It's easy to think that everything following the source is where the magic happens, but that might be a bit misguided. Even the best systems only amplifies the good and bad of what is fed to them.
There's perhaps no better example of this than Octave Radio. The quality of music played on this station has set more than a few people back on their heels. You just don't come close on most other streams.
The thing is, Octave Radio is only MP3 and hardly exemplifies the true wonders of what Octave Music, recorded in DSD256, sounds like. But, what it does demonstrate is three fold: how bad and compressed 99.9% of radio is, how well great recordings translate over lower resolutions, and the importance of the source.
"Thought I would try out this Octave Radio stream to see what all the hubbub is about, didn’t think my old system with outsize sentimental value would notice that much, but all I can say is, “Holy (Bleep).”. How did you all get my recapped KLH model 30 speakers from 1970 and McIntosh 4100 rehabbed solid state receiver (plain old RCA connectors through a beat up AirPort Express) to sound like this?
I never thought this thing would win awards for resolution but I can hear every instrument and the space in between, and the vocals have … MIDRANGE without sounding shouty, even on these paper tweeters. The vocals are almost velvet. Just heard your video on your battle against compression, I am thinking that can’t fully explain it?
I thought I had the weaknesses of this system figured out and now am second guessing everything I thought I knew about it. This is VERY good. How is there so much space and clarity and smoothness? Separately, I am almost scared to think how good this would sound like with a standalone DAC.
Thanks for the miracle on this old vintage machine, and thoughts welcome on what to do, or not do next, with my system. You made my day."