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Review of Audio-GD DAC-19MK3 - Page 19

post #271 of 691
10/31/09 at 1:53am
I've pinpointed what I like about this DAC vs several others I have tried. It has enough detail to convey the natural ambience/reverb of the recording without being bright or harsh. It is really amazing to listen and compare to the top three SigmaDelta DAC's: Benchmark, Lavry, and PS Audio. This little sucker just walks all over them.
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post #272 of 691
10/31/09 at 1:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by regal View Post
I've pinpointed what I like about this DAC vs several others I have tried. It has enough detail to convey the natural ambience/reverb of the recording without being bright or harsh. It is really amazing to listen and compare to the top three SigmaDelta DAC's: Benchmark, Lavry, and PS Audio. This little sucker just walks all over them.


That's a big statement...which i'm glad to hear because i narrowed it down to either the PS Audio or Audio GD DAC19Mk3 and i just placed an order on the latter.

Are you in mode A or B?
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post #273 of 691
10/31/09 at 2:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by regal View Post
I've pinpointed what I like about this DAC vs several others I have tried. It has enough detail to convey the natural ambience/reverb of the recording without being bright or harsh.
Interesting. This is also my favourite superiority that REF-1 has over other DACs I've heard...

This PCM1704UK must really be something... You just feel the ambient around the sound you listen. The s*itload of details are just there without the urge to constantly nail your ears with THEIR PRESENCE over main music body (Benchmark anyone?)...

...and you say you feel the same about 19mk3?

Man, this 19mk3 + C-2C (over ACSS) combo must be a steal.
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post #274 of 691
10/31/09 at 2:53pm
How much better is it to do the bastardized AGSS as you so aptly named it? I got the itch to try. I'm considering going from phoenix to C-2C because I think the phoenix is too much for my setup and I don't feel much like upgrading the rest of the chain. Although my headphones never seem to skip a beat from the speed and detail the phoenix makes it do, the kind of soundstage the phoenix tries to create seems to be hampered by my headphones being closed-back. I don't want to upgrade to an open-back headphone with as good specs as my current headphones (the best option would probably be that $1400 HD800 too much for me) so might as well make my setup less lopsided and follow the advice Kingwa gave me when I tried to get a phoenix with the dac19mk3 hehe.
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post #275 of 691
10/31/09 at 4:07pm
OT but the C-2C is a somewhat different sound to the Phoenix (still very nice but less refined/delicate/3D and it seems the bass is boosted, or maybe bloated, in comparison- I am talking slights here to be fair). Also, I hope you are doing balanced with the Phoenix to gain all its benefits.
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post #276 of 691
10/31/09 at 4:42pm
Yes I have my headphones balanced which is really amazing, but the soundstage tries to expand beyond the cups and I think the cups start bouncing back the soundwaves and can't do the soundstage ability of the phoenix as much good as my rather low-end speaker system or open-back headphones. So when I listen through the compass or mp3 player these two have the benefit of not producing as much micro details and ambient noise to bounce back against the rest of the music . I was hoping Ultrasone might make their new HFI-2400 with titanium drivers (then I'd buy even though it's fugly), but since they chose similar drivers to the HFI-2200 which I thought had its potential met with the compass I'd probably have to upgrade my speaker system or go to HD800 to fully utilize the phoenix.
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post #277 of 691
10/31/09 at 6:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by haloxt View Post
How much better is it to do the bastardized AGSS as you so aptly named it? I got the itch to try. I'm considering going from phoenix to C-2C because I think the phoenix is too much for my setup and I don't feel much like upgrading the rest of the chain. Although my headphones never seem to skip a beat from the speed and detail the phoenix makes it do, the kind of soundstage the phoenix tries to create seems to be hampered by my headphones being closed-back. I don't want to upgrade to an open-back headphone with as good specs as my current headphones (the best option would probably be that $1400 HD800 too much for me) so might as well make my setup less lopsided and follow the advice Kingwa gave me when I tried to get a phoenix with the dac19mk3 hehe.
Haloxt sorry... ACSS connection is, in my setup (REF-1, Roc), just slightly better then XLR and, depending on interconnects, a bit clearer then RCA. Mainly barely hearable. You will, most probably, gain nothing by downgrading to C-2C - you may just loose IMO.

That said, why you do not match your Phoenix with REF-1? If you ask me, the source is more important than the amp, and you have spent over 2x more for amp then for the source...

OK, now seriously - I think you should go for open phones. Yes, I'd also like HD800, but for their price I'd too rather have 2-3 excellent pairs of phones .

