THE CD PLAYER PLUS - Ultra High Fidelity Magazine
THE CD PLAYER PLUS - Ultra High Fidelity Magazine
THE CD PLAYER PLUS - Ultra High Fidelity Magazine
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<strong>CD</strong> player. What is special about it is that<br />
the authoring is done with the more precise<br />
blue-violet laser employed for Blu-ray.<br />
Supposedly it allows more precise carving of<br />
the pits on the <strong>CD</strong> master. However it does<br />
nothing to make the mass production of the<br />
<strong>CD</strong> more precise, and that’s where the really<br />
bad stuff happens.<br />
In issue 82 and 84 you tested two<br />
devices to get sound out of a PC/Mac<br />
from the USB port. You said there were<br />
three ways to get sound out of a Mac. I<br />
think there is a fourth possibility you<br />
don’t know about.<br />
Each and every Mac model from<br />
the MacBook to the Mac Pro have one<br />
optical input and one optical output<br />
(the headphone and microphone jacks<br />
are hybrid analog/optical on all models<br />
but the Mac Pro). For three years now I<br />
have been using a Mac Mini as my main<br />
audio source. The music is stored on an<br />
external 1 TB USB hard drive and an<br />
optical fibre links the Mini headphone<br />
jack to a Benchmark D/A. I am enjoying<br />
that setup a lot, even more so recently<br />
thanks to you, now that you made me<br />
8 ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY <strong>Magazine</strong><br />
discover I can buy HD music online. I<br />
can now enjoy 24 bit/192 kHz music in<br />
my living room!<br />
Could you please test the optical out<br />
and compare it with the Thingee and<br />
Off-Ramp devices? I would be curious<br />
to know which produces better sound.<br />
Also I would recommend you test with<br />
the music coming from an external USB<br />
drive, since a lot of people will have that<br />
kind of set-up and it probably influences<br />
the musicality of the USB port.<br />
Philippe Grégoire<br />
MONTRÉAL, QC<br />
We do know about the optical output,<br />
which also exists on Apple’s Airport Express.<br />
We will be doing exactly the comparison you<br />
suggest in our next issue. Using an external<br />
USB hard disc for this purpose is problematic,<br />
because USB 2.0 circuits have limited<br />
current, and asking them to run both a hard<br />
disc and an audio interface will not give<br />
optimum results. Firewire is a better choice,<br />
if of course your computer comes with it.<br />
You have had the same experience<br />
I have had (with Wawanesa insurance).<br />
Years ago, when I was at university, my<br />
albums were in my parent’s basement, a<br />
flood occurred, vinyl floated all over the<br />
basement. No claim was paid out for any<br />
damages. My poor parents paid out of<br />
pocket.<br />
Several years later a similar incident:<br />
water came out from the toilet, came<br />
crashing down into the basement.<br />
Luckily I had moved my Linn Karrik/<br />
Numerik Linn LK1 and LK2 and LP12<br />
out a few days earlier. They never paid<br />
out fully. Glad you named them.<br />
Glad to have met you and Mr. Earp at<br />
the show sorry I took too much of your<br />
time. Cheers. I still love the magazine<br />
and still have the first issue.<br />
Nick Lakoumentas<br />
MONTRÉAL, QC<br />
To be fair, Nick, Wawanesa had always<br />
treated us well over a number of years.<br />
Most insurance policies, incidentally, now<br />
have a clause limiting liability for audio and<br />
video software: <strong>CD</strong>s, LPs, DVDs, because<br />
that’s what thieves prefer. Beyond $1000<br />
you’re on your own, on pretty much any<br />
policy.
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