need suggestions - transport for EVS Millenium Dac

While the Pioneer DVD 440 might work fine as a transport, this is one of the newer units that supposedly has the "bad dac's" in it. As such, you might want to shop around for another model that would offer slightly greater versatility as an "all in one" type of player. Should your external DAC ever go down, you would at least have a decent standby player without having "earbleeds" to worry about that way.

If it is still available, i would check into the Teac VRDS model that is currently listed for $450. I was thinking about buying it myself for one of my systems, but if another "needy soul" was to snag it first... : )

If that one is gone, go to www.yahooshopping.com and do a search for a Parasound CBD-2000. Some place has factory refurbs for $500, which is a phenomenal deal. This is a belt drive top loading player, but also makes for a great transport. As mentioned, this would also give you a pretty reasonable "one box" to use in an emergency. I just ordered one of these for my brother to feed his Millennium with. We will play around with cables when it shows up.

Out of curiosity, what digital cable are you using ? Sean
>

Tom, i also liked the Pearl with the Mill II. It is also a decent cosmetic match if things of that nature matter to you or your "better half".

In terms of having a hum, yes, that was me. I ended up sending that DAC back to Ric as an outright return because of it. After trying a few other dac's, i ended up buying another Millennium II. This one is slightly different in that it i can run it directly courtesy of his built in attenuators with their own output jacks or run it into the preamp via the standard line level outputs. I've never run it direct though, as i have other sources in that system and can't spare the versatility of a preamp.

As it is, I think that there is some kind of "problem" between the preamp that i'm running and the Mill II, but it still sounds better than all of the other combo's that i tried. If i can find something that reduces or removes the hum, i'll let you know.

As to the Teac, is it still available or gone ? As mentioned in the original ad, it uses a mechanism that is highly respected and the basis for machines that cost THOUSANDS of dollars. As such, it would make for a great transport at a reasonable price. Sean
>

Glad that you were able to snag that piece. Now i just hope that you like it : )

I hear where you are coming from about Ric discontinuing production on these pieces. As it is, i currently have a Mill II, my brother is running a Mill 1A and i'm looking for another Mill 1A or 1B for my Father's system. As good as the Mill II is, the Mill 1A or 1B is not that far behind overall and is a REAL bargain in my mind.

As to digital cables, i'm currently "sperimentin" quite a bit. I've got an FMS Digital Data, a Tara Labs cable, a McCormack Wonderlink, a Canare with "true 75 ohm" connectors, etc... I'm waiting on the arrival of a Kimber Illuminations D-60 that should be here tomorrow. I've never "burned" any of these on my Mobie, but i really should. I think that doing such would level the playing field out somewhat. The McCormack needs it the most, as it is the brightest.

As it is, i currently prefer the Tara out of those mentioned. The D-60 is silver, so i want to see what that does to the system before i burn it in. Albert is sending up a couple of low cost cables for me to burn for him, so we'll see how those stack up also.

In terms of converting the DAC to balanced, i would not attempt it. Not only would this alter the sonics of the DAC, it would probably not be monetarily worthwhile. I'm sure that you can find someone to do it for you though, so long as you have the cash to wave in front of their face.

Can't help you with the Panasonic units, as i know nothing about them.

I still have to play with the system that the Mill II is in in terms of the grounding scheme. While what i have in mind might not solve the problem, i think it might help lower the noise floor of the system overall. Sean
>

I would contact Tara and see what they have to say about the subject. Drop me an email and i'll try to take a look and see exactly what model i'm using. I think that it is long out of production, but maybe not. Sometimes manufacturers have some "new old stock" laying around. I was able to snag the very last pair of Magnan III's that David Magnan had this way ( courtesy of Duke at Audiokinesis ). The Tara is definitely more focused sounding than the more expensive FMS. As you might have also guessed, Tara is also known for making "smooth" i.e. "non-glaring" cables and that is how this one sounds.

I'll hook up the Illuminations D-60 tonight and see how that sounds. I have the feeling that it will need burning to "mellow" things out though. It is a silver cable with teflon jacket. Construction is different from most other cables though as it somewhat resembles the Magnan III's that i mentioned earlier. Sean
>