I have never posted in this forum before, and just signed up for an Audiogon account, but I guess it takes 8 hours for it to be verified, so I have forwarded this message to my father Mike.

Hi Sam,

I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to meet you when you were in Seattle last month.

You could likely play the hi res files that you heard at Puget Sounds Studios. The MSD-1 outputs digital in PCM at sampling rates up to 192kHz and at bit rates as high as 24 bits. I'm sure quite a bit of the music that you heard falls within that range. From what I have heard, Bruce does also have quite a bit of DSD recordings, which differ from the PCM format. There is freely downloadble software that can be easily installed on the MSD-1 which can convert the DSD into 192KHz 24 bit PCM which can then be output by the MSD-1.

The real question is what is the availability of the unencrypted DSD (dff format) files. I do not know if Bruce has plans to distribute DSD audio in this format.

DSD is of course the storage format used for SACDs. In general, SACDs can not be stored on a media server like a standard CD can be, due to inherent security features of the SACD format.

Feel free to email me at [email protected] if you have any more questions.

Steve Lavigne

mikelavigne January 08, 2010 05:19

Mike,

Your description of the Olympus sounds like my feeling of the Titan i / Schroder SQ combination. I want to try my Allaerts on it as it should sound amazing. But the setup took too much time and it too perfect and I don't want to mess with it. Ever since I sold my Colibri XGW & Phantom I w. original Raven I could not get my new Colibri to sound as good as the old. Exact same experience and I can't get the highs tamed at all. With the XGW I had beautiful tamed highs and glorious bass and detail. I just thought an XGP would be a bit better. But the Phantom II / XGP is not a happy match.

dgad January 08, 2010 02:39

Hi Mike,

I'm glad the sound is progressing in the direction you desire. The system was sounding oftly good when we visited, recently :-) Are you still going to work on the room acoustics?

I was thinking of attending THE SHOW, but have decided to relax at home. Good luck with your son Steve's hi rez music server business...would this be the sort of thing that would enable us to download hi rez files like we heard at Puget Sound Studios?

Sam

c1ferrari January 08, 2010 02:07

Idos, my gear (speakers, amp, preamp, speaker cables) has been essentially the same for almost 4 years....and was the same prior to the damage to my 'precious' Colibri. OTOH there has been enough evolution of set-up and tweaking that a case could be made for a different playing field at least to some degree.

you know how it is; sometimes we get 'grabbed' by something that seems revolutionary, but a few days later it seems merely good.....or hopefully a nice step forward.

this is NOT one of those times. since i've had the Technics and Garrard i've had a sense that there was aspects of bass impact, slam and energy that favored those tables over the Rockport. the Rockport still had more information (articulation and tonality) in the bass but not sheer propulsion of the other tables.

NOT NOW. the Rockport has 'balls' in the bass now that it never has had before.

as i think about this it makes sense. that silicone dampening fluid not only damped the resonance, it also slowed down the ability of the arm to move sideways un-impeded. the arm, now unleashed, can react much more freely.

14 years ago when this particular arm was designed by Andy, cartridges did more often need dampening, but maybe not anymore. i wonder if Fremer used much dampening fluid when he reviewed the Rockport in 2001? as i recall, Andy set it up himself then.

Fred; i've not yet tried the A90 on the Rockport. i would guess it would be heavenly. the problem is that the Olympos sounds so good i don't want to mess with it.

a friend visited me last night who just installed an A90 on his Forsell (linear tracking air bearing) replacing a Dynavector XV-1s (which i sold him a couple of years ago). he loved his XV-1s. but the A90 is much better to his ears. much more detailed and natural top to bottom. my friend feels that the lightness of the A90 really compliments a linear tracker since the lower weight lowers the mass and makes it easier for the arm to track.

the A90 does weigh less than my Olympos.

the Titan i is quite the good sounding cartridge. if the A90 sounds better that says alot. i am considering a Mono Titan i myself for the Technics or Garrard.

it won't surprise me if the A90 ends up as equal or even better than the Olympos. so far it has taken on all comers i have heard about.

it's just hard to imagine it getting better than what i'm now hearing.

mikelavigne January 07, 2010 15:08

Just curious whether you have tried the Ortofon MC90 on the Rockport w/o damping? While I have not owned an Olympos, I am very familiar with the Titan i in the Rockport with various levels of damping. I have recently purchased an Ortofon MC90 and find it to be a very nice improvement over the Titan i in the Rockport, particularly in the top end.

