--- SOLD --- I'm selling my Vintage Audio Labs NOS DAC, purchased from the manufacturer on eBay early last year. This is a huge step up from not using a separate DAC for a very low price. It uses non-upsampling Philips TDA1543 DAC chip and re-clocker for low jitter and a clean musical sound. It has probably upwards of 500 hours of use in my system. I'd rate the condition at 8 out of 10. It has some minor scuffs on the front plate that you can only see when you shine a bright light directly on it. The power light flickers at times. I'm not sure if it is reflecting the power consumption level of the DAC or if it is just a defect but this doesn't affect the audio performance at all and isn't bright enough to be annoying. It was like that from day one and it didn't make sense to ship it back to China.
These DAC's did get some criticism for clipping a little with "hot" recordings. I've heard it, but I always use clip-prevention in my music software program and that solves the problem entirely. Most have this capability, or if not you just bring the volume down slightly from maximum in the software. I have the same issue with my $2K Headroom Ultra Desktop, so it may not be so much a design flaw as just a more sensitive product. I blame the recording engineers for the problem.
The unit came in a nondescript box, with no manual or cables, and I'm selling it as is. You'll need a standard IEC power cord and USB, Optical, or Digital cable depending on your source. I recommend using the USB input, as that seems to provide the best performance. It's basically plug and play, you don't need any software. After you plug it in you just need to set your computer to route sound to the USB DAC.
Edited by darwinshardhat - 7/16/10 at 9:37am
