NekoAudio

Although it's probably impolitic for me to reply to this, I doubt Neuromancer knows of this forum and I wouldn't want anyone to be incorrectly characterized. My knowledge of Neuromancer on AVSForum is simply that he was part of the BDP-83 beta program and really likes the OPPO product line. He was/is a prolific poster in BDP-83 related threads and has been for quite some time now. I do not believe he has any other association with OPPO. I met the stateside OPPO folks at their office in Mountain View a few years back when they first launched. Great people.

Cover flow looks cooler and is faster than flipping through the CDs on your rack. Selling the Marantz will let you buy more music. Or feed your cat. Small children won't look at you funny for using words they've never heard of (e.g. "compact disc"). It'll be okay to eat BBQ wings and switch albums without washing your hands. Drog, the music thief, won't have to spend 10 minutes carefully packing 250 CDs into a giant garbage bag.

Oh, mantisory also wrote: "The bass performance is it

The peak voltage of the D100 Mk1 is ~1V, the Mk2 is ~2V (matching typical CD player RCA output voltage). That should be a Vrms of ~.707V and ~1.414V respectively. Absolutely no offense taken. The closest I can offer to a negative review is the one by pardales, who preferred his current DAC to the D100: "For me, it was just not a match. In my system the D100 was a little too relaxed, and I could not get used to the forward soundstage. The clarity was wonderful but the detail and bass were not quite what they were with my DAC." You may also notice dburna's review wasn't published (or at least if it was, I'm not aware of where). He felt his opinions matched those of pardales. I did ask him to publish even if it wasn't positive, because I want everyone to make an informed decision, but I think in the end he decided not to. \

Just thought I'd mention that a bunch of the loaner program reviews have been coming in since it started. They're all published in the two loaner threads (as well as some other places, depending on what other forums the person might frequent): U.S. and Canada. If you've been wondering about this DAC, now would be a great time to sign up for the loaner program. Both queues are winding down, so you wouldn't have to wait too long before your turn comes around. Also, I should note that if you're within reasonable driving distance of San Jose, California, then I offer free in-home auditions (either my setup or in your home). Just get in touch with me to arrange an appointment. Some highlights (these are all speaker setups): "The D100 throws a very clear window on the sound. It has an extremely quiet, black background, and a very relaxed, even smooth sound." -pardales (full review) "A very spacious soundstage, both in terms of left-to-right, as well as depth, is evident. The slight flutter in her voice as she sung was also quite remarkable ? I had heard it before but at times it is extremely subtle. The D100 had no trouble picking this up." -mantisory (full review) "The D100 does an excellent job here with those notes between the notes that contribute so much to the richness of this track. Nothing at all lacking on the highest notes but never shrill or grating, the D100 is smooth. Again the D100 does a great job, the best way I can describe it is delicate, it seems able to react to the detail of music better than what I'm used to." -wndrmke (full review) "With eyes closed I could easily imagine Arturo playing his violin in front of my fireplace. So my take is its no contest comparing the Neko to the Benchmark USB. At nearly similar prices, the [Neko] is my clear favourite." -jakeman (full review) "I immediately noticed the deep sound stage and was struck by the fact that I could actually hear all three trumpets separately, each in its own space, even when they played in unison. Compared to the Benchmark the [Neko] D100 MKII was more musical, with less harshness and grain. It was more revealing of details and had a great, stable soundstage." -hmen (full review) "I absolutely loved the D100. It is musical, revealing, and has beautiful, full and rich tonality. I also still love the [Music Hall Dac 25.2], I feel it punches out of its weight class when paired with the right tube, but the Neko Audio D100 is way better, more satisfying, something special all the way round and worth the price being asked for it. Definitely 5 Stars! *****" -emoore44 (full review)

Don't forget you need some vinyl. Grabbing a big collection off Craigslist or eBay might be a decent place to start, although the condition may be questionable, unless your friend already has some specific albums he wants.

Well, I don't know about making it so it sounds good on crappy speakers. I'd probably say it's about making it so you can hear all the foot-tapping and sing-along parts on your car radio or in other noisy environments.

Well, the thing about vinyl is that it isn't always an apples-to-apples comparison. When making an album for both vinyl and CD release, the sound engineer may not apply the same processing to both. This is understandable to a degree, considering their target audiences are different. But it makes it more difficult to say the "processing path" is why something sounds the way it does.

Thanks, dinny. tkam's got it right. If someone wants to go to a Mk2, it just costs the price differential (USD $100) plus shipping. A lot of people's setups won't benefit because their amps would be overdriven. Even if your amp is capable of pushing the watts associated with the additional voltage, there's a fair chance distortion will rise a bunch if you do. It's not always obvious from the published specs though. If you run balanced consumer audio gear then you probably want the Mk2. Balanced pro audio gear is usually covered with the original voltage levels. In rare cases, like with some pre-amps using rotary resistors or a pot, the lower voltage can be better.

StereoTimes just published an absolutely glowing review of the Neko Audio D100. ...I was officially and certifiably impressed... - David Abramson, StereoTimes read the full review The D100 has received rave reviews from a variety of industry critics and customers for its incredible clarity, accuracy, and fidelity. For more information, visit Neko Audio.

Prism Sound is another alternative, in case you start looking.

Still no loaner for EU residents, but I'm now offering a 220-240V transformer configuration and have opened sales outside of the U.S. and Canada.

Or ask the seller to glue a few rocks inside, so you'll think it is heavy and thus better. Your friends will never know.

