Home Source Components

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?

I am looking for measurements of the voltage out level of various sources, commercial and otherwise. Nominally, sources are "line level", but this turns out to be a term without a lot of real adherence. Consumer gear is said to be at -10dBV, which equates with ~0.316V RMS, but most sources seem to run hotter than that. Pro gear has a US standard (+4dBu or ~1.228V RMS which is 1.78dBV) and a German one (+6dBu, 1.55V RMS or 3.78dBV). Notice that V RMS, dBV, dBu, and dB are all different things -- you can convert between some of them at dB dBu dBFS dBV to volts conversion - calculator volt volts to dBu and dBV dB mW - convert dB volt convertor converter calculation onli…

So I've been researching a problem I've had for a while now. Mostly since I switched to the Denon DL-110 cartridge I've been encountering groove echo. It hits between tracks, or during quiet parts, and I'll hear a faint echo just before the sound hits (one revolution before, to be exact). It also tends to be a faint echo on the right side, even if the actual music is shifted more to the left. I have never heard a post-echo but can assume that they are present but being masked by the music. My copy of Keith Jarrett's Koln Concert is especially annoying, since there are so many pauses followed by a quick stab of piano. I've also heard it strongly before The Rolling Ston…

Slot-loading compact disc drive Asynch USB up to 96 kHz / 24-bit Ethernet link for iTunes and UPnP libraries S/PDIF inputs (AES/EBU, RCA, Toslink) iPhone/iPod Touch remote control XLR and RCA outputs, fixed or variable. Drool. Sounds like it's going to be expensive though. $6K or so.

anyone tried one of these? http://tech.uk.msn.com/audio/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=158211805

A friend of mine who is a music producer and is not nor ever will be a DJ wants to build a phono rig for digitizing vinyl. His budget is $1000. He needs a phono pre with a line out (he's got the ACD covered), a turntable and needle. He's asked me, but my phono knowledge is too DJ-centric. Any HCers have some suggestions for those three components that fit within his budget constraints? Are there any turntables with built in pres in that range that are not utter crap? Also, he'd like to be able to play back 16 and 78RPM records but that requirement is is secondary to the above needs.

Anyone have any experience with the Sony XDR-F1HD tuner? Lots of positive reviews: The Audio Critic Sony XDR-F1HD David's DX Website - Sony XDR-F1HD Radio Review ... but wondering if anyone here has one?

I learned a few things... I assume SACDs are similar to regular DVDs.

So, my dad's ponying up like 10 grand for a McIntosh integrated tube amp and a pair of B&W speakers and needs a source to go with them (as well as interconnects). I'm not well informed about high end sources so can some of you guys help me find something that's up to par with the amp and the speakers? Looking for DACs or CD/SACD players Lets say $5000 limit

Emotiva Audio XDA-1 Digital-to-Analog Converter I saw a thread about Emotiva's $299 DAC on Audiocircle. I will get a chance to check it out at RMAF this weekend.

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…

Hey y'all, first post since coming from Head-fi... Filburt graciously turned me onto Headcase this past weekend (thanks, Filburt!!) I was wondering if anyone has had personal experience between the ECD-1 and the Northstar M192... both in an unmodded state. I currently have an opportunity for both. I'd prefer to use them stock (not ready to plow funds into mods right now)... but may want to mod them in the future. So, I guess... how would you rank them stock... and how would you rank them EA'd? ...some "why" would be really helpful, too! BTW, I'll be using them with an EC ZD and Senn HD580's... and I seriously dig Filburt's modded Assemblage 2.6 with the ZD/HD580's.…

Long story short, I'm thinking about completely overhauling my speaker rig. I'm going to do something I haven't really done before: work back from the transducers. I've decided on a pair of Lowther DX4 drivers. More data. Everything else is up for debate. Opinions? Enablers, start enabling!

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 …

I am very happy with my PS Audio DLIII, but I was thinking about someday doing the stage 3 or 4 Cullen mods to my PS Audio DLIII - PS Audio DAC, GCHA, GCPH modifications - Cullen Circuits It wont void the warranty and reviews have been very positive. But someone else recommended another company that did his PSA DLIII mods: Reference Audio Mods, cd player mods,audio mods, audio modifications Do any of you guys have any experience with either company and have any opinions you could share? I'm posting here because at the other forum I expect to get too many conflicting thoughts and opinions from people who have never even heard the mods. Like I said, I am very hap…

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?

