and it's pet PEEVE, not PEVE.

mike, thanks for the review. just to confirm, was your comparison only between the usb link and usb out to the dac3? did you compare using optical out from your macbook? and how subtle (or not so subtle) were the differences you mentioned? do you think you can confidently identify the...

Quote: Originally Posted by Skin Luckily voltage transformers can be replaced. And for what use to be a $1000 difference in price [now $800], i'd chance the warranty issues personally. I can round trip the amp at least 5 times to Japan with express shipping for the price difference...

Quote: Originally Posted by KevM2 lol definitely no offense taken. My current spending habits are quite compulsive, which is why I just decided to develop a schedule. I'm sort of like, if I want it, I'll buy it and let things settle as they may. I just figure developing a schedule will...

Quote: Originally Posted by Skin The Zana's price is a big turn off for me personally, once you get that high then you may as well start looking at the more powerful WA5 LE. Not to mention at 2k'ish you can comission someone to build you a damn nice balanced B22 amp. The P-1 and cheaper...

Quote: Originally Posted by davidhunternyc Thanks for the correction nikongod. What I meant was solid-state Class A amp. Supposedly there are solid-state amps made now that sound very tube like. Also, does anyone have an opinion of running a system consisting of the Zana and HD800 with...

count me in

Quote: Originally Posted by spraggih Kind of unfair comparison (DAC3, DAC64) since I only had the DAC64 for a brief time without the Freeway. I recall the DAC64 sounding better pre-Freeway but who knows anymore? Not sure I understand correctly. You recall the DAC64 sounding...

Quote: Originally Posted by spraggih I can understand the toslink making a difference but given I liked the PC sound are we saying the sound would be even better if I re-ripped all CDs via EAC then ALAC? i can't see how ripping with EAC or itunes will make a difference if done...

Waiting on a BA here as well. Quote: Originally Posted by vcoheda also, why offer three different tube configurations. what's the benefit of one over the other? The 307A is supposed to be more transparent and neutral whereas the 300B is more lush with 'bloomy midrange'. I...

what i'm curious to know is what kind of 'improvement' the offramp has over a direct coax input into the dac1 (i.e. coax from computer vs coax from offramp). in your case, since you've only compared usb/optical (from mac) vs coax out of the offramp, the difference you're hearing could very well...

as far as which is technically superior, usb is. when implemented properly, usb can utilize methods such as async transfer (which slaves the computer to the dac instead of the other way round) and direct I2S conversion (as olblueyez mentioned), both of which greatly benefit jitter performance...

you're aware that ipod is a digital source and the analog signal you speak of is the result of internal dac conversion? Quote: Originally Posted by I3eyond Vinyl > Digital We all know optical cables provide us a digital sound. 0s and 1s, off and on. But, as I've said before...

i had a similar experience as well and would like to know what can be done. i didn't consider legal action because i didn't think it would get me anywhere. what good is an oral agreement in court when it's my words against his? and even if i have supporting bank records, can't he always claim he...

Quote: Originally Posted by daglesj The unit could mean just the battery. Any single component can be classed as a 'unit'. The battery is at fault so its replaced with a new unit. what i meant was they told me they shipped me a new zune. i specifically reconfirmed that with...

can anyone tell me if this makes sense? about a month ago, i sent my 120GB back for repair due to a battery problem. turnaround was really fast and i was told they replaced it with a new unit. however the new unit has the same S/N as my old one. wouldn't a new unit have a different S/N?

Quote: Originally Posted by Bohemianism Thank, for that it's really helped. So you wouldn't really need to use an external soundcard as well as an external DAC and Amp, unless you want use the different connection methods that may be available on an external soundcard? Also if you...

i might be interested but first may i ask how young...um i mean how old you are?

Quote: Originally Posted by Currawong Optical, which is what your MacBook Pro has, is built into the headphone socket, and uses a plastic or glass optical cable. On the back of CD players and the like, the plug/socket is called a Toslink socket (as it was designed by Toshiba). On your...

while the amp's volume control is preferred, itunes' volume control (v7 and later) is of very good quality so i wouldn't sweat it if convenience is a factor. i'm curious to know how many people can honestly hear a difference.

Quote: Originally Posted by Greeni I am not suprised if it is true that iBasso are designed and made in the China region. greeni, it's understandable why you don't trust products made in china. and rightfully so. but this kind of stereotypical, knee-jerk finger pointing at the...

Quote: Originally Posted by VicAjax the difference is that we didn't entirely understand the consequences when we had our industrial revolutions. China, on the other hand, fully understands both the environmental and labor repercussions of their growth. we had our revolution...

Quote: Originally Posted by m1abrams No you are forgetting what I said. By going fully balanced the entire chain you eliminate the need for a transformer or opamp circuit in the signal path. This should be enough to make someone who invested in the money for a balanced amp and modded...

so a balanced chain helps to minimize even order harmonics. not sure where i read this so i may very well be wrong but i was under the impression that even order harmonics was okay (or even desired) as it lends 'richness' to the sound...at least for tube amps. Quote: Originally Posted...

we're talking about people losing their jobs here whether you like the company or not. have a little compassion.