fcrowder January 06, 2010 21:35

Glad to hear you're taking a step back to verify you're "on the right path". A couple of thoughts if I may: The sound must satisfy you, not your friends! (easy trap to fall into, we all crave acceptance). When you were listening to the Colibri you loved were you using the same associated equipment?
Remember that your Hi-Fi system is made up of many smaller systems that all must work together (I used to refer to this as "complimentary nonlinearities" but with the high level of gear you are using some might take offense at the thought that there might be some form of distortion) tonearms,(cables) turntables and cartridges really should be "matched" to give top performance. The Rockport starts out with two of those matched by the designer. What are the designers thoughts on cartridges and cables?..........

idos January 06, 2010 21:22

since 2002 the center-piece of my system has been the Rockport Sirius III turntable. for the first 5 years i owned the Rockport i used a particular vdH Colibri XCP cartridge. i loved that cartridge and never heard it's equal. three years ago i accidently broke the canteliver. i got it fixed and also subsequently purchased other Colibri's. but i never did find that magic again in the Colibri's. in my quest to tame the other Colibri's i tried many things. one was adding lots of the silicone fluid to the dampening trough. i purchased other tt's and got into RTR tape. looking back now, it's clear that my frustration with not having the magic from the Rockport likely figured into my expanded quest for other sources.

recently these other sources have truely been sounding very very good. was the Rockport still worth keeping?

about 8 months ago, when the last Colibri left, i mounted a Lyra Olympos on the Rockport. it did sound nice, but not as special as i recalled my special Colibri sounding. recently i had considered the issue of the silicone fluid and had removed some of it (and posted here about that). it was better with less dampening. last Saturday i had a few quite knowledgeable vinyl guys over. they could hear that the Rockport/Olympos was much better than their previous visit. i explained about the fluid. one of them said, why don't i just remove 'ALL' the fluid.

hummmmmmm.

so after they left that is just what i did. it's a messy job as there is little clearance between the air shaft for the air bearing arm and the trough just below it. you cannot see anything. i covered the shaft in Glad Wrap. afterwords i cleaned everything with acetone.

since late Saturday night i've listened to lots of Lps on the Rockport. the magic is not only back, but the Olympos takes it quite a ways beyond anything the Colibri ever did. the Olympos never decends into that edgy high wire act that the Colibri always did. where the Colibri would lose it's cool, the Olympos sings sweetly and confidently. there is a soaring freedom and unflapable matter-of-fact reality that just nails everything. and when the Rockport nails something sparks fly.

with the Garrard, the SP-10 Mk3 and the reel to reel tape decks i have some solid references. what the Rockport/Olympos is now doing has moved the reference point around the bend somewhere. can i trust my perceptions? time will tell. i look forward to some visits from friends. will they hear what i'm hearing?

it feels like a 'black cloud' has been lifted from my musical path and the sun is shining again.

sorry if this is a bit melodramatic, but it's only in looking back at my decisions and seeing what i did i can see what happenned with some objectivity. and without having other very good sources and even other good turntables for references, i'm not sure i would have had the impetus to discover this.

the last few days i expected that the next day it would not sound quite as good and i would realize that not much had changed. so far it continues to blow my mind.

we'll see tomorrow how it is.

mikelavigne January 06, 2010 07:42

Mike, it was great that you and Patty and your boys could visit....always great to see you. Your (big) boys are such gentleman and respectful.....must be your wife's influence. ;)

it's neat that they have a passion for music on their own account.

i will try and get up your way sometime after the Olympics when i can pry the wife away.

if you think Portland drivers are bad in the snow, Seattle drivers are the worst! paranoid and clueless to the extreme.....i'm a Minnesota boy myself with Canadian roots so snow is no big deal.

mikelavigne January 03, 2010 23:13

Hey Mike

Thanks for having my gang at your place last Sunday.

What a great time we had listening to music. Terrific music, my compliments to the DJ.
My second son after listening to the Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington album, wants to now play the Trumpet. He has been playing the trombone for four years and had picked up the trumpet at will. Amazing to see when one is inspired by great music. Luckily my older son has his second trumpet to lend him.

Sonny and Sam dropped by on New Years Day and we truly had a great time.
Mike, it's your turn to come and visit us in the Great White North.
Ironically when we went to visit Jonathan in Portland it snowed. The city saw it's worst traffic jam ever. Five hours from the Pearl District to the hotel !!
And here I thought we had bad drivers......

