I just installed my alpha 3 last night. Fed by a blue sound Node 2i. Tested last night with spotify and will test Tidal MQA today. Sounds great out of the box.
What filter are you using? I tried the 1.16 and 1.24 so far. The 1.24 was louder.
Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC Series 3
Just upgraded from a BADA DAC Series 1 to 3. I haven’t seen many reviews out there so I thought I’d share my thoughts. It’s definitely better than my Version 1 (w/ MQA upgrade which was a big upgrade) that I’ve owned for nearly 10 years. Sonically, it has better detail across the spectrum according to my ears but without added harshness. At twice the price roughly, I’d estimate that it’s 15-20% better sounding. I’m used to the hi end price-value curve generally flattening so I was satisfied with the improvement. Physically, it’s a larger unit with a little better casework but nothing like the Reference. The larger dimensions were needed to incorporate some of the Reference’s innards. Also, no more transformer hum that I could hear when up close to my Version 1. It’s a great company and the owners are terrific to deal with. I had some field upgrade issues with my Version 1 that I received great support.