audio was like that. I quickly learned that wasn't true. I think I will be happy waiting for the A5s. They are at such a great price for the first group buy. I already own A1s and the A2. Since I am new to the audio world, I find myself closing my eyes and just focusing on the sound and just smiling at how great it sounds.

Being honest though sometimes I wonder if i push the A1s a little too hard.... Then I think of that excursion video lol

The Arx driver is fitted very securely in the enclosure, it took some muscle to get it go come out. But the Arx is really neat and clean.

I must agree with that. When I got my A2, I thought the tweeter had to be mounted differently at first. So I unscrewed the tweeter and I could not get it out. I had to take a driver out, then push very easy on the edges of the tweeter. Being careful not to touch anything I thought might be important. My only issue with the woofer was that there was 2 extra srews stuck on the magnet. I contacted Jon and he told me it must have been a mistake and told me to pitch them. Never have had a issue with it. Anyways everything is such a tight fit and very flush with the edges.

[gtpsuper24]

I find myself closing my eyes and just focusing on the sound and just smiling at how great it sounds.

If you ever get a chance try out some Hi Rez music, Fleetwood Mac DVD-A, AC DC Back In Black dual disc, Dire Straits DVD-A (although super expensive) The Police DTS CD.

Dire Straits 2.0 stereo PCM at 2.3Mps is just awesome. Sounds great through the A1s, I'm sure its 10times more impressive with those A5s.

[ryansboston]

I'll add to this list: Getz Gilberto SACD, Flaming Lips DVD-A, Pink Floyd Dark Side of the moon SACD, and Beatles Love DVD-A... some of my favorite all-time reference albums. I don't own some of the ones gtpsuper mentioned, I'll put them on my to-buy list!

I believe Collin (BufordTJustice) also had a few great suggestions, I'll need to look through the threads for them..

If you ever get a chance try out some Hi Rez music, Fleetwood Mac DVD-A, AC DC Back In Black dual disc, Dire Straits DVD-A (although super expensive) The Police DTS CD.

Dire Straits 2.0 stereo PCM at 2.3Mps is just awesome. Sounds great through the A1s, I'm sure its 10times more impressive with those A5s.

[BufordTJustice]

I'll add to this list: Getz Gilberto SACD, Flaming Lips DVD-A, Pink Floyd Dark Side of the moon SACD, and Beatles Love DVD-A... some of my favorite all-time reference albums. I don't own some of the ones gtpsuper mentioned, I'll put them on my to-buy list!

I believe Collin (BufordTJustice) also had a few great suggestions, I'll need to look through the threads for them..

I recently started using this site....it will suck your wallet DRY.

https://www.hdtracks.com/

They use top quality codecs and their rips are the cleanest I've ever heard. Ever. It's truly studio quality.

As for the DVD's I just put my hands on the Flaming Lips DVD-A, though I'm only currently set up for SPDI/F audio via coaxial so DTS core is all I can get to my receiver. I'm planning on upgrading my LG BD590 to the Panasonic DMP BDT500 w/ analog 7.1 pre-outs as soon as it comes out. Even with DTS core, the Flaming Lips disc is amazingly well recorded.

I also like the Across the Universe BD, among many other discs. You guys hit most of the really good ones. I can tell you that these ARX speakers really reveal tons of detail in the midrange and treble bands. Just finished watching the BD of Star Wars Episode III RoTS above reference (90dB the entire movie) with my wife....which was also her first time seeing this movie (believe it). She was just awestruck at how you could HEAR about what was going on. She and I both repeatedly thought we heard sound effects coming from other rooms, both behind us and behind the system (and from the front door *eek*). I am only running 3.1 right now with the A5 prototypes, an A2 center, and an eD A7s-450 sub w/ eQ.2. I am still continually shocked at the level of detail vice any harshness. My wife used to hate listening to movies loud, and I fully expected a headache from the experience (well worth it for a sci-fi geek like me). No discomfort for the entire 2+ hour runtime. Just amazing stuff. Nothing competes at anywhere near the price...and that goes for all the ARX models.

The A1b that Jon has coming is going to really shake things up in the marketplace. It's going to be slightly more efficient than the original A1, slightly bigger, and have deeper bass extension. I'm really excited to hear people's feedback once they come in.

-Collin

[Aus10]

If you ever get a chance try out some Hi Rez music, Fleetwood Mac DVD-A, AC DC Back In Black dual disc, Dire Straits DVD-A (although super expensive) The Police DTS CD.

Dire Straits 2.0 stereo PCM at 2.3Mps is just awesome. Sounds great through the A1s, I'm sure its 10times more impressive with those A5s.

