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| Dedicated Source Components Discussion of source components and source formats (CD, SACD, DVD-A, tape, vinyl). |
07-04-2009, 08:37 AM
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500+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Washington
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Balanced Dac Questions
After looking around a little it seems there is a hole in the balanced dac selection. There is a lot of units around 1000 and a couple around 3 grand but there seems there is a hole after that from the 3k to 5k range. There also seems there is not a lot of variety of balanced dacs unless you diy one. There is only a couple of nos dacs and none of them would be considered hi end. Its seems a little unbalanced that there is a lot of highend balanced amps that are a step above the rest but where are the balanced dacs to really get the most out of those high eand rigs?
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07-04-2009, 08:52 AM
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100+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: Madrid (Spain, EU)
Posts: 182
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I do not fully catch your question...
Under $500 you have the DacMagic, around 1k Lavry, around 2-3k Weiss, and 5k Berkeley.
So... you just miss a 4k balanced DAC?
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07-04-2009, 09:08 AM
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500+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Mar 2009
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I hadnt seen the berkley dac. I guess if source is so important, what balanced dacs are getting paired up with the higher end balanced amps. I guess I like variety when choosing to get the flavor that best suites me rather than having to accept the product thats available because its the only one available. There is a lot of info for 1500 ondown but a lot less info on the higher end balanced dacs.
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07-04-2009, 08:13 PM
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500+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Evanston, IL
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Audio-gd Reference-1 for $1500. Truely balanced unlike some of the others listed which share power supplies and DAC's.
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07-04-2009, 10:52 PM
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Member of the Trade
Neko Audio
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: San Jose, CA
Posts: 98
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KingStyles
There is a lot of info for 1500 ondown but a lot less info on the higher end balanced dacs.
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What sort of information are you looking for?
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07-04-2009, 11:30 PM
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1000+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: I live in the Blue Mountains Australia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tim3320070
Audio-gd Reference-1 for $1500. Truely balanced unlike some of the others listed which share power supplies and DAC's.
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How many psu’s has got nothing to with true balanced operation.
__________________
Patrick82 Based on my mass dampening experiments I have found that using more weight on top of the audio components gives more dynamics and low-level detail because of a quieter background. Burying your equipment under tens of thousands of pounds of mud is great, and it's for free! The deeper you bury your audio system the better the sound!
SOURCE Buffalo Sabre32-Bit DAC AMPLIFIER Balanced β22 HEADPHONE Sennheiser HD800
>>Team Australia<<
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07-04-2009, 11:48 PM
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Headphoneus Supremus
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: San Francisco, CA
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Yep, PSU per channel is called "monoblock" or "dual-mono" for stereo operation. Balanced simply means actively driving inverting and non-inverting signal.
__________________
Home: ESI Juli@ (I2S) -> Buffalo32 -> Balanced Dynalo / Melos Maestro / SinglePower MPX3
Headphones: HP-2, RS-1, SR-200, Sennheiser HD-600, HD-650, Denon D-5000, AKG K271
Portable: 240GB diyMod 5.5G -> V-Cap Dock -> PPAS -> UE700
Office: Gamma1 -> PPAS -> K271
Feedback
Digital Audio Primer
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07-05-2009, 02:26 AM
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500+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Washington
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Also if it truly uses 2 boards for 1500 you probably are only getting 700 dollars worth of sound quality.
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07-05-2009, 02:35 AM
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500+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Mar 2009
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Quote:
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What sort of information are you looking for?
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Well right now I am using an isabellina dac which I really love, but I have been thinking about going balanced but havent seen any hi end dac that woud seem to have the anlog/musical flavor that I have come to love. I am thinking about possibly contacting a mod company about having my isabellina turned into a balanced dac by attaching coupling transformers to the ouput. I dont know how this will change the sound though.
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07-05-2009, 03:10 AM
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500+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Evanston, IL
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KingStyles
Also if it truly uses 2 boards for 1500 you probably are only getting 700 dollars worth of sound quality.
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Why don't you take a look at the construction and try again.
