[analog'd]

Do you know what we lovers of worthy music and fine audio like best, analog'd?  We like variety.  Sometimes the tube does it, sometimes the transistors do.  Sometimes we like orthodynamic drivers, sometimes piston drivers, or open back, or closed back.  I listen to music via my td-11 with Audioengine A2s most of the time.  Sometimes I like the speakers at the back of my desk for a more distant, realistic soundstage.  Right now, I like them about six inches closer, which is less "realistic," but I can perceive more detail, a deeper soundstage, and a flatter frequency response.  It's half way between speaker fi and head fi, which is really cool for me...today.  That Russian Rocket you recommended ain't going anywhere, though. 


 


Say, do you use an upgraded power cord or any power conditioning on the TD-11?


 


FWIW, my TD-11 volume control got really crackly over the last few months.  It drove me nuts!  Finally, I bought a thumb-sized can of DeOxit Gold and gave the inside of the control one squirt.  Ninety percent of the problem was gone immediately.  Five percent more was gone in another day, and the rest resolved a couple of days after that.  It's been fine for two weeks, now.  I wonder if some of that stuff in the tube socket and on the pins might yield some benefit.


 


When I read the Plato quote at the end of your posts, I think you are fighting a battle to keep your headphone rig out of the five-figure range.  Good luck!  (Or not, as the case may be.)

 


a very pleasant (and wise) reply that is greatly appreciated.

taking your post from the bottom; i have gone so far beyond that 5k you mention in my stereo gear that it's just silly. at one point with all speakers and my analog path i was at around 38,000 NOT including headphones.. i have had to downsize since then to raise some money for things over the years - and i refuse to recalculate. but yeah, i am wishing i had another 2 k to try a headphone amp that owners of lcd-3s are raving about. it is NOT going to happen! i would also try some 1800 to 2500 dac if i had a lotta coin. also NOT gonna happen. but man, am i ever suffering in sonic splendor with what i have.

that's great that you figured out the crackling!

i use some odd "better" power cords that i picked up here and there over the years. but i have a dedicated power line (nothing else on the circuit) for my stereo and in addition use a chang lightspeed power filter/conditioner or whatever the hell they're called. i heard improvements years back when i got the chang and i can tell you that my stepson's td11 ab'd to mine, his with the better cord from grant and NOT on the isolated circuit was equal to my td11 on the solo circuit and with the chang. compared with the same tubes (russian rocket) and fed from the same path/source. that said, depending on your home and neighborhood the better cord may in your rig do a lot better with a line conditioner of some kind. i can't give you any advice about this as i got the chang when i happened to be there when someone traded it in; took it home and heard the improvement and never looked back. i paid a few hundred for what was a $600 item new.

thanks for the reminder of the very basic premise (truth really) about this subjective endeavor of ours. of COURSE when comparing excellent paths with various recordings on different days the "objective" assessment is gonna be all over the place. doh!

anyway, thanks again for replying.

 

[thisisvv]

One day suddenly tubedac -11 sound started to loose the touch. I couldnt figure out anything the recrdings i loved went harsh. Should i change tubes??
 
V

 

[blueangel2323]

  One day suddenly tubedac -11 sound started to loose the touch. I couldnt figure out anything the recrdings i loved went harsh. Should i change tubes??
 
V

 
Test the solid state output with another amp to see if it's the tube or not.

 

[DaemonSire]

I am looking to pick up a TubeDAC-11 myself.  I like the multiple inputs in a single box that has the flexibility of a regular DAC Output plus Tube Output.
 
One thing I just discovered though is the USB is not asynchronous.  Since that is the latest buzzword for USB DACs, is this a concern?  Based on the initial review on the front page, the USB input seemed more than capable.
 
Should I be concerned with the fact that USB is not asynchronous?
 
Thanks

 

[DaemonSire]

Also, any idea if the USB works in Linux?
 
I asked GF but they didn't know

 

[blueangel2323]

I am looking to pick up a TubeDAC-11 myself.  I like the multiple inputs in a single box that has the flexibility of a regular DAC Output plus Tube Output.

One thing I just discovered though is the USB is not asynchronous.  Since that is the latest buzzword for USB DACs, is this a concern?  Based on the initial review on the front page, the USB input seemed more than capable.

Should I be concerned with the fact that USB is not asynchronous?

Thanks

I wouldn't worry about it. It's a great sounding DAC even without asynchronous, and asynchronous doesn't guarantee good sound.

