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     I am looking to upgrade my source. I currently have the Linn Karik as my transport and the Linn Numerik as the DAC (yes I know, rather old, but still good). This is coupled to a Van den Hul preamp and two monoblock amps, exiting through Totem Mani-2 speakers. The preamp/amp/speakers and cables (Actinolite) powered through an Audioprism conditioner, were all purchased new at the same time. I am exceptionally pleased at the sound of this system
     I am looking at spending approximately $5k on an upgrade to my source, and looking at the Linn Majik CD player. I would then add a DAC at a later date...or should I wait to buy both CD player and DAC, as the Majik will not be enough of an upgrade to the current Karik/Numerik combination.? Is it possible to use the Numerik DAC with the Majik? What DAC would you recommend that would suit this system?
Steve Bedarf, BURLINGTON, ON

     Steve, we should warn you that Linn is discontinuing all of its CD players, so if you're going to get one you'll need to hurry. On the other hand, it has perhaps done so for understandable reasons. We ourselves are no longer reviewing CD players that don't have digital inputs as well as outputs.
     Beyond that, the Majik may actually be a downgrade. Though the Linn Karik and Numerik can be considered thoroughly obsolete, they offered what was at the time an innovation: a second cable between transport and converter to allow them to "talk" together for reduced jitter. Whatever advantage the Majik might offer, you'll lose that advantage. And in a future upgrade you'll have to buy a new converter, even though the Majik has a perfectly good one already, albeit one that is inaccessible.
     The reason Linn is dropping CD players is that it recommends streaming music from a computer via Ethernet to one of its DS (Digital Streaming) products, such as the Klimax DS we reviewed in UHF No. 84. For the moment you may not choose to put your music on a hard drive, but you also won't want to invest money in any dead ends. We would look at transport and DAC combinations, or at a CD player which can also be used with other digital sources.

     I was just reading your review of the four-box Cyrus player UHF No. 88). I'm happy that you like it, because I use the Cyrus Xt/PSX-R's/ DAC XP (with pre-amplifier function) combo myself.
     But, like many, I would like to put my music on hard disc and use iTunes for selecting my albums, without losing on quality of course.
I've got a laptop, a wireless router and a 1 TB hard disc with Ethernet connection. The only thing missing is the link between my computer network and the DAC XP.
     I think the best solution is to connect an Airport Express by Ethernet cable to the router (I suppose that a cable connection is better than using the wireless option?). And from the Airport Express with an optical cable to the DAC XP. Would this setup sound as good as my Cyrus transport source?
     In a perfect world the Airport Express would have a coax digital output, instead of an optical one. Then I could re-use my current digital coax cable, and be sure that the cable is not the weakest link.
Emmanuel Du Four, GHENT, Belgium

     Emmanuel, our own comparisons indicate that your Cyrus transport will still outperform the Airport Express, but by less than one might think. Indeed, at this point CD players costing up to perhaps $2000 are being matched or outperformed by audio from computer, at least under the best conditions.
     If it's practical for you to run Ethernet cabling from your computer to a remote Airport Express, that will give you optimum results. If you'll be running wirelessly, we recommend using a router that can broadcast on the 5 GHz band rather than on the very crowded 2.4 GHz band. The audio quality is actually superior.
     However, note one limitation of the Airport Express: it won't pass high-resolution music signals (24/96, 24/88.2, etc.) without downsampling, even though your converter could handle it. You can transmit high-res via USB, but you can't run a long length of USB cable.

     I came upon UHF when browsing the Internet as I was conducting research into soundproofing, and by chance came upon an article by Paul Bergman relating to the very subject. I read his article (UHF No. 63) and was very impressed. If anybody at UHF is able to help me I would be most grateful.
      I am a drummer and live in an upstairs flat converted many years ago from an old Victorian house. The internal walls are just old wooden laths (slats) and plaster simply applied over them so the sound insulation is minimal. I have carpet and underlay throughout my flat (as stipulated in the lease).
     I have read all sorts of information with regard to soundproofing rooms and the problems involved with the transmission of airborne and percussive sound through materials of varying densities. Actually I have not got my head totally around this topic, as I would need to have a degree in the subject but nevertheless I understand a fair bit.
      I propose to create a drum practice room in one of my bedrooms (to create a room within a room where the floor, walls and ceiling of the new room will have an air gap so they will not touch the original existing floor, walls or ceiling). My main concern is to stop sound and vibration transmitting though the floor and ceiling to the flat below. There is a window in one of the outside walls also. I am lucky in that my downstairs neighbour is very understanding and reasonably tolerant, but all the same I want to be able to play my drums when it suits me!
     I have an electronic kit which is actually quite noisy even when played through headphones, as there is hard thumping of the pads and the kick drum. I much prefer to play an acoustic kit, so to this end I need to construct a practice room.
     The existing bedroom consists of two external solid 9" thick external brick walls and two internal stud walls, one of which divides my bedroom from my living room and the other from the landing at the top of my stairs. I was wondering about putting in a new suspended floor (not touching the existing floor) by using wooden joists suspended directly from joist hangers secured in the walls with some form of thick dense absorbent matting material. The new floor would therefore be isolated from the existing floor by around 12” (and also will not touch the walls apart from where the new joists will hang). From this new floor I would then construct new stud walls about 12” or so from the existing walls. I am aware that the wooden studs should be offset so the stud at the front of the wall is not inline with the stud at the rear of the wall, and that they should have their own separate wooden plates. I was hoping to apply the same technique to the new ceiling too.
     I would then seal all the corners, floor and ceiling abutments using good quality sound caulking material so there are no gaps. I know I do not have the luxury of a concrete floor in the basement, but surely making a new suspended floor with the necessary dense wadding, etc. will be the next best thing. Oh yeah, I have to include a suitable door to the new room otherwise I would not be able to get out!
     Would it work? Any vibration passing into the new suspended joists from the use of the kick drum pedal would be absorbed by the dense cushioning around the joist hangers in the wall. Using the bass drum itself where the resonance being a very low frequency would be the real mother to keep under control.
     Once I have a sealed inner practice room and nothing else touches the original existing walls or ceiling (apart from the new joist hangers), then can I assume that this method of soundproofing is the best way to go about things, apart from trying to play the drums in a vacuum!!?
     Would the low frequencies of the bass drum (and maybe a mate playing a bass guitar through an amp now and then!) still travel through the original walls of my bedroom and continue down into the flat below? What do you think?
Kweku Graves, LONDON, UK

