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post #91 of 7724
12/22/08 at 5:36am
PCM2707 as USB-Receiver is fine... There are lots of people how don't think that you can here a difference between 24 Bit and dithered 16 Bit. So I don't think that there is a need to switch to an USB receiver which is capable of 24/96.

In my opinion it is more important that the headphone amp has absolutely no noise and not to much gain! It'd be best if you could change the gain but I doubt that this'll be possible because of SS.

best regards,
bearmann
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post #92 of 7724
12/22/08 at 8:57am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by csroc View Post
Personally, not hugely. But I suspect many others will want it. I'm more interested that the headphone amp has sufficient juice and voltage to drive all sorts of headphones.
Absolutely. The list I gave Kingwa, who already has HD650s is: AKG K701, Grado SR60 and Denon D2000. That covers, respectively: ultra-analytical and a pain to drive well, excessively bright and very bassy headphones, if that makes any sense, not to mention that they are popular models.
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post #93 of 7724
12/22/08 at 11:09am
That sounds great then
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post #94 of 7724
12/22/08 at 12:19pm
When I look at the diode used at the DAC 100, I say wow, that is huge sausage. It was MUR by motorola.

components used is the key to good sound.

bet the compass will give u the soundstage and the ease to drive those tough nuts headphone.
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post #95 of 7724
12/22/08 at 1:45pm
Are there really that many that don't have an SPDIF input? It seems to be just about every new mobo and many older ones out there supports it.

EDIT - My bad meant output not input.
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post #96 of 7724
12/22/08 at 3:49pm
S/PDIF IN isn't common, right. But I don't know why this could be of any importance for a DAC/Amp ?!
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post #97 of 7724
12/22/08 at 4:04pm
Right. S/PDIF in isn't common, but a lot of newer boards do have S/PDIF out. Anyway the digital output on a lot of boards are noisy, and some are not even bit perfect. That's why a lot of people purchase sound cards just to have a clean digital output. My motherboard have a digital out, and it sounds like crap. So implementing usb on a dac is important to a lot of people.
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post #98 of 7724
12/22/08 at 4:21pm
Will this thing sound better than the Zero? I keep reading about the chips that are going to be used but that really doesn't tell me anything. Does it use the same chip as the Zero?
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post #99 of 7724
12/22/08 at 4:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ciphercomplete View Post
Will this thing sound better than the Zero? I keep reading about the chips that are going to be used but that really doesn't tell me anything. Does it use the same chip as the Zero?

Also, will it use opamps or is it discrete from the jump?
Same DAC chip: AD1852

From the pictures the DAC seems to use opamps (HDAM capable as such), and the amp board does seem discrete, no opamps to be seen, I'll let someone confirm this.
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post #100 of 7724
12/22/08 at 5:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by moodyrn View Post
Right. S/PDIF in isn't common, but a lot of newer boards do have S/PDIF out. Anyway the digital output on a lot of boards are noisy, and some are not even bit perfect. That's why a lot of people purchase sound cards just to have a clean digital output. My motherboard have a digital out, and it sounds like crap. So implementing usb on a dac is important to a lot of people.
Ummm... I think we're talking at cross-purposes?! I was never against usb/spdif/optical input in the DAC.
Personally I would prefer USB because every notebook user will appreciate it. (Except for Apple there are practically no notebooks with spdif-out)
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post #101 of 7724
12/22/08 at 6:34pm
I would like to see 24/96 support if not 24/192 like the zero. Full 24 bit support would give users the option to decode all digital audio formats without compromise. I would like to be able to decode both DVD-Audio and SACD using my Oppo or my PS3 as a source. So in that regard the Toslink and Coax digital inputs are welcome. 24 bit audio can also be downloaded from sites like HDTracks (24/96) and Linn Records (up to 24/192). Even if you can't tell the difference it would be great to have the option for full 24 bit support.

I also appreciate the inclusion of the USB input on this future device. I use a MacBook Pro which does feature an optical audio output. The specs claim support for 24/192 over the optical output but nobody has been able to set anything higher than 24/96. By having a 24 bit DAC on this device and the USB connection it should allow for 24/192 output from my MacBook Pro or just about any computer with a USB port.

