Quote: Originally Posted by markmaxx I will say that the bottom seems to have fallen out of the 808.2i market,,I got a demo unit off audiogon with full manufacturer warranty for $6000.00 shipped! My 808.2i arrived yesterday... A good ex-demo deal too, I would say yours look...

I had a 5400 for around one month, good but not great, there are (many) better machines, be it 1piece or something + DAC, on CD at least.

Some time ago my opinion was that there was a point were more mods to the V-DAC was 'too much'. I have actually moved that point: this little wonderfully DAC may be found for 120ukp (under 150 euro) in UK and as Dutchcamps point out there is no 'obligation' to use its original case, not to...

DAC chip: bets are high on the AD1853 (same as Benchmark DAC1 incidentally).

Quote: Originally Posted by atothex I don't even know what chip is in it. It does use their own software for digital filtering (with HDCD off course) but down the line things are nothing special: one AD18xx (cannot remember the exact reference) and opamps for I/V and...

Not heard personally, but from the people I find reliable... make this "top 3" regardless of price

Ok I see. Strange you got worse sound vs the original unit... Btw do not go too far with the PSU: the weak link on the V-DAC (from the PS point of view) is that it generates internally the analog -V rail with switced DC-DC converters, so having the best PSU is not 'that' good. Just a good one...

Link to your Conrad PSU? (I cannot see it) Maybe is a switched unit giving lots of EMI or whatever... If you have any 12V battery handy, to try it is THE test to know how good or not is the PSU you are using

Dutch, To measure DC out just put the tester in DC mV and measure from ground to each channel live... no worries. When I tried some opamps on the output place, I always found some mV of DC offset. How are you doing with the nice(r) PSU? Regards, Josep

Audiotrak's Prodigy Cube (around $90) does too 24/96 via USB with no drivers needed (uses their "Tenor" chip). Coaxial and optical outs.

Someone was selling a unit for $500 but I cannot find now... sorry.

There are Meridian transports 2nd hand, 500 was the model I think.

I do not fully catch your question... Under $500 you have the DacMagic, around 1k Lavry, around 2-3k Weiss, and 5k Berkeley. So... you just miss a 4k balanced DAC?

Quote: Originally Posted by 1UP I don't know if this is a common view but I find it easier to evaluate sources through speakers than headphones; +1. The spatial 'cues' for example are (to me) much easier to distinguish in my speaker setup.

Quote: Originally Posted by hh83917 I'd like to suggest a Weiss DAC2 or even the Weiss MINERVA if price is no issue. AFAIK both (DAC2 and Minerva) are exactly the same unit, save for the front panel. Oh, and the price