[Youth]

  Could someone please explain the options to me?
http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/dac/DAC1911/DAC19EN_Custom.htm
 
1. Does it come standard with RCA outputs or do they need to be added? Never heard of ACSS.
2. Not needed. I need USB.
3. What is that?
4. What is that?

 
 
It comes with both RCA and ACSS outputs.
 
Amanero combo384 is better and costs a little more. This is what I chose for my DAC 19 since I got it recommended when I use PC. If you get this one you can skip part 3.

 

[schneller]

Okay, that answers my question. Thanks. I would just tick Option 4 and be done. So we're talking roughly $850 plus S&H.
 
Versus GMB...
 
Versus 2Qute or Hugo...
 
SQ being "equal" I of course would go for the best value option. But I am also willing to pay Chord prices for significantly better SQ.
 
What I do NOT want is to have the question in my mind about needing to fiddle with USB / power add-ons. No Regens, no Jitterbugs, etc. It would seem the 2Qute/Hugo fit into this category. The GMB does not. What about the 19?

 

[Youth]

  Okay, that answers my question. Thanks. I would just tick Option 4 and be done. So we're talking roughly $850 plus S&H.
 
Versus GMB...
 
Versus 2Qute or Hugo...
 
SQ being "equal" I of course would go for the best value option. But I am also willing to pay Chord prices for significantly better SQ.
 
What I do NOT want is to have the question in my mind about needing to fiddle with USB / power add-ons. No Regens, no Jitterbugs, etc. It would seem the 2Qute/Hugo fit into this category. The GMB does not. What about the 19?

 
I have only tried the DAC 19 out of those. It is currently my DAC and I love it. Before when I had a USB powered DAC I had some noise issues, they are now gone. The DAC 19 has external power and I actually tried the Jitterbug with it but it made no difference from what I could hear so I returned it. No need for REGEN either IMO.

 

[bimmer100]

   
I have only tried the DAC 19 out of those. It is currently my DAC and I love it. Before when I had a USB powered DAC I had some noise issues, they are now gone. The DAC 19 has external power and I actually tried the Jitterbug with it but it made no difference from what I could hear so I returned it. No need for REGEN either IMO.

 
 
in most cases you will be fine with usb noise. The amanero is an excellent usb input.  As long as you're using a decent usb cable like the Supra Cable that is tightly spec'd for 90ohm. Recently i've tested it against the LH Labs 10G USB cable which is rated for around 1.2% variance from 90ohm. Yet that cable costs 1000usd!!!! After doing a blind a/b test with a friend, we could not determine which was the 10g cable and which was the supra. In fact of the 10 tries, the supra was favored in sound slightly. The more the cable varies from 90ohm the more the PHY IC has to work and creates more noise that can be audible. Some vary around 15ohms +/- from 90ohms or more.  some cable manufacturers don't even take this to account. And yes, thats why people think one cable sounds different than the next. Most cables are close to 90ohms, few are tightly spec'd almost exactly 90ohms. With a supra cable, longer runs can be made too, yet I prefer a good 1.5meter cable. I hate this usb conversation. The amanero is world class and just plain awesome. there are better options, but you'd be splitting hairs to get more performance. This amanero is 0.04ps - 2.41ps rated for it's jitter. nearly femto level specs.  or most femto clocks are spec'd at .5ps or better at all times.  Correct me if i'm wrong, but that is the information i've found and hoping will be helpful.
 
 
@schneller Anyhow...the DAC19 with the amanero combo 384 is a wise choice. The amanero is likely better than the usb interface in most dac's today. Some regard it as the best usb interface available today. It's nothing short of fantastic. 

 

[Stillhart]

So here's a bit of a longer term impression of the DAC-19.

I received my DAC-19 (10th Anv) - very good PCM1704 R-2R implementation - less than a month ago and I was just listening to The Steve Miller Band. The CD rip I have is very good with regard to dynamic range and it's generally a well produced album. Now, while listening I felt that the initial magic was somehow not there. I switched inputs to the Oppo HA-1 (Sabre ESS9018 32 reference DAC - well implemented) and listened to the same track that was currently playing. After the switch I was immediately able to tell the difference.

