Hell of a coincidence, but today is the first day I've been back to the site in a long while. I like the new layout. The previous one seemed very dated. Wish the Buying Guide was easier to navigate. I can still get to the pages, but in a bit of a round about way since the directory gives me 404s.

I guess I may swing by. My set up hasn't changed much from the last time I attended our meet up. Still have my HD800s and my PS Audio Digital Link II DAC, but I also have my Woo Audio WA22 Amp.

Thanks guys for the pre-amp recs. Much appreciated. And yeah, I tend to start off with higher end stuff because those I will for sure stick with in the long run and it in effect saves me some money.

Haha, I am not. I had read that you could get away with just running it through a head amp, but I guess that's only true in the most literal sense. I'll have to look into a quality pre-amp now I suppose.

Okay, I finally decided that I was okay with not getting something absolutely epic and went with a Rega P3-24 with a Dynavector 10x5 cartridge. Sounds pretty nice right now just running through my wa-22 if not a bit too quiet.  I still have to go through the calibration process though.

Yeah, I just had a moment of frustration because I came in hoping this would be something no more complicated than buying the right components, piecing and plugging them together and then it's good to go. But I'm no longer flustered and am ready to start doing more research. I'd really like to...

I really want to get a turntable but reading that opening post on how to set it up is very intimidating. =\ I really don't think I have the technical prowess to do all that accurately on my own. *sigh* That being said, I still need to get a turntable set up of my own. Maybe I'll get something...

Thanks guys =) Decided to take a night photo:

I'll do the same! From some of the tracks I found online, it sounds like a lovely album!

Yeah, I will have to get him extra milk and cookies for that one! The first album I'm playing through it is probably my favorite this year: "Eighty One" by Yppah. It's so gorgeous.

I thought I had my day all planned out and then I went to check my mail and found this: [ Oh lawd, time to go into my cave.

I listened to "Kid A" on my HD800s for the first time and it was like a completely different experience. I've listened to that album countless times before but I was still in awe with it. The detail and staging was phenomenal especially. Idioteque was probably the most impactful in that regard...

Quote:     Did you know 85 percent of all statistics are made up? =)

Quote: Hell yeah!   I may have my DAC (PS Audio Digital Link III) with me when I get there. It'd be nice if my WA22 got to me in time, but it can take up to 2 weeks from the time of order to ship it so probably no luck on that one.

Thanks guys =) Can't wait to try all this new gear out.

Okay so I ended up buying a bunch of necessary cables as well as the PS Audio Digital Link III DAC. The Yulong looked really nice, but between the source being Hong Kong and thus over seas shipping and the fact that I had over 180 dollars in Amazon gift cards, the PS Audio's ease of purchase...

Finding some cables is kind of tough though, like dual xlrf or xlrm to a female headphone jack (1/4 or 1/8). Or a single 4pin male to female headphone jack. =\ RCA cables of whatever variety are easy enough though.

Oh cool,  a meet! I will try to get over there. Thanks. I really appreciate all the other input too. What I thought was going to be a simple audio purchase has become quite complex! I am researching three components instead of one. It's fascinating stuff I think.

I'd like to come to this, all I have are my HD800s though.

Thank you for the explanation on that Sid-Fi. I think I will look into the Audiophilleo  since that is what you're rocking. Man, I jumped from head amps to DACs to USB/SPDIF converters. Man, and I thought collecting firearms was expensive!

A USB interface?! Man what the hell is that? These things keep piling on! ;_; By the way was my assessment of the connection cables between each component correct? I feel like I'm going to mess this up some how. You guys have been really helpful by the way.

Reading up on this DAC it sounds impressive. And they sell it through Amazon so that is convenient. So it looks like if I were to hook this up: Computer -> DAC -> WA22 -> Headphones, I'd need a B-Bus USB cable to connect DAC to computer, one dual xlrm to dual xlrf cable (or a male to male RCA...

Edit: Whoops wrong topic :)

Edit: Whoops wrong topic and a double post :\ crappy interwebs.

Title pretty much says it all. I'm looking for a balanced DAC I can use in conjunction with my laptop. While we're here though, I'm curious to know if there are good references for understanding DACs. And how about some sort of index list of companies and models of DACs. The world of DAC...