I wouldn't worry about it in real life either. I just entered debate for sake-of-debate mode. +1 for using your laptop as the transport. Coax is fine if the DAC is isolating the input as it should be, otherwise I'd recommend optical instead.

I only think something bad would happen if the computer was prevented from, or was delayed in, responding to the interrupt. At which point I guess you have a choice: send out an incorrect value while keeping the clock, or delay the next value a little bit.

If the USB -> I2S signal generation is being influenced by incoming USB jitter, then there would be jitter on the I2S clock. In the same way an S/PDIF -> I2S receiver may carry S/PDIF jitter into its I2S output. There's still jitter with I2S--it's just that you aren't going to use your own clock to try and figure out when to take samples so your data samples should always be correct. If you transport I2S over a cable, the wires also better be close enough in length that you don't have any of the signals arrive at the wrong time. In which case your data sample would be incorrect. (This is a problem with very long HDMI cables.) I believe even when using asynchronous USB transfers undesirable I2S jitter can result if the USB receiver hits an unexpected delay. Just because the DAC is in control of when data gets asked for doesn't mean the computer is guaranteed to deliver that data when asked.

For what it's worth, in general I have more confidence in a USB -> S/PDIF converter going into an S/PDIF receiver + circuit than I do in a USB -> I2S conversion feeding a DAC chip directly. Because an S/PDIF input will often be re-clocked and re-buffered. I've yet to hear of anyone doing the same with a USB -> I2S circuit. Maybe someone does? In other words, a bad USB -> S/PDIF conversion feeding a good DAC won't matter while a bad USB -> I2S conversion inside a good DAC will matter. Still, it's pretty important to have a decent phone. For things like calling 911 and stuff. "When I get a little money I buy audio gear; and if any is left I buy food and clothes." - Audiopherius Erasmus

I'm happy to announce the new Neko Audio D100 Mk2. The D100 Mk2 incorporates new Jensen output transformers for an additional 6dB of gain while maintaining the same smooth, detailed, and transparent sound. The D100 has received rave reviews, including the coveted TONEAudio Magazine Exceptional Value Award of 2009. "...the DAC to beat for reasonably priced digital excellence." - Jeff Dorgay, TONEAudio Magazine Read the full review. "...the best DAC I've used to date." - Jake Montzingo, Affordable$$Audio, Issue 42 Read the full review. "The sound? Pure bliss." - Peter Davey, Positive Feedback Online, Issue 42 Read the full review. Existing units can be upgraded for the difference plus shipping. Features: 16-bit and 24-bit, 44.1kHz - 192kHz audio. Dual PCM1794A chips in mono configuration. Passive transformer-based analog output stage. Tantalum capacitors, 0.1% output resistors. Fully balanced XLR outputs. RCA connections supported. For more information, including professional and customer reviews, visit Neko Audio.

The thing to consider with an EQ is that when shifting the frequencies, you're also probably having an effect on the phase.

Shoot. I knew I should have glued on some extra LEDs and random buttons. I've missed out on a core demographic.

I don't think any Head-Casers will get offended, but there are companies that sell or make products incorporating transformers from these companies and I don't wish my comments to negatively affect them. It'd be one thing if I was talking as Wes, but it's something else when I have my Neko Audio hat on. Anyway, I tried a few "audiophile" transformers. Oscilloscope + listening tests, single-blind A/B testing with a different transformer into each channel of headphones, and speaker listening tests. IMO the Jensen was noticeably better, and the single-blind A/B headphone testing supported that. (I wasn't super rigorous with the single-blind A/B testing, so take that as you will.)

That's a really interesting read. Not really surprising to me, since it matches my experience, but it's cool to see people doing research into the subject. I wonder if further differences would be found based on the type of musician? The musicians listed in the paper were primarily pianists and violinists, which allows you to mix notes, and I think feels very different to play compared to brass or wind instruments.

Azazel, sent you a PM. I don't wish to discuss in public which transformers I decided against. Well, primarily I looked for additional distortion, which is more squiggles than less. I used a really crappy DAC as a guideline for what bad squiggles look like, because the distortion was audible with the crappy DAC. Certain songs worked better at creating the distortion. I also used headphones at the same time, in parallel, so I would know what I am hearing/seeing. You can also see roll off in broad strokes to some degree. Since I was playing with my output stage, I could create roll off on purpose. That gave me a baseline for how the waveform would change as a result, and then I could look for and hear the difference when not doing it on purpose. Obviously bass roll off is easier because the wavelengths are really long. Performing a difference wouldn't necessarily tell you if one was better than the other, just that they're different. But you can do it by summing with one of the outputs +/- swapped. Easy enough with a transformer-based output. Instead, I liked to look at two signals simultaneously but with one swapped. I found this "mirrored" display easier for noticing differences, and how they were different, without hiding which signal was which. I'm not sure anyone would get very far just looking at the scope. I needed to be listening to the music at the same time and identifying specific things to compare against. Takes some time to get in-the-zone, so to speak. I was spending hours straight, day after day, performing A/B testing with very specific music. You might be able to get by with just the scope if you had a storage scope and a digital reconstruction of the waveform to compare against?

No, I don't like to use steady-state as the only measurement. Checking a square wave is still good to do, but I played music to my oscilloscope. This way I was able to compare two transformers directly against each other. The Jensen wasn't the most expensive I experimented with but it was the one I decided performed best. (I asked the various manufacturers for their cost-no-object-best-for-this-application transformers.)

For the datasheet curious, here's the JT-11-EMCF transformer I use. I tried a few different transformers, and yes some of them didn't do what they were supposed to in my opinion. Both to my ears and on the oscilloscope.