USB Thingie

[aardvark baguette]

Originally Posted by deepak

You could probably mod a Transit inside it very easily keeping everything under $200.

Red Wine Audio used to mod it and charge ~$500. They put it in a new housing, among other things.

[itsborken]

Originally Posted by EdipisReks

anyone ever use Stereo-link? certainly looks the part...

I had a 1200 back in 04. 1200 < Transit < Pico

[Upstateguy]

Hi Reks

I don't know how far you've progressed in your search, but being unable to find much info about the Thingee, I decided to order one to check it out.... should be here in a week or so, directly from the Canadian factory.

I'm going to use it to supplant the USB on my Constantine-M^3-laptop set up....

USG

[Augsburger]

I would be very interested in your impressions. I need to upgrade my office rig since I am acquiring so much higher rez music lately.

[Upstateguy]

Well it took 11 days .......

Initial impression:

Looks bad, sounds good......... Olé !!

The most I can say right now is that it sounds much better than the Constantine's USB implementation.

What doesn't it do? It doesn't turn a Constantine into a Stello.

USG

[Fungi]

How's it sound?
And why the hell does it look so... bad? This has got to be one of the ugliest pieces of audio gear I've ever seen.

[EdipisReks]

oops, didn't see the new stuff in this thread until now. i think it looks kinda charming.

[Fungi]

The swirly clear/opaque goo is just kind of disturbing to me. YMMV
And by how it sounds, I mean as a DAC.

[ojnihs]

man that thing is ugly

[n_maher]

You'd think that a company name "Blue Circle Audio" would use a fracken blue LED, no?

[jinp6301]

ugh must be the ugliest piece of audio equipment ever made

[hYdrociTy]

I like it- but did they use the same glue with good dielectrickxs as alo? If no then no thx.

[Pars]

It looks like clear silicone... given the shape of this thing, etc., its a wonder that it makes it thru customs!

[Upstateguy]

Originally Posted by Fungi

How's it sound?
And why the hell does it look so... bad? This has got to be one of the ugliest pieces of audio gear I've ever seen.

I'll know more about the sound over the weekend...

Originally Posted by EdipisReks

oops, didn't see the new stuff in this thread until now. i think it looks kinda charming.

Kinda Ghetto in an IRA pip bomb sorta way.....

Originally Posted by Fungi

The swirly clear/opaque goo is just kind of disturbing to me. YMMV
And by how it sounds, I mean as a DAC.

I'll give it a try as a stand alone DAC, but I don't think that was it's original intention, just a side effect of the chip used to convert the USB to Coax and optical....

Originally Posted by ojnihs

man that thing is ugly

Not really ugly, just looks like it was cobbled together by an amateur...

Originally Posted by n_maher

You'd think that a company name "Blue Circle Audio" would use a fracken blue LED, no?

10-4 on that, and it's a really annoying red LED...

Originally Posted by jinp6301

ugh must be the ugliest piece of audio equipment ever made

Looks really home made doesn't it?

Originally Posted by hYdrociTy

I like it- but did they use the same glue with good dielectrickxs as alo? If no then no thx.

See Pars below... it is clear silicone....

Originally Posted by Pars

It looks like clear silicone... given the shape of this thing, etc., its a wonder that it makes it thru customs!

No wonder it too so long....

USG

[Upstateguy]

Blue Circle Thingee: A review in stages with photos

First Impressions:

As a stand alone DAC.... it works as one, that's all.

For it's intended purpose, as USB interface, I love it ! There is no difference in sound between its coax and optical outputs and it sounds great. But what I really mean is that the Constantine-Thingee combination sounds great. The more I listen to it, the more I realize how much improvement it has made to the Constantine. Very smooth treble and mids, no sibilance, good sound-stage, very crisp bass.... lol, looks bad, sounds good! Very good.

Whether this sounds any better than a $79 Transit would, I don't know, but I'd like to think so. Maybe I'll see someone at a meet with a transit and I'll find out.

I wouldn't mind comparing it to the Trends UD10 with battery pack either.

USG

Some pics

[Upstateguy]

It just keeps getting better and better...

Had it hooked up to the Woo3 + 650s this weekend....

What's that thing that Thrice says.........mmmm geraniums

[hYdrociTy]

nast.

[Voltron]

Originally Posted by Upstateguy

It just keeps getting better and better...

Had it hooked up to the Woo3 + 650s this weekend....

What's that thing that Thrice says.........mmmm geraniums

I think that "Mmmm -=geraniums=-" would be more apt.

[Fungi]

This thing isn't even in the casino

[Knuckledragger]