davidharper wrote: 
If your Yamaha is designed to accept and play streaming FLAC files then it would be reasonable to believe that you are listening to the FLAC stream.  Can you pull up the stream URL from your AVR menu ?  That will tell you which stream you are getting by checking the streamlink urls here at RP.

IIRC there 8 different levels of FLAC which might consist of different sampling rates.  I forget because I only use wav files which also have similar options.

mp3's also have variable sampling rates beside bit size.  When I do convert my wav to mp3 they stay at the same sampling rate, 48 khz.

There doesn't seem to be any way to choose a different stream on the AVR.  I emailed yamaha and asked them they said my AVR automatically defaults to the highest resolution stream so maybe I'm already getting FLAC.  When I select "audio information" in the AVR menu when listening to RP it says "sampling rate 44.1 KHZ".  

 gvajda wrote:
 

I'm a fairly new audiophile with a Mid-Fi setup:

HifiMan Sundara headphones
← JDS Labs Atom amp
← iFi iTube 2 preamp
← Topping D30 DAC
← Equalizer APO to tune the cans to the Harmann target
← Radio Paradise FLAC via MusicBee, or Tidal when I'm not vibing with the RP mix (I think Qobuz has better quality but I need someone to make the playlists for me and Tidal is better in that)

This is my first setup when I actually hear difference between 320AAC and FLAC. Of course this is more about then just cold clarity but I enjoy this setup a lot all together.
I made sure that my setup is modular for scaling, the next thing I wish to be a headphone with more space and thickness without losing anything from the Sundara - but I have to grind for that for a while.


@davidharper: Are you aware of the FLAC stream of RP (find it here: stream-links)? I don't know your gear specifically but playing music in a lossless format might make a difference.

my stuff is a Yammy AVR which I use as a preamp feeding a Schiit (pronounced, yes, that's right, shit)  Vidar amp and magnepan LRS speakers.  I have a project TT up in a closet. Haven't used it in a few years. The AVR has wifi which is how I get radio paradise. Ever since the virus came around I've been listening with this system a lot more than I used to. Sucks because before covid I was into working out at the gym almost every day but the gym closed and with the weather now turning cold I won't even be riding my bike much anymore. This whole virus thing is such a drag.  So I've gotten into the stereo again.
The stuff I have isn't real expensive.  The Vidar amp was $699.00 and the maggies were $700.00.  Radio paradise is apparently 320kbs AAC so it sounds pretty good, much better than the shitty MP3 like on youtube music.

I do try to get out of the basement of the pizza place once in a while.

 davidharper wrote: 
My playback stuff is meh ...  old school 2.0 stereo with an inline passive subwoofer.  I do have a nice set of full ear pro monitor headphones for anything serious though.  The bulk of my listening is very near field from monitors at about 2 feet.  I like to think that I play, record and listen to vinyl at an audiophile level, though.

All my money and effort goes into the front end.  TT, cart, phono preamp, cables and most importantly, cleaning. A dedicated self built XP music server (with toslink optical out) presently with nearly 5 TB of storage.  All wav files, mostly 16 bit 48 khz.  I am buying and selling vinyl as I work through my collection.  Many 1st pressings and imports going back into the 60's, many MFSL ½ speed master pressings from the early 80's on and still buying MOFI's as they are now called. 

Built around a 1989 Japanese domestic 100 volt SL 1200 MK3 TT into a ProJect USB V phono preamp which is a perfect match for my carts.

A very limited Audio Technica / Precept PC440 MM cart with the good Shibata stylus is the best way to describe it.  I also have two AT15SS Shibata carts with factory styluses and 2 more AT20SLa factory styluses for back up.  All aligned with a Mint protractor made by Yip in Hong Kong. 

A working original red Zerostat.  They really do work.

A 2 lb. Wayne's Audio periphery stabilizer ring for the vinyl during playback.

Kimber USB cables to the computer.  Sony SoundForge 8.0 as the music studio.

And most importantly a VPI Cyclone RCM.  My cleaning regime will rival nearly any ultrasonic cleaner.

A quality music source will make even cheap stuff sound better.  It's the old garbage in, garbage out theory.

No mono block amps, $3 k cables and 10 k speakers, just the cleanest sound I can afford.

Cheers !

 haresfur wrote:
 

Most likely.

 davidharper wrote:
 
I think they are all in the basement of a pizza place, plotting nefarious activities with their ear-candy

 davidharper wrote:
 

I wouldn't call myself an audiophile, but I like a decent stereo.

My system is a sort of old-school Pyle, 150-watt per channel receiver and a pair of old KLH towers, each with two 6" drivers and a dome tweeter. It rocks the house.

Any audiophiles here?   If so, what is your system?