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The Storm Pandora Thread - Page 2

post #16 of 173
7/11/07 at 5:13am
Looks very promising! It's certainly one gorgeous piece of kit but I wonder how much COEM is going to be charging for shipping the Pandora to the states.
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post #17 of 173
7/11/07 at 5:51am
Thread Starter 
Yes it's $1000 AUD. Benchmark DAC1 is $1700 here, so I wouldn't be surprised if the price goes up sometime, because at least on the surface the pandora looks to be either comparable or better (as far as features etc go anyway). Ken is (unsurprisingly) convinced that the pandora is better than the benchmark. time will tell

i think the d02 was cheaper, but the pandora is a considerably more substantial unit. i guess that's the small thing that you all get in return for your patience and fear.. you paid for a d02 and get a pandora (i think?)
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post #18 of 173
7/11/07 at 8:39am
I'm in Japan right now and will be heading to Hong Kong next week. I am supposed to go pick up my Pandora from Ken in Sai Kung when I'm there, so we'll see how that goes!

Can't wait to try it out.
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post #19 of 173
7/11/07 at 9:49am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by akwok View Post
I'm in Japan right now and will be heading to Hong Kong next week. I am supposed to go pick up my Pandora from Ken in Sai Kung when I'm there, so we'll see how that goes!

Can't wait to try it out.
i was wondering when you'd show up

how long are you in HK for? i wouldn't wanna lug this baby around!
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post #20 of 173
7/11/07 at 9:54am
Thread Starter 
so who's got a benchmark to send me for comparison?

anyone?

anyone?

beuller?
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post #21 of 173
7/11/07 at 10:01am
For what the DAC does (on paper and if it's anything like the D02, subjectively too), I don't believe it's expensive. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the price increases at some point.
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post #22 of 173
7/11/07 at 10:54am
Also lets not forget, it is currently WITHOUT the add on battery power supply. That will cost extra when it's released. The people that originally ordered the D02 should be getting it with the 16dac add on as well as the battery add on when it is released.
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post #23 of 173
7/11/07 at 7:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hugz View Post
Firmware

The DAC has updateable firmware. I think this has to be done by the retailer, but possibly it may be doable by usb.
I was looking through the pictures on the site and it seems like the DAC is packing an alterra fpga...so users should be able to reflash the insides...dunno if this was brought up yet
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post #24 of 173
7/12/07 at 12:56am

Flashing

Quote:
Originally Posted by NoPants View Post
I was looking through the pictures on the site and it seems like the DAC is packing an alterra fpga...so users should be able to reflash the insides...dunno if this was brought up yet
'Flashing' the firmware of this DAC consists of swapping out a chip/IC. It's not USB based. If a user knows how to insert an IC the right way they can do it, otherwise it should be done by a retailer/Storm.

The DAC chips themselves can also be swapped out for other Philips TDA-XXXX chips, I can't remember which though - some are a direct swap. It's the TDA1545 I think (guessing the model there so don't hold me to that). The 1541 crown ones can't be used though.
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post #25 of 173
7/12/07 at 3:25am
Oh I thought it was the non crown version of the 1541s, well still damned impressive. Btw if anyone knows where to line up some Phillips Double Crowns hit me a pm!
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post #26 of 173
7/12/07 at 4:52am
The stock chips are TDA1543. Hope you don't want the Crown chips for this DAC - they can't be used.

PS: Ken said it IS an Alterra, but not FPGA. And it can't be flashed by users.

Ugh, correction again: the DAC's firmware is flashed using flashing hardware and a software patch that only the distributors will have.
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post #27 of 173
7/12/07 at 7:51am
oh my mistake, I thought alterra dealt in fpgas

this dac looks so good I'm getting retarded by looking at it I guess haha
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post #28 of 173
7/12/07 at 8:37am
Thread Starter 
Ken told me that he's going to be replacing the transformers in the pandora to a different one than the one's in my photos. he said he's unhappy with the current ones

he's ordered some new ones from TransEra because they have better sound

edit: i also want to point out that things i say may be incorrect. i'm no expert on this dac, and i'm certainly no technical expert. i'm just reporting what i see, read and hear. it could be wrong in places
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post #29 of 173
7/12/07 at 9:23am
I'm guessing he's not making a lot of profit at these prices because of the bad name he has right now and after this gets good reviews and quite a few are sold the price will jump quite a bit.
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post #30 of 173
7/12/07 at 10:11am
NoPants - you are correct in that Altera's main business is FPGAs, but their MAX range of devices are CPLD's. These are really cheap programmable devices that can be used for designs that don't require much logic.

But moving on, I'm also waiting on my Pandora and can't wait to hear it. I'm also interested in the Phobos for my work headphone rig as having a huge box on my desk isn't very practical.
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