K701 perhaps? They are (relatively) cheap, can be easily reterminated to balanced (just two Neutrik connectors) and have s o u n d s t a g e you crave for. I liked them before, I just love them now that they are recabled and balanced. ...only... if you are a bass-head, look elsewhere...
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post #278 of 691
10/31/09 at 11:57pm
Enough upgrading for me until I win the lottery. The compass and dac19mk3 are sufficient for me because I just listen to music as background music, so if it's musical sounding I don't care too much about fidelity. I mostly upgraded to the dac19mk3 and then phoenix out of curiosity and because of the promo prices. They're quite higher fidelity than the compass, but fun factor-wise, the compass dac+amp can stand on its own if you take care to pair it with the right headphones, transport, cables, and power filter.
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post #279 of 691
11/1/09 at 12:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by slim.a View Post
The dac-19mk3 should work fine with either the spdif out of your mother board or its usb input.
However, you should know that the sound performance of the dac-19mk3 improves a lot with a good transport and digital cables in my opinion, as it is a very sensitive dac to jitter. I did a review of some various usb to spdif converters here. Good PCI sound cards should also provide a noticeable improvement over basic mobo lineout or stock usb input of the dac-19mk3.
speaking of transports, has anyone paired this 19mk3 with a squeezebox instead of usb/spdif
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post #280 of 691
11/1/09 at 1:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rated1975 View Post
speaking of transports, has anyone paired this 19mk3 with a squeezebox instead of usb/spdif


Standby, my DAC19Mk3 is on its way and my squeezebox duet will feed it in my main system. My impressions will follow shortly.
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post #281 of 691
11/1/09 at 2:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by FauDrei View Post
Interesting. This is also my favourite superiority that REF-1 has over other DACs I've heard...

This PCM1704UK must really be something... You just feel the ambient around the sound you listen. The s*itload of details are just there without the urge to constantly nail your ears with THEIR PRESENCE over main music body (Benchmark anyone?)...

...and you say you feel the same about 19mk3?

Man, this 19mk3 + C-2C (over ACSS) combo must be a steal.

I have corrosponded with a famous designer Erno Borbely and he told me that the PCM1704-K was the finest DAC chip ever made, this was before he even offered a DAC kit. He is well known/respected in europe. He explained in technical terms why sigma delta DAC's are inferior.


What is the 19MK3 + C -2C combo ?
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post #282 of 691
11/1/09 at 3:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by regal View Post
I have corrosponded with a famous designer Erno Borbely and he told me that the PCM1704-K was the finest DAC chip ever made, this was before he even offered a DAC kit. He is well known/respected in europe. He explained in technical terms why sigma delta DAC's are inferior.

What is the 19MK3 + C -2C combo ?
See the combo price page. IMO that combo + power cables + good, high quality interconnects (maybe someone can DIY some using OCC copper for a reasonable price) = a very nice and musical combination.
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post #283 of 691
11/1/09 at 4:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by regal View Post
I have corrosponded with a famous designer Erno Borbely and he told me that the PCM1704-K was the finest DAC chip ever made, this was before he even offered a DAC kit. He is well known/respected in europe. He explained in technical terms why sigma delta DAC's are inferior.
Another highend DAC manufactuer from Europe, Lessloss, swears by PCM1704K too. Lessloss has a page where they explain why PCM1704K is better than sigma-delta dac chips here (they do have questionable views on cables and computer audio though, so take it with a grain of salt):

PCM 1704 : LessLoss high end audio power cables, video power cables, audiophile power cables, audiophile cables

It will be interesting to see how PCM1704K compares to the Sabre DAC variants.
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post #284 of 691
11/1/09 at 5:25am

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post #285 of 691
11/1/09 at 12:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gevorg View Post
Another highend DAC manufactuer from Europe, Lessloss, swears by PCM1704K too. Lessloss has a page where they explain why PCM1704K is better than sigma-delta dac chips here (they do have questionable views on cables and computer audio though, so take it with a grain of salt):

PCM 1704 : LessLoss high end audio power cables, video power cables, audiophile power cables, audiophile cables

It will be interesting to see how PCM1704K compares to the Sabre DAC variants.
Quote:
Originally Posted by regal View Post
I have corrosponded with a famous designer Erno Borbely and he told me that the PCM1704-K was the finest DAC chip ever made, this was before he even offered a DAC kit. He is well known/respected in europe. He explained in technical terms why sigma delta DAC's are inferior.
Did not know that... but, to be honest, it does not matter what is inside as long as the sound is that good.

...although, it feels good to have in your machine two (or eight) DAC chips that are also core bits in >$15K machines which were (are?) considered the best DA machines ever.
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