Home Source Components

http://www.stereophile.com/cdplayers/193/# Interesting read of Stereophile's first review of the new technology called 'Compact Disc'. Esp interesting to read about the incredible potential which was not quite fulfilled, but will be, the costs involved, and Doug Sax's and The Absolute Sound's concerns for poor sound quality. And of course, RIP, JGH ...

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.

Weiss has released a new DAC202 with new D/A not based on the Minerva and integrated headphone amp. $6440 list price.

I sold a Valab NOS DAC I had in preparation for the $320 Chameleon NOS DAC group buy. I loved the Valab, and it delivered on what I wanted it to (musicality and vocals), and I assumed the Chameleon would only better that. However, I read through the NOS DAC bashing thread with Dan Lavry, and now I'm wondering if my love for the Valab is only because I haven't heard any other half decent DACs. What's yall's opinions on NOS DACs as a whole? Would you advise getting the Chameleon, ever? The only other DAC I've read of that has the traits I desire (warmth, musicality, etc; basically analog sound) is the DAC19MKIII, which is unavailable until later this month and costs…

I could probably find this by searching the site, but I'm lazy and stupid when it comes to using a PC as a source. I ordered the Ayre QB 9 last week, and intend on trying to use my computer as a source in an attempt to downsize my CD collection on the boat. I want to use lossless format and get the best sound I can. I have just a regular Toshiba laptop and a generic terabyte drive. Can anyone advise me as to whether I should get a better computer (such as Mac laptop dedicated for music only), any specific hard drive, which program to use, and if there are any high end USB cables for sale? I have some pretty good source equipment, and I am very picky about the playback qua…

My brother asked me what I thought about using a Mac Mini as a htpc. Since I've never done this, I thought I would ask here. I know some of you use these as music servers. Any tips, recommendations, etc.? Thanks in advance

Got one of these USB->SPDIF converters in this past week. In short, quite a big improvement over my old Trends UD10.1; everything sounds like a layer of fuzz was removed from the signal, resulting in a more relaxed and focused sound. $150 for an asynch USB converter that does 192KHz? I'm sold. Good job Italians. I was actually considering the Wavelink, but not anymore. Also, any lust for the QB-9 has faded dramatically I recommend this highly to anyone who has a PC as their primary source.

The Emotiva Lounge - DAC Poll Price

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

Using a Headroom Desktop amp with Max module and Home DAC powered by DPS. Sounds great with the HD650. I recall reading somewhere that the HD600/650 was used to voice the Headroom amps and their CS4398-based DACs, thus providing good synergy when used all together. I'm curious what the cheapest CD/DVD players or standalone DACs would be that could be considered upgrades to the Home DAC. I'm not interested in the Max DAC (Home DAC w/ AD1896 upsampler). Other than the UDAC, would the frequently mentioned PS Audio DLIII, Apogee Mini-DAC, or even Pico DAC be considered upgrades? Can't put exactly into words what I'm looking for, but something along the lines of "more…

Folks, I now have 2 rigs (amp+usb dac) and I have been trying connecting these 2 rigs into my netbook as transport. My problem is that the netbook only recognize 1 usb port so I can't play the songs to two different rigs by hooking it to 2 different usb port. Can someone enlighten me on how to make both of the rigs playable from one netbook ? Thanks in advance.......

Just coming back to being interested in quality musical reproduction after 10 years away (kids etc forced a rethink of priorities), so please bear with me as things seemed an awful lot less complicated in the mid 90's! Just fyi i had an Arcam Alpha 5 (upgraded) with some Arcam Pre/power amps and some speakers which i cant quite remember if im honest, so i would like to think that whilst im no high roller i have a little more of an idea than your typical Ipod wearing youth.... Ive just purchased the following:- Beresford Caiman Dac Graham Slee Novo + PSU1 Headphone Amp HD650 Phones (on their way, currently using SR80i's) My main question evolves around sourc…

Any impressions on the Twisted Pear Audio Current output DAC ? The COD - Current Ouput DAC

Yet Another Thread To Talk About Digital Cables. discuss.

What's the best method of connecting transport to DAC via either spdif or aes/ebu encoding, in real life? I have the option of doing one of the following (from transport -> DAC): 1. BNC 75 -> RCA ~75 2. RCA ~75 -> RCA ~75 3. XLR 110 -> XLR 110 4. toslink -> toslink I have been going through my emag book and coax is theoretically the perfect medium at transmitting high-frequency signals over a length of 1M. I have been trying different combination with blue jeans cable, and they all sound different. So what's objectively the best connection in the real world?

Diebenkorn posted this earlier in the For Sale Elsewhere thread. Though it might merit one of its own. They're definitely trying to tick all the boxes on the wish list, and then some. Will be interesting to see what the implementation is like. If the USB input was asynch, they would probably say so I guess.

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.

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?

From: Electrocompaniet Introduces the ECR 1?A High-Performance, Do-All Tuner | AVguide "The Norwegian high-end audio firm Electrocompaniet has just announced its stunningly versatile ECR 1 tuner, which

I rarely post praises of commercial gear as a prefer to build my own, knowing that each component is used in the correct topology is important to me. I am no shill as you can see from my 2000 posts on head-fi. I have to say that this 19MK3 is an outstanding piece of gear. They have done three things extremely well: 1. PMD100 - I'll say it till my death it is the pinnacle of the digital golden age. One day these will be worth $1000 a chip, mark my word. 2. PCM1704K - Erno Borbely told me personally that this is the finest DAC chip ever made, some would argue the AD8162(Jocko) or the PCM63K, but regardless it is a much better design than sigma-delta chip…

Hey guys, i have done extensive reading both here and on "that other site" and i more or less decided on buying a Pico because i read some glowing reviews from experienced and well respected members,but then i read some not so glowing reviews ,not a suprise since this happens with just about anything in audio. plus it is really hard to keep up with all the new DAC's,so i was wondering if you could tell me that the Pico is still the best at it's price range or would you recommend i'll go for something else,all i care about is SQ and not features and connectivity etc. thanks!

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.

Per 6Moons news snippet: I've liked their products I've had or heard, this sounds pretty nice. Sounds far enough off, we'll see if it comes in with that estimated price intact....

OK to have one for non-specific vinyl discussions? Vinyl relevant links on Head-Case http://www.head-case.org/forums/home-source-components/4450-hagerman-bugle-dl-103-revisited.html http://www.head-case.org/forums/do-yourself/3931-pass-pearl-pcbs-related-parts.html http://www.head-case.org/forums/home-source-components/6471-linear-tracking-tone-arms-experience.html http://www.head-case.org/forums/home-source-components/3070-zyx-bloom-best-bargain-mc-under-5-000-a.html http://www.head-case.org/forums/home-source-components/5684-mc-phono-stage-review-rogue-stealth-vs-benz-lukaschek-pp-1-t8.html http://www.head-case.org/forums/audio-accessories/5193-what-do-i-need-t…

As I am further developing my computer as a source set up I have come to the realization that placing a Mac Mini in the rack might be my best option. Right now I can run audio from my Mac Pro or my Macbook Pro via, USB, Firewire or AES/EBU from the Pro. Unfortunately I do not want to give up the Macbook Pro as my listening room computer and the Mac Pro is several rooms away. My plan is to put the Mac Mini in the rack with iTunes and Amarra installed. Then I believe I can control the Mac Mini either by my laptop or with my Touch if I leave Amarra up as it interfaces with the Rowmote App. I could then take the Squeezebox out of the system and run USB or Firewire ou…