I would also recommend a Beresford TC-7510. Excellent DAC and would give you a few bucks for music or to go towards your amp or headphones.

I have my beresford getting its signal from Winamp using direct kernel streaming of ALAC files. Optical out to the Beresford and using it's headphone amp for Alessandro MS2i's. No hiss, no humm, VERY good sound. I'll be interested to hear the difference when the DV 336i comes out from under the...

I use my Ipod as an external drive and Kernel streamaing through an AV-710 optical to a DAC and amp in the office. With Apple Lossless files, I can say it sounds pretty darn good. Winamp is easier to use and now does ALAC. I would be surprised if a docking station could do all that though, I'll...

I think that an ipod as a source can sound very good, you just need to think about your usage. Normally in a portable setting, you can't appreciate the extra fidelity of a high end sound b/c of the background noice (subway, kids in the car, 100 mph wind on the helmet......) For that use get a...

Curse you DarkVoice, I thought I had my Christmas list all decided on!!!! Now I have to reevaluate and decide all over again!

Unless you are willing to wait for a good deal on the used forums, the LD line is a great way to go!

This is great, one thing you can do is get a Zu cable on eBay for pretty cheap and start with that, then one end is already done. It worked great for me. thanks for the great thread!

Ok, this is all great, but ..... if you can tap into the signal after the DAC, and if your going to have an external enclosure anyway..... could you tap into the signal BEFORE the DAC and use the external space to convert to optical or coax digital out? Now that would be AWESOME. A resonabely...

I would venture that when you are in a setting that requires a protable setup, the ambient/background noise is such that the sonic improvements suggested above might be moot.

I used to have an LDII+ and gots lots of comments on it and the Grado Sr-80s. Now I have a Beresford that nodbody notices, but the DV 336i is under the Chirstmas tree with a set of Alessandro MS2i's. I imagine I'll get some conversation then.

ER4P, I've had them so long the cord is turning green, but they still sound great!

Excellent discussion, now I feel better attempting to improve my Alessandro MS2i's!

How much difference did the boutique parts make in your different SOHA's? Do you think it was worth the increased price?

That sounds promising. Can you point me in the direction of information about how to do this, or who could do it for me? Is it brain surgery?

Thanks, I just did. I'll report back on what he says.

If you like the Grado's, see if you can get your hands on a pair of Alessandro's. The MS2i's are killer!!!!!

I have used an LD2++ in the past and it calmed down the brightness abit and brought out the middle. Now I am eagerly awaiting a DarkVoice 336i that will get an RCA grey glass upgrade. I'm pairing this with a Beresford DAC and can't wait to see what the result is.

Does anybody know of anything I can do setup or mods that will make this amp work better with low impedance headphones like the Alessandro MS2i?

Thanks for a great review, this might have to go on my post-Christmas list!!!

Not really a surprise, but better than an ugly tie!! And I already ordered an RCA grey glass. Can't wait to see how the Beresford and my new MS2i's sound!

What is the best sound card for Optical out? Just want to get the best signal to an external DAC. Thought about PCI but is there an external USB option that can still handle 24/192? That way I can use laptop or desktop. TIA

Would the AV-710 be a good choice as a transport to get a digital signal (highest possible quality) to my new Beresford DAC/Amp? I've found many recomendations on its use as a soundcard, but not much on getting a signal to an external DAC. Are there other cards/methods that might be a better...

Can a USB dac do 24bit/192KHz ? Is there some limitation in USB spec that prevents this? I'm just noticing that many of the USB DACs that are not really expensive do not suppor this level of performance. Thanks.

That is what I needed, now it's just a matter of sticking to my budget!

Ok, not sure how stupid this question is, but how much to I need to spend to improve on the Ipod DAC? Will an emu 404 do it at ~150? A Beresford TC-7510 do it at ~200? How about a Mood-Lab at ~400? The idea is to run winamp on my laptop, using the Ipod as an external disk with the music in...