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DAC-AH - Page 2

post #16 of 162
8/13/06 at 5:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by fewtch
What was that website again, where you can get the DAC-AH for under $150 in the US?
http://pacificvalve.us/LTDACAH2.html

I believe if you order on the first Tuesday of the month you get a few bucks off shipping. It's Bizarre, but true. You need a coupon code. I don't know what it is.
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post #17 of 162
8/13/06 at 6:49am
I like it too. A friend hooked one up to my gear and it wasnt bad but when he put in his modded one wow what a change. The drum kit just came out into the room as if it was there. Other instruments and voices had a 3d sort of affect. Very impressive. This place in Hong Kong are cheap and supposed to be reliable too. http://www.diykits.com.hk/dac.html Jim.
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post #18 of 162
8/13/06 at 5:39pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimholt
I like it too. A friend hooked one up to my gear and it wasnt bad but when he put in his modded one wow what a change. The drum kit just came out into the room as if it was there. Other instruments and voices had a 3d sort of affect. Very impressive. This place in Hong Kong are cheap and supposed to be reliable too. http://www.diykits.com.hk/dac.html Jim.

What mods did he have done
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post #19 of 162
8/14/06 at 3:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by regal
What mods did he have done
Sorry i am not into modding as i dont know much about it. This is an extract from another forum which might help.

opamp swap to opa604 [all I had]
decoupling cap changed to stacked wima1 uf total value of 5uf
rewired with silver in ptfe on the output
sil bridges replaced with descrete schottky's
47k res in output up grade to dale vishay

Thats all i know. Perhaps he has gone further from that. Hope thats of help. Jim.
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post #20 of 162
8/14/06 at 3:37pm
Well count me as a fan of the DAC-ah now. The sound quality is just sick, considering what the unit costs. It has no major flaws, and the balance of the sound is just as it should be. I can see how working with the opamps and output caps could make the dynamics and detail come up a few notches.
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post #21 of 162
8/14/06 at 3:43pm
i'm so happy NOS DACs are back on the upswing. Folks should check out the NOS Scott Nixon Tube DAC+ as well, I've heard a few and none have ever failed to impress.
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post #22 of 162
8/14/06 at 3:47pm
Am I correct that 2 online places are selling this:

$150 from pacific valve in Illinois http://www.pacificvalve.us/LTDACAH2.html

$101 from DIYKITS.com in Hong Kong http://www.diykits.com.hk/lite.html

Has anyone ordered this DAC from DIYKITS?
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post #23 of 162
8/14/06 at 4:32pm
I just bought the Pacific Valve Modified version of the Lite DAC-AH. So hopefully it will be here soon. Can't wait to put this inline with my current laptop setup to my Darkvoice. I'm HOPING this helps eleviate the ground loop hum I am currently getting from my laptop to darkvoice while improving the SQ as well.
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post #24 of 162
8/14/06 at 6:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer
Well count me as a fan of the DAC-ah now. The sound quality is just sick, considering what the unit costs. It has no major flaws, and the balance of the sound is just as it should be. I can see how working with the opamps and output caps could make the dynamics and detail come up a few notches.
Tha DAC-AH is not in the same league as the Stello obviously but would you call the Lite a good "Bang for the buck" DAC? I assume you will say yes.
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post #25 of 162
8/14/06 at 7:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by darkninja67
Tha DAC-AH is not in the same league as the Stello obviously but would you call the Lite a good "Bang for the buck" DAC? I assume you will say yes.
Yes, no doubt about it.
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post #26 of 162
8/15/06 at 12:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrarroyo

I got the AV710 because all I "thought" I needed was an optical out to feed the Dac-Ah.

So did I, were we wrong?

Whats wrong with that?
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post #27 of 162
8/15/06 at 1:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by darkninja67
Tha DAC-AH is not in the same league as the Stello obviously but would you call the Lite a good "Bang for the buck" DAC? I assume you will say yes.
Absolutely. Especially if one can do their own mods, I'm sure making a few inexpensive changes would only make it better. I doubt I've heard a better bang for the buck DAC.
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post #28 of 162
8/16/06 at 11:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer
Absolutely. Especially if one can do their own mods, I'm sure making a few inexpensive changes would only make it better. I doubt I've heard a better bang for the buck DAC.
Now that's what I like to hear. (um...read.) I have one on the way and can't wait to try it. In the mean time I'm scouring head-fi DIY section for DAC-AH mods, seems like a good place to start tinkering with audio DIY.

Is it best to get used to the stock dac sound signature for a while, or just dive right into the mods?
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post #29 of 162
8/17/06 at 3:53am

Lite DAC-AH

Well thanks to you lot I went and bought one too!

Arrived yesterday, don't have my headphone amp yet, (Xin SMacro IV) so I hooked it into my loudspeaker system via optical.

Instant, noticeable difference. Not enormous, but enough to be worth while, and I expect to hear a bigger difference through 'phones, as is normally the case with audio equipment.

I did a couple hours constantly A - B'ing with Dark Side of the Moon, with and without the DAC.

The number one thing I got straight away was instrument seperation. Notes are seperated now, I can distinctly here a guitar and a keyboard seperately, without the external DAC they are more blurred together. Allover clarity is greater too, more air around the notes, can hear silence between sounds now where without the DAC it's all one big noise.

I'd say the improvement sounds 5 - 10 % better to my ears, 5 - 10 % more enjoyable

After 24 hours of running there doesn't seem to be any change in the amount of difference between DAC and no DAC, but who can remeber subtleties after 24 hours anyway and this is only through B&W DM604's So no conclusions on burn in or not from me here.

I will definetly be getting well used to the sound with the amp and everything in it's final config. before I start modding it. Which is inevitable I think.
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post #30 of 162
8/17/06 at 3:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by stevenkelby
I'd say the improvement sounds 5 - 10 % better to my ears, 5 - 10 % more enjoyable
Better/more enjoyable than what?

Been thinking about the DAC-AH myself, but most likely as long as my DCM-370 keeps cranking along I'll probably skip it. Reason being, I really like what I've got already for the price and suspect a budget DAC won't improve much or at all on what I'm currently hearing (which to my ears is amazingly free of flaws for a budget CDP, not to mention fatigue free and listenable for hours on end).

Then again, maybe I'll pay the $150 to find out... I could always just sell it if it wasn't (enough of) an improvement.
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