2. digital
  3. 1308313042

Berkeley Alpha DAC: cabling and breaking-in time

Hello all,
I'm a new BADA DAC owner and my questions to experienced users and owners are about to obtain the best as possible with redbook 16/44 files from this great DAC.
How much has to be considered as breaking-in time for the Berkeley?
Which is the configuration that in your opinion and experience is the best in cabling (power,digital and signal) and source/transport? My first impression the bass frequencies, especially the lowest ones, are not so impressive as I hope.

For complete information, I'm inserting the DAC into this system:
- EAR Acute CD player now used also as transport, waiting to make a decision on a valid source
- EAR 912 preamp
- EAR 534 power amp
- Cardas Clear cabling

Thanks in advance,
Massimo
maz65

Showing 2 responses by rja

rja's avatar
rja
2,382 posts
 
Maz65, forgot to mention, I owned an EAR Acute as well. Really liked the sound, especially with some tube rolling, but felt the CD transport was a bit on the cheesy side.
As far as I could tell most everything was replaced in the Acute except the transport. Just curious, did you check out the EAR stand alone DAC at all?
rja's avatar
rja
2,382 posts
 
My new Berkeley broke in quickly with subtle changes rather than anything major. I leave it powered up most of the time.

I also tried a number of mostly balanced digital cables but ended up liking the Oyaide 510 terminated with bnc's very much. This cable has the added benefit of being very reasonably priced.
One word of caution, the bass was initially extremely exaggerated and bloated (really bad) to the point that I almost got rid of the cable.
Gradually over about a month the bass become tighter and more realistic and the best I'd tried with the Berkeley. If you decide to try the Oyaide you must give it time to settle in.
BTW: My cable was cryo'd although I'm not sure this makes any difference or not. Definitely don't want to argue about it. 8^)
More to discover