I wish the Phasure NOS1a (current model) is part of this shootout considering the older version (NOS1) replaced the followign according to the Phasure site, and I am not even sure if this list is up to date.
Emm Labs CDSD SE/DCC2 SE
Emm Labs (various types)
MSB Gold Link III
Empirical Audio Offramp 4/Overdrive
Empirical Audio (various types)
Audio Note (various types)
Metric Halo LIO-8
Berkely Alpha DAC
TwinDAC+
CrazyT
Pacific Microsonics Model I
Pacific Microsonics Model II
DACMagic 2
Wired4Sound DAC2
Weiss Minerva
Weiss Medea
Weiss Medea+
Weiss (various types)
dCS Delius / Purcell (?)
dCS (various types)
Ayre QB-9
DAD AX24
PSAudio Perfect Wave
PSAudio Perfect Wave MKII
Twisted Pear Buffalo I
Twisted Pear Buffalo II
CEC TL51 CD transport / AudioMagic
Altmann DAC
Cantatis Ouverture 24/192
Bryston BDA-1
Lampizator L5 with DSD |
Matt,
That was a good one...Lol. I will send you a PM with my permanent contact info to pass it onto your wife to contact me whenever she decides to sell some of your stuff. I can't wait. |
Audiolabyrinth,
I disagree, check the Audio Exotics site. Their most worshipped DAC currently is the Trinity DAC. That tiny single box has replaced the 3-4 box DCS Vivaldi in several systems in Asia. I think it is quality and implementation that matters, not the number of boxes. For some of them, the cost of the power cords for their Vivaldi stack was almost the price of the Trinity DAC. |
Mattnshilp,
I mentioned the Trinity Dac on this thread several months back. I think it's one of the best out there although I have not heard it.
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ddgtl&1398132150&openflup&1100&4#1100 |
Matt,
Did you at least get to try the Trinity so that you can compare the sound to the ODSX Diamond when it's ready? I have no doubt the ODSX would be special but until you compare it to the others in your system, you can't put the OSDX on top.
I know the Trinity has bested the DCS and MSB stacks from what I have read, so I would love to hear a comparison between the Trinity, BerkelEy Reference and the ODSX. |
"My Mac Mini beats practically every server except for the Antipodes"
Steve: Can you name the servers that were beaten by your Mac Mini? |
Steve,
I can undterstand that. Thanks. |
Mrpaul,
Excellent choice. Please share your impressions here when it settles in your system. |
Matt,
I have heard good things about the Antipodes although I have not heard one personally. The Beast is very expensive, and for me personally, I would go with the Antipodes and give it a couple of years. I think there will be lots of better servers years down the road (and may be cheaper), And who knows, the Beast may be in its second or third generation with better performance. |
Erikminer,
I agree, in many instances, not all. |
Matt,
The Vertere Acoustics HB USB Cable is currently the best USB cable according to Audio Exotics - Hong Kong. They claim it beats the Totaldac USB and any other USB cables they've compared it to regardless of price. It sells for under $2000.00 I believe. |
Matt,
One speakers that I have not heard but intrigues me are the Kudos Audio "Titan T808" speakers, and may be worth investigating. The port design on them is different, and are meant to not cause problems in rooms. I have read great things about the T88, the predecessor to the T808.
Good luck with your search. |
Heads up on the "JMF Audio DMT3.7 Universal Transport" under development. The JMF Audio front-end (the DMT3.7 transport and the DXC2.2 MKII converter) is the only source in the world capable of playing all types of discs and converting any audio to 705/768kHz!
Some of the features are:
JMF Audio optical mechanism and disc handling.
JMF Audio signal processing and clocking, common to all sources.
Independant power supplies for disc drive, audio and video
Two modes of operation: pure audio and audio/video.
Outputs audio stereo SPDIF and AES-EBU 192kHz.
Outputs audio multichannel over HDMI in PCM and DSD;
Outputs video over HDMI, full HD, upscaling to 4k.
Easy control with the JMF Audio MBR1 remote.
Advanced control with tablet/smartphone/computer.
Audio discs: CD, SACD, HDCD, DVD-Audio, Bluray Pure-Audio
Audio/video discs: DVD, Bluray
Files: WAV, FLAC, AAC, DSD...
Decoding: Dolby True HD, DTS Master Audio...
Streaming: DLNA |
Hifial & Ctsooner,
I agree with you guys, but this is audio and people are going to be chasing the last detail like a dog chasing its tail. Not sure if the Vertere Pulse HD USB Cable has been compared to the $2,000 Synergistic Research USB Cable. Besides the Totaldac USB, it has bested the following according to AE. They also hail the Vertere Pulse HB Ethernet cable as knocking anything that came its way against as well as the Vertere phono cable. Also, the Vertere RG-1 Reference Turntable/Reference Tonearm has replaced Da Vinci Gabriel, Wave Kinetic NVS, Transrotor's flagship and several Durand Telos in some systems according AE. I am not endorsing Vertere products, but they are worth checking out, and I would give them a listen if I am in the market for any for any of these products.
1. Absolue Creations TIM Crystal Dreamline Plus/ Reference USB
2. Siltech Double Crown Golden Universal USB
3. Light Harmonic LightSpeed USB cable |
