Home Source Components

I'm contemplating picking up a Transporter (which I can get a discount on), but would consider other options up to $1400 (to then use with a Squeezebox). All my music is streamed and it would be to the Extreme Platinum and/or srm-007t in my sig. Any other DACs you would recommend? Had the DA10 recently, and while I liked its signature, looking for something new.

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

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.

Hi all, Looking at getting something like the Trends UD-10. Basically just want a quick and dirty USB-Toslink convertor. Looked at the Hagerman units and they only have coax or AES/EBU. Any suggestions would be welcome. If you know of a place to get the Trends cheap, that would be great as well. Thanks, Jay

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…

I posted about this over in the TTVJ forum, but I'd like to snag the HC opinion as well: http://www.ttvj.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=1110 This phono looks very versatile. I like the idea of a tube MM stage, while throwing in the SS to beef up the output for MC. And Todd says it should be available in 2-3 weeks.

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." …

So, tube buffers. I've read numerous opines over the years about how great/bleh tube buffers are and wondered who here has ever played with them and what you think. Are they the shit or is it just a phony way of adding some tube distortion in a way pleasing to some. From what people are reporting it seems like they can make a middling system better but can also mess up a better one. It's all very confusing to my pea-like brain, however it does sound mildly interesting.

It may possibly come to pass that I could soon be the owner of an EA Denon 9200. It will come with one EL34 tube, so I'll need to get a matched pair of tubes and fit them before I will hear it. A matched pair of Electro Harmonix EL34 will set me back

His budget is 350 bucks... I don't think he minds camping ebay/audiogon, but if its something that is immediately available then that would be more ideal. I know sony direct drive for cheap bucks is a pretty good deal so maybe a list of models/links for those would be perfect.

Hey Guys, A head-fi'er larryminator is bringing a couple turntables to the Toronto meet that look interesting: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=248953 What do you think of these two offerings? I know next to nothing about vinyl, but Thorens seems to have a good name, and the other one looks pretty nice. I've talked to the seller through PM and have been reading his posts in the meet thread and a few Grado threads and he seems to be a good guy. Is the price good? They look to me in nice shape, and it would save me delivery. Since Ray and Peter are coming to the meet, I am sure I will have enough people on hand to make sure it is setup properly. I've ask…

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

Finally got it

I got a TT for my birthday. It has usb and stuff for converting to digital, which seems convenient. *watches bank account implode*

Ok folks, I've been lurking for the past 2 weeks trying to find presumably better DAC for my current setup which is : Notebook --> Pico DAC-->WA6 or Gilmore Lite -->MS1/HF2/701/ESW9. I have been looking hard at the following: 1. Benchmark Dac1 2. Buffalo - used 3. Grace M902 - out of budget but I try to find used 4. Gamma 2 - used 5. Lavry DA11 My road map in the distant future is to upgrade to balanced so I thought I would like to start with DAC first. I understand when I'm ready to upgrade to balance I would have to get rid/recable of almost all my current headphone/amp. On the other hand, I'm also looking hard at ATH W5000. So should I use the cash…

Ok, so my wife is tired of all my listening with open cans in the living room so I am starting to think about moving everything into the second bedroom/office so she doesn't have to go into our bedroom to watch TV. I will likely get a nice club chair and ottoman and my plans are to either replace the Denon with a different DVD player or replace the Denon with a different CDP. The Denon has a pretty decent DAC in it but I know I could do better. Given the expenses of everything else I'd like to keep it under $500. Any advice would be appreciated.

I'm still using the Trends UD-10.1 but since it is limited to 16/44.1 I'd like to upgrade to something newer. Has anybody any experience with the newer models out there? Multiple outputs is a plus (I'm catching up to Dinny with the number of DAC's here) and I don't really care about the price or the size. I did a quick search and the M2Tech Evo looks good but what else is out there?

I was reading this review, and it mentions the AqVox USB isolating power supply: A strong statement. But after looking around, there appears to be some controversy -- so...what it is? Have you tried it? Did it make a difference? It sounds like I should at least try it, but the AqVox appears to be geared towards the European market -- so is there a North American equivalent? I'd be particularly interested in Justin's thoughts since he has probably already put some thought into this. Justin?

I have been playing with idea of hooking up my netbook to my main system to play some FLAC files and WAV CD Rips that I got floating around. Most of them are HQ LP and CD rips of stuff that I can't find in any other format and that are rare as hens teeth. Burning them to CD is a nuance and I want to just play them using Foobar2000 feeding my DAC or just straight into a preamp. Not sure which way to go or what device to use. Do any of you use something like this? Have any suggestions?

Mainly due to a desire to try an amp with a more linear volume control I've picked up a TTVJ Slim with DAC, a Pico Slim amp and I'm looking at picking up a DAC only Pico all to compare with my current Pico DAC\Amp. To be honest I've been quite happy with the Pico DAC\Amp's performance so I haven't really paid much attention to the market over the last couple of years, is there anything else out there in a reasonable price range that I should be looking at? My preference is for something fairly small, battery or USB powered, that I can cart back and forth between work and home every day but depending on how the amp side of things shake out those requirements might not …

I've been thinking about getting a new MacBook and I realized that Apple has changed all the ports. Everything is Thunderbolt 3/USB 3.1 and the headphone jack lost its optical output with the 2016 models: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7818763?start=0&tstart=0 Have you guys done any research on DACs with Thunderbolt 3/USB 3.1? I think everyone is going to be using USB Type-A to Type-C adapters until manufacturers release new products. Yes, I realize that there isn't an immediate benefit to using Type-C connections for audio. It looks like an opportunity to sell stuff all over again.

So here's my pickle. I am currently running my Apple Airport Express through my DAC1 using the AE's optical out. However, if I wanted to use a USB DAC, I would need a converter for the SPDIF--->USB conversion, correct? I'm aware that such things exist, but I'm wondering: a) Do they actually work well in practice, and Would such a converter work coming off the AE instead of directly out of a PC? In other words, most of the converters I have come across tend to have a PC in the mix, which indicates to me that maybe there's a driver issue. But I don't know shit, so help me out.

Computer audio novice trying to figure out whether an interim set up would work: If I get a MacMini could I use the USB connection on an Oppo BDP-83SE as an external DAC? OPPO BDP-83 Special Edition Blu-ray Disc Player If not, is there another way to use the player as a DAC for computer based audio until I move to an external DAC?

I would like to use the Pico amp/dac as a DAC, connected to my powered computer speakers. I tried measuring output voltage by connecting one of my multimeter (set to AC voltage) to the 1/8" output and the other to ground (while playing 60Hz tone through the computer but having no headphones/speakers plugged in). I was getting readings that were really low when the volume was low and it got about to 2V on high gain about 3 o'clock. Does this seem correct (who knows if I was doing it right)? I decided to trying using it as a DAC with the volume at 12 o'clock and and the gain on high. There seems to be enough volume for listening at my desk. Is there a correct setting…

I would like to connect the KGSS (balanced), Woo Audio 5LE (SE), and GS-1 (SE) all to the ECD-1. I was hoping to be able to have more than one amp on at a time (but at least not have to plug and unplug cables). Is it ok to have amps connected (and running) to both the XLR and RCA outputs of the ECD-1 simultaneously and will this degrade sound quality? This was my plan: |----(RCA)----> GS-1 ----(loop out)----> WA5LE ECD-1 | |----(XLR)----> KGSS[/HTML]