valesina
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Posts posted by valesina
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As a loyal customer who bought the Wyred 4 Sound ST-250 power amp, I received a friendly e-mail response from EJ Sarmento, one of the proprietors of W4S, to some questions about the DAC2.
He wrote that the DAC2's asynchronous USB was a "custom" solution that was not licensed from Wavelength, but USB through the DAC2 should sound as good as the Ayre QB-9.
He wrote that a system consisting of the W4S DAC2+PS Audio Perfect Wave Transport (connected via HDMI) will sound "as good or better than" the Perfect Wave DAC + Transport and that digital sources connected using S/PDIF will sound better through the DAC2 than through the Perfect Wave DAC.
So you get the QB-9 + Perfect Wave DAC all for only $1500. Sounds way to good to be true...
It remains to be seen (heard?) how SPDIF vs USB compares: every DAC I've ever heard greatly favors one or the other . . . it's interesting that the designer refers to the SPDIF performance being that good . . .
Talking of caps, the DAC-2 also appears to have an upgraded power section in addition to smarter USB: Wyred 4 Sound DAC-2
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PureVinyl or PureMusic sound great to me: big, big improvement over iTunes . . . can't wait for them to sort out the playback bugs!
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If the UK price is 860, it looks like the $ cost will be less than 1K: bonus!
The DAC1 looks like it will be plain vanilla, and the DAC2 gets loaded with all the goodies:
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It's weird that the picture on that site doesn't seem to show I2s input
The I2s ability (well, the chip too) are mainly what this DAC has going for me, BUT I've decided to take a different route to transmitting clock data and signal data simultaneously.
I am going to use the wordclock output from this piece of kit: (which integrates nicely with my DAW - Pro Tools)
http://www.auvisa.com/media/fotos/pro_2851_1.jpg
I'm going to use the wordclock output to feed the Logitech Transporter, which may not be the epitome of a DAC, but it will work nicely for my uses.
Apologies for jumping off the hype bandwagon so early in the running.
Their current spec says 'I2S over HDMI', which is also missing from that picture! Then again, it does say that the pictures of of the prototype from the RMAF . . . I bet the final version will look a bit different from the rear.
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You can save a bit using an Asus Xonar sound card and if you know someone at a University you can get Windows 7 for peanuts ($15 here). I don't see a problem with the PSU as I can see some advantages to having it external. Nevertheless there are many, many ways to skin this cat and things change so fast these guides quickly become dated.
He does mention the Xonar card as a much cheaper option, but if you're only using the card as digital pass-through, it seems a bit of a waste. Surely, you also need an optical drive with that, too?
The same thread also links to a much cheaper alternative 'recipe' that uses a linear regulated power supply and a much cheaper board/card setup: Building a Media Server as a Digital Audio Transport. That one is really K.I.S.S stuff . . . and about one third the price.
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Have you seen the Computer Audiophile CAPS music server? http://www.computeraudiophile.com
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Well, I own one of their well-reviewed class D amps, the ST250, and it makes my stereo rig sound like a really loud cell phone playing ringtones. Regardless of how their DAC actually sounds, I am sure that 6moons and Positive Feedback will gush about it almost as much as they gushed about the W4S amps and preamp.
It's not just me, then: there is a strong pro-California bias in their reviews?
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yeah stupid name
but for their first DAC they sure know what they're doing
interesting, the main man in the company works with Rick Cullen of Cullen Circuits
Dumb name, dumb-looking box, but I bet it sounds fantastic! For some time my favourite 'semi-affordable' DAC was Rick Cullen's modified PS Audio DLIII. Looks like we're creeping closer to the release date, pre-orders being taken . . . Wyred 4 Sound DAC-1
(yet another) USB to SPDIF converter
in Home Source Components
Posted
Perhaps we could compile a list of the growing number of USB > SPDIF converters out there, from the CryoParts/Pop Pulse thing right up to the megabucks versions: seems to be the flavor of the month.