     Kweku, first off we should mention that Paul did a newer article on soundproofing, which can be found in UHF No. 82. Of course the principles discussed are the same, and so are the two basic rules. (1) A vacuum aside, only high mass can stop sound transmission. (2) It takes only one simple sound-transmission path to short-circuit the most elaborate soundproofing measures and render them useless.
     But you know this already, because it's clear you have done considerable research on the subject. Essentially you're on the right track, because you know about using a suspended floor, and using high-density caulking. This approach will certainly work if it is perfectly executed, but we're not sure it will be enough. Drumming produces sharp transients with a lot of broadband energy. If you're using an acoustic drum kit, you can attenuate the sound a lot and still try the tolerance of your neighbors, particularly your downstair neighbors.
     We would throw in two more words of caution.
     We don't know what is in your lease besides the requirement for carpeting the floors, but we would guess that doing major structural renovations would violate at least one clause, probably more. Even if you wanted just to knock down a wall to make a larger room, most landlords would require a very long lease, typically 10 years. In this case, it seems evident that this level of alteration would make it impossible to rent out the flat, except of course to another drummer.
     We would also be concerned about the added mass to the building structure. It seems evident that you would need to have an architect draw up the plans and make sure the addition will not overload the building's shell. Those plans will be necessary to get a building permit.
     We would look seriously at alternatives, such as using rehearsal space at a school or community centre, perhaps in conjunction with other musicians facing the same problems as you. We can understand the inconvenience of travelling with musical gear, but that may be the lesser of evils.

     I'm installing cork flooring over the concrete floor of my listening room. The spikes under my Target equipment stand, Mirage M1090i speakers and Mirage BPS150i subwoofer were no problem on concrete, but would be on the cork. Superspikes would cost $300 plus taxes. Tenderfeet/Tendercups would cost$400 plus taxes. What would be the problem with using pieces of plywood or MDF between the cork floor and the existing spikes, maybe with a little AudioTak for good measure?
Richard Rafton, KELOWNA, BC

     The prices you mention are correct, but you may in fact be able to get by with just a set of Tendercups. (For those who don't know, the Tendercup is a flat aluminum piece with a cup-like depression to receive a spike.) Your Target stand and Mirage speakers already have spikes, and all you'll need is the Tendercups to protect the new fragile flooring. They’re going to be prettier than a sheet of plywood, and that's for sure.
     It's true that large machined cones offer higher performance than the slimmer spikes, and in some exceptional circumstances they’re worth the extra investment. If the spikes have been working well for you, however, without excessive bass energy transmission into the floor, they probably don't need to be changed.
     The Superspikes offer a different advantage. Because the spike and cup are in a sealed unit, there's no danger that a false move during placement will gouge your brand new floor.

     I have been following (and very much enjoying!) your recent pieces on getting music from computer. Much of my CD collection now exists as uncompressed files on a hard drive. I am using iTunes to handle the files and a Logitech Squeezebox to beam everything over to my audio equipment. I love the convenience of quick access to my collection from an armchair, and I am now exploring ways of achieving the same access to my vinyl collection.
     Some preliminary research reveals a myriad of ways to digitize albums, ranging from sound cards with analog inputs (which I expect would give less than optimal results) to professional-grade studio equipment that costs several thousand dollars. I am looking for a "middle-of-the-road" solution that provides good quality sound for a reasonable price (under C$500?). I anticipate a performance hit when converting from analog to digital and back to analog again and will employ my turntable for critical listening sessions, but am hoping there is a way to enjoy my vinyl collection when it is not convenient (or when I am feeling lazy) to get up and change records.
     One of your readers,Lloyd, noted in Free Advice in UHF No. 88 that he is converting his LP collection to 24/96 audio. Do you know how he does this? I also noted in UHF No. 87 that you used an Edirol UA-25 audio interface box and Audacity software to pull SACD analog from your Linn Unidisk to your computer. Would this setup be suitable for recording analog from a turntable as well?
Gord Speksnijder, PORT HOPE, ON

     Gord, Lloyd didn't mention how he's recording his LPs, but as for us we are indeed using an Edirol UA-25 USB interface box. An external box is much less vulnerable to a computer's vicious internal noise pollution than a sound card, and it's not expensive, with a street price in Canada of about $230. And we use the free Audacity software. We run the Edirol from the "tape out" jacks on our preamplifier. This setup can handle both 16/44 and 24/96 recording.
     For the moment the Squeezebox is limited to 16/44, which is of course CD resolution. The same is true of the Airport Express. We have hopes for new chips, and therefore new gear, possibly over the next year.