Take care and thanks again,
Mike

rugyboogie January 03, 2010 21:07

a few weeks back, i mentioned i had removed quite a bit of the silicone dampening fluid from the dampening trough on the Rockport. it had been blunting and blurring things with the Olympos. last night i removed the rest of it.....and it was like sticking my head above the fog into the beautiful sunshine.

the Olympos does not need/like any dampening.

(insert over-the-top phrase of choice here)!!!!

mikelavigne January 03, 2010 15:55

Sam & Sonny,

thanks for the kind comments, and you are very welcome.

it was a very enjoyable time for me too. i'm glad you had a good safe trip and that you were able to connect with Rugyboogie.

best regards,

mikelavigne January 03, 2010 15:48

Hi Mike,

Happy New Year! Sonny and I had an incredible experience listening to your exquisite system...also, thanks for our excursion over to Bruce's - another enlightening event! We visited Rugyboogie on New Year's Day - such a delight
:-)

With great appreciation for your hospitality,

Sam & Sonny

c1ferrari January 03, 2010 04:42

further impressions of the Technics SP-10 Mk2--Reed 'L' 12" with the A90......as compared to the Garrard--Triplaner--A90. about 6-7 hours. dialed in more, running 2.27 grams and slightly up in the rear.

the Technics/Reed has a wonderful tonality, energy and spaciousness that the Garrard cannot match (although the Garrard-Triplaner is no slouch in these areas). as i mentioned, the music has a tension and sense of live-ness that leaps from the grooves. unlike the Garrard-Triplaner, there is no 'added' rounded pulse to the bass, but the bass is quite a bit more impactful and has more 'pop' and 'jump'. the noise floor is lower and so there is more detail and ambient retreival.

the Garrard still has it's own sexiness which is different; but i think the Garrard with a Reed/A90 might be quite the deal.....adding the greater tonality and spaciousness of the Reed (or is that the Technics?) to the Garrard attributes.

i wonder how much difference Steve Dobbin's new platter for the Garrard might make in this comparison?

mikelavigne December 30, 2009 14:10

Hey Jtinn!

F_U_N was had by all :-) Thanks for the java in Portland.

Best,
Sam & Sonny

c1ferrari December 28, 2009 08:43

I will be up late tonight awaiting a follow-up!

Have fun!

jtinn December 28, 2009 04:24

OK, just mounted the 2nd Ortofon MC A90 cartridge (ser# 079) on the Dobbins Technics SP-10 Mk3 with Reed 'L' arm playing thru the Allnic H3000. previously i had briefly mounted my first A90 (ser# 008) so it's not the first time on the Technics. right out of the box it's pretty nice. a bit closed in but i'm excited to finally, after 2 years, have three tt's set-up with similar level cartridges at the same time. i've been listening to many hours of vinyl recently on the Rockport and Garrard.....so my reference is pretty good. the Technics/Reed is really a lively combination. the music leaps from the grooves.

more later.

mikelavigne December 27, 2009 17:28

Thanks Vito,

i miss the time my kids were younger (and needed me), enjoy every minute of it.....it's over very quickly. pride as a parent is the best feeling there is.

i will let you know when Steve has something concrete to communicate about the music server.

mikelavigne December 27, 2009 15:50

Thanks for response. My daughter is only in high school and we are so proud of her accomplishments. I certainly understand your enthusiasm! Please let me
know when more info becomes available.
All the best.
Vito

vmk December 26, 2009 16:10

thanks Vito. the high rez downloads do sound very good thru the Playbacks Designs.

Would love to integrate with
a music server capable of downloading HiRez music.
(Reference Recording, Chesky, etc)
Can you recommend a server that interfaces well with
the PD?

well....er....ahem....ok. i was thinking about when i should post this....i guess now might be that time.

the following is a proud poppa shameless advertisment. i make no bones about it;

my son Steve was our I.T. network engineer at the dealership i manage for 4 years. he is now our e-commerce manager and oversees our networks which include approx 70 PC's and a mainframe. he interned here at Micosoft when he was 14 (he's now 32). he uses software to access my PC remotely whenever i have any problems.....which makes life easy for me.

he put together my server; and then another for a friend of mine. it seems many of us 'baby-boomer' audio types are not the most capable of putting together a server. he has decided to make this a business.....and is close to offering a product. recently he set up an iTouch as a remote control for my server.....which is very cool. my server is upstairs out of my room; yet it is still easy to use.

