alistairm Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 Roon and Antipodes = digital bliss. (With Bliss perhaps running as well!) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFJ100 Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 Was going to put up this link to Alistair M's Antipodes DX For Sale ad...work slowed me down and of course by the time I got around to it, it had sold. http://www.stereo.net.au/forums/index.php?/topic/90969-fs-antipodes-dx-1tb/#entry1468170 What's next Alistair? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFJ100 Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 Hi All, My DS: Next, I took delivery today of a new Antipodes DS (mk.3). This replaced a Mk.1. I don't have the old unit to do a side-by-side comparison, but all in all, I think this has driven a wider soundstage. Sound is not noticeably clearer than before, but bass has more weight. Torben I thought I would update this with some thoughts after ownership has now lasted a couple of weeks. SQ remains very impressive. I still occasionally play an album which has me gasping in astonishment. A couple that come to mind are (1) Beth Gibbons (ex Portishead) and Rustin Man...Out of Season, and (2) one from Carla Bruni, (I guess No Promises) where the vocals are unbelievably clear and resonant. Great listening experiences. I had a conversation with Mark Jenkins where I explained what I thought was the difference between the older and newer Antipodes DS, and he said that interestingly, the units were sonically identical, however the power supply reduces the amount of treble grain and glare. This in turn makes you think there is more bass. Makes one think about what the ears hear, how you interpret it and what measurements mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKay Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 Does anyone know if there has been an upgrade to the firmware of the DS Reference series? I sent a query through to Antipodes and for the first time I haven't heard back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD19 Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 (edited) Does anyone know if there has been an upgrade to the firmware of the DS Reference series? I sent a query through to Antipodes and for the first time I haven't heard back. Nap250, send your query to support@@Antipodes.global. Edited October 25, 2015 by TD19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dart6 Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 I thought I would update this with some thoughts after ownership has now lasted a couple of weeks. SQ remains very impressive. I still occasionally play an album which has me gasping in astonishment. A couple that come to mind are (1) Beth Gibbons (ex Portishead) and Rustin Man...Out of Season, and (2) one from Carla Bruni, (I guess No Promises) where the vocals are unbelievably clear and resonant. Great listening experiences. I had a conversation with Mark Jenkins where I explained what I thought was the difference between the older and newer Antipodes DS, and he said that interestingly, the units were sonically identical, however the power supply reduces the amount of treble grain and glare. This in turn makes you think there is more bass. Makes one think about what the ears hear, how you interpret it and what measurements mean. So out of the 3 versions i take it the 2nd [reference] is the better as it uses the lps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFJ100 Posted October 25, 2015 Author Share Posted October 25, 2015 So out of the 3 versions i take it the 2nd [reference] is the better as it uses the lps? I'm not sure if there is a difference in power supplies between the series 2 and 3. If anybody with a 2 would like to take a photo of the P S, I can compare to the one I have and let you know. It wouldn't make sense to go backwards , sonically, from series 2 to 3. Torben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dart6 Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 Because the 3 incorporates a dac there is no room for the lps so it uses a smps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFJ100 Posted October 25, 2015 Author Share Posted October 25, 2015 Because the 3 incorporates a dac there is no room for the lps so it uses a smps Not sure I follow? As far as I am aware, (and I have had a 1 and 3), they are all external, so the provision of a DAC woukdn't affect the PS. The 3 definitely does not have smps, although I can't say for sure what it is. It does have its own on/off switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mondegreen Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 My experience with my ds reference has been mostly positive. However... I have a lot if CDs, many obscure classical amongst them. In ripping CDs to the hdd, I encounter many problems in the software mislabelling the album, track listing and cover artwork. This information is impossible to alter using ipeng, or vortexbox etc, so I've had to download 3rd party software to make changes. You have to find the artwork online. It's tedious to do, and I have sworn at it many times. Mark Jenkins wrote back about this problem, and he's aware about the bad rips. He says they're working on new interfaces. I have nearly returned to he mac many times, as it'd do much easier to catalogue your collection. But yeah it doesn't sound anywhere near as good Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKay Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 My experience with my ds reference has been mostly positive. However... I have a lot if CDs, many obscure classical amongst them. In ripping CDs to the hdd, I encounter many problems in the software mislabelling the album, track listing and cover artwork. This information is impossible to alter using ipeng, or vortexbox etc, so I've had to download 3rd party software to make changes. You have to find the artwork online. It's tedious to do, and I have sworn at it many times. Mark Jenkins wrote back about this problem, and he's aware about the bad rips. He says they're working on new interfaces. I have nearly returned to he mac many times, as it'd do much easier to catalogue your collection. But yeah it doesn't sound anywhere near as good Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk I use dbpoweramp and then copy across to the ds reference. Having tried the antipodes a few days ago with a 2 cd album of Mahler's music it put two completely different cover art labels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a.dent Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 I use dbpoweramp and then copy across to the ds reference. Having tried the antipodes a few days ago with a 2 cd album of Mahler's music it put two completely different cover art labels. Exactly. I use XLD, get everything perfect and then transfer to the server. If you ask me the ripper section could be dispensed with, which is what I have done with my DIY Antipodes clone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mondegreen Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Thanks guys, that is helpful Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFJ100 Posted October 27, 2015 Author Share Posted October 27, 2015 Interesting. I haven't had this issue, maybe my collection isn't obscure enough. What I have had which is slightly annoying is some albums which can't be catalogued - about 10 out of 300. Bliss is supposed to be the solution, but I haven't managed to get it to actually do anything...maybe I need to pay for "fixes" but since all the free ones didn't seem to do much, I'm not sure I want to shell out on something that might not work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew S. Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 (edited) One of the things I like about Vortexbox is folder view - saves worrying about tags. Which are a giant PITA. Bliss in my experience isn't a panacea. Edited October 27, 2015 by Tom.Stopforth 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raffinator Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Hi, I've just started using a DS. I think it is the original version and I'm still using the SMPS. Looks like I might need to go down the upgrade path based on the posts above! However I've hit a roadblock. I've connected two different USB DACs to the DS and neither are showing up as available. I've tried it with both the unpowered and powered USB outs. The DACs are iFi iUSB nano and LH Labs Pulse (both of which work fine with PC). I've tried different startup steps like power the DS then the DAC, and vis-a-versa. So at the moment it only works with the analogue RCA outputs... I was about to contact Antipodes tonight, but I thought I'd try here first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFJ100 Posted October 28, 2015 Author Share Posted October 28, 2015 I was about to contact Antipodes tonight, but I thought I'd try here first. I'd just contact them regardless of any feedback here. They are set up to provide service, they have more knowledge than the rest of us and there are no restrictions on what you can ask. I had no problems with my DAC. Did you check the instructions? There is a page on configuring players. That maybe a first step. Cheers Torben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew S. Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 (edited) Hi, I've just started using a DS. I think it is the original version and I'm still using the SMPS. Looks like I might need to go down the upgrade path based on the posts above! However I've hit a roadblock. I've connected two different USB DACs to the DS and neither are showing up as available. I've tried it with both the unpowered and powered USB outs. The DACs are iFi iUSB nano and LH Labs Pulse (both of which work fine with PC). I've tried different startup steps like power the DS then the DAC, and vis-a-versa. So at the moment it only works with the analogue RCA outputs... I was about to contact Antipodes tonight, but I thought I'd try here first. It happens sometimes - check all the connections, power down, have the dacs hooked up with power out and reboot then go into configure player - sometimes your dac will show up as hw:0,0 instead of hw:1,0. I have had this a few times and it always sorts itself out with a reboot or two. If it persists give Mark a hoi. I found his support to be exemplary. Edited October 28, 2015 by Tom.Stopforth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 I'm listening to my DX directly into my PMC Twotwo's via analog out and it sounds fantastic! I'm listening to way more music since I got this server and exploring many different genres/releases old and new. Certainly deserves all the awards it's received! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gantryman Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 A couple of questions for those experienced Antipodes users that are more technically minded than myself. 1. What external hard drive solution are other Antipodes owners using (if at all) to back up your files? I feel a nagging nervousness with over 2TB of music files sitting on my Antipodes server (the fruits of countless hours of ripping labour) should the hard drive ever fail. 2. What methods are others using way to copy high rez files from SACD, DVD-A and Blu-Ray audio discs to the Antipodes server? Many thanks in advance for any insights and opinions offered! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stereophilus Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 A couple of questions for those experienced Antipodes users that are more technically minded than myself. 1. What external hard drive solution are other Antipodes owners using (if at all) to back up your files? I feel a nagging nervousness with over 2TB of music files sitting on my Antipodes server (the fruits of countless hours of ripping labour) should the hard drive ever fail. 2. What methods are others using way to copy high rez files from SACD, DVD-A and Blu-Ray audio discs to the Antipodes server? Many thanks in advance for any insights and opinions offered! I just use a 2TB Western Digital MyBook. I have 2 for extra insurance! Ripping DSD from SACD is a problem. You need a certain model of PlayStation game console and software. I just buy my DSD tracks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a.dent Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 As far as I know VB will automatically rip Bluray and DVD-A with DVD-AE. It certainly rips DVD-As perfectly. It does take a bit of time though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD19 Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 For Melbourne afcionados: http://www.stereo.net.au/news/want-to-learn-more-about-digital-audio 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFJ100 Posted February 15, 2016 Author Share Posted February 15, 2016 Thanks for posting Tony - great thinking! I was planning to go on Wednesday but other events have killed that idea, so I have requested a spot on Thursday night. Really looking forward to hearing about Roon and the other new software options. CheersTorben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gray Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Antipodes has updated it's software suuite and is calling it "Antipodes 2". An upgrade program will be announced sometime soon (6 weeks?) for existing Vortexbox users. Antipodes 2 will support Roon. See the Antipodes website for more info. P.S. Hope it's not too expensive 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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