For those following along from earlier, I should say that Phil has now been in touch, and I'm confident this will all get sorted out.

I rarely post on these forums, but thought I should share my experience with Cosmic Ears, as an early adopter of both the brand and the BA4.   I ordered the HY3 last September, before seeing the announcement of a new model (that was to become the BA4), that at that time was arriving in...

Those in the UK should consider giving Specsavers Hearing a call, as they seem to consistently charge £20 for impressions.

I thought they looked familiar, and they are indeed remarkably similar to:   http://www.woodheadphones.com/product/es-820cr   OEM from Esmooth would be my guess. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing.

I would press for a resolution through paypal, and don't back down. When dealing with me he didn't seem to have much of an idea of how the system worked and this helped speed things along - he actually escalated my dispute to a claim, so I got my money back faster. Just make sure to be very...

I just ordered a QLS QA-350, which looks to have potential though it may be less than practical in a number of ways. It might fit the OP's needs, but the tradeoffs are poor file format support, a very basic UI, and a reliance on small SD cards.   That being said, it uses a WM8740 DAC with a...

Beware of this seller. I bought a Morgan Jones clone amp (like the 6DJ8 listing) from him, and the 3 prong ground socket actually turned out to be shorted inside. I don't have enough electronics knowledge to explain if the lack of a ground was the cause, but when I was switching sources I got a...

I never thought I would see a discussion of transitive preferences on Head-Fi! Proof, finally, that audiophiles are irrational?

The PCM270* chip is used to convert the USB signal to I2S, then the PCM1793 handles digital-analogue conversion. The I2S implementation is very good in this DAC - I actually prefer the USB input to the Coaxial.

With the volume pot at max, you will of course get these results. 100mV is about right with stock opamps & no other mods. It's a product of the design. At normal listening levels the offset, measured from the headphone out, should be about 1mV, or a few mV at most.

devast, I would recommend checking your DAC over. Obviously with this design you're going to get some DC offset, but if you're measuring over 100mV then that is a major worry. Nevermind overnight, that could kill low impedance headphones fast.

I couldn't say what, but something isn't right with those test results. I've seen other tests done on this DAC, and - among other things - noise level and dynamic range should be in the 90s, or 80s with the headphone amp.

I (pre?)ordered one of these (with RCA plugs) earlier this week. Concept seems to have potential, especially with the WM8740+AD8656 combo. We'll see how it turns out.

#456 has arrived!

I really don't think there is a 'buffer' part in the mk2. The 2134 deals with LPF, and the 2604 the HPA. The problem with bipolar/fet is that bipolar opamps don't always play nice in circuits designed for fet opamps. That is something to bear in mind - the mk2 was designed around fet opamps...

Just a note on this DAC - in my opinion, it definitely doesn't sit in the $150 component pool, if there is such a thing. Granted the version I am using is upgraded in a few ways (the power supply being the big one), but I use it very happily with a pair of JVC DX1000s. Be careful using an...

Judging by the internal pics, its a Xiang Sheng DAC-01 in a different (and nicer looking) case.

This whole business just makes me glad I cancelled my order a couple of weeks ago. Dodged a (possibly very nice sounding) bullet!

Well, I did it - bit the bullet and ordered a pair of DX1000s. The price in Europe is just too good to pass up. This is a mad hobby - ordered HF2s thinking I was crazy spending so much, subsequently cancelled my order and bought these (£75 more expensive) headphones!

The Villan and the Aune are the same, just with different faceplates. They are superior to the others you have linked to - many upgraded parts and a revised PCB. The volume pot affects only the headphone out, on my DAC at least.

I only own the PCI 0404, so can't comment on the strengths of the USB version. However, my experience with the PCI 0404 in comparing it with the Zero, the hifidiy and a couple of other DACs is that it lacks refinement. The component parts of good sound are all there, and well balanced, but...

There are at least three different versions of this DAC kicking around now, leaving aside different faceplates. The one Baba just posted is the best that is still easily available, having most of the important upgrades of the original MK2+. Good seller too, in my experience. I have used my...

Thanks for the advice - I'm trying to avoid calling if possible as I'm in the UK and it can get expensive very quickly, so I thought I'd post here first. I'm happy to wait for my HF-2s I was emailing to ask a couple of questions about shipping and the possibility of adding flats to my order...

Hi Todd, I've been trying to get in touch with you for around three weeks regarding my HF-2 order but still haven't heard anything back. I've tried three e-mail addresses and two clients, so I'm pretty sure the problem isn't at my end. I would appreciate it if you could let me know if...

I just recently sent my unit back for a minor but very irritating problem with the LEDs that the seller was unfortunately unable to ID. Got my refund, but realised I would be hard pressed to beat the MK2 for the money, so promptly ordered another one! This time I've ordered the upgraded PSU...