[twsmith]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bootleg /img/forum/go_quote.gif The best interconnect is no interconnect. I actually like the sound of the DAC1 USB's internal headphone amp...that is to say it has almost no sound of its own. I think it is a fairly colorless representation of whatever the beautiful DAC is doing musically. To me, the character and synergy of the headphones makes a far bigger difference. I love the DAC1 USB with the Denon's. With the Grados? Not so much.

I won't argue with your impression of the DAC1's headphone amp. It appears to be very well designed and may work just great with some phones, and I agree that it probably presents a very transparent window to the capabilities of the DAC itself. However, it did not sound very good at all with my AKG701s, and I believe my experience has been similar to others running the K701s straight out from the DAC1. I LOVE the sound of the DAC1 with my GS-1 amp, which does synergize well with the K701s. I'm not an electrical engineer, so it would be hard for me to understand exactly why the K701s don't work well with the DAC1's amp but I guess, as you point out, it's all about synergy.

Whether or not the added effect of the interconnect between DAC and amp is also significant is unclear to me -- my impression is that the new DAC1-USB has been designed to minimize or perhaps eliminate any major problems related to interconnect/amp matching (impedence, etc.) although it's still possible that other electrical characteristics of the interconnect itself could "slightly" alter the sound quality. (That actually could be a good thing for some people, I suppose.)

 

[Bootleg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by twsmith /img/forum/go_quote.gif I won't argue with your impression of the DAC1's headphone amp. It appears to be very well designed and may work just great with some phones, and I agree that it probably presents a very transparent window to the capabilities of the DAC itself. However, it did not sound very good at all with my AKG701s, and I believe my experience has been similar to others running the K701s straight out from the DAC1. I LOVE the sound of the DAC1 with my GS-1 amp, which does synergize well with the K701s. I'm not an electrical engineer, so it would be hard for me to understand exactly why the K701s don't work well with the DAC1's amp but I guess, as you point out, it's all about synergy. Whether or not the added effect of the interconnect between DAC and amp is also significant is unclear to me -- my impression is that the new DAC1-USB has been designed to minimize or perhaps eliminate any major problems related to interconnect/amp matching (impedence, etc.) although it's still possible that other electrical characteristics of the interconnect itself could "slightly" alter the sound quality. (That actually could be a good thing for some people, I suppose.)

I also have a pair of K 701's and don't particularly dig them with the DAC1.

Come to think of it, I don't really dig the K 701's period.

 

[bjoern]

...

 

[paba]

Hi,

you should add iRoc USB DAC

995$ USD
PCM2707
TDA1543 in NON-OS

http://web.mac.com/ultrafitimes/iWeb...imes/iRoc.html

why is this thread still not a sticky?

cheers
paba

 

[RJW1138]

Just discovered another DAC that's not on this list, from the pro audio world: ATI DM200. It has a headphone amp too, which I'm always all over.

And here it is being sold pretty cheap: http://www.bswusa.com/proditem.asp?item=DM200

 

[TheShaman]

Sticky please?!

Behringer ULTRAMATCH PRO SRC2496 is not on the list either. Excellent DAC for the money with unmatched flexibility and AKM DACs.

 

[kpeezy]

Hmm.. That Ultramatch PRO is within the budget I have for a DAC. I'll be buying a DAC and Mini^3 this weekend or a Corda Move. I would like to go with separate amp and DAC. Is there anywhere I can read about this DAC's performance or could I get some responses in this thread? Thanks

Also, anybody wants to recommend any other amp around the $150 price range it would be greatly appreciated

Edit: I want a DAC with USB to be used with a computer so I'm not sure if the Ultramatch PRO can do that.

 

[invisiblegun]

wow

 

[kpeezy]

How does the old Audio Alchemy UltraDAC perform? I found one going for very cheap and thought it might be fun

 

[erikzen]

I was just looking through the list and noticed that the Ack dAck is listed as an over-sampling DAC but it is a non-oversampling DAC. If this has been mentioned somewhere in the 8 pages of this thread I apologize for the redundancy.

 

[Ezer]

Anyone here know if the DAC1-USB has audibly higher sound quality than the DAC1? Or is it just the same thing with more features/flexibility? I'm really pushing to get a DAC1 at the moment but I will never use the USB function, ever.

 

[EliasGwinn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ezer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Anyone here know if the DAC1-USB has audibly higher sound quality than the DAC1? Or is it just the same thing with more features/flexibility? I'm really pushing to get a DAC1 at the moment but I will never use the USB function, ever.

The headphone amp in the DAC1 USB is the same as the DAC1 Classic. The only difference is the DAC1 USB offers a feature to change the gain of the headphone amp to better suit sensitive headphones. Also, the DAC1 USB has a feature which will automatically mute the analog outputs when a headphone jack is inserted into the left headphone jack (this feature is defeatable as well).

The balanced and unbalanced outputs of the DAC1 USB are driven with new high-current output drivers. The sound of these new drivers are no different then the DAC1 Classic, however, they are much better suited to drive long cables, and/or devices that have low-impedance or high capacitance. In other words, you will only notice a difference if it is driving a difficult load.

Thanks,
Elias

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

Please add the Stereophile Review of the Entech 203 on the list. This review includes very useful specs as well as subjective sonic performance judgements.

http://www.stereophile.com/digitalpr...rs/1298entech/

 

[ken36]

Excellent. Should be a sticky.

 

[royewest]

Here's fine little USB DAC I enjoyed for several years at work, with a Gilmore Lite as the amp:

http://www.xitel.com/USA/prod_hflpc.htm

At $50 complete, with a mile-long mini-to-RCA cable included, it's a steal.