Home Source Components

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

I've been thinking about getting a squeezebox or a sound card with bit-perfect output. I'll be feeding the digital out from the squeezebox or sound card to the digital input on the Opus 21 (coax in only). The squeezebox would be the more convenient solution but I really hate the slimserver software. The last time I really used it, was early this year (february or march) and I couldn't stand it. It was slow, and seemed very buggy. Has it improved at all? Now if I go the sound card route, it'd be cheaper as I'd just need something with a good digital out (coax). Plus I'd get the benefit of using foobar which I absolutely love. The downside to the sound card idea is t…

I recently sold my DAC-AH to a fellow HC'er. It arrived in good shape, but he had the following issues with it: I received it back today, again in good shape. I briefly powered it up without making any audio connections and there was no tingling or any other feeling of electricity. I touched the case in multiple places, including the RCA sockets. When I was using the DAC, I never had any electrical problems. One difference is in how we used it. The buyer used an optical connection between his source and the DAC whereas I always used a COAX connection. I'd like to debug this without electrocuting myself. I have only very basic electric circuit knowledge and defi…

Teaser: So my local dealer has the entire Audio Aero CD player lineup, SE & non SE, but they were always setup in different systems and I never got to hear them on the same gear. Until this past weekend. In short, the SE is better, but I still don't think it's worth nearly as much as they're charging for the upgrade, which is quite a few hundred bucks. As a person who knows which end of a soldering iron to hold, chances are I could do the upgrade myself for a hell of a lot less. Of course, if one can afford a Capitole at retail prices, money probably isn't an issue. Gear: Artemis Labs LA-1 linestage and SP-1 power amp, with Wilson-Benesch Discovery speakers. I w…

I need a standalone usb dac. Anything else I should consider in the same price range?? Some people mentioned that 06 Microdac is too warm, output level is way higher than normal and bad usb implementation. Is the the case with 07 model too??

I'm currently using an Accuphase DP-500 and Chord DAC64 MkII. I've had the Accuphase for four months and the Chord for more than a year. Both are Red Book-only. Most of the time I listen through iTunes or foobar, using the digital outputs of an RME HDSP 9632 sound card. Playing a CD on the DP-500 sounds better than its digital input fed by the RME sound card. However, I think the RME -> Chord is roughly equivalent to CD on the DP-500, with each doing some things better and some things worse. It is very close. This was disappointing to me, because I expected CD on the Accuphase to sound better. I really like the convenience of PC-as-source and currently have over …

story In a word, DRM (well, acronym).

Anyone have any thoughts on this battle? Have the opportunity to pick up a Transporter discounted, but curious if others have compared?

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?

So I've been listening off and on to my Thorens TD160 and so far I've got to say that I'm pretty unimpressed. Now, I know full well that I've probably got a crap cart on there and that it's not setup right but before investing in at least a Mid-Fi cart (you can expect a thread on that one too) I figured it'd be a good idea to at least get what I've got setup right. I'm not averse to spending a little money on this project but if someone tells me that I need hundreds of dollars of kit to setup my $200 vinyl rig that'll be the end of it. So what's the sane way of going about this? *paging postjack, paging postjack*

Howdy all, I just received an email from a friend. He wants a recommendation for a DAC to use with his Slim Devices Squeezebox. His desired price is <$1000 and didn't say if buying used was ok. Let's assume that a used DAC is ok with him. He mentioned the DAC-1 as a possibility. Lastly, he mostly listens to classic rock. I'm not a DAC guy and am hoping that you guys can give me some recommendations to pass on to him. Please note that this isn't for headphone listening. He has a system based on vintage Macintosh amps. I think that his speakers are Proacs, but can't remember for sure. Thanks in advance for your help. -ken

Oz, at Let There Be Sound Just got in a few of these new USB DACs from Cayin. It has a USB in on the front of the unit as well as a mini headphone jack. It also has controls on the front of the unit, including volume control. It also comes with a remote. There are two DAC chips. Analog out 1 uses a TDA1543 and Analog out 2 uses a PCM2706 which is also volume controlled. The iDAC can be used as a preamp through the second analog out. I finally got into my music room to try it out. I am using it as a pre at the moment through a Berendsen STA 150 power amp and my System-Audio Ranger speakers. The only headphones I have at the moment are ER-6is. I haven't tried them yet. As y…

Has anyone heard this DAC? Here is a pic: Here is a link to the website: http://www.tubeaudiodesign.com/ It sells for $1000 with a remote. He offeres a 21 day trial with a $45 restocking fee. It doesn't have a usb input but he says on the site the following: "USB PC sourced digital audio sounds amazing! Need a small external 24-bit, 96k Sound Blaster USB powered data converter box ~$50 at Office Depot. The TADAC has the best sounding audiophile hardware - the PC data conversion circuitry is not built-in. Best keeping the two separate to unleash the best possible sound. Yahoo! Music from the PC is high resolution - PC audio sounds like CD's using the TADAC." …

I'm not in the rarified source world that a lot of you are, but I've been looking for a decent sub $500 universal player. I'd been leaning towards the oppo, but found that Cambridge makes a universal that is pretty well regarded that has an audio-only setting. Anyone know anything about it? The few reviews I've' found make it seem decent.

