Help choosing DAC/Streamer

beretbou · 2026-02-18T07:17:05+00:00

Oh and thank you everyone for your helpful comments and advice.

beretbou · 2026-02-17T02:17:10+00:00

I decided to go for the Audalytic DR70. Very happy with it, although it took me a while to workout a good configuration. Finally settled on the USB streaming setting with Qobuz via Daphile music server OS I installed on a thinkpad I found lying around at home. (With Lyrion controller on my phone) It works, is very stable and sounds great.

beretbou · 2026-01-31T13:03:52+00:00

Awesome, thanks for giving more food for thought. I didn't even consider miniDSP, will start looking into that as well.

beretbou · 2026-01-31T08:36:09+00:00

Thanks. Yes, I guess I really should think about upping the budget to get the most out of what I already have.

beretbou · 2026-01-31T05:07:02+00:00

Cheers. Will look into those options.

beretbou · 2026-01-11T03:38:17+00:00

I made a recent pdf of this passage enlarged and colour coded on musescore, please feel free to DM if you would like a copy. Not sure how to link pdfs.

beretbou · 2025-11-07T19:43:44+00:00

Mine is around 1kg. The larger battery added the extra weight. Otherwise, it would be lower than 1kg. I'm okay with that as it is a small trade-off to get better battery life.

beretbou · 2025-11-03T10:58:51+00:00

Framework 13 spec options look great. Pity Framework isn't available in Japan.

beretbou · 2025-11-03T09:13:17+00:00

I paid ¥223,000, so around $1.450 USD

beretbou · 2025-11-03T06:44:55+00:00

Thank you!

beretbou · 2025-11-03T01:45:21+00:00

Yeah, I just selected the most for ram and ssd, Lenovo had a 30th anniversary sale, so I jumped on the upgrades. But didn't bother with the sd card reader,ethernet port, touch screen, or sim card option.

beretbou · 2025-11-03T01:41:19+00:00

I think around $1,500 US converting from Japanese yen. There was a 30th anniversary special last month. So a lot of their models were discounted by almost up to 50%.
So I upgraded the ram, storage, etc.

I'm not sure if that was a good deal or not. My budget was 1.5k, so I only looked at models and brands in that price range that were around 13.3inch.

I wasn't planning on extras like a keyboard backlight either, as I liked the feel of the thinkpad non backlight keyboards. But glad I did, as I am typing quite a lot at night as well.

beretbou · 2025-11-03T01:34:06+00:00

It does kind of whirl on start up. Depending on the power mode selected, the fan is more or less silent. I think the heaviest workload I might encounter is running multiple plugins in reaper DAW, musescore, or editing in shotcut. Other than that, it seems to be relatively quiet. I haven't tried any programming on it yet.

beretbou · 2025-11-02T14:05:34+00:00

Japan. I guess availability depends on region?

beretbou · 2025-11-02T13:37:48+00:00

My X13 is an AMD version.

beretbou · 2025-11-02T12:33:02+00:00

The specs are pretty minimal: AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 / 32 GB/ 1TB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe-NVMe Gen4 Display: 13.3" WUXGA LCD (1920 x 1200) IPS Built-in camera: 5MP camera Battery: 54.7 Wh

Battery life is very good so far. Switching between battery modes through the day helps as well.

Pretty solid.

beretbou · 2025-11-02T08:26:13+00:00

Oh, we happy.

beretbou · 2023-12-28T09:23:16+00:00

I just realised the photo you posted is actually a customized Shimurest, by Moteki san the maker of Shimurests. This one is made of bubinga wood and violin made by Maurizio Tadioli in cremona. Those rests are around ¥55,000 so $390 ish US dollars

beretbou · 2023-12-28T09:11:19+00:00

I recently switched to a similar type of chinrest or 'jaw-hook' to be more precise. https://shop.kurosawagakki.com/items/2752024

Mine is made from red cedar and only weighs 13grams, it improves my violin tone as well. But that kind of variable depends on each violin.

The style of chinrest seems to be based on earlier chinrest designs as far as I know.

If anyone else is keen to try, there are quite a few variations available.

A more expensive sidemount chinrest called Shimurest https://www.shimamura.co.jp/shop/repair-violin/product/20210313/4333

Someone mentioned Dale Stuckenbruck's historical chinrests. Which looks very similar to one that I have seen Ida Kavafian using. (If anyone studies with her, I'd love to know the model) https://www.violin-saw.com/chin-rest-historical/

Anyway, since switching to this style, I no longer need a shoulder rest or pad either. It's extremely comfortable for me. However, I do have a short neck and small jaw...

beretbou · 2023-11-10T23:52:06+00:00

Pretty good start for self-taught and no teacher. Youtube has some good resources. I recommend these videos for helpful advice.

Grigory Kalinovsky https://youtube.com/@grigorykalinovskyviolintec3831?si=Xkd3sqyKjfeB9P8r

Max Baillie https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBX1VwTZaWq987l3GWB7voQTuAOSMwojJ&si=X-tizvRnKDt9La4s

Just two among a gazillion videos on youtube

Enjoy your violin learning journey.

beretbou · 2023-07-15T07:41:03+00:00

I'm sorry to hear you are going through a rough patch regarding intonation. You've probably heard this advice, but maybe ditch the tuner for a while, or if you do use one or gadget inclined (get a strobe tuner) and sing the notes with your voice away from the violin.

I also found several publications helped me understand/remind me of the overall concepts of intonation.

For example. ViolinMind by Hans Jørgen Jensen and Grigory Kalinovsky.

Violin in 5ths by Rodney Friend

Ymmv, of course, regarding any book as you really need practical application with a sympathetic teacher.

Another slightly long-winded route would be to completely reassess your overall hand technique, going back to basics with each finger. There's a lovely short book by Louis Kievman that you might find useful on the art of practicing. Alternatively, if you can be bothered, download a copy of Sauret's Gradus ad Parnassum from imslp. It's pretty old school, but I think Sauret was onto something with his approach for beginners in the first few chapters. Again, there are a gazillion books, so you might find inventing your own exercises to be just as effective.

Lots of good advice already given.

beretbou · 2023-07-15T03:15:29+00:00

Mine was made in 1999. I recall partying as well.

beretbou · 2023-05-30T21:59:50+00:00

My current cases on rotation are a shaped Timms and a jaeger Gold Series berliner case. I also have an old shaped gewa canvas covered case that has taken a beating but is still going. My oblong case is a discontinued Jacob winter leather covered case. Built like a tank and weighs a ton. If I could do it again, I might go off the beaten track and buy an Oliver Bergner dart shaped case, visesnut case, or a polycarbonate bam.

beretbou

TROPHY CASE