Home Source Components

No thread for the latest ladder DAC on Head-Case I believe it does HDCD, looks like it does it through the custom DSP filter? Naim Audio # Chassis: The 3mm aluminium chassis and die cast fascia provide the fundamental structural rigidity necessary for low microphony. # Printed Circuit Boards: Six layer glass fiber PCBs optimised for low microphony and high speed data transfer. # Analogue Filters: Two Cascaded third order Sallen-Key active filters giving 36dB/Octave roll-off. Each stage incorporates Naim zero-feedback complimentary buffers. # I to V Converters: Convert the current output of the digital to analogue converters to a voltage waveform ready for…

Vinnie has released his new modular amp/dac/phono stage/headphone amp device he calls LIO. I like Vinnie at shows but have never owned any Red Wine Audio gear. How does this thing look to the HC tech folks and critics? Discuss. http://vinnierossi.com/

I can't find it on the HR page, and Google searches aren't turning up much that is useful. It's still pictured in a few of the HR-BUD photos and a PDF of the manual is still online, but that's about it. I did some preliminary searches on head-fi, but I can barely navigate that site these days. If it's in fact gone, it seems like an odd move to me. The "build your own Max" option of buying a HR-BUD, HR-UDAC and DPS is no longer possible. Not to mention the lack of a top of the line source for the HR power amps + Harbeths. Where's Tyll when you need him?* *Yes, I realize he's no longer directly affiliated with the company.

Hi all. Since I'm getting in the Cambridge 840C, I was wondering what type of cable should I get for connecting the my 840c to my laptop? The 840C has coax and my laptop has S/PDIF 1/8". I haven't done this before as I'm guessing that I could connect my laptop or Ipod to the 840C and use the DAC in the 840c? I was thinking about getting Blue Jeans to make a cable to do this. What would you folks recommend. Thanks in advance .

Denon's DVD-A1UD: world's first universal (SACD / DVD-A) Blu-ray player - Engadget SACD, DVD-A and Blu-ray player... for the small sum of $6k

I'd like to get a dac to pair with my recently acquired O2/KGSS rig. I'm currently using my APL modded Philips SACD1000 but there's a pretty big portion of music that I only have on hard drives. I'd like to keep this as inexpensive as possible but if I can't find anything to my liking I'm willing to wait it out awhile. I'll mostly likely be using the DAC with a Squeezebox as the transport.

The story starts here: http://www.head-case.org/forums/home-source-components/5712-vintage-dac-sonic-frontiers-sfd-2-a.html So to summarize the story: last week I bought a vintage Sonic Frontiers DAC and I come home and the right channel is completely distorted. Although it managed to work for a few hours (giving me a taste of its magic), afterwards the distortion came back and never left . So I take it to a repair shop and the person confirms it is the right DAC is at fault. Yes, the one with the bizarre foil on it . So I've been had. The D20400A chip is probably quite hard to find these days and probably obsolete as well so a solution occurred to me which …

Well it's finally arrived after sitting at APL since December waiting for the 32bit upgrade. I'm not terribly bothered though as it arrived in one piece, the whole 20kgs. The unit is still warming up but first impressions are very positive though the whole system is stone cold so I might have a better idea tonight. Right now I'm listening to the SACD Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms and it is flat out stunning. The sound is just like it's from a great electrostatic, hanging in space and inviting you to take a listen. The first thing I did was to rip it open to inspect any shipping damage so I'll leave you with some internal porn... …

Ok, so we all know that I'm DACrazy. I recently purchased a Dodson DA-217 MK II D, which is a vintage '90s DAC. I have yet to see a bad review of the unit, but there also is not a tremendous amount written about it. Also, the designer is dead. Regardless, after 1 hour, I can say that this DAC sounds pretty damn good. As many of you know, I have been very much in love with my ECD-1. Well, the Dodson may be better. I have a lot more listening to do, and I will post some internals here. But I think this is a pretty promising find. Oh, and I'm fully willing to admit this could be placebo...

OPPO BDP-95 Blu-ray Disc Player

So what I'm after isn't truly a squeezebox alternative but that's as close a description as I can find. Probably a better comparison is to the Sony HAP1ZS but that's way out of my league. In essence what I'm looking for is a music player with a HD inside that I can rip or transfer content to, has an intelligent and usable interface that doesn't require an external monitor, does not require a network connection to function, and doesn't cost $2k. Perhaps even better put is what I really want is an iPod that's wall powered, with a larger display and larger HD. A decent internal DAC would be a bonus. I don't want to just use a laptop. I don't want to use an iPad. I…

So the sickness is sucking me in yet again, and I've sold my beloved Opus DAC to try a Buffalo. I haven't heard a Buffalo, but why should that stop me from ripping the heart of my system out and taking a blind chance on the Buffalo? There are of coarse a few members I trust that have the Buffalo already, and their brief impressions are quite positive. However a little reassurance never hurt, so tell me about the Buffalo guys and gals. How many have heard it?

Northstar M192 DAC (thanks Reks) Neat optical illusion. the faceplate is not wavy aluminum like it looks from the front. Back: Certainly a dynamite looking product. just some chicken scratch (upsampling turned on at all times, will mess around with it later), all testing was done switching back and forth. Started off with some John Zorn's Electric Masada and then some early King Crimson and Tool. I think the Lavry is still a very dynamic DAC, but the Northstar takes it to a whole different level. Loud sounds are huge, dynamic shifts (both macro and micro) sound incredibly lifelike. Dire Strait's Brothers In Arms/Communique (both WG Target discs) …

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

hi, right now my main source is a PC I want to buy a good used CD player which can play mp3 disks because most of my song are mp3 files. I know you may recommend me to use flossless files but I mainly download music from internet so flossless files are hard to find cables i have had so far are virtual dynamics digital RCA and analog RCA my budget will be around 4k when you recommend me the player, can you also give me a good price tag for it? which brand should i consider? thanks for your time

Well I just sold off all my old stuff and I am without a system and have a handful of cash. My budget is $1000. I am considering these: 1. a new Lavry DA10 - $975 2. a used, modded Benchmark DAC1 - $825 AudiogoN ForSale: Benchmark DAC1 silver 3. A modded bel canto DAC2+ - $750 on head-fi here: FS: bel canto DAC2+ (Legendary Edwood balanced mod) - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio 4. A used, unmodded Benchmark DAC1 - $760 AudiogoN ForSale: Benchmark dac1 blk non-usb 5. Other suggestions? thank you! I was really leaning to the Lavry for a while but now I am not quite sure. Tell me what you think.

Thought I would start a new thread to ask all my newbie questions and host the pictures.

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…

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…

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!

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." …

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…

Smoking deal http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?homevdeo&1192926190

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.

Hagerman Bugle + DL-103 Associated Equipment: Technics SL1200MK2 Sumiko Headshell Cambridge Audio 840A Quad 22L Introduction I remember when I first got into vinyl blah blah roy gandy is a swell guy. The Story While the DL-103 > Cinemag SUT > Bottlehead Seduction sounds great with rock recordings, I've been experiencing some brightness when listening to certain jazz records which I know aren't mastered bright (Hoffman 45s). After trying to do everything I could with my speakers (move to and fro front and side walls, toe-in), and confident that my cartridge is setup perfectly, I remembered something I read about cartridge brightness usually ha…