[Andrew_WOT]

Thanks a lot for impressions.
Based on the picture it looks like a nice match for GS-1.
Try to lift the ground with 2 prong adapter to see if humming goes away. If not I would contact Eddie.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Unfortunatelly looks like this new Eddie's offering, despite higher price, plaguied by the same "Chinese quality" problem.

 

[bordins]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tianguis On the spot, he decided to sell the Meitner and get a Citypulse. The 7.2 had better resolution, less grain, tighter bass, more texture, blacker background.

Nice to hear your short review. A friend of mine in Hong Kong is testing the DA7.2. He found the 7.2 is very good in mid-range. Top- and bottom-end are flat with small sound stage. He isn't impressed much. Wonder others' impressions are ?

 

[heymaceo]

Anybody running this unit balanced who could draw a comparison between single-ended and balanced on this DAC?

 

[echo1]

Wow.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by echo1 Wow, A person may be having a ground loop problem and allready the attacks on foriegn equipment is on

Have nothing against "foreign" equipment per se. Just all those posts I read before about different problems with Zhaolu set me against it. Now there is another DAC that looked like a god run for a money, "borrowed" CEC design aside. And here we go, problems again. And this is not a ground loop if you read the post carefully enough. Budget solution is a budget solution, I guess that it would be unreasonable to expect top notch performance and trouble free operations from no-name equipment like this. There are many "foreign" companies that build high quality audio equipment and stand behind it. Of course it runs for a bit more than these DIY offerings but you are getting what you paid for. Of course my philosophy on that matter might be different from yours, so please no flame wars. In the end is just another opinion.

 

[Cha0$]

Hello folks... My first post here

. I got the Citypulse 7.2x today in the morning... Straight out of the box, it sounded much much better compared to my existing reference. (CA 640C CDP) The DAC feeds my NAD C352 integrated which drives Jamo E855 floorstanders. I tried the headphone socket on it as well... it drives a Sennheiser HD580 very easily... and sounds better than my home built all discrete headphone amp. I do not have any reference for headphone amps unfortunately as I've not heard any branded ones (insanely difficult to get any here in India) so do take my comments on the headamp with a pinch of salt. I'll try and post pics of the internals once I get back from work. Also there's no humming or hissing on my unit.

 

[echo1]

Yes the hum and hiss changes with the volume. A 2 prong adapter would for shure tell. Youre right. I should quit speed reading.
But the other guy has had good fortune(chineese metaphore)so I will take a chance.I have a Darkvoice that sounds wonderfull.Of course I am completely rebuilding it with american and japaneese parts.But not because it was faulty or didnt sound good,but just because I can without spending much because the headphone amp was cheap to begin with......
Alps pot,film and foil output coupling caps,Riken ohm resistors,nichicon power caps,Nos tubes.With the Darkvoice and this dac I hope I get where I want to be......
Music Narvana on a budget.Without having to take a second on my house.

 

[tianguis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bordins Nice to hear your short review. A friend of mine in Hong Kong is testing the DA7.2. He found the 7.2 is very good in mid-range. Top- and bottom-end are flat with small sound stage. He isn't impressed much. Wonder others' impressions are ?

Bordins:

I'm curious how your friend is using it: headphone amp, pre-amp, stand-alone DAC? I agree with his feeling about the mids, but his other impressions don't match mine at all. My 7.2 has lower and tighter bass than the bypassed Zhaolu 2.0 (or Meitner) and a deeper, wider soundstage than either.
In my post about the Meitner, I forgot to mention the "bloom" which had occurred just the night before. In the middle of a track, the bass became overpowering and overloaded the room. I thought something had gone wrong. After messing with my crossover, I found that I had to attenuate the bass by 4dB in order to restore tonal balance. A side effect was a much deeper soundstage. I've never experienced this radical (or instantaneous) a break-in effect. At the time, the Citypulse had just over 100 hours of output time, jiving with Eddie's experience.

Regards,
Larry Welsh

 

[bordins]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tianguis I'm curious how your friend is using it: headphone amp, pre-amp, stand-alone DAC?

Hi Larry, I am not sure about my friend's system, but it is not a very hi-end one. He tested in the 7.2 as a DAC with its pre-amp on his audio gear.

 

[HumanMedia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bordins Hi Larry, I am not sure about my friend's system, but it is not a very hi-end one. He tested in the 7.2 as a DAC with its pre-amp on his audio gear.

So he was using the variable out of the 7.2?
ie using it as a preamp into a power amp?

This would make quite a bit of difference as its preamp/variable out isnt its forte. Its fixed out is supposed to be where its at (and all I really care about)

 

[Supersonic99]

Please help, i'm at a loss what to do.

I have to do a fast(!) (buy) decision between the DA7.2x vs. the Harman HD 970 CDP.

The problem is:
I heared the HD 970 but i never heared the DA7.2x.

I don't trust this chinese-units so much, because i heared bad opinions for example about the Zhaolu 2.0., sound much worse as the cheap Behringer SRC 2496.

The hum problem with the DA7.2, maybe(!) flat soundstage etc.
OK, the DA7.2x is much better as the Zhaolu but better as the Harman???

The HD 970 sounds great IMO. Very detailed and 3-dimensional. (thats very relevant to me)
The Harman has Class-A output stage too, 32 bit DSP upsampling to 384 kHz, plays MP3, very very low jitter, is a DAC too etc... very smart construction.

To buy the HD 970 is a safe dicision, buy the Citypulse is a (440 USD with duty) gamble.

Which one would you buy?

Thanks for help.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

To me it sounds like you have already made your decision.

 

[Supersonic99]

Maybe it sounds like... but i'm really 50%/50%.

Maybe the DA7.2x is a really good unit and sounds great.

If the Citypulse is a real Candeias product, it could not be bad.
If it is a fake "chinese Candeias look-a-like" DAC, maybe the solid smart Harman construction are a better choice.

Anyone heared the Harman HD 970 vs. a good DAC?

best regards
Michael

 

[HumanMedia]

Ya know reading up on the HD970 CDP it does sound great feature-wise. It even has a digital in so you can use it as a DAC from a computer. Maybe you should go with the devil you know (and have heard).