DACs

[Ali Tait]

Bring yer pipe an slippers!!

[Gazjam]

Hmmm, maybe not, but its not worth €99 - have you looked inside it and seen the code, there's feck all there? Linux does the same for free, but something tells me you are finding that out right now

Seems the 5V thing is confirmed then, makes sense and I'm sure they will all be doing it soon, which could hit iFi USB and make their unit redundant?

I'd pay more than 99 Euro's for a subjective cable upgrade (and have done loads of times)...all I care about is when I click "Play" does it sound better to me than before in my system..Jplay does, to these jaded ears, and its not subtle either.

and this is coming from someone who tried an older version of Jplay and thought you scheming gits!

Jriver recommends an ASIO driver where possible...Jplay is a customised ASIO driver for Jiver with customisable options.
Its a hoax apparently..go figure.

As with everything HIfi in the real world, hear stuff for yourself in your own system, if its better...great. If not, move on.

I've tried most tweaks in windows to improve audio, worked with Bios settings, registry settings and tried linear PSU's in audio servers.
Some stuff is bulls*$ some makes a difference, and I can tell you that in my experience Jplay is worth the asking price.

[wee tee cee]

gaz brought along bits and bob over recently, heard the young dac at my place it was very natural souding....grabbed my son to hear it with his 19 year old ears-he was very impressed at its neutrality and musicalness (dunno if that's a word) might well give alis valve dac a points decision 15 rounder.

[Oldpinkman]

Totally agree. I have tried a couple of modern day dacs to date and neither have sounded 'right' to these ears. As soon as my faithful old DaCapo is plugged back in, it does.

Richard, look into getting the capacitors changed in your DAC if you feel it's a keeper and if it hasn't been done yet. The DaCapo had an issue with leaking caps. You may already be aware of this, but I thought I'd mention it just in case you are not.

Thanks. I was aware of the issue from JW posts on pinkfish. When I spotted this DaCApo on ebay I asked that very question - and went to see it and listen to it before picking it up. Without wanting to get involved in bickering between 2 mates who have recently started talking again, there is a rumour that is a bit of a fairy tale. Indeed, there is another capacitor horror story lying in wait - buried in the potted section of the Dac. Enjoy it while it lasts, and hope that JW can be persuaded to build DaCapo again, with the capacitor wired the right way round this time. He appears to be interested in another Dac project anyway

[Oldpinkman]

I've not heard the Young. I heard the Rega, but not properly. I have heard MDac twice (3 times if we include in the CD player before MDac launched). I note What HiFi rate MDac very highly and imply it is as good as the Young. (I also note that What HiFi rated the Arcam 10P power amp I am using whilst I wait for my 405-2 to be mended very highly, and it is not my cup of tea. Nor my wifes. Nor the dogs.)

I haven't A:B'd DaCapo against MDac. I listened to MDac on whatever the system Sevenoaks HiFi had in the shop at the time was (Arcam again I think) and , more seriously on my DT990 headphones, straight off the dac. I trust John Westlake as a talented designer, genuine, honest, caring, very competent individual, and was going to buy MDac blind to show Mrs S that CD could be sooo much better than we had, now she had discovered vinyl and HiFi. I had £600 burning a hole in my pocket.

And I wasnt convinced. And the very non-techy Mrs S said some nice things to humour me "its quite nice" "yes lovely" etc. I put it down to being just out of surgery, and planned to take 7oaks up on their offer to take one home and try it there - you can't ask more of a dealer, 5 stars. (A good old A:B). But I haven't, and I am in no hurry to.

And then, to scratch an itch, I decided I really wanted, just once, to remind myself what DaCapo 22 bit sounded like, and prove I am finally senile. I knew about the leaky capacitor story, and only ever saw either Ordinal with 22 bit, or Dacapo with 18 or 20 bit. And finally, I saw my new toy (cue a Gollum moment from Lord of the Rings, "my precious"). Detoured on the way to see another PT old boy to pick it up. Frustrated weekend in Norfolk, no shops open, when we realised it had balanced, toslink or coax inputs, but we only had a coax lead with RCA's and it had a b***y BNC on both its coax's. Got home to use my toslink, and realised there was only a BNC on the CD6 I am using as transport. So waited for some BNC's from ebay....

Plugged it in, switched it on, listening through said "not my cup of tea" Arcam 10P. Wow! Mrs S "Wow". Step son "Wow". (I haven't let the dog listen yet)

We have just listened to one of Mrs S's old (uncared for) Eva Cassidy CD's - to "Songbird" a song we do together with me strangling a guitar (Mrs S is a trained soprano). Did you know there is a wood block (instrument) on it? Now, I havent rushed round to AB and see whether I notice it on the old cd player, or my iphone. But I don't remember it before. So much so I thought the Dac had become defective, and wondered which capacitor had blown.

Now, this long ramble, is by way of getting back to "wow" differences, "deal-breakers" or whatever you want to call them. They are important enough for you to need them to really enjoy music. The differences you have to go back and check, and make sure which one you like, may be real, but - before anyone jumps down my throat - TO ME - don't matter. At University on a management course, I learned the term "satisfycing". It was by contrast to the alternative of "optimising". You might think that you would always seek the optimal solution. But in human systems, involving the wide economy, there are just too many variables, and no opportunity to experiment on the alternatives. So instead of trying to optimise, and never reaching a stable conclusion, you seek to "satisfice".

You find a solution that is "good enough". It may not be the best - but it does the job. Personally, for ME, that idea is important in HiFi. There are some things, which, once I've heard them, matter so much, I can't do without. Interestingly my non-techie wife picks all the same ones, and whilst she might never stoop to reading a HiFi magazine, and still listens to an ipod, they matter to her too. Some solutions are not good enough. The poor 10P, bless it, would be one of those for me. There is no need for A:B's. I am just not enjoying the music. And this is the important thing about "good enough". If you are always chasing the best solution, you end up listening to the equipment and not the music.

The Rega or Young may be better than my DaCapo. And if they are, and I hear one one day, it may matter to me enough to "have to have one". But right now, DaCapo has floated my boat (again). I can listen to CD's again. It has passed the real test - I listen to CD's for ages at a time (not done that in 20 years) and we are digging out all our old CD's to hear what they sound like on it.

"Good enough". "Satisfycing" "Deal-breaker" differences. No A:B required.

[aybracers]

Hi oldpinkman,

Please can you clear your personal mail as your box is full.

Thanks

Roger

[Oldpinkman]

Inbox clear