The Oppo was so very much more flat, one note, and generally didn't give a sense of any of the subtleties in the track (compared directly with the DAC-19). The highs were mashed together, no differentiation between the multitude of textures you get from real instruments. I switched back to the DAC-19 and everything immediately felt right again, felt real, even though previously I felt like I was missing something. I think that generally what I was missing is the euphonic sense of 'Aaahhhhh, there's the difference' that I heard when I first received the DAC-19. Like anything that us humans use we get accustomed to the new standard and it doesn't feel as special anymore..... that is until you're reminded of how special it really is. I think the DAC-19 is pretty special, especially at its price.

 
I think this is why I have been waffling on selling my NFB-28.  I like keeping it around to remind me of why I like the DAC-19+LC so much.  But I think it's time to sell it.  It's too much money to have just gathering dust.
 

  Okay, that answers my question. Thanks. I would just tick Option 4 and be done. So we're talking roughly $850 plus S&H.
 
Versus GMB...
 
Versus 2Qute or Hugo...
 
SQ being "equal" I of course would go for the best value option. But I am also willing to pay Chord prices for significantly better SQ.
 
What I do NOT want is to have the question in my mind about needing to fiddle with USB / power add-ons. No Regens, no Jitterbugs, etc. It would seem the 2Qute/Hugo fit into this category. The GMB does not. What about the 19?

 
The thing about these USB cleaners is that they're only needed if your USB source is ****ty.  If your source is generally fine, then you shouldn't need it on anything.  If you need it on one thing, it will generally benefit everything.
 

---

 
As an FYI, I'm bringing my DAC-19 to RMAF and it's going to be setup at the Cavalli table with a Liquid Carbon.  I've been listening to this setup for a few months now and I absolutely love it.  Anyone coming to RMAF should swing by and give it a listen.  

 

[conquerator2]

I prefer the Burr-Brown sound to any other R2R implementation that I've heard, incl. the Yggy. Nothing touches the naturalness of those chips!

 

[x RELIC x]

I think this is why I have been waffling on selling my NFB-28.  I like keeping it around to remind me of why I like the DAC-19+LC so much.  But I think it's time to sell it.  It's too much money to have just gathering dust.

Though I really don't see a need for the HA-1 when the LC arrives it's hard for me to let go given that it is such a Swiss Army knife of audio gear. Based on audio quality compared to the DAC-19 it's a no brainer, but the amp section is really nice. Thinking long and hard about it until the LC arrives. If I do sell it the proceeds would go toward a NFB-1amp, or it'll be sold along with the DAC-19 for a Master 7 (or Master 11, but I really don't want an all in one unit again).

The thing about these USB cleaners is that they're only needed if your USB source is ****ty.  If your source is generally fine, then you shouldn't need it on anything.  If you need it on one thing, it will generally benefit everything.

Didn't Kingwa say on the Audio-gd website that with the Amanero upgrade that running in NOS mode is possible because the jitter rejection is great with the Amanero.

[rule]

As an FYI, I'm bringing my DAC-19 to RMAF and it's going to be setup at the Cavalli table with a Liquid Carbon.  I've been listening to this setup for a few months now and I absolutely love it.  Anyone coming to RMAF should swing by and give it a listen.  

I want varied and detailed impressions from lots of people!

 

[x RELIC x]

Thought I'd try something... Some of you may gasp :eek: at the idea but this combo sounds very sweet!! source is from my MacBookPro with Audirvana+

 

[comzee]

  I prefer the Burr-Brown sound to any other R2R implementation that I've heard, incl. the Yggy. Nothing touches the naturalness of those chips!

 
Interesting, I purchased a Master 7 a few months ago, and it blew me away. I did upgrade from a (in my opinion) garbage pcm5102a dac implementation.
Many people on Head-Fi are metaphorically ejaculating over the Yggy. Upon further research the consensus from forums around the web is that the Yggy is head and shoulders above the M7.  
 
