I see the APL has two fuses......changing these to better ones (unless it comes with seriously good fuses) can raise the sound level considerably. Also damping the lid with weight and different kinds of feet/mounting can make a world of difference as well....Sometimes removing the lid opens up the sound. How about a few WA Quantum stickers on the DAC chip and power supply caps?...works for me (you can remove them and reuse them...they do no damage). If there are undamped heatsinks inside then damping them with EAR SD40AL will make the unit way more palpable and real. It takes time to get the best out of a component. I know, I am just too tweaky....hey...I like it!
Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD
Hi All.
Putting together a reference level system.
My Source is predominantly standard 16/44 played from a MacMini using iTunes and Amarra. Some of my music is purchased from iTunes and the rest is ripped from standard CD's.
For my tastes in music, my high def catalogues are still limited; so Redbook 16/44 will be my primary source for quite some time.
I'm not spending DCS or MSB money. But $15-20k retail is not out of the question.
Upsampling vs non-upsampling?
USB input vs SPDIF?
All opinions welcome.
And I know I need to hear them, but getting these ultra $$$ DAC's into your house for an audition ain't easy.
Looking for musical, emotional, engaging, accurate , with great dimension. Not looking for analytical and sterile.
Putting together a reference level system.
My Source is predominantly standard 16/44 played from a MacMini using iTunes and Amarra. Some of my music is purchased from iTunes and the rest is ripped from standard CD's.
For my tastes in music, my high def catalogues are still limited; so Redbook 16/44 will be my primary source for quite some time.
I'm not spending DCS or MSB money. But $15-20k retail is not out of the question.
Upsampling vs non-upsampling?
USB input vs SPDIF?
All opinions welcome.
And I know I need to hear them, but getting these ultra $$$ DAC's into your house for an audition ain't easy.
Looking for musical, emotional, engaging, accurate , with great dimension. Not looking for analytical and sterile.
Showing 12 responses by ricevs
Steve, How long to the 12 gauge Jensen foil inductors take to burn in? I bought some to try on my Neo 10 midrange (.56mh) but they sound dull and rolled off. A Jantzen 12 gauge wax paper and foil inductor sounds way more transparent and dynamic (both with no burn in). I notice that the Jensen 12 gauge inductors use twice as thick of foil compared to their 14 gauge ones.....maybe the 14 gauge ones would sound faster? |
Have you guys read this? : http://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/528-devialet-400-mono-integrated-amplifier-dacs He even likes the $6500 one better than anything he has heard on his Magicos. A DAC, a preamp, an amp...all in one. Why would you not try it if you could afford to? Never heard it myself but I certainly would try it if I had the money. |
Have you guys seen this: http://www.changstar.com/index.php?topic=2047.0 Does not do DSD but it may be really great....one review said Bricasti was in the league with Empirical.....well, one guy here says Yggdrasil is better than Bricasti....we shall see....certainly a nice price point. And cheap enough to mod. I want one to tweak....send it now! |
The AD1955 is $7.00.....sounds cheap to me....I quess you don't like the word Cheap? How about inexpensive?....less offensive? I did not say the Berkeley Ref or any expensive DAC is cheap....just talking about the DAC chip.....it is cheap. cheep cheep went the bird...he he. I agree with others that say the DAC chip is only one part of the whole.....you can take a $7 DAC chip and make a state of the art DAC with it (Berkeley) if you know what you are doing. Schiit chooses to use 4 $75 R to R DAC chips in their $2300 product....but I bet it does not sound any where near as good as the Berkeley. A couple of years ago Martin Colloms raved about the $100,000+ Audionote DAC that uses the obsolete 18 bit AD1865 DAC chip.....no digital filter at all. Says it can compete with vinyl playing CDs! I notice that Border Patrol has just released a $10,000 DAC using the same chip with tubes on the output. I am thinking of making a DAC myself with this chip....I made one around 2000 and it sounded incredible.....I have more ammunition now...should be fun. |
Lies? Man, you are off the deep end! Who are you quoting? Must be God because you are so righteous! he he. But God would not have said "In My Opinion". You don't have an opinion....you believe you have the "truth" and you keep quoting other peoples opinions to back up your "truth". You must not have much of a life to need to be so right and to tell everyone on every thread about your "truth". I feel sorry for you. The real lie here is that you do not see how beautiful you are. You are the light of the universe! You don't need to prove anything to anyone. Love yourself.....it feels sooooo Good! |
