The Monkey

ASR, how would you describe the sound signature of the Bryston?

Any more Bryston thoughts?

So far I feel a little meh about the ESS stuff, but I'd like to hear the Peachtree.

No, they've trained me, but when they keep me locked in the damn cage, I make damn sure they know how I feel.

I guess that's right, isn't it. We learn by doing (and breaking). I've been meaning to get back into DIY anyway, and it looks like I should be able to fix the cage pretty easily. KG was kind enough to give some advice. I'll post updates. Also, I communicated with a few people about this DAC and it turns out that 1) the designer probably is just retired, not dead; 2) the company that bought Dodson, Silversmith Audio, still upgrades the units, but this one is as close to the 218 version as it can get; and 3) the new DA 218 Palladium version is still being sold--for $8k. Jeff Silversmith preferred not to share the schematic, but he seems like a pretty nice guy.

When is your O2 rig arriving?

I find this description very much in line with my own experience thus far with the HD800. I like it very, very much. By far my favorite dynamic. But I am beginning to suspect that I have more of that emotional response when I have listened to the O2. I haven't listened to my stats in a while, so I will need to confirm this theory.

I was feeling bad about it. It isn't broken, but it's no longer "perfect." And then my wife asked me if I wanted to learn about it or if I just wanted to have it on display. I like learning about this crap. I just wish I had more tech skillz.

I made a mess of the metal cage, by the way.

Thanks everyone for your observations so far. As for the sound, I like it a lot so far. It seems a bit quieter than the ECD-1, while retaining the musicality that I like. The mids are very good. And while I usually rely on female vocals to define the mids for me, I've noticed that the Dodson also does a good job with male vocals. At first I thought it could be a slight bit of grain, but I think it's just revealing the fact that male voices are not necessarily "smooth" all the time. For example, Mark Knopfler's voice sounds a bit more gravelly. More like a, well, a man's voice. So, good stuff so far. But still a lot more listening to do.

Yeah, I tried looking, but I can't see under the damn daughterboards:

Wait, what?

Thanks, as always, filburt. The manual says, among other things, that if you have a problem, the processor can be reset by either unplugging the unit or changing inputs momentarily. I wonder if that was addressing the bug of which you speak. Still sounds pretty good though...

Hm, I actually thought I had read that it was 4 layer. I'll see what I can dig up. I'm assuming you can you tell just by looking?

And what does that mean? Assume an infinitely stupid Monkey.

Well, it wasn't easy, but here we have it:

That's no fun Nate

Here's where I think the metal cage is soldered: Do I need to just wick that off and pull the damn thing up? I'm always afraid I'm going to break something.

Thanks Kevin. The metal can is proving to be a bit more difficult to remove than I anticipated. I think it may be soldered at one point. I'll post a pic. I'm kind of disappointed that it doesn't have 4 1704s. I was under the impression that it did. Still sounds pretty good, though.

I can't see underneath the damn daughterboards.

Yeah, I'm confused about the 2 1704s, too, as I was told there were 4. I will look underneath this evening. I'm also going to try to get a schematic.

Like the ones they use for teh internets? Cool.

Some internals. I'd appreciate it if you guys could help me understand what's going on inside. Let me know if you'd like MOAR/better pics.

I'm not sure, but I've read that the 217 can be upgraded to "85%" of the 218 with some tweaks. I'll try to find a comparison. The 218 is/was the most recent flagship.