For all you guys who are banned: Granodemostasa, another fellow Berkeley Head-Case'r, has graciously dropped off his Lavry DA10 for me to compare against my newly acquired Stello DP200. I think this will be a good comparison because both units are DAC/headamp combos, both can act as a pre-amp. That's where the similarities end. The Lavry is a non-upsampling DAC employing op-amps in Class-A mode in its analog output stage, while the Stello is a upsampling DAC (up to 192, with an option to bypass upsampling altogether) using fully-discrete, Class-A, balanced output stage. The Stello has a remote-control while the Lavry does not. Some pictures will better illustrate th…

Today, my friend & I went to a top secret test location to take part in a top of the line digital showdown. We had a Simaudio Eclipse & Andromeda, Wadia 861, and the Mk1 Audio Aero Capitole. Amps were Wavelength Cardinals with the Coincident Total Victory II speakers and a S&B TX102 TVC preamp. Music was mostly classical and not entirely to my taste, but not surprising as me & my friend were the only ones under 45. I found this rather depressing since I had to act mature and refrain from ejaculating 4-letter words. I was also saddened that I couldn't play Slayer. On the bright side, no one played Norah Jones nor Diana Krall, and there was no "Hotel Cali…

Hopefully this is the right place. For 22 years I've gone from not knowing what DACs are, or what EQ and DSPs are good for (didn't even know the term DSP existed), to experiencing the best sound quality I've ever heard through headphones, due to learning a ton this past week or so. I thought I'd share. I made some tweaks to foobar's DSPs that are all incredible sound-quality improvers. ...For headphones, at least. (I have Denon Ah-D2000s.) I'll type up a guide about it now! (This is copied from my journal. I wonder if it's a decent newbie guide.) Everyone's audio system is different, so the guide may not produce a purely positive result without further tweaking.…

Cartridge reco's for Technics owners typically fall into the Denon MC camp for compliance matching, and classic sonics. However, the Ortofon Concorde integrated shell/cartridge presents some interesting potential usability/setup benefits. Anyone have any experience with KAB's custom hi-fi version: Thoughts on the general subject? Thoughts on which stylus is best (STY20/30/40)?

I know a few here jumped on the Geek Out DAC/amp when offered on Kickstarter. Rumor is the desktop version is going up on Indiegogo in a couple hours. http://parttimeaudiophile.com/2013/10/28/light-harmonic-introduces-desktop-geek-pulse-on-indiegogo/ “Geek Pulse” provides superb sound quality from a wide range of high-resolution formats, in an easy-to-use plug-and-play device. “Pulse”‘s DAC natively decodes PCM files up to 32-bit/384kHz, as well as native decoding of DSD64 and DSD128 files, and features the Patent-Pending 3L buffer introduced by Light Harmonic in Da Vinci DAC. The amplifier is pure Class-A, utilizing a super-quiet DC power supply to produce 3,000 …

Why has Zhaolu become synonomous with DAC these days? Why do people spill blood and sacrifice their first born child in defending this DAC? Ok, I understand it's probably a good DAC, and the price is certainly affordable for the large majority of Head-Fier's, but does it really deserve all the attention it's getting? I don't think I have ever read one negative comment about the Zhaolu, which is quite odd. Either it really is that damn good, or it's owners just happen to be sheep. So what's the deal, am I just a hatin' mawfucka or is this thing overhyped?

It is probably fairly lame by most standards here, but there is an interesting article on PC audio that has just been published on my favourite PC tech site, Anandtech. It particularly caught my eye in that the test involved a Twisted Pair Opus in dual mono config......

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... …

I can find very little about the Stax DAC Talent online. Has anyone here heard it and could give some impressions? I found someone selling it for about $300 U.S. dollars. Is this a reasonable price? After hearing all the great comments about vintage DACs I am interested in getting one. I listen through my Luxman amp to way too many Stax. I'm looking forward to your comments.