George-lo-fi just won't let it go. He believes he is right and will state so over and over again. There was this guy on Audioasylum that would always say DVD-A sucks or something like that.....he would say it over and over....eventually we made up a #9 game........meaning when you post #9 it would mean "DVD-A sucks". After anyone would mention DVD-A then someone else would immediately post #9 and the guy had nothing to say.....it was already said. I think we can do that with George......since He likes multibit maybe we could give him #11......as in two bits....which is what his comments are usually worth....he he....just funning. Most everyone else can see that implementation is more important then whether the DAC chip is R2R or not....not George...it is everything to him.....As I stated before Schiit has 4 $75 20 bit exotic r2r DACs in their $2300 DAC....no way it is going to sound as good as the $15,000 Berkeley DAC that uses the $7 Analog Devices thang. However, all things being equal I would also vote for multibit r2r....however, they are rarely if ever equal. Back in 2000 I made my Millennium DACs and the second to forth versions I used the 1704 r2r DACs....the first Millennium DAC used the AD1853 cheapo. The 1704 version sounded a little better but also only had one op amp on the output whereas the AD1853 had two. Very similar sound. Now, if you use a super digital filter with the 1704 or no filter then you get something much, much better....I was using the stock BB DF1704 filter....not good by todays standard at all. When I made a proto back then using the 18 bit dual r2r AD1865 DAC chip with NO digital filter and one op amp on the output it creamed my 24 bit r2r 1704 DAC with discrete output stage.....slaughtered it. Implementation is paramount.....however, parts are important as well. |
Another DHT DAC with R2R chips in it. Check out: http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=icm8ojuu9fpe4n6k814jpbektdcpnkv5&topic=138741.0 The manufacturer (bigkidz) commented in the next to last comment on this post: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/hot-off-the-press-yggdrasil-review $4800 intro price.....going up to $8800 in full production. This is WORTH looking into! |
Gustard X20?......what is this? Please check out this thread: http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?19433-Chinese-DAC-shames-a-few-heavy-hitters If you read the whole thread there is a second person who also likes this DAC better than Yggy and Vega. And this thing is stock and costs $870 delivered to your door in less than 10 days! This thing is really well made and has two 8 channel ESS DACs (8 DACs in parallel for each channel). Yes, I have one here and will be working up serious mods to it. The output stage has two op amps and a discrete buffer.....my output stage will be either one Jfet with no feedback or a single killer discrete circuit for I-V conversion for those that need more than one volt. Seems the hot thing is to upsample PCM to double or quad speed dsd using HQplayer (better than jriver, etc....according to some) and then run it into a DAC. Some say this is the best PCM sound ever. The Gustard could be run this way. Check this thread out about doing this using the Nadac: http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?16542-On-the-12th-Day-of-Christmas-my-true-love-gave-to... Can the modded Gustard X20 be as good as $10,000+ DACs? We shall soon see. |
If you have a DAC that can do high speed DSD.......from what I have read....then you really want HQplayer on your Server/AudioPC. Seems everyone who has heard it is raving about DSD upsampling with HQplayer. The new $4000 T+A DAC can do DSD512 and has discrete DSD decoder. Check out What’s Best for info and also Computer Audiophiles description of the Berlin show and the comments that follow. The Gustard DAC that I am modding can supposedly do DSD512 and we are working on getting 512 going in the next couple of weeks. Of course, the new Meitner is already upsampling everything to DSD1024.....however, it still might sound better using HQplayer to upsample to 512 first. Trouble is, the Meitner (at this time) is limited to taking DSD 128 into its usb port. This is weird since there are DSD256 files available to download. You can make your own audio only PC that can run Roon and HQplayer at the same time.....Roon to select and HQplayer to play through its better sounding upsampling software. John Makela (Quadman) has made an audio PC for not much money that combined with some usb isolators interfaced into a level one modded Gustard playing 128 or 256DSD via HQplayer sounds better than his $20,000 turntable with a $5000 cartridge. And this is just playing 16/44!!!!! Information on how to make such a computer is on my website (tweakaudio.com) linked off the Gustard mod page. I will be making one soon. The modded Gustard sounds outrageous just playing 16/44 files......what is it going to sound like upsampling files to 512 via HQplayer?.....cannot wait! This should be fantastic! |
My favorite inexpensive footers are the ones from Mad Scientist. I have not tried his very latest but the ones he sells for $200 (for three) are way better than the best DH cones into Walker lead pucks. Some have liked these better than Stillpoints. I believe he gives 30 day money back......he is in New Zealand, however. |