NekoAudio

I've also purchased from The Music Room and had good experiences. One of my customers had to go through two exchanges with them once, but in the end everything worked out well.

I've gotten feedback from some people that the LeedH volume control is better than their preamp volume control, even via the Lumin digital output into a DAC. (I haven't tried that comparison yet.) And it's definitely better than the previous Lumin volume control algorithm.

Just to throw my 2c in, the RME ADI-2 Pro (DAC version should sound the same, from what I read) and Soekris dac1541 sounded fairly different to me. So I guess your mileage may vary.

For what it's worth, I found the OPPO Sonica and Auralic Vega more similar to each other than the Bryston BDA-3 to either of them. So in terms of DACs, going with the BDA-3 would be a different sound while going from the Sonica to the Vega would be along the same direction. You're probably already aware the Sonica does use the ES9038PRO while the Vega and earlier OPPO HA-1 use the ES9018, and the BDA-3 uses two AKM4490 chips.

$60 USD for me in California. There is also a surcharge if you use credit card, which is avoidable by using bank transfer.

FWIW, I just got a dac1541 in and I found the filter differences were most audible to me when playing Cups from the Ultimate Pitch Perfect album. I've only had a chance to play a few tracks so far. Does Soekris have a US distributor for their previous DACs? I ordered the dac1541 direct from Denmark.

I had connectivity and reliability problems with the Schiit Gen 3 USB input and my iMac. So did the person who I sold it to. I don't want to speculate as to why, but it makes sense to me that some of the differences highlighted with in the Gen 5 USB PR could be a factor.

Thought I'd chime in here with my own impressions. I purchased a Yggy direct from Schitt. Have had it for about two months now. I compared it directly to the Bryston BDA-3 and the OPPO HA-1. Of course I was also able to compare it to my Neko Audio D100 Mk2, and I have a few other bits of gear around but didn't do critical comparisons to them. I was using the HA-1 balanced out for amplification and Audeze LCD-X in all cases for these comparisons. USB was used for the HA-1, Yggy, and BDA-3. Optical was used for the D100. Transport was my iMac. I found the Yggy's sound to be very clean, but also laid back or veiled. Like everything was kind of recessed. I'm surprised I haven't read this in the many reviews of the Yggy online. By comparison the OPPO HA-1's DAC (Sabre) was more dynamic and punchy, but I think a little less clean. The Bryston BDA-3 has both the dynamics and punch of the HA-1, and I also think it is slightly cleaner than the HA-1. I think the BDA-3 would sound even cleaner and more refined with a different output filter choice; using Dirac Live RCS helped bring out the absolute best with the BDA-3. None of these sound as natural and musical to me as my D100 DAC, like an analog setup, but the D100 is a bit long in the tooth now and these newer DACs have better transient response.

I have been using a Herman Miller Mirra for several years now and still like it a lot. It's about your price range.

Yeah, sorry nothing new. Too busy with so many other things I barely get a chance to do anything except work these days.

Well, you could, but that'd probably be a waste of money. I bet you could theoretically use it for car audio since it's power consumption is so low, but you'd need a voltage converter or to bypass the internal stepdown transformer. Chassis and internals are certainly durable enough. If you do that you have to send photos!

Been a while. Been super busy: we're moving! So, I need to clear out some inventory. I've got a sale going on at the Neko Audio web site for $300 off a new D100 Mk2. (Also, thought I answered forbigger's followup question but don't see it in the thread. Nothing new right now. Sorry!)

Got notified. Thanks.

Happy to hear that, forbigger. It only takes a day or two to do the upgrade. Most of the time will be spent shipping the unit back and forth. (BTW - anyone know why I don't get notifications even though I'm following this topic? I had the email me setting checked in my notification options.)

I had some dropouts with 802.11b but none since I switched to 802.11n.

Sorry again for the late reply. The current cost to upgrade to a Mk2 is USD $100 plus shipping.

Sorry I just noticed this thread (been busy and wasn't stopping by HC as often as I used to). An Mk2 upgrade is possible as the only difference is the output transformers. If you'd be interested in having it done, shoot me a PM or email. FWIW, there is a thread over in HF about using and Audiophileo with the D100 Mk2. http://www.head-fi.org/t/606716/audiophilleo-vs-hiface-evo-my-findings-or-the-lack-thereof

If you recently had a problem placing an order on our web site, please let us know and we'll make it up to you. Sorry for any inconvenience!

Yeah, I had the same issue when using an Audio Precision measurement device: when in loopback, there was 60Hz and harmonics. So it's somewhat normal to see this and you shouldn't feel that your sound card is bad or your setup is wrong. If you really want to see the 1kHz harmonics, try manually/visually subtracting out what you see when there is no device under test and you are just doing loopback like Pars said.

I'm assuming that Neutrik assumes this is a given. There's no particular need to advertise it since it's not a differentiating feature? Canare also makes RCA connectors that are supposed to be as close to 75ohms as they can, by having the connector's shield and its attachment to the cable shield maintain the correct distance from the center signal line until it reaches your RCA jack. It's their RCAP series.

For what it's worth, I have BNC jacks that fit (although not perfectly) in the existing RCA jack cutout so you could use a BNC connector instead of an RCA one. I can send you one, pigmode, to install yourself if you know what you're doing or you could send your unit back to me for resoldering but that might be more than you want to pay for shipping both ways. Or you can do the same as Dreadhead and use optical since the D100 Mk2 also buffers and reclocks.

Nice. They look purty on the outside too.

Are you sure about that? It looked like your brain broke. ;-P

luvdunhill, what sort of monoblocks are those?

purrin, I sent you a PM a while ago. Looks like you haven't read it yet. Just wanted to let you know in case you missed it.