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Just got this stack last week (except the top bit). As a combo, it sounds really fantastic and it's really got me listening to my headphones again. Way better than the Desktop DAC in that little convertible (that isn't wildly surprising...). I was somewhat skeptical about the X-10 (tube buffer), but I think it sounds better with than without so it can't be complete BS. Anyone else heard this setup? (I'm selling the X-CAN v3 that came with it if anyone wants it...). I see there is a new MF X-DAC v8 (3 + 1 = 8?) which includes the PSU, and tube section, as well as USB input in 1 bigger box. Glamour shot attached

Hello every one Like you know I was asking alternatives for the rs1,silly me... but now I completely threw that out of the window(yeah mexican you were right), they are definitely a keeper and I can relate to those of you who have been offended by comparing the rs1 with a ms1:palm:. Some already may know from the chat but I will give the details for those who don't. So a "random" stranger borrowed me an DacMagic and right from the beginning of the first music I was totally blown away by the quality of the sound, uh the details ..the details.. I was speechless .. warm sound ..everything sounded so right, the soundstage before didn't exist exist with the rs1 and now…

Well after some futzing I have modified Exact Audio Copy to check to see if a file has HDCD Data and if it does use this: HDCD Software Decoder [Archive] - Doom9's Forum or: Index of /~cjk32/hdcd to convert it to a 24 bit file and then encode to a lossless WMA at with 24 bits. The files aren't much bigger than the 16 bit files because most of the extra bits are zeros anyway. Pretty cool Can I hear the difference? haven't tried yet but I certainly like knowing that I can get everything out of the HDCDs. Only problem now is that I will have to go through and re-rip my HDCDs.

I am thinking of getting a Rega Apollo R as a transport for my headphone rig (transport -> PS Audio PWD MKII -> BHSE). I need something that is a half rack size and this seems to be pretty nice. I like that it loads from the top too. Anyone know any reason to not get it? The other option would be a CD player that would be used as a transport and dac (instead of the PWD). This could be full size. It would need to have optical in so that I could play music from my Apple Express.

Ars Technica just published a salutary article on studio efforts to improve the sound quality of iTunes and other digital tracks. http://arstechnica.c...he-ipod-age.ars I'm glad there's good news about digital, for once. There are still many technical limitations, e.g., the iPhone still has much less storage space at 64GB than the iPod Classic at 160GB. Each portable can only hold a small slice of a decent music library encoded at low compression or in lossless format – never mind high-resolution files. There's also the tradeoff between battery life, device size and price. The HiFiMAN HM-602, for example, only has 8GB. You're really sacrificing capacity for qu…

Well I come home from work today and I see a small wood crate on my doorstep and it turns out to be my new Resolution Audio Opus 21....

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?dgtlconv&1188151999 What the hell is he using for pictures? Those cool 'ebay' approved 7-11 (err Kwik-E-Mart) specials?

Not sure if any of you have seen this, but this unit looks pretty darn nice! They have built a reference audio section in it as well. It has been reviewing really well on the AVS forum. PQ and SQ rated equally well. The price isn't too bad either compared to the Sony and Denon TOTL. Link Here

So my Yamaha PF-800 turntable showed up today. It is indeed in near mint condition. The best example I've yet seen. I've only just unpacked it and put it together, so no sonic impressions yet. I do think I'll leave this one stock, as I rather like the Black "Lord Vader" look. More to follow on this TT.

I'm really enjoying the flexibility of this litte source, but it's led me to a decision on my computer setup. Right now, I have all my music on an external HD(2 actually) but it's time to bump up the space available as these are pretty much filled. So, is it better to continue with the external HD connected by USB2/Firewire or should I upgrade the aging HD on my server/desktop? I could bump up the HD on the desktop and keep the external HD's for backups. The desktop HD hasn't given a problem but it is an older drive which for my peace of mind could stand an upgrade. What's the thought? Btw, anyone got tips on a quick and painless way of cloning my existing HD onto the…

At Auriculares.org, the Spanish headphones forum a mate has posted a link to an Ebay shop in Taiwan. They sell a NOS DAC with USB and coax inputs, which doesn't look bad at all and is selling for USD180. I wonder if any of you have tried that unit or has some reliable third party opinions. I'd be glad reading them

I was talking to my dad this weekend and he wanted me to investigate a DAC/front end for his stereo system. His current source is a Technics 5-disc CD changer from the 90s, amplification is a Technics surround sound receiver of the same vintage (early-mid 90s), and no-name cables. I was thinking a Schiit Modi 3 might be a good start, but the system would need more smarts, so maybe something with streaming/network capability and DAC would be better. He does have music files stored on a bunch of hard drives, so maybe one large 6-8TB hard drive to consolidate them along with a wifi + interface head? He has an Android tablet, so maybe he could use that to control the ste…

Hi Guys Sorry for the alarming title. I have spent months reading magazine reviews on DACs before I bought my last DAC in June. I want to make my money convert to musical bliss as we all do. I also read many many posts on the various forums from owners and spoke to some owners direct via PMs or by telephone. I am coming to the 'obvious' realisation that 90% of magazine reviews are just bull, total horse shit. Totally slanted to advertising revenue and / or the next free piece of gear at discount or free to the reviewer. The classic 'i liked it so much I bought it' or 'no way I was letting this one go' They must think we are totally dumb? Have you also noticed al…

