Home Source Components

Got my shipping notice today for the Zdac, via Audio Advisor. According to them I was #1 on the list. I've apparently been #1 on audio dealer's lists before, because my Mom said many times that I was #1 on the Schiit list. Didn't even know they made audio equipment at the time. Anyway, I've been curious about this DAC for a while, due to it's small size, and my previous taste for the Parasound sound. I've recently amassed a handsome stack of matching Zgear to encompass a tidy little desktop system. This will be my first USB DAC, so I'm a bit excited about the prospects of such a device. Other sources beyond computer audio will be my Cambridge iD100/iPod/iPad and th…

I was looking at a USB digital transport so I could bring my Lavry back home for winter break, and this thing caught my eye. I ordered on the 13th, got here to CA on the 15th from Hong Kong, so I'm very impressed with the shipping. I really like this thing, the build quality is solid. It's small but not feather-light. It has all the digital connection I'll ever need. I'm running the AES/EBU directly to my Lavry, out of my Dell laptop using foobar/ASIO. The thing just works as advertised, and the price is pretty decent too. I think I paid $105 including shipping.

Oops, that's Nylon Jungle Ahhhh the analog sounds of a rock being scraped over a piece of pressed plastic. Can't beat it. I was bound to get here at some point. I've resisted it for awhile, mostly due to cost and upkeep hassle and the pesky need to flip over something when 1/2 the album is over. But a friend mentioned the new Rega P1 turntable, it's great price and the fact that it's plug and play...so off I went to the local Hi-Fi shop to greet my smiling Rega dealer. Of course so thread is complete without pics: This is my first real dive into hi-end vinyl and it's a budget entry for sure, but so far, I gotta say, not bad at all. I'm run…

New Squeezebox Duet.. http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_duet.html The remote does look pretty cool What do you think guys?

First Listen: Wadia 151 PowerDAC mini | AVguide Seems to make quite a lot of sense for desktop/second systems.

I've been exchanging e-mail with Barrows over at PS Audio about the DL-III I have and how it handles high sample rate data streams through the SRC. He mentioned that PS Audio is looking to release a new Ultralink DAC.

Anyone ever heard of it? 1990/91, build quality seems insane. There is a local hifi that had it used for sale but it quickly went. Sony CDP-X777ES on TVK, detailed inside views AudiogoN ForSale: Sony CDP-X777es

When I try to reproduce 24 bits 96Mhz files the sound just goes on and off and when I check the DacMagic the 96 Mhz mark Led is blinking, which normally stays fixed indicating the frequency is reproducing. This makes me wonder if the Dacmagic really supports this kind of files or its my computer.. I limited on the computer the frequency to 48mhz and plays just fine... Any guesses

I think I'm going to forgo my desire to get a Rega P3, I doubt it would be a huge upgrade from my current MMF-5. And I've received some feedback from the SH forums saying as much. The MMF-5 is a great table, I'd just like to make another intermediate jump before going all out. So I've budgeted $1000 plus or minus a little bit for just the turntable and arm. I'm open to spending a decent percentage on the cart as well. But I want to figure this part out first. The VPI Scout/JMW9 is at the top of my list, even though I know a couple of people here aren't fans. And I won't have any problems selling it which is also a big plus. And I've heard a nicely modded Aries3 on num…

About a month back I picked up the Kora Hermes DAC after reading about it on Agon and AA. It was a reference for a bit for a few reviewers so O thought I'd give it a go. I am using it slightly unconventionally in a computer as source rig with a hagusb/aes converter to take the usb signal out of my apple mac mini to the aes input of the Kora dac. I have been on a search for the holy grail for a while now looking for a dac that would plit the difference between the thicker analog sounding wadia/opus21 sound and the faster but brittle sound of some of the newer top gun dacs. Having gone through the wavelength cosecant, transporter, transporter APL modded and apogee mini dac …

If I were to but the new Ayre DAC (with Wavelength tech.), what advatage does playing from my Apple hard drive (Apple Lossless) vs. a red book CD in a Marantz SA11S2 modified?

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…

Hi guys Not sure of there is a thread here for this. Anyway, I was wanting to let folks know who maybe haven't tried this connection method that it rocks! Those that have are already ahead of the game. I had a demo of the C1 CH precision 6 weeks back, and using USB connection is was just too bright and forward, making many tracks sound harsh. I talked to the dealers and they said it works best with the D1 or using Ehternet. That got me thinking. I didn't want to spend anything like the money on a C1 for that level of sound quality, and TBH it was not as good as my existing DAC. USB Out AOIP In I have had various USB chains, Offramp 5, M2Tech EVO st…

Interesting that PS Audio is still putting money into SACD at this point. I wonder if they are planning to release a new DAC as well:

For your viewing pleasure. http://www.audio-consulting.ch/MorsianiFin1.jpg http://www.audio-consulting.ch/MorsianiFin4.jpg http://www.audio-consulting.ch/Koetsu1.jpg

The EAR Acute CDP Or, how does one decribe the goodness of an Ansel Adams photograph? Is it the technical mastery? Ansel Adams was afterall a master with his darkroom work and the technical aspects of his pictures, the exposure, contrast, detail, sharpness, tone, and so forth are outstanding and beyond reproach. But there's a lot more to his photos than that, the composition and how he captures a scene, the artistic aspect combined with the technical mastery is what makes them truly great. There's a lot of things which can't be described with words, but if you see the photos you instantly know that it's something special. And that's the problem I have when try…

I'm selling my NAD redbook player, but have been interested in one of the Oppo universals for a while just to give SACD a shot. However, I know nothing really about SACD. Is it all hi rez? Will there be a noticeable difference in a two-channel headphone rig? And, perhaps most importantly, do SACD players play nice with standalone DACses? Educate The Monkey.

Got in the Seduction today. No SUT until at least thursday, so I swapped out headshells (once again, Technics for the win. I love having multiple carts on hand, prealigned for quick install) and went from the DL-103 to the AT440MLa so I could go ahead and give the Seduction a listen. Wide open, warm sound, lifelike midrange, very detailed without being too neutral or boring. The brightness of the AT440MLa is greatly reduced, which is a surprise. While I have always respected this cart, I am seeing now that it scales remarkably well with a better phono. My one complaint at this point is the bass is a little muddy and lacking definition. When the mid…

Hi, I hope this isn't a stupid question, but anyway: How is a $2000 CD transport better than a $200 one? As far as transports go the output is entirely digital, there are no analog stages that can be affected by inteference/component quality/etc. So what's the difference? Digging through doesn't seem to yield any definitive answer. I wish I could A/B them, but unfortunately its hard to come by in my area. Thanks!

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.

Don't see much coverage around since it was released a few days ago, but the price is right for a lot of uses. Anyone heard anything pro/con? http://www.emotivapro.com/products/stealth-dc-1-a

I tried to take every detail. I still have some photos if someone need more details. Overall sound is good. This dac runs warm. Quiet curious about the buffer design. comments plz @kevin gilmore

Does anyone know of a source for tape drive belts? I'm curious as to what's out there.

If anyone's interested, there's an Audio Aero Capitole on sale on HF. I don't know if it's a good deal or not, though. http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=256498