Also, any idea if the USB works in Linux?

I asked GF but they didn't know

It's plug and play and works without installing any drivers, if that helps. Never used Linux myself though.

 

[DaemonSire]

Thanks, that does help.  If it can plug and play in Windows without drivers, I'm sure Linux will handle it.

 

[DaemonSire]

Got the TubeDAC-11.  Works perfectly fine in Linux.  Sounds nice too and I love all the inputs.
 
I have a question/concern for anyone that has one and I'm wondering if this is common across all or if there is a potential issue with my new one:
 
1.  Does your front headphone port have a slight bit of 'play' to it?  It doesn't cut out or anything and sounds fine, but I notice that when I plug in headphones, I can move the port itself around slightly.  Just wondering if this is just the jack/board flexing slightly or if it should be completely solid.  Just concerned that if this is not normal, will I eventually get a problem (i.e. a short or disconnect) over multiple inserts/removals?

2.  When I got it, I tested all the inputs to make sure they all work.  I noticed something when using the optical input that would like someone else's experience with.  When I connected my PS3 to the Optical input and started a game, there were several 'mechanical' style 'click click' noises coming from the unit itself.  It sounds like maybe the muting relay?  Basically it was doing it during the initial loading screen where sound would be going on and off or changing frequencies, etc.  The sound works fine though so this may be as designed?  As I said, the 'click' is actually coming from the unit itself and not through the headphones.  This seems to be the ONLY input that does that though (coax/usb do not exhibit this behaviour).

I'm hoping anyone with a TubeDAC-11 can comment on the above.  I hope everyone else has the same behaviour...
 
Thanks in advance,

 

[westermac]

I have some HD600's and a HeadPod 4 which has been treating them well, and recently have worked very hard at convincing myself not to buy a Crack on account of being broke (no pun intended).
 
Why oh why did I start reading this thread?
 
I wonder how much the cat is worth...

 

[blueangel2323]

Pair the TubeDAC with the Crack and it will be even better 

 

[westermac]

  Pair the TubeDAC with the Crack and it will be even better 

 
Don't tempt me 

 
IF I were to acquire a TD-11 down the road, it would mainly be for use with my SS amp and HD600's as mentioned above. But I also have a pair of JBL LSR4326p active studio monitors, and I wonder if the TD-11's tube out might give these otherwise-neutral speakers some fun new listening possibilities or sound like total garbáge?
 
Anyone care to speculate? 

 

[SwanSong]

Can the TD-11 handle 24bit/48khz & 88khz audio files?  I'm starting to run across more and more of these files.
 
I'm thinking of adding a headphone setup to my studio monitor rig.  Any feedback on Hifiman HE-500 and EF-5 amp using the Dac only output on TD-11???

 

[blueangel2323]

  Don't tempt me 

 
IF I were to acquire a TD-11 down the road, it would mainly be for use with my SS amp and HD600's as mentioned above. But I also have a pair of JBL LSR4326p active studio monitors, and I wonder if the TD-11's tube out might give these otherwise-neutral speakers some fun new listening possibilities or sound like total garbáge?
 
Anyone care to speculate? 

The tube output should add a bit of warmth and round out the edges, but it's still close enough to neutral that I wouldn't expect a night and day difference. If you don't like the tube output there is always the SS output and preamp out too.
 

  Can the TD-11 handle 24bit/48khz & 88khz audio files?  I'm starting to run across more and more of these files.
 
I'm thinking of adding a headphone setup to my studio monitor rig.  Any feedback on Hifiman HE-500 and EF-5 amp using the Dac only output on TD-11???

It will take 44.1/48/96 but not 88.2

 

[SwanSong]

   
Don't tempt me 

 
IF I were to acquire a TD-11 down the road, it would mainly be for use with my SS amp and HD600's as mentioned above. But I also have a pair of JBL LSR4326p active studio monitors, and I wonder if the TD-11's tube out might give these otherwise-neutral speakers some fun new listening possibilities or sound like total garbáge?
 
Anyone care to speculate? 

 
 
Check my review regarding TD-11 with traditional studio monitors.  I don't think you'll be disappointed with the tube output feeding technically true sounding studio monitors.  The TD-11 will make your MP3 and 24bit/96 or 192 sound great.

 

[SwanSong]

Blueangel, that sucks!  Is that a USB issue?  Because I have a digital converter in the mix, my friend thought he was able to play 88.2khz files, i'll have him test to be sure.