Good dac to reproduce soprano vocals?

Hfl,
Was the Berkeley Audio Alpha the Alpha2? If not perhaps you could give that one a listen as it has been refined a bit over the original.

HF - the problem with glassiness you are experiencing is due to two things:

1) the poor digital filter that the DAC imposes on that sample-rate
2) high jitter

I listen to 44.1 tracks all day long and don't get any of this glassiness or hardness. I do select a more optimum digital filter on my DAC. If you are at the Newport Beach show, come to the Atrium hotel and have a listen to my system.

I used to upsample everything to eliminate these nasties, but with the right digital filter (or no digital filter as in NOS DACs) and low jitter it is not necessary anymore.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

Hello Steve and thanks,
That's what I've been waiting to hear. That is, how does one rid a good system of these digital nasties. I've been aware of your products for some time and appreciate your input. I can go all day long listening to redbook and be quite happy until I put on one of my favorite opera recitals. SACD goes a long way in improving the sound but I'm still searching for a remedy for 44.1 discs. Any chance you'll be at the Capital Audiofest in July?

Hfl, why not simply rotate a few of the contenders in your pricerange through your system and hear for yourself. This would certainly include Steve's overdrive DAC, but MSB offers in house trial on their new analog DAC, and I'm sure there are others. In my experience, the range of opinions is so broad you really have to hear electronics in your own system to make an informed decision.

I personally either get stuff on trial, or even better, scout audiogon for a very good deal on a used piece that can be resold without loss if you don't like it. For the latest greatest digital the latter approach does not work, but if you want to try something like the perfectwave MKII or even a BADA II this is a viable approach.

Edorr,thanks. I generally try to use your approach for a lot of components. What's interesting to me about this thread, so far, is that no one has replied with any first hand experience from listening to opera. I guess that means I'm a very small audience for this stuff, and that the empirical approach may well be the way to go. No pun intended, Steve.