It's always hard to get honest reviews, though. I see someone praising the Yggy, then a few pages later explaining how an Audioquest diamond cable made a massive improvement. I see that stuff and groan, like, did I really just buy something from hyped reviews and people writing stuff just for attention?
 
Only time will tell, the Yggy is on back order. I plan to write an in depth review of the two. There's some preliminary comparisons between the two, but I haven't seen anything great on the subject. The best I've gleaned from posts is that the M7 is "syrupy" when the Ygg is more in your face.
 
 
EDIT: To keep this post thread relevant, I was wondering if anybody has a comparison between the dac19 / M11 (dac only mode) / and M7, it would be interesting considering they are all 1704 implementations.

 

[conquerator2]

Yes the PCM chips are more syrupy in general, smoother, more romantic and mellow, though still punchy eith decent clarity.
The Yggy is aggressive sounding ( so is the Gungnir MB AFAIK) and while still R2R and technically superior, I simply like the burr browns better...
Tonality choices and preferences. I listen to lots of genres and don't wanna care about mastering. Cherry picking my recordings is the last thing I wanna do. The Theta allows me to listen to everything regardless of how well mastered it is and it will sound from decent to great. Yggy will scale higher with audiophile recordings but I am not willing to sacrifice listenabity for clarity or details, the more that the PCM still sounds plenty detailed
Just my 2 cents.

 

[Solude]

The Yggy is aggressive sounding ( so is the Gungnir MB AFAIK) and while still R2R and technically superior, I simply like the burr browns better...

 
Why are we assuming that it is technically superior?

 

[conquerator2]

Why are we assuming that it is technically superior?

Is what people say mostly. Better micro detail and extension. I think that's correct but thar doesn't change anything for me

 

[Solude]

People say and or repeat a lot of things, most of which is a matter of opinion.  Until Inner Fidelity actually uses their measuring rig for some of these... we just don't know.  For example a lot of people jumped off the PS Audio PWD2 to the DSD but once Stereophile measured the DSD we knew that it was terrible especially for the price.  Not to say that some people don't enjoy it but technically, which is what we're talking about, it is bad.

 

[conquerator2]

  People say and or repeat a lot of things, most of which is a matter of opinion.  Until Inner Fidelity actually uses their measuring rig for some of these... we just don't know.  For example a lot of people jumped off the PS Audio PWD2 to the DSD but once Stereophile measured the DSD we knew that it was terrible especially for the price.  Not to say that some people don't enjoy it but technically, which is what we're talking about, it is bad.

Sure. I am just really glad I found a 400$ vintage gem and know that should it die, there's DAC-19 or perhaps some of the MHDT offerings :} More expensive but still within boundaries I think.

 

[jdpark]

I'm really glad the Dac-19 is conservative enough to also have digital inputs besides USB. I hooked up an old Denon CD player via RCA coaxial and it sounds great. I haven't done extensive listening or testing, but it sounds very similar to the USB input with the Amenero 384 on first listen. Perhaps if I noticed anything it was very good mids and upper mids, but the two albums I listened to were both jazz albums featuring female vocals or clarinet, so one would hope that upper mids were there.
 
No I didn't get an expensive cable. No I'm not freaking out about jitter. 
 
Also, I am really enjoying the combo with a vintage Onkyo Solid State from about 1977 and some JBLs from the early 1980s. 
 
And lastly, that amp going through some AKG K501 headphones (discontinued) both sounds amazing and makes me feel real exclusive and hipster. I don't have a thing for old technology, but it is pretty cool to be using R2R with vintage gear. Basically, sound has improved over the years in some ways but not others. With this DAC, I can hear what only people listening to very good quality albums on very good vinyl set-ups (probably ranging thousands of dollars) could hear 30 years ago. I don't know, but I doubt that high-end CD players sounded this good 30 years ago. I'm open to the possibility that there are multi-thousand dollar CD players that do sound better than this, but I know there is always going to be something better out there.  
 
My wife likes being able to just put on a CD, and not have to fiddle with my computer. I'm not sure she even realizes why the CD player sounds so much better now. It's not her hobby, after all.