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Audio-gd DAC 3SE - Arrival! - Page 3

post #31 of 208
1/25/09 at 5:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Currawong View Post
You could probably ask him if he can make one with USB input. I've asked him for optical input. Better still would be if he could make one using the USB chipset that allows 24/96 USB input.
Is there one that does this without also having to use special drivers?
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post #32 of 208
1/26/09 at 7:13am
Thread Starter 
I ahve the 2 sets of RCA's hooked up all the time, one to my main rig, one the the DV 322, I can use them both at the same time also.

All quotes were in dollars btw.

I'd like to add, after listening again over the weekend, that the real joy is the sheer musical quality of the DAC, its not a sterile 'all detail no joy' sound, but a very lush, musical sound. I know kingwa describes it as a 'Tube sound' and I guess he might be right - but thats Tube in all the right ways!

It also handles HDCD which I might have forgotten to mention. I don't have many HDCD, but I found out that as long as I don't alter the digital stream from my SB3 (i.e. no replaygain, volume set to 100) then the flacs with the HDCD signal will be decoded correctly by the DAC (which it does).

Cheers

BT
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post #33 of 208
1/26/09 at 8:26am
I realise now, after some investigation, that this all has to do with something that bugged me many years ago. Back when I started taking an interest in hi-fi, 1-bit CD players were starting to come out, and they didn't sound as good as a multi-bit CD player, or rather, it was the DA chips in them that were 1-bit. I just realised after doing some reading that every 1-bit DAC I've heard sounds digital to me. The single multi-bit DAC (that uses the same DA chips that 3SE does) that I heard doesn't sound digital. So this issue that bugged me about 15 years ago still does.
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post #34 of 208
1/26/09 at 11:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigTony View Post
I ahve the 2 sets of RCA's hooked up all the time, one to my main rig, one the the DV 322, I can use them both at the same time also.

All quotes were in dollars btw.

I'd like to add, after listening again over the weekend, that the real joy is the sheer musical quality of the DAC, its not a sterile 'all detail no joy' sound, but a very lush, musical sound. I know kingwa describes it as a 'Tube sound' and I guess he might be right - but thats Tube in all the right ways!

It also handles HDCD which I might have forgotten to mention. I don't have many HDCD, but I found out that as long as I don't alter the digital stream from my SB3 (i.e. no replaygain, volume set to 100) then the flacs with the HDCD signal will be decoded correctly by the DAC (which it does).

Cheers

BT


Hi,
Both hooked up at the same time, that's pretty sweet for evaluating Head amps. Thanx for all the great info!



.
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post #35 of 208
1/27/09 at 4:16am
wonder if this is the 4x1704 or the 4x1702 version. I wonder how would this dac3se compare with the Denon DCD1 or the Philip CD950 / Marantz CD17 ?
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post #36 of 208
1/27/09 at 7:29am
Hi Headfiers!
Im confused!
I was planning to buy Havana DAC from Mhdt Labs and occasionally (thanks to these forums) discovered Audio-gd dac 3SE! (not to mention Compass, W3 and D5000
Because all my music is on hard drive, im looking for dac that has analog-like sound.
So what is your opinion: Havana OR 3SE?!
Thanks
Reply
post #37 of 208
1/27/09 at 7:46am
Hi Headfiers!
Im confused!
I was planning to buy Havana DAC from Mhdt Labs and occasionally (thanks to these forums) discovered Audio-gd dac 3SE! (not to mention Compass, W3 and D5000
Because all my music is on hard drive, im looking for dac that has analog-like sound.
So what is your opinion: Havana OR 3SE?!
Thanks
Reply
post #38 of 208
1/27/09 at 8:32am
Hi Headfiers!
Im confused!
I was planning to buy Havana DAC from Mhdt Labs and occasionally (thanks to these forums) discovered Audio-gd dac 3SE! (not to mention Compass, W3 and D5000
Because all my music is on hard drive, im looking for dac that has analog-like sound.
So what is your opinion: Havana OR 3SE?!
Thanks
Reply
post #39 of 208
1/27/09 at 8:38am
Isn't the Havana a NOS DAC? I imagine they'd be quite different.
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post #40 of 208
1/27/09 at 8:54am
Hi Headfiers!
Im confused!
I was planning to buy Havana DAC from Mhdt Labs and occasionally (thanks to these forums) discovered Audio-gd dac 3SE! (not to mention Compass, W3 and D5000
Because all my music is on hard drive, im looking for dac that has analog-like sound.
So what is your opinion: Havana OR 3SE?!
Thanks
Reply
post #41 of 208
1/27/09 at 9:06am
Hi Headfiers!
Im confused!
I was planning to buy Havana DAC from Mhdt Labs and occasionally (thanks to these forums) discovered Audio-gd dac 3SE! (not to mention Compass, W3 and D5000
Because all my music is on hard drive, im looking for dac that has analog-like sound.
So what is your opinion: Havana OR 3SE?!
Thanks
Reply
post #42 of 208
1/27/09 at 9:52am
OU!
Im sorry for spaming, my pc got crazy!
Yes, havana is a NOS dac.
And got great reviews.
Mhdt Havana DAC
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post #43 of 208
1/28/09 at 9:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigTony View Post
It also handles HDCD which I might have forgotten to mention. I don't have many HDCD, but I found out that as long as I don't alter the digital stream from my SB3 (i.e. no replaygain, volume set to 100) then the flacs with the HDCD signal will be decoded correctly by the DAC (which it does).
I wonder if this includes handling mutli-channel digital audio such as my MacBook Pro can output. Would be interesting if it did.
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post #44 of 208
1/28/09 at 11:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Currawong View Post
You could probably ask him if he can make one with USB input. I've asked him for optical input. Better still would be if he could make one using the USB chipset that allows 24/96 USB input.
Yes, that would be very useful.
If that's possible, I'd definitely be interested!
I would then have to decide between the various higher-end Dacs of Audio-gd...
I wonder how the 3SE, with its "tube-like" sound, compares to the other, more neutral Dacs from Audio-gd?
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post #45 of 208
1/29/09 at 11:20am
Looks like the 24/96 USB requires special drivers, as all the M-Audio and other external audio interfaces require them. Would be worth investigating though. It's very possible they are made in China and the manufacturer has written a driver for them, going by all the computer gear I've come across.
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