Please consider supporting 24/192 with this device.
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post #102 of 7724
12/22/08 at 6:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by broodwich View Post
I would like to see 24/96 support if not 24/192 like the zero. Full 24 bit support would give users the option to decode all digital audio formats without compromise. I would like to be able to decode both DVD-Audio and SACD using my Oppo or my PS3 as a source. So in that regard the Toslink and Coax digital inputs are welcome. 24 bit audio can also be downloaded from sites like HDTracks (24/96) and Linn Records (up to 24/192). Even if you can't tell the difference it would be great to have the option for full 24 bit support.

I also appreciate the inclusion of the USB input on this future device. I use a MacBook Pro which does feature an optical audio output. The specs claim support for 24/192 over the optical output but nobody has been able to set anything higher than 24/96. By having a 24 bit DAC on this device and the USB connection it should allow for 24/192 output from my MacBook Pro or just about any computer with a USB port.

Please consider supporting 24/192 with this device.
No USB chip "on the market" is able to do 24/192, the ones that do support 24/96-192 are proprietary afaik.. That is why you see this limit (16/48) on almost all USB input DACs, limited chip options on the market really, and Audio-GD is a small company, the resources to develop such chips are tremendous.

I'm hoping that TI comes with a USB chip for 24/96 one day, this will grantee broad use, but this is not a reality atm, so the 16/48 limit on the USB input is an understandable one, and the chip used is very good.

You will have to use coax / toslink for 24/96.
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post #103 of 7724
12/22/08 at 6:54pm
@ broodwich: They are using a TI DIR9001 as S/PDIF receiver. So through coax and toslink the unit is capable of receiving up to 24/96. Only usb is limited to 16/48 due to the PCM270x.

best regards,
bearmann
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post #104 of 7724
12/22/08 at 7:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by broodwich View Post
I would like to see 24/96 support if not 24/192 like the zero. Full 24 bit support would give users the option to decode all digital audio formats without compromise. I would like to be able to decode both DVD-Audio and SACD using my Oppo or my PS3 as a source. So in that regard the Toslink and Coax digital inputs are welcome. 24 bit audio can also be downloaded from sites like HDTracks (24/96) and Linn Records (up to 24/192). Even if you can't tell the difference it would be great to have the option for full 24 bit support.

I also appreciate the inclusion of the USB input on this future device. I use a MacBook Pro which does feature an optical audio output. The specs claim support for 24/192 over the optical output but nobody has been able to set anything higher than 24/96. By having a 24 bit DAC on this device and the USB connection it should allow for 24/192 output from my MacBook Pro or just about any computer with a USB port.

Please consider supporting 24/192 with this device.
The Oppo will not send any SACD/DVD-A data stream via it's digital outs...so that functionality is moot unless you rip the discs to your HDD. There are no tools for ripping SACD's that I know...and the DVD-A ripping tools only work for 2 channel MLP (the 5.1 merge function does not work).

In any event...if you use bit perfect playback the vast majority of files are 16/44.1 of which the Compass can easily handle using any of the digital inputs. Upsampling unless done correctly in hardware is a waste of CPU cycles IMHO. I find bit perfect to be far superior to the odd sheen software upsampling gives 16/44.1 CDA/FLAC/APE etc files.

IMO the Compass as is, is a remarkable bargain provided it delivers the SQ goods. Until the unit can be long term tested the jury is out on it's SQ although I do expect it to surpass the Zero because of the superior nature of the units power supply (the key to any design IMHO).

Peete.
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post #105 of 7724
12/23/08 at 12:16am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ciphercomplete View Post
Will this thing sound better than the Zero? I keep reading about the chips that are going to be used but that really doesn't tell me anything. Does it use the same chip as the Zero?
That's the whole idea, that the overall quality, from design to sound, is far better. Not to mention customer service. You'll be purchasing directly from the maker.

I just confirmed with Kingwa though, optical and coax will be 24/96 and USB will be 16/48 (or 16/44.1).
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