At Auriculares.org, the Spanish headphones forum a mate has posted a link to an Ebay shop in Taiwan. They sell a NOS DAC with USB and coax inputs, which doesn't look bad at all and is selling for USD180.

I wonder if any of you have tried that unit or has some reliable third party opinions. I'd be glad reading them

Me interested and the price is include the shipping...wow;D Have send some questions to the seller...

Not to harp on Engrish, as Lord knows my Turkish could use some work, but this sentence pleased me.

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Q: Why do DACs with the same chip sound the same, Spanish DAC auction?

A: "You hear the same artifact derived from the same talent algorism."

Will pay you USD 5 an hour for some privet class, if you mean my spelling...

Not to harp on Engrish, as Lord knows my Turkish could use some work, but this sentence pleased me.

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Q: Why do DACs with the same chip sound the same, Spanish DAC auction?

A: "You hear the same artifact derived from the same talent algorism."

Will pay you USD 5 an hour for some privet class, if you mean my spelling...

Oh no, certainly not you. I was referring to the auction itself. I've never had any difficulty understanding you, which is what language is all about.

Oh no, certainly not you. I was referring to the auction itself. I've never had any difficulty understanding you, which is what language is all about.

Antonio,

The Lite Dac Ah uses a similar 8X 1543 Philips chip arrangement and aside from some parts swapping in the caps and the sealed transformer the Valab appears vaguely similar to my modded Dac Ah. Though the modded Dac Ahs sound is an improvement over stock $500 cdps, it may not be up to the standards of your experienced ears, even at a mere $180.

Antonio,

The Lite Dac Ah uses a similar 8X 1543 Philips chip arrangement and aside from some parts swapping in the caps and the sealed transformer the Valab appears vaguely similar to my modded Dac Ah. Though the modded Dac Ahs sound is an improvement over stock $500 cdps, it may not be up to the standards of your experienced ears, even at a mere $180.

Thanks for the reply. I asked about it more for sake of curiosity and perhaps listening myself to a "decent" (if that thing is at least decent) NOS dac, than for being myself looking for an upgrade from my current source. If that thing were somewhat interesting, I could use it on my secondary computer based rig. It would probably be a lateral move, maybe with some pros, over the SB soundcard. Who knows, the price is very tempting nonetheless.

I use a 1X 1543 Scott Nixon USB dac in my office and it is a nice upgrade from the basic SB sound cards I had. In my opinion you should realize some improvement with a well put together 1543 dac over a SB sound card. Another consideration might be the Buffalo dac. I compared Naaman's Buffalo to my 1543 and 1545 dacs and I felt the Buffalo was much more musical and realistic in presentation. FWIW

some google shit...

VALAB NOS DAC

AudiogoN Forums: What would you buy Sub $350 Firewire/USB DAC

The SB is an "almost vintage" Platinum, one of those with a separate 5 1/4" module sporting headphone 1/4" jack output, mic input... it's quite decent and for the limitations in the room and speakers placement, I can't expect much better sound, I mean nothing justifying burning more than a couple hundred bucks in an external DAC.

On the other hand for an unknown to me reason, I still feel some interest for NOS DACs. Probably for not liking any of the upsampling DACs I've tried no matter how expensive they are and for some favorable comments from a mate who had for some time an Ack Dack but ended up selling it for the PITA batteries. I think I might like their sound, but I wouldn't like to spend as much as a Scott Nixon costs, specially considering I'd need to get myself a transformer or getting the PS...

We'll see, it's just curiosity for NOS DACs sound.