I'm not sure if you guys have been following the recent developments, but there has been talk of an "enhancement". Well, I'm here to spill the beans to give you guys the heads up, in case any of you are in the market for a new DAC. Currently there is a "silent" promotion going on, which means all new D02 orders placed will actually be for the D02A. For $412 plus shipping you'll get the D02A with external battery power supply and matching chassis, until the first batch ships, then it'll jump to $499-$549 for the D02A and an additional $150 for the external battery power supply. Yup, it'll be a 2 box design with the second housing the battery and charger. But here's w…

Good news! My new turntable supposedly shipped yesterday. It?s usually one day from NJ to Boston, so it should be here today. I?ve also confirmed that the Ginko Dust Cover and my VPI-16.5 Record cleaning machine should also show up by the end of this week. http://www.vpiindustries.com/products_ssm.htm And http://www.vpiindustries.com/product_supplatter.htm Once set up and playing I?ll be sure to take pictures and post a little info. Damn! I?m so excited.

Has anyone heard this turntable? A friend of mine is having one sent to him for in house audition. I might get a chance to hear it.

What good/excellent sources are there with usb and toslink inputs that have an inbuilt preamp or have consumer (-10dBu) rather than line-level (+4dBu) analog XLR outputs ? It`d need to have usb and toslink inputs at a bare minimum, i2s would help future proof it . I am looking for a quieter source than my line-level mini-dac so that I can remove the voltage divider I`m having to use to reduce its volume. A source with as good or better performance than the mini-dac is preffered. my current solution http://www.head-case.org/forums/do-yourself/5997-resistor-type-make-volume-attenuation.html#post218512

Looks like the Abrahamsen v6.0 DAC is shipping in Norway, according to a thread on HF. But it's only shipping in Norway.

Guys, I'm looking for a way to use my trusty Bantam DAC on a pretty minimalistic system running Arch. Requirement is not to be gnome or KDE based and I'd prefer something command-line oriented. Anyone have any experience with the following: C* Music Player is a very feature-rich ncurses-based music player. MOC (Music On Console) is an ncurses console audio player with support for the MP3, Ogg, and WAV formats. ncmpc is a curses client for mpd. ncmpcpp is an almost exact clone of ncmpc with some new features. Sonata is an elegant GTK+ music client for mpd. cplay is a curses front-end for various audio players.

I picked up a Parasound 1100 hd at a thrift shop and found this website searching for info about it, I guess I should have opened it because the manual on the Parasound website is wrong. According to the manual it has 2 PCM63's per channel operating a push-pull output stage. I saw it didn't have balanced outputs but figured the manual was correct. Well it only has a single PCM63K per channel. It has an old high speed video opamp for the current conversion to voltage. I had bought it on the spot vagely remembering an Absolute sound article where they liked it as much as the TOL parasound and as much as any DAC at the time and I have always liked my friends Pass D…

Hello all, I am a newcomer to the forum. This would be my 1st post. My name is Adam. I enjoy long walks on the beach. LOL. J/k. Anyway, I use Audio Alchemy gear for my digital front end. I am using a AA DTI-32PRO with a DDE v3.0. I use a Rotel transport (not high end but no analog output). At this time I'm using coax cables with BNC connectors to connect the 2 AA products. My AA owner's manual claims that the I2S bus is the BEST way to connect these units. Well, I bought these units used and I do not currently possess a I2S cable. I was wondering if anyone on here knows where I can get my hands on one.?? I feel I'm not getting the most out of this gear and am …

A couple of highly respected members here have reccomended the DEQ2496 as a DAC. I am very interested and would like to hear some other opinions on this cool piece of equipment. I also do some home recording and can see where some of its feautures would help me there. My main concern is how it would sound as a DAC. I understand that being pro-audio gear vs. audiophile gear that it will probably be a little more cold and anylitical. But paired with my Bijou amp which is very warm and lush, though it might make a good combo. Anybody have some comments or reccomondations. I am looking for a desktop DAC. It does not need to be portable in any way. I would like …

Will someone with familiarity in the subject area please break down the difference(s) between these three? I was going to just get the 970, but it doesn't have the Faroudja chipset -- how important is this? Someone on another forum said the 981 is supposed to be a replacement for the 971, but takes away the Faroudja chipset (I think he meant the 970, because the 981 explicitly has the Faroudja chipset). This is what I get: 970 -- entry level 971 -- Faroudja chipset 981 -- 1080p Or are there other important differences? I will be using it with this, amongst other things. I am interested in sound, especially SACD and DVD-A, as I can always use an outboard DAC …

So I was leant a Dac-Ah for no other reason than to get my opinion. There seems to be some sort of distortion on it (I'm listening to Camille's Le Fil, and it seems to show up on her voice and the bass, and any other prominent sounds like that) -- is this something that will go away with burn-in, or is there something wrong and needs to be fixed. I forget which exact version it is, but could find out if it's important...or is this something that needs to be diagnosed on a case-by-case basis?

This looks to be a very nice DAC. He offers a blank boards with smd chips already soldered on if you want to put your own together. I'm considering putting one together, but I think I'd have to sell the Opus to do it, and I don't want to do that You can see the DAC at http://www.ecdesigns.nl/dacs/di16/di16.html