he assembles the servers himself. he knows how to make the server very quiet, and small, yet also have the right features. he minimizes the unneeded software that can compromise the sound quality. he tests the performance in my room.

his product should be very reasonably priced, likely in the $2k--$2500 range someplace. he would offer a high level of support for the initial set-up time to get it properly integrated into your system. with the Playback Designs it's almost plug and play. he would explain and hand hold thru the learning process of loading hirez files. not that it is so hard, but it does have a learning curve.

he could be on your laptop and server remotely and on the phone with you and step thru the process. not everyone needs that but some do.

anyway; if anyone is interested in this i will be glad to pass their contact info to Steve.

i do think there are many people like me who want a hirez music server but are not capable or comfortable in going to the trouble of learning enough to do it.

i have never made money from audio in any way. for me there are many reasons for that. i don't want my system page to become a place where my Son's product is a topic.
but i also cannot ignore it. when Steve's web page is finalized i will post a link here and people can contact him directly.

i told him my main issue was that whatever he sold he would need to support properly. no matter what, people would associate whatever he did with me. i told him not to go down this road unless he would be willing to follow thru.

end of shameless advertisment.

mikelavigne December 25, 2009 15:36

Mike,
Absolutely stunning system! I also replaced the
EMM Labs separates with the PD MPS-5 about a while ago
and never looked back. Would love to integrate with
a music server capable of downloading HiRez music.
(Reference Recording, Chesky, etc)
Can you recommend a server that interfaces well with
the PD?
Happy Holidays.
Thanks.
Vito

vmk December 25, 2009 12:20

Hi Mike
I know Andreas Koch and I always enjoyed my conversations with him when he was working for emmLabs.

jasonparmenter December 23, 2009 02:26

thanks Jason, i will look forward to your feedback.

as far as background history of digital products; here is a little on the Playback Designs' designer for you;

Andreas Koch comments

there is a short bio at the bottom of the article which speaks to the background of Andreas.

mikelavigne December 23, 2009 01:00

Hi Mike
Yes I have heard about the Playback design CD player, I prefer to use the emmLabs CDSA CD player my self.
Being a audio distributor as well as a passionate live music fan I have to be confident in the products I represent and the background history that has gone into the R&D of these audio products.
I will give you my opinion on the new emmLabs XDS1 as soon as I have one here for my reference demonstrations.
Thanks Jason.

jasonparmenter December 23, 2009 00:31

Wow Mike,

Great scotch!

Thanks for having us over. I have to say the system has never sounded better. I am suffering from barn envy.

I was so impressed by the Garrard that Steve Dobbins made for you. I would totally agree with you that "It is certainly the most listenable turntable I have ever heard." Of course one expects magnificent sound out of the Rockport and it does not disappoint. But on those certain recording, the Dobbins Garrard had me even more excited. It is just an enigma.

I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the Dobbins SP10 MK3 once the new cartridge gets mounted. I was incredibly surprised by how good it sounded even when you quickly mounted a cartridge that certainly was not in the league of those on the other turntables. To my ears, that may end up being my favorite of the bunch.

The Music Server Direct MSD-1 was incredibly impressive. The sound of the hi-res files was mind blowing and the interface with the iTouch was the easiest I have ever used with any music server. The fact that your son is making them at such a reasonable price is very incredible.

Did I mention how good the scotch was?

You are a wonderful host and I always have a great deal of fun up at "The Barn." Please thank St. Pam again for us!

Jonathan

jtinn December 22, 2009 07:41

hi Jason,

a couple of years ago i moved on from my EMM Labs SE digital gear to Playback Designs MPS-5. i'm sorry i have not updated my Audiogon equipment list for a couple of years (my pictures are current though). i keep meaning to do that when i 'get around to it'.

EMM Labs is certainly fine gear; if the XDS1 was at RMAF i might have heard it. i must say that compared to any other digital i have heard in the last few years, i prefer the Playback Designs. of course; i've only heard other digital at shows or friends homes, not my room.

the Playback Designs can 'compete' with vinyl in my system on many levels in terms of space and naturalness. it might not go all the way 'there', but it needs no excuses or apologies. i can listen all day to digital without fatigue. in my experience that is a first, and the Playback Designs is priced very reasonably including being a world class HI-REZ server DAC and including an Esoteric drive. the DAC in the Playback Designs is programable so it can be upgraded.

anyway; if someone brings an EMM Labs XDS1 over to my home i would be glad to offer a comparative opinion.

mikelavigne December 22, 2009 01:45