Thought you meant you had seen a review or liked some aspect of it.
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Thought you meant you had seen a review or liked some aspect of it.
well I did, as Jerry lkes it and Paul (rffc) has one tooQuote:
Originally Posted by Macca
Ah righto. I've not been paying attention then.
Like many of my buying decisions I will research, consider, and anguish over this for a long time and then get something random on a whim. Need to stop doing that.
:lol:
:D
DAC right first time = DAVE but that is £7500 over your budget:eek::doh:
Yeah I know you love DAVE. You want to marry it and have its little digital children. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Jimbo
I don't know what it would cost on your side of the pond, and it might be close on your budget, a Metrum Musette is a seriously nice DAC, and would go a long way.
So many DACs out there though to chose from!
I much prefer vinyl :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Macca
£1000 over here so a little bit spendy. Plus it is NOS and I'm not convinced that is anything more than a solution looking for a problem. Agree the choice on the market at the moment is overwhelming.Quote:
Originally Posted by Frazeur1
I know I bang on about DAVE Martin but it probably is one of the best DAC s on the planet at a price! I have taken two people from here who you know well to meet him and even they would tell you their jaws dropped!
You have a tough decision finding a DAC for £500 as there are so many of the buggers to choose from especially if you consider second hand aswell. It's like trying to choose a digital camera, there are a vast array on the market and they are all surpassed by new technology within 6 months. I suppose you could say you have to dive in sometime acknowledging this and maybe a current £500 DAC will be all you need and keep you happy for a good while.
I have heard a good many DACs and have constantly been surprised at how they have moved on from the good old days when they only resided in a CD player but I would say the significant improvements only come every couple of years. It's a pity the really good stuff is so expensive!
Personally if I were ever to go back to digital I would definitely not use a CD player but would use something like this
http://www.innuos.com/en/catalog/go/zen-mini-mk2-std
And lash it to a DAC of your choice.:)
If you ever want to hear why I go on about DAVE I can arrange for you to come and have a listen.:cool:
Have you heard this DAC in your own system, though? Have you compared it to other DACS in the same system? If not, how do you know that it is DAVE that is the cause of the wonderful sound? Could it not be that it is just a very good system and that any competent digital set up will sound wonderful through it?Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbo
I look at some of these DACS and the build cost does not seem to be related at all to the asking price. That bothers me.
As for having a listen, you know me, I am always up for having a listen to anything. I have some time off work in the first couple of weeks of March if you fancy doing something then?
Dave can do anything,... but swim :ner:
(You must be at least 45 years old to get this joke)Quote:
Originally Posted by struth
I have heard other DACs in the same system so I can judge what DAVE is doing compared to them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Macca
I will try and organise something for March 10th or 11th if I can.:cool:
Fair enough then!Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbo
Lottery win Dacs would be Chord Dave or Metrum Pavane.
Very different technologies and a lot of moolah so would need a long audition of both.
Considered upgrading my modded Young dac in the past, but resisted as theres something to be said for being happy with what you have, and really its 'good enough'.
Next step dac wise is one of the two heavy hitters above, just as and when.
Now, wheres my lottery numbers again...? :scratch:
Your right Gary they are expensive but certainly not the most expensive out there? I have listened to DACs for a number of years now and they are now getting very good indeed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
A lottery win would help:)
This sounds sublime.
http://i67.tinypic.com/11hq4xv.jpg
Monarchy Audio M22B
Had a model of one of those. Didnt have lock switch. Might have been the A version. Was indeed good for the money. Still preferred my buffer to it.
Martin, well over your budget but well worth saving for is the Mytek Brooklyn. I recently got one and it really has been a game changer for me. Never thought digital could sound this good.
Read a bit about that one. £1600 though. Not a question of saving up, I could buy one at that price but my budget is a self-imposed restraint to stop things getting out of hand. You can bankrupt yourself quite quickly in this game otherwise.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ali Tait
Well if there is somewhere nearby you can demo one, give it a go. Or, give Dave Brooks a shout, he would most likely send you one to try if you like.
I have a pretty fair vinyl front end, this dac beats it frankly.
"pretty fair" being a faint description of it.. :eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by Ali Tait
Need to get a listen to the Mytek mate, though may be TOO tempting so dunno!
Does Brookie stock them?