I went to my local audio shop and had an audition of the dCS Paganini player (transport, DAC, and clock), which is about $50,000. It was hooked up to Audio Research HD220 amps and Sonus faber Elipsa speakers. I had a nice, extended listening session by myself in a properly set up room in a comfy chair. It was a beautiful, natural sound. I really thought this combo broke through the technological limits of previous disc players. The $50,000 question is: can this be done in a less expensive way in a single box? I played the following pieces on it: Anna Netrebko - Sempre Libera, SACD layer Verdi - La Traviata (E strano! E Strano! - Sempre libera), I haven't ever …

Five Players Enter, One Player Leaves This is an epilogue, of sorts, and in another way, it?s the beginning for me. As some of you may have noticed, I bought an Arcam FMJ CD36 last week. This is the tale of what went before? I listened to the $50,000 dCS Paganini system three weeks ago and returned to hear more CD players to inform my final purchasing decision. If I won the lottery today, I would certainly give serious consideration to the dCS Puccini player or perhaps the EMM Labs CDSA SE, but that is currently happening only in a parallel universe, with more goatees. I would like to thank Michael, Leland, Angie, and Arnold at American Sound in Richmond Hill, Ont…

Has anyone here ever done his own needle drops? And so, how are the results?

If any owners (or former owners) could offer impressions of the Wavelength USB DACs I would appreciate it. Or any good user reviews on other forums. Thanks

So I'm gonna have around $400 soon (yay for selling my supermacro ) and I'm looking to upgrade from my Entech Number Cruncher to be used with a CK2III and Grado 225s (woodied hopefully in the near future) The DACs that I'm thinking of are the MSB Link III w/o upgrades, Headroom MicroDAC (new and old) and OPUS dac. If you have any suggestions, tell me!

I like how the tubes look like they're in those tubes like from Event Horizon or whatnot. Click pic for info link.

Hi, I'm thinking of getting a Lavry DA10 but from the pictures I see, it only has XLR outputs. Can I connect it to my single-ended amp using XLR to RCA cables? Will there be any problems in doing so? Also, I don't need the headphone out on the DAC. Is there any DAC with equivalent quality but doesn't have a headphone out (and cheaper)? Thanks!

So a few weeks ago I had the chance to get together with some folks and listen to some nice vinyl rigs. Crap, I'm now ruined, because I've now heard what vinyl can really do, and it's goddamn scary how good it is. What was most shocking to me was the soundstage and the amount of low level details. With vinyl, I could be practically anywhere in the room (other than right next to a speaker or something absurd like that) and the soundstaging would still be as good or better than sitting in the sweetspot with CDs. In the sweetspot, it's like there's no speakers in the room, even with non-audiophile records like a 30 year old Bob Marley LP. In terms of detail resolution it was…

So they finally dropped the price on an Arcam FMJ CD36 in Canada. But... 1) Will there be a replacement soon for the CD36? 2) I'm still waiting for reviews of the upcoming Oppo DV-983 - it's supposed to have the same audio output section as the DV-980H. 3) Can a TweakAudio modded Oppo beat an Arcam flagship CD player? 4) Does an Arcam transport beat an Oppo transport? 5) The Oppo can play HDCD and SACD discs - does Redbook quality trump Hirez playback? 6) Oppo has video output - is it worth sacrificing great DVD upsampling video for brilliant audio? Also, I listened for about an hour this weekend to the $2,500 NAD M5 on a NAD M3 amp with (green) Audioquest …

i'm assuming "home source components" qualify as anything that needs to be plugged in or is too heavy to transport...so i'll post here ) i used to own a lavry da10, feeding an hd650 balanced through a moon audio blue dragon. sold it off a while ago. it has always been my favorite headphone rig, partially for the transportability of it. i think i'm going to pick one up again... i fed the da10 with either a cheap dvd player via coax or an airport express via optical, depending on the situation. now that i have a macbook, i plan on using optical out of the laptop directly. just wondering if anyone has any experience using the macbook's optical out and how it compares a…

After over 12 years of service, my "home" source, a portable Panasonic SL-S160 player, might be finished. Yesterday afternoon, I heard a popping sound (like static) every few minutes about a half hour into listening to some Jane Monheit - suddenly, the volume dropped out entirely. I turned the amp off, disconnected the line-out and re-connected it, and turned the amp back on. The sound came back, but much quieter, very echoey and distant. At first, I panicked and thought either my headphones or amp was dying. Some testing today proved that both seem to be fine. If I fiddle with the line-out (pull the plug slightly out) on the player, I can get the volume back without e…