[adydula]

I use my Crack with a ODAC Rev 1 and a HRT Music Streamer II+ and both are great, no discernible sonic differences to me at all.
 
A.

 

[krikor]

   
Is that a HRT musicstreamer II in the background? How is it with the Crack? Are you enjoying the combo?

Correct. Really enjoy it with the Crack, more so than the DAC section of my Wyred mPRE. Plus it is so painless and easy to use... no nonsense approach to digital conversion, no drivers to muck around with, no power supply, easy to hide behind the equipment, etc. They don't get much fanfare, but I really respect what Kevin Halverson (formerly of Muse Electronics fame) has done with the HRT line both in terms of usability and sound quality. But full disclosure, I am a former Muse customer back when I used to run their big 300 monoblocks, matching preamp and digital converter... but that was in another audiophile life.
 
I am really interested in trying out their higher/newer models with the Crack, but then I'm also being enticed by the new Schiit Bifrost and Gungnir multibit converters (I was fortunate to spend an afternoon with a pre-production version of the Yggdrasil via the Crack and it was VERY impressive, but a bit too much scratch for me nowadays). 

 

[krikor]

  I use my Crack with a ODAC Rev 1 and a HRT Music Streamer II+ and both are great, no discernible sonic differences to me at all.
 
A.

ODAC - that's another one I'm being tempted with right now. The revB is available over at massdrop at a very reasonable price, but I'm not sure it will really be much of a bump up over the HRT.

 

[adydula]

If you have the HRT your not going to hear any difference with an ODAC....I have A/B'd them side by side.....cant tell any real world difference.

Alex

 

[reihead]

Anyone using the Bottlehead OTL with the arcam irDAC? Good pairing?
Plan to get this to use with my HD600

 

[Maxhawk]

I have an irDAC, but I use it with my main speaker rig. It replaced a Musical Fidelity M-1 which I modded by selectively upgrading some of the caps as well as all the opamps. In the end, I don't think I could tell any difference between the two. I use the M-1 with the Crack now because the amp fits nicely on top of the DAC, minimizing desk space where I use it with my computer.
 
In my opinion, any good quality DAC pairs well. Between the cheapest $20 DAC I have versus the $700-800 irDAC & M-1, there is only a very marginal difference. Those marginal differences get swamped by changing a tube. 
 
To answer your question, yes the irDAC pairs well, but so will most properly implemented DACs.

 

[reihead]

^^ Thank you very much, very helpful 

 

[soundfanz]

Thought I'd post up a few pictures of my Crack + speedball.
 
I had stained it black a couple of weekends ago but didn't like it too much. Started to fine sand it back, and loved the look. Finished with a couple of coats of varnish.
 

 

 

 

[i luvmusic 2]

^
NICE

 

[reihead]

That's a fine looking crack!

 

[Karlsand]

Hi everyone! First post for me. I read through this whole thread a while ago which resulted in an order placed for a crack + speedball.

I have to say, of all the beautiful builds I've seen in the thread this has to be my favourite. The wood finish is just fantastic. Well done!

I might just copy that for my build. You said you painted it black first and started sanding off. What's left of the paint looks more Brown than black to me. Anyway, might have to borrow that idea.

 

[soundfanz]

Hi everyone! First post for me. I read through this whole thread a while ago which resulted in an order placed for a crack + speedball.

I have to say, of all the beautiful builds I've seen in the thread this has to be my favourite. The wood finish is just fantastic. Well done!

I might just copy that for my build. You said you painted it black first and started sanding off. What's left of the paint looks more Brown than black to me. Anyway, might have to borrow that idea.

 
I stained, not painted. Applied 3 coats. I then finely sanded it back until I was happy with the look. And finished with a coat or two of varnish.

 

[Karlsand]

Thanks Soundfanz for the clarification. That finish is right up my alley. I will try to do that with mine. If it comes out even close to the looks of yours, I'll be happy!

 

[Karlsand]

I'm bored waiting for my Crack to arrive. I'm going to buy a different pot knob. Can anyone measure the pot axis diameter for me so I can buy the right knob. Also, how big is the original knob (diameter)?

Thanks, Karl

 

[Ankaret]

Hi Crack owners. Are there any good alternatives to swapping out the stock power cable, besides the direct upgrade from Bottlehead for their nice power cable kit? And what do you think about the Bottlehead power cable upgrade for crack vs. the original vs. any alternatives that might be out there? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
 
I just ordered a speedball upgrade for my crack of 1.5 years and a new power tube. Thinking about upgrading the power cord too eventually.