Sonicweld/Cryo-Parts Diverter 96/24 USB to SPDIF Review - Page 10

Yes, my bad - PM me if you want details, or create a new thread on the subject in Dan's forum.

Doesn't answer why the Lavry USB is supposed to be best in class. Does it perform better than other USB implementations? Is it best because it is perfect and therefore cannot be improved upon? Do you have proof of either claim? How is saying, "oh you should measure for yourself" any justification?


Make a special version of the Diverter with transparent acrylic case instead of aluminum

Who left their straw man here?

It would be a straw man argument if I used the example to attack ThisBen's position on the Diverter I am specifically interested in getting a good USB converter. Since ThisBen claimed the Lavry has the best one, I'd like to know why it is so.

Good one! I'm sure some from the non-metallic school of enclosure design would actually consider that a plus. Maybe if I included some internal LEDs, I could snag the computer case modder crowd also.

Didn't mean to offend you, sorry you took it the wrong way. If you want to see my USB cables then I'll have to look behind my printer or digital camera. I don't use a USB source.

personally speaking, I think the isabellina has the best usb implementation of usb converting it straight to i2s into the dac chip. With that being said I think my offramp with usb to spdif conversion is an improvement over the usb input.

Even if you saw a picture of the internals, you'd still not know what you're buying, you'd just have a picture of electronics you have little or no understanding of. It'd just be there to make you feel better about your purchase. Considering that it's audio equipment we're talking about, I'm surprised that the improvement in sound quality from your system wouldn't be your primary criteria for purchasing something, not a visual placebo to placate your ego.

Dan Lavry doesn't post internal pictures of his equipment, nor reveals any more about his design, except that it isn't impossible to open up a DA11.

I have a box that does a similar thing to the Diverter, and the result, with music I've listened to for months with the same equipment, at the same volume level (stepped volume controls for the win!) had more detail. Since this was what I was looking for, I am satisfied. My reason for choosing it was that, like JayDee, I am personally satisfied with the designers honest attitude and intent with his designs.

As I said essentially before, some people here have made up their mind about the diverter. All internal pictures would do is satisfy their desire to spill more verbal blood in declaring it snake oil. By the way, the person you should be asking is Kevin Gilmore.

excellent.

I no doubt think this gear helps aid the usb conversion for music. I bet it sounds damn good, and can be a truly audiophile grado component. I am just worried that the price is a little on the high end. It could be that the R&D for this was huge and as a smaller company cannot compete with prices of the huge guys.

That doesnt mean ESPECIALLY as a small business owner that he has to divulge his design so that others can say if its good or not based on how flashy it looks. Im thinking the care to detail should be enough, look at other things he has made. While I would love to know as well, we cant make him. And in all actuality this community is getting very whiny and reminiscent of gamer trolls and adolescent children. I am just sad at how people are so quick to slay someone on these boards when in the past it was not the case.

Id love to hear one, my hope is that soon we will get options at the $200 level that are out of this world. Or better yet since the standard for usb 2.0 is out new usb boards for DACs so that all can do 24/192 and so on to replace these kits unless they are truly boutique like the diverter.

Hey what is the specs on this Decoder dac you mentioned?

Here is a brief description that Lee posted a few months ago:

That is sweet as long as its not $5K. If its around 2 like most good ones and if he wants more sales itll rock.

Yes, that's true. The Decoder essentially has a Diverter built-in, but with the additional benefit of a direct I2S output feed rather than a SPDIF conversion. It will also accept electrical and optical SPDIF in, as well as balanced AES/EBU.

I'm very excited for it myself, but I'm not sure if I'd go so far as to say that. I do think it will be a special product and that it will have a compelling and unique combination of attributes, but like my other design work, I'm not claiming it will have anything reverse-engineered from secret Area 51 tech. Design-wise, all of the things I said about the Diverter will apply here also.

There truly are some great DAC IC choices on the market right now. Okay, for everyone who has been waterboarding me over specific part details - I'll throw you a bone on this one, and we'll see what happens. The Decoder uses dual PCM1792a ICs running in a differential mono configuration, with the post-DAC signal path being fully differential all the way to the outputs. There will be at least one additional, even higher-end model of DAC I'll be releasing that will use a different ICs, but I won't say which at this point because I haven't decided for sure, other than to note that they aren't from TI.

For the record, I am of the opinion that top-end DAC ICs are at a sufficiently high level of refinement that much of the overall product's sound is determined by other aspects of the implementation. I'm not saying the choice of DAC isn't important or consequential - it certainly is - just that the rest of the design also carries an equal amount of weight.

Yes, the output stages - indeed, the whole thing - will be entirely SMD except in a very few unavoidable instances, for reasons I've already commented on at length. I won't say exactly what the output stage is at this point, only that it will be robust. I wouldn't hesitate to drive any cans I could think of with it. But I'm not claiming that it will have speaker amp-like output, either. Given that our audio avocation revels in overkill engineering, it often sounds amazing to claim ridiculous output capability for amps, and many manufacturers do. Power output capability is surely important, but other factors are equally important in my mind.

We haven't announced pricing and won't until it is released, but I can say definitively that it won't be $2k, or really even close to that. The Decoder design contains three circuit boards, two of which are six-layer designs, a bevy of inputs, a rather elaborate power supply, a chassis machined from solid stock (break out the pitchforks and light the torches), and so forth. Not an inexpensive implementation.