I would love to try out some real Hi Rez music but my current setup... I prolly wouldn't notice a difference.... Going from a APC H15 to a cheapo $80 blu ray player (Lg something) out via HDMI to my 1121 using 16 gauge RCA wire connecting to the A1s using banana connectors....

Do you think it would be worth it?... lol I do love me some Pink Floyd and AC DC though...

[gtpsuper24]

I would love to try out some real Hi Rez music but my current setup... I prolly wouldn't notice a difference.... Going from a APC H15 to a cheapo $80 blu ray player (Lg something) out via HDMI to my 1121 using 16 gauge RCA wire connecting to the A1s using banana connectors....

Do you think it would be worth it?... lol I do love me some Pink Floyd and AC DC though...

Yes. Although to get the full hi rez from the dvd a portion of the disc you need a dvd audio/video player, most blu ray players are just dvd video players, which means they can access the dolby and dts portion of the disc but not the PCM hi rez. Most dts on the dvd audios are 1.5mps and dolby is 484 which is still a huge step up from normal cd or even the highest quality MP3s.

[Aus10]

Yes. Although to get the full hi rez from the dvd a portion of the disc you need a dvd audio/video player, most blu ray players are just dvd video players, which means they can access the dolby and dts portion of the disc but not the PCM hi rez. Most dts on the dvd audios are 1.5mps and dolby is 484 which is still a huge step up from normal cd or even the highest quality MP3s.

I plan to replace the cheapo player with a Ps3. Will that be better? I'm trying to learn more about the differences in quailty versus FLAC Files ec. Do you have a guide? Or possibly example it?

Thanks

[gtpsuper24]

I plan to replace the cheapo player with a Ps3. Will that be better? I'm trying to learn more about the differences in quailty versus FLAC Files ec. Do you have a guide? Or possibly example it?

Thanks

Theres not a difference really digital is digital. Only when you step upto a true universal player like Oppo Digital, Marantz or Denon will you notice a difference.

http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/logo/dvd-videoaudio A normal DVD player/Blu Ray player will have this same logo minus the audio part a universal player will have this logo with both audio/video.

PS3 does not play Flac files.

[ryansboston]

I plan to replace the cheapo player with a Ps3. Will that be better? I'm trying to learn more about the differences in quailty versus FLAC Files ec. Do you have a guide? Or possibly example it?

Thanks

Aus10- There is a really good thread at AVS on the PS3 you might want to read up on for it's capabilities: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=931796

One particular thing to note is that no current model of the PS3 supports SACD. However, early versions of the PS3 that were released from late 2006 through mid-2007 (i.e., prior to the first 40 GB Model) did support SACD.

[Aus10]

Would this be better for movies and music than a ps3?

http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-93/blu-ray-BDP-93-Images.aspx

I don't know what SCAD is....

I like the PS3 for the blu-ray and gaming. I have heard its a great blu ray player just not as hot on the audio portion. What do you guys recommended?

[gtpsuper24]

Oppo is probably hands down the best universal player out there. It can decode and play every disc out there. You can always pick up a used Oppo DVD player and use the PS3 for gaming and blurays.

SACD is another Hi Rez music format started by Sony. Uses 2.0 stereo or 5.1 surround. It was a music format war in the early 2000s just like HDDVD vs Blu Ray, DVD-A vs SACD. Go to Amazon and search for SACD and DVD A and see if theres even titles out that your even interested in, they really don't release any new SACDs or DVD A titles any more so whats out there is it.

[Aus10]

Oppo is probably hands down the best universal player out there. It can decode and play every disc out there. You can always pick up a used Oppo DVD player and use the PS3 for gaming and blurays.

SACD is another Hi Rez music format started by Sony. Uses 2.0 stereo or 5.1 surround. It was a music format war in the early 2000s just like HDDVD vs Blu Ray, DVD-A vs SACD. Go to Amazon and search for SACD and DVD A and see if theres even titles out that your even interested in, they really don't release any new SACDs or DVD A titles any more so whats out there is it.

I could just use the Oppo for Blu-ray and music. Use the PS3 for gaming. At that point your looking at a easy $800. I know you can find used but I am kinda weird about that. I really wanted to do my "theater" with new stuff. I have got used stuff for my pc before, I just find new too be better. You never really know what has happened to used stuff and sometimes the warrenty isn't valid anymore. At that point, would it be better to just build a HTPC that can preform gaming, play music and Blu-Rays? I could just use HDMI out of like some MSI560 or something. Get a blu-ray drive and do everything off that? I loose being able to game with friends but my good friends have their own PS3s and the 1121 has a front HDMI port so thats easy enough. That also lets me have FLAC files which I think (could be wrong) is the highest hz for audio? That would be easy for using REW to Eq the system too...

