External DAC and Theta Casablanca II

Analog Direct... Holy Crud... Didn't even know there was such a thing! Question... Do you have to have an Analog Out Card to run the Analog Direct Mode?

I've got a II with Extreme DAC's and until I read the above I was under the misguided impression that I was by-passing the DAC's for 2 channel Stereo by running my Amalog outs from my Compli CD / DVD to the Analog In Card on the Casablanca II. Prompted by the above I took another look at the Imput Processing Sections of the manual and sure enought there it is... clear as mud.

I set mine up to play 2 channel Stereo from both the Analog In Card and the Digital In Card and IMHO the Analog In Card is much better.

Doug... I haven't tried a plain old preamp to see if I'd like it better than my Casablanca. I've thought about that, but with DAC's being are all the rage right now, considering the fact that my Casablanca has the Extreme DAC's, I have the same question that Scott asked being "how far I'd have to go to hear an improvement". Sometime I think Theta owners have the best of both worlds with DAC's built in to everything from the Casanova on up the Theta ladder, and other times I want to dump it all and go straight 2 channel.

I really think I'd be better served to find someone who actually knows their way around the Theta Casablanca's and pay that person to fine tune that monster. Whenever I pick up the manual, my IQ automatically drops to 5.

Going to school on the above Posts about Theta’s Analog Direct mode by-passing the Extreme dac’s on my Casablanca II, I switched things around so I'd have one of the front buttons configured to play CD's in the Analog Direct mode (single ended analog connection). Sooooooo... now I've got buttons configured to play CD's in Analog Direct mode, Stereo mode via AES/EBU digital, and Stereo mode via single ended analog.

Before I went through the riggers of reconfiguring one of the buttons, I played around by just switching the mode on the single ended analog connection from Stereo to Analog Direct. What I heard intrigued me enough to take the next step.

After setting all the levels to match, I was really surprised to hear that there was a substantial improvement with the dictated Analog Direct configuration compared against what I hear when I just change modes from Stereo to Analog Direct.

The dedicated Analog Direct configuration was night and day better. I’ve had this itch to upgrade my Usher BE 718’s, and the itch didn’t get any better after hearing the Focal BE 1007’s. I walked out of the showroom wondering if it was the room… the mega money front end… or the Focal’s. I had myself pretty convinced the Focal’s were the way to go, until today. Bottom-line, Theta’s Analog Direct mode made cymbals sound much better… tightened the base… and produced smack you in the face dynamics. The moral of this saga is to suggest that anyone that hasn’t tried Theta’s Analog Direct mode for 2 channel, should give it a try.

Stick70... I use the Theta Compli which is a universal CD, DVD, SACD & etc. I seriously question whether the dac's in the Compli are anywhere close to the Extreme dac's in my Casablanca II. All I can tell you is by-passing the II's dac's made my system sound far more transparent with greater dynamics. With the Analog Direct connection it's like I took a blanket off my speakers. Try switching the mode on you turntable from Stereo to Analog Direct and let us know what you think.

Stick70... You sure know your way around Theta. I sincerely want to thank you for sharing your expert knowledge about what’s possible with Theta. Your comments about the Analog Direct mode tweaked my system to the point that the “better speaker monkey” is now on the shelf… at least for the time being. Your system is incredible. Does Theta have a picture of you on their “Hall of Fame Wall”?