[mikechai]

What about the MoodLab vs Dialogue II? As they both use the TDA1543, non-OS.

Also curious about how using AC power affects sound quality of the Dialogue II. The creator claims DC battery provides "dumb" sounding while I see other DIYer prefer DC battery....

 

[Sean H]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikechai Also curious about how using AC power affects sound quality of the Dialogue II. The creator claims DC battery provides "dumb" sounding while I see other DIYer prefer DC battery....

LOL!! Yeah, I saw that too. I've got an Ack! dAck and I can't see at all what he is talking about.

 

[MikeW]

Dead Thread, I here by Resurrect Thee! So lets have it, how does the Dialogue II compare to the Moodlab unit?

 

[Elephas]

The Dialogue II sounds similar to the Moodlab, although I prefer the Dialogue II slightly. The Dialogue II has a warm, smooth engaging sound that could be described as "musical."

I prefer the CEC DA53 more than the two non-OS DACs. It has details the other two can't match. Its versatile input options are also more useful. I've been using the USB ASIO driver (www.usb-audio.com) and there is a definite improvement over the normal plug-and-play Windows USB Audio codec. I never thought this would happen, but USB is now the DA53's primary connection method. My 1212m is just taking up two PCI slots, unused.

For the purpose of comparing the three DACs, I used the following setup:

- WAV files ripped using EAC from original CDs

- foobar 0.8.3 ASIO dll version 0.53 output, 32bit fixed-point, no active DSPs

- E-MU 1212M ASIO output through digital RCA (coaxial)

- Antique and Audio Co. digital RCA (coaxial) cable was used with each DAC

- Each DAC's digital RCA (coaxial) input was used. The DA53 and Dialogue II shared an ASR Audio power cord, the Moodlab used a generic 10V--1A AC adapter

- Tara Labs Spectrum 2a RCA cables were switched between each DAC and the amp

- Lehmann Black Cube Linear amplifier with an ASR Audio power cord

- Various headphones: primarily AD2000, HD650/stock cable, L3000 and RS-1

 

[Elephas]

 

[MikeW]

that's a nice looking dac, i looked all over the net, but can't find pricing or antyhing, but it sounds to me like you just prefer the oversampler dac's. Some people do.

 

[cosmopragma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeW that's a nice looking dac, i looked all over the net, but can't find pricing or antyhing, but it sounds to me like you just prefer the oversampler dac's. Some people do.

Information about it's sibling Aqvox USB 2 D/A is easier to get.
Ah, well, here's something about the CEC DA 53

 

[Elephas]

I got the idea of trying the USB ASIO driver from the AQVOX USB 2 DA product page http://www.aqvox.de/products.html.

According to Ploytec www.usb-audio.com, it appears Apogee bundles the same driver with the Mini-DAC and other manufacturers also do the same with their equipment.

I'm very impressed with the sound quality of ALAC > iTunes using this USB driver and it is now my primary configuration. Also, the DA53 is small enough to be transportable and used with a notebook PC and portable amp.

I paid slightly over US$500 for the DA53. I think it is an excellent value, especially if it is comparable to the AQVOX USB 2 DA, Benchmark DAC1 or Apogee Mini-DAC (conjecture and some wishful thinking

).

 

[humanflyz]

Have you heard the Headroom MicroDAC? And if yes, how would you compare those two? I'm asking because your impressions have sparked my interest in the CEC, whereas before I was pretty much set on the MicroDAC.

 

[Elephas]

No, I haven't heard a MicroDAC or other HeadRoom products.

From product specifications, the CEC DA53 should sound similar to the AQVOX USB 2 DA. I'm also curious as to how they compare, as well as to other DACs such as the Benchmark or Apogee.

 

[Jon L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elephas No, I haven't heard a MicroDAC or other HeadRoom products. From product specifications, the CEC DA53 should sound similar to the AQVOX USB 2 DA. I'm also curious as to how they compare, as well as to other DACs such as the Benchmark or Apogee.

Can anybody confirm if CEC and AQVox indeed have the same internals? Doesn't seem likely since CEC is advertizing 195 (not 192) kHz upsampling and AQVox 192 kHz upsampling. Unlike AQVox, CEC doesn't seem to have the bypass switch for upsampling, which is a deal-breaker for me. I prefer AQVox sound with upsampling bypassed. Is there a way to bypass upsampling on CEC?

 

[Borat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon L Can anybody confirm if CEC and AQVox indeed have the same internals?

Look at the pics in this thread and decide for yourself.

 

[Elephas]

There is no upsampling bypass on the DA53.

 

[jenhwa]

any idea how much does the CEC DA53 cost ?

thanx

 

[Elephas]

Hello, and welcome to Head-Fi.

Street price for the DA53 in Taiwan is about US$530.