Levinson 39 vs Bricasti M1
his is also a great one that’s cheap the way I bought it, QED Silver 75ohm digital, purple in colour and it can be bought off the roll so you put your own rca’s on. https://www.qed.co.uk/cables/hdmi-digital/reference-digital-audio.html#tab1 Cheers George |
I can’t see them replenishing their stock of the Ultra Analog D20400 dac chip modules, as Ultra Analog Inc. hasn’t existed now for over 20 years. https://datasheet4u.com/datasheet-pdf-file/524897/UltraAnalog/D20400/1 Cheers George |
jabThat would have been good to know, as I know someone who needs one. So I emailed Parts Connexion for price, they said. "Unfortunately we do not have any." Cheres George |
I thought Parts Connexion had parts to repair their dacs.Yes but they didn't make this part, which I believe is now extinct and the company long gone.. https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/attachments/digital-line-level/680840d1526414993-ultraanalog-d20400-... Cheers George |
But maybe too much so for me. I’ll have to listen some more. I think you may change after a few days/weeks of listening, I’ll say this though, the best recordings now will blow you away, but the bad ones may irritate more because they’re not being softened anymore. To me this means your getting everything, warts and all, no punches pulled. Also I’ll leave this thought with you. As for XLR hookup. The 39’s PCM1702 dac chips are pure single ended. By using the xlr output you are using another opamp in the signal path that pseudo changes se output into xlr. I think the purer sound should come from the 39’s se outputs, not the xlr’s. Cheers George |
I read that both the 39 and Model 1 have a true balanced signal pathImpossible for the 39, look at page 3 pin 11/14 it the only current output, and it’s single ended for one channel to the I/V opamp. Anything after that is going to be "pseudo xlr" made up by another opamp to create it. I would rather no have that in the signal path, so the single ended output should be better. http://www.lampizator.eu/lampizator/LINKS%20AND%20DOWNLOADS/DATAMINING/1702%20dac.pdf The M1 Bricasti yes, it's the other way around as it's dac chip has + and - outputs so it's balanced. Trouble is it's Delta Sigma conversion which I feel is not as good as R2R Mulitbit like the 39 for converting PCM Redbook 16/44 and 24/96. Cheers George |
I have a mk.1 and mk.2. Both busted. I’ve heard the chips are near unobtainium.Yep, if it's been confirmed those Ultra Analog d to a converters have bit the dust, then I'm afraid you have what used to be very nice expensive dacs, that have now progressed to be very nice expensive door stops. RIP Cheers George |
I like the 39 so much I want to get a 360S. Then that’s settled the 39’s mine, your a good bloke Marty. https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9di1j-mark-levinson-no-360s-dac-quad-multibit-24-bit-burr-brown-pcm1704-s-da-converters Made a mistake above the, 39 only has the PCM1702 dac chips, not the later PCM1704 The only problem with owning the 39 is the laser Philips CDM12 Industrial, original Philips almost unobtainium new even used $$$ Cheers George |
marty97x One of my R2R dream machines, been looking for one for ages, to do redbook with. Yes they do have PCM1704K d to a chips (selected) and a HDCD input filtering chip, this is about as good as old school R2R Multibit gets, most new today are discrete R2R because the PCM1704 is no longer made because of it huge manufacturing cost and was the last of the best R2R’s chips made. And forget the preamp, you really should try the No.39 direct to poweramp as it has an output stage most active preamps couldn’t match, should sound far more transparent. Here’s how to do it. Fixed/Variable Volume. Balance Control Locked Volume Cheers George |