Aye he does. He's away at the Bristol show this weekend though.
We'll have to have a board meeting soon mate.
A couple of years ago now Alan (Firebottle) came around mine with an OTL valve power amp that he had knocked up from bits he had lying about.
I thought I was getting a pretty good sound, thought I had my amplification sorted, at least.
The OTL amp (I had not heard one before) sounded wonderful, I thought it to be better than what I had, not earth-shatteringly better, but a subtle improvement. This was until Alan left, I put my power amp back in the system - and it sounded worse. Not just 'Not quite as good, I'm an audiophile so I can spot these little differences' worse, but 'So much worse that it sounds broken'.
It took me a week to re-acclimatise. But you can never truly go back. I had realised amplification really matters. Okay so that is not as bad as discovering interconnects or speaker cables really matter. But still a bit of a shocker for me.
Anyway: The upshot being I love this Krell amp and if it were not an abomination of God's Laws I would marry it and have its little heat-sinked babies.
Just had to share that. As you were.
Which socket do you prefer? - mains, RCA or XLR? :eyebrows:
Nice having a good amp innit. :D
I look at what some are using and shudder. That's not me being snobbish, just the awareness of how much their systems are being held back by amp choices.
Of course, there are some 'standout' amplifier choices in every price range, new and second hand. But it's all 'mix & match' really. Even the finest amp can sound grim with the wrong partnering gear.
LOLQuote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
I best not take the miscegeny analogy any further....
The thing with this Krell, and with the OTL I mentioned, and the Firebottle SECA Dulci amp I have, is that they just sound right. Not some specific ability like detail or 'rez' or bass, the sound is just right in some subliminal way the brain picks up on and says 'Oh yeah, that's it, that is hitting the spot.' The Radford STA15 also does this for me. The XTZ I was using previously could do it, but only a good day and with a tail wind.Quote:
Originally Posted by walpurgis
Also since I have got a good match on the speaker cable I'm no longer bothered about the speakers 'WAF Tower' bass character since the bass no longer appears to be coming from the speakers i.e it is more 'effortless' in a way that reminds me of my favourite speaker, the coveted JBL 4365. In fact starting to think I don't need to upgrade to them at all. Which is good as I cannot really afford to buy some anyway.
Did you mean misogyny, daftee? You've just lost 25 'rep points' for your spooling earrer! :eyebrows:Quote:
Originally Posted by Macca
Anyway, I'm glad the Krell's giving you a chubby.
Marco.
Misogyny would make no sense. Well, even less sense. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/MiscegenyQuote:
Originally Posted by Marco
Wonderful :thumbsup:Quote:
Originally Posted by Macca
Fair dos - never heard of it!Quote:
Originally Posted by Macca
Marco.
There you go, Adam. About £3,500 with free shipping:Quote:
Originally Posted by Beobloke
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...01ee2d7545.jpg
http://ebay.com/itm/252776640300
Sent from my CUBOT_NOTE_S using Tapatalk
I know - there have been three on recently!
And you haven't snapped one up?
Bit disappointed with the look of the vu meters. Perhaps it's the dim photo to blame.
How would say your 1200 sounds compared to other players you've had?
Sent from my CUBOT_NOTE_S using Tapatalk
Jerry (JANDL) sent me this Xiang-Sheng-usb-dac-01a to have a go on. Here's a review from a nondescript site:
http://www.sgwoot.com/2012/08/xiang-...ac-01a-review/
He said my jaw would be on the floor when I heard it so it wasn't like he was overselling it or anything :lol:, but to be honest I didn't expect to be that impressed, it's 100 dollars and the case and knobs are metal but not great quality, Jerry has had to use blu-tak to put markers on the volume and selector switches so you know where they are set to, sort of bodge I would do. The power LED had failed and I couldn't get any sound out of it at all with a Parasound transport.
This turned out to be the Parasound's fault and a Sony with a fancy fixed laser transport was swapped in and all was well.
And quite well, too. There was a disc already in the Sony, The Door's 'LA Woman' so I let that play. The opening bars had me raising an eyebrow. The Sony on its own is not that much cop, it does some things well, others badly and it has a bit of grit in the sound that only shows up occasionally but grates when it does.
