[transient orca]

I am shopping for my first DAC. I am offered a Gamma-1 Lite USB by a friend. I did some search but couldn't find any reviews. I tried the DIY forum. They were helpful but preferred to stick to a technical and empirical discussion.

My friend has kindly loaned me the DAC to test it out before deciding on the deal. I just got it today and haven't listened to it yet. I expect it to sound better than my laptop sound card, but beyond that i have no reference. I have listened to very few if any external DACs. I'd appreciate it if any Gamma-1 owners would share their experience.

I understand that third-party subjective reviews should not be used as measuring standard. In my case I think they would nonetheless be helpful.

 

[JazzVinyl]

Yes, I use a MisterX built Gamma 1 lite everyday at work. It will blow your laptop computers' soundcard away.

It's a very good DAC. Lot's detail, soundstage. Good 'air' around the instruments. It uses a high quality Wolfson DAC. According to the AMB site, the audio specs approach the measuable limits, meaning it can't get much better with the current technologies availble to use poor humans.

Seriously, it's a very good DAC and I think you'll enjoy it. I use mine to feed a PPA v2 Amp with Bass Boost, then into Silver Recabled Senn HD-580's.

With a good recording, it really sounds great. I don't think the gamma 1 lacks for any sonic attributes.

Enjoy!

...

 

[transient orca]

I think the Wolfson is for the S/PDIF signal only, or am I misreading the spec?

 

[JazzVinyl]

I don't see any other DAC chip listed in the y1 specs:

gamma1 specs

...

 

[strid3r]

Have you checked the main gamma-1 thread in this sub-forum?

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f7/1-g...thread-390701/

 

[transient orca]

Oh! Sorry I somehow missed that thread. Thanks

 

[m1abrams]

Quote:

Originally Posted by transient orca /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think the Wolfson is for the S/PDIF signal only, or am I misreading the spec?

Ok the confusion is probably from the fact that the chip used for USB input PCM2707 on the gamma1 is also a DAC however that DAC is not used in the standard builds of even the lite the chip is used to convert USB into either I2S or SPDIF (i believe in the lite version I2S is used). As was said to you in the other thread the Gamma1 lite has the same sound quality as the Full only difference is that the lite only accepts USB input which put a limit on the bitrate and sample rate, but if you do not use the higher rates then the sound quality is the same.

 

[transient orca]

Thanks for the clarification.

Now I will start posting in the existing thread.

 

[K3cT]

I think you can make up your mind now orca, especially since you have the y1 already. I honestly don't know what else at $75 could better, the uDAC perhaps but no one has compared them together side-by-side and it's more expensive.

 

[transient orca]

Well, since you brought it up, I will tell you my impression so far.

First of all the bright side:

I can definitely hear the potential of this little DAC. There is noticeably more sonic and spatial detail form it than the computer sound card.

Now the not so bright side:

I plugged my Audio Technica ATH-AD700 directly into the line out jack on the DAC, and there was a constant hiss, which was not present in the computer headphone jack.

There is also at times uncomfortable level of brightness in the upper mids and treble section (violin and soprano voice). When listening to a choral piece, I found that the female voice becoming a bit overpowering. It's also very good at bring out any hiss present in the recordings.


I have tried all my USB ports, tried the two generic USB cable I have, unplugged all USB devices except the mouse, and closing some programs. The issues still persist. I am running Windows XP with Core2Duo and 3GB of RAM.

It may be that my USB ports are all noisy and jittery, or my computer sound card have dulled my taste. I will connect it to my new headphone amp and give it another try, but that will have to wait until Sunday. I need to study for my midterm.

P.S. I am also getting a AKG K701 next week. That may yet change things

 

[m1abrams]

Are you using an amp with the DAC? If not does this gamma1 have the larger output caps on it? The caps though wont really effect the hiss you describe but does effect the low freq roll-off.

The gamma1 while it can drive headphones directly if the proper output caps are used it really is meant to drive an amp. A mini3 is a perfect little amp to pair with it.

 

[m1abrams]

I would expect 2 things from the AKG K701
1. It will show more faults not less
2. It really can not be driven directly from the Gamma1 and will probably not sound great.

 

[transient orca]

I really don't know much technical details. i doubt my friend knows either. He didn't build it himself. I just received a RW Audio Amp 1 I will try it when I have time.

 

[K3cT]

You're not supposed to plug your headphone directly on the output jack of the y1. If you want to do that, you need to replace the two output caps with bigger ones as stated at AMB's site.

And I'm fairly sure the hiss comes from your PC. You also might want to invest in a decent cable since you use USB power, the quality of the cable is more important since it's simultaneously used to power your y1. Check this website out for your cable needs: http://www.usbstuff.com/.

 

[transient orca]

Thanks, I will definitely try it with my amp. I will thnik about the USB cable. I'd prefer no hiss, but its not that bad.