BTW thanks jon for creating this thread/section I was getting off topic in the other thread. I seem to do that a lot....

[Aus10]

I just read this

http://www.stereophile.com/features/308mp3cd/index.html

I never knew how bad the difference compared FLAC to MP3 was. Even the highest Mp3 is nothing compared to FLAC or AAC. I took the Tron soundtrack from FLAC to MP3 and thought that since I was running it at like 320kps, it would sound fairly close... Guess not... The comment that said "There seems little point in spending large sums of money on superbly specified audio equipment if you are going to play sonically compromised, lossy-compressed music on it" Really struck me. Why buy these Arx speakers with 2 Hsu subs and ec when im feeding it 128kp music?

Is there a website that you can download music that is in FLAC format sorta like Itunes only not MP3 at 128kbs? I saw that other one just didn't have the artist I wanted. Like Awolnation or hip hop rock ec?

[gtpsuper24]

https://www.hdtracks.com/

FLAC is a step up from AAC and WMA (unless its the lossless versions) Theres several versions of AAC and WMA. Even some dvd audio music at 448 Dolby sounds light years better than the best MP3 at 320mps IMO.

You can also buy normal red book cds and rip them to your pc as FLAC or AAC or WMA. My car cd player can play WMA or AAC files so I ripped tracks from my normal cds and coverted them to WMA 128kp and put it on a usb stick and play it in my car.

Me and a friend did a test to see what sounds better and WMA or AAC at 128kp sounds alittle better than MP3 at 320kps. Its not the actual bit rate so as how its compressed. MP3 destroys the sound quality more so than WMA or AAC. FLAC is a form of compression but it doesn't do anything to the original source.

You notice right away that drum kicks have more force and sound tighter. The strings like guitar have more seperation and have more snap to the string plukes.

Also the PS3 does NOT play DTS cd's for some reason, it plays dvd audio just fine but no DTS cd's. Some of the older PS3s did play SACDs but Sony stopped that.

[Aus10]

https://www.hdtracks.com/

FLAC is a step up from AAC and WMA (unless its the lossless versions) Theres several versions of AAC and WMA. Even some dvd audio music at 448 Dolby sounds light years better than the best MP3 at 320mps IMO.

You can also buy normal red book cds and rip them to your pc as FLAC or AAC or WMA. My car cd player can play WMA or AAC files so I ripped tracks from my normal cds and coverted them to WMA 128kp and put it on a usb stick and play it in my car.

Me and a friend did a test to see what sounds better and WMA or AAC at 128kp sounds alittle better than MP3 at 320kps. Its not the actual bit rate so as how its compressed. MP3 destroys the sound quality more so than WMA or AAC. FLAC is a form of compression but it doesn't do anything to the original source.

You notice right away that drum kicks have more force and sound tighter. The strings like guitar have more seperation and have more snap to the string plukes.

Also the PS3 does NOT play DTS cd's for some reason, it plays dvd audio just fine but no DTS cd's. Some of the older PS3s did play SACDs but Sony stopped that.

I have looked around that hdtracks.com. I didn't find anything that I really liked on it.

So MP3 is the worst way to compress music? Almost all of my 800 songs in my library are MP3. Is there a way that I can turn them back into FLAC? My friend said that he makes his own and takes MP3s into FLAC formats.

Which format do you all prefer? FLAC or AAC or WMA? Seems like FLAC is the best compression type.

I spoke with some other people and they said that I wouldn't notice a difference between my MP3s and FLAC because only people that have 20K plus in audio can really tell a difference. I thought the statement was incorrect but they know more about audio than I do. One friend has some Klipsh 62s and the other has Paradigm studio 100s as his mains. The paradigm owner said that unless he is really focusing on the sound thats the only way he can tell a difference. So I am just curious if it would even be worth it to try to move everything to FLAC or atleast the songs that I absolutly love. I played the Violin for three years in middle school. So being able to hear the plucks and the bow dig into the strings would be amazing. I would love to here "Requim for a dream" in a FLAC format.

I have been looking at getting a plasma and most people I talked to said that gaming on them can be a issue and that I shouldn't. I have heard both things. Plus I think I am going to skip on the PS3 and just get a Oppo-93 unit. It seems like it can handle more and do more music formats.

I have been considering ordering some Pink Floyd disk from Amazon. I just don't think it would be worth it since my player sucks...