None of this when it is run as a transport through this DAC though. Like upgrading the player pretty heavily in every aspect. Jaw not on the floor but I am surprised. I'm not using the tube input as for me tubes have no place in digital replay. I'm even going to use that 'no no' glyph thing that Marco uses all the time - here it is: :nono::
This one has had the mod that lets you use the headphone volume to control the line level output so it is in effect a pre-amp, but I have it hooked up through my NVA passive with the volume at half way on the DAC - this was recommended by Jerry, I tried other volume settings but he was right. Halfway is best. Could take the NVA out altogether and it should still work fine.
Anyway listening to a bit of Creedence right now, as you do. Not great showcase recording, just a best of. Not going to bang on with musical comparisons but there's a sax crops up in a couple of the tunes, close miked, that was done very well. Also tried it with Daft Punk, Eagles, and the aforementioned Doors record and verdict: I am impressed.
There is a new version out apparently, Jerry has ordered one I think. Would say this is well worth checking out if you want to significantly improve an old budget or mid price cd player for not a lot. Jerry would say it is better than that and I think he could be right. I just haven't heard that many DACS so wouldn't want to say for sure.
:worthless:
;)
Marco.
Hey talk to the wankers at Photobucket mate. Anyway there's a pic in the link I posted. This one I've got is not in 'mint' condition.
That has to be the Macca equivalent of a jandl100 jaw dropping. :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by Macca
Here's a pic of the wee beastie that Martin has on loan. It's the bigger wee beastie, the wee-er beastie on top is a power-DAC that is also rather interesting.
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/i...psuri4kdfp.jpg
And yes, I now have the latest/greatest version of the DAC and it is even better than the one Martin has.
Although not quite as good as my new NOS TDA1543 DAC! :eyebrows:
Listening to some Steely Dan ('Gold') had to check to see that I did have the tube output switched out because there is a definite hint of valve in the sound. Some slight softness and some slight euphony in the bass...weird.
seen those dac3's. seems to be a wide range of prices from same seller and no shot of the back etc. I guess there is some sort of disinformation about them. Look sweet tho.Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
They are sweet things. I'd been curious about the eBay listings for over a year before I finally succumbed to temptation.Quote:
Originally Posted by struth
It is curious about no rear photos on eBay - but it's fine - USB, RCA and optical inputs, 1 set stereo outputs.
Fantastic sound.
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/i...ps4o1nm76i.jpg
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/i...psf7xs0cuf.jpg
Yes there is the same thing on offer in at least 3 different names. It has internal power btw so uses a proper mains lead.
Got one of those SMSL boxes doing TV sound duty with a pair of control ones, very good.Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
so was yours the 150£ or the £350 version. I take it they run on batteries.Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
They are the same thing, Grant.Quote:
Originally Posted by struth
The designer / seller sets a "RRP" of £350, but then also sells them on auction starting at £140 or so. I took the latter route!
Yes, they are battery powered, charged via the USB input. There is also a power socket for an appropriate external PSU (not supplied with the unit). I've only tried it on battery power so far.
This DAC is now on its way to the new owner so have switched back to my Parasound CD playerQuote:
Originally Posted by Macca
The Parasound in some respects sounds almost crude in comparison, although it does not have that softness in the bass that, for me, was the Achilles heel of the Xiang. Playing 'Gold' again the sound was much smoother and bass guitar notes are more solid and defined but deffo lacking some of the open, sparkly sound of the Xiang. For example on CCR's 'Have You Ever Seen The Rain' the cymbals at the end are clearly intended to sound like rain. In years of listening to this song I have never noticed that, the Xiang made it obvious.
On the flip side, bass issues apart, I found it quite hard to relax to the sound of the Xiang. There was no audible distortion but there was an overall 'edginess' to the sound that, ultimately, I couldn't live with.
This might account for the liveliness of the sound, a little low level distortion can do that. Some may argue it is a small price to pay but I like my sound to have that 'relaxability' factor and I'm happy to trade a little perceived 'rez' in order to have that. All horses for courses.
Given more time I could have tried some different transports and also using the DAC as a pre-amp direct into the power amp, perhaps that would have resolved the issues? I don't know, but I suspect they are integral to the DAC.
Thanks again to Jerry for the loan.
Never mind ... you'll have a working Technics SL-P1200 cdp tomorrow :D