н¨ÍøÒ³ 1
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07-05-2009, 03:17 AM
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500+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Evanston, IL
Posts: 619
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Quote:
Originally Posted by johnwmclean
How many psu’s has got nothing to with true balanced operation.
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Yep, you're right on that- I guess I was referring more to the dual mono nature of the design (as stated above)- 4 1704UK chips per side, separated enclosure. If someone can find more technology for the money, please let me know. And yes, it does equate to high quality sound IMO as well as quite a few others. If I am sounding like a fan (of high value), I am.
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07-05-2009, 04:47 AM
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500+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Washington
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Im sure its a great sounding dac. The only point I was trying to make is for 1500, you need two of everything in that design. Would a 1500 single ended dac sound better because it allows the manufacture to use higher quality of parts or use a better power supply for the cost? If you just took half of the audio dac so it was just single ended and used the leftover 600-700 dollars for upgraded parts and a better power supply, I think the single ended version of it would sound better than the balanced. Thats why I feel it isnt worth going balanced untill you get up higher in price where balanced will start to top single ended.
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07-05-2009, 06:04 AM
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Member of the Trade
Neko Audio
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: San Jose, CA
Posts: 98
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KingStyles
Well right now I am using an isabellina dac which I really love, but I have been thinking about going balanced but havent seen any hi end dac that woud seem to have the anlog/musical flavor that I have come to love. I am thinking about possibly contacting a mod company about having my isabellina turned into a balanced dac by attaching coupling transformers to the ouput. I dont know how this will change the sound though.
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Yeah, you probably want to find out what transformers would be used and then contact Vinnie at Red Wine to ask what the impact might be. A transformer is going to add its own impedance, capacitance, and inductance to the output stage.
The other thing to consider is the internal circuit will still be unbalanced. So adding transformers won't be that much different than making use of a direct box.
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07-05-2009, 07:47 AM
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Headphoneus Supremus
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 4,916
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tim3320070
Audio-gd Reference-1 for $1500. Truely balanced unlike some of the others listed which share power supplies and DAC's.
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x2. I have one on order now. The technology in this is very similar to the Esoteric D-01 which is about $10,000, and similar to the Mark Levinson 30.6 which is also up around that price range. Audio-gd equipment is ridiculously cheap for the quality of gear they offer. Owning the Audio-gd Phoenix balanced amp and looking at the internals, if that were made in the U.S. or Europe it would easily cost between $3.5K and $5K.
__________________
Team Musical Truth Headphones ☊ → Sennheiser HD800 (modified) + APureSound V3 XLR w/ Rhodium Furutech + Q resistance adapters (on occasion)
DAC → Audio-gd Reference One DAC ::: Transport/Source → Logitech Transporter (w/ iPod Touch controller) :::
Amp → Audio-gd Phoenix ::: Coming soon: Balanced ß22 + σ22 (custom dual chassis)
Power → PS Audio Power Plant Premier ::: Virtual Dynamics Master LE 2.0 + Power 3 ::: Locus Design Group Axis ::: Audio-gd Exclusive (x2)
::::::::::::::: PS Audio Noise Harvester ::: Cobalt Cable Ultimate Power
Interconnects → Blue Jeans Cables BNC ::: Audio-gd Sharkwire silver CAST & XLR ::: Locus Design Group custom CAST & DC power cables
FOR SALE:
Audio-gd Phoenix balanced headphone amplifier/preamp $950 + shipping
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07-05-2009, 09:39 PM
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500+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Evanston, IL
Posts: 619
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Quote:
Originally Posted by IPodPJ
x2. I have one on order now. The technology in this is very similar to the Esoteric D-01 which is about $10,000, and similar to the Mark Levinson 30.6 which is also up around that price range. Audio-gd equipment is ridiculously cheap for the quality of gear they offer. Owning the Audio-gd Phoenix balanced amp and looking at the internals, if that were made in the U.S. or Europe it would easily cost between $3.5K and $5K.
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PJ, that Esoteric DAC is mono, two are needed- it's a $20,000 DAC!
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