[llama_egg]

I know what you mean, for the most part I'm pretty sure I don't need, nor will ever use any of these extra features that DAC's seem inclined to shoehorn into themselves. Give me a DAC with USB and Coaxial inputs, and basic analog out, with the guts being made up of high quality parts, not stuff I don't need.
 
But who knows, maybe I'm just in the mindset that they charge more for the extra features then they really do.
 
Quote:

The Stagedac was actually what I was initially aiming for but I asked myself "if it did not have all added features to tailor sound how much would it cost and what dacs would it compete with". Only thing I can figure is it would be much less and personally I am not interested in all the extra features, just want an organic, musical dac that will compliment what I already have and give a commensurate cost to value.

 

 

[Paganini Alfredo]

Quote:

Reviews on it are scarce and given the price tag I'd like to find more feedback on it before I commit. I've looked at the RWA Isabellina but after adding the USB option it is just out of my price range. I know Audio GD stuff is popular but for some reason it just doesn't interest me. I'll have to search the NJ meet thread for some impressions.

What do you mean by after "adding" the USB option? The Isabellina comes with USB as a standard feature.
 
 

 

[wakeride74]

I must of misunderstood the ordering section I was looking at it had a box to check to add USB for $500
Quote:

What do you mean by after "adding" the USB option? The Isabellina comes with USB as a standard feature.
 
 

 

 

[Francoy]

Quote:

Glad you like it Francoy.  True story this one, a friend of mine borrowed my Mini NOS dac...and then proceeded to sell her stagedac and purchased this unit.
 
Unfortunately my one malfunctioned and you remind me, I need to send it back under warranty.  I better do this tommorrow, it's from the same ebayer you linked, and he seemed very responsive to my concerns.  More than likely, the small housing was never designed with 4 dac chips in mind (this dac is a massively modified HIFIDIY single chip variant (AUNE)) and the heat killed it when it was used in 40 degrees centigrade temperatures.
 
If you have not tried this little dac with the coaxial output from the Musical Fidelity CD player yet, please do so, to fair up the comparisons.  I will wager that you will find at least two aspects that the mini dac might actually surpass your CD player.  I found the transient attack of the Muse for e.g. second to none.

Did just that for a few hours with many cds and I have to report that my Musical Fidelity’s DAC stage beat the little Muse in the transient-ness department... But not by a large margin mind you!! The Muse DAC is slightly veiled in comparison to the MF’s DAC and has a very slightly (barely audible) inferior bass definition.
 
I underlined «slightly» and «very slightly» because you have to take into account that the MF CD player is like $1200. So lets say it’s a $600 CD transport with a $600 DAC stage – for the Muse mini NOS DAC to hold it’s own against a product more than ten times it’s price tag is mightily impressive.

 

[songforyou]

First time posting, so I hope it doesn't get lost in the middle of this thread!  Long time reader who has been living with with Senn HD600s (with Stephan Audio Art cable) and a humble X-Can v2 in one system and a Glow Amp1 in another.  Bulk of my listening is vinyl, but I have all my digital music in lossless on itunes. 
 
I have the LCD-2 on order (with many others it seems) and have been reading all the related amp and DAC threads religiously.  I'm looking for a DAC/amp that will drive the Audezes so that I can listen to itunes from my PC (USB) and the rest of my system (RCA in).  Also, I want to be able to feed the DAC signal out of the DAC/amp (RCA out) into my integrated so that I can listen to itunes through my speakers.
 
I had an HRT Streamer + (not the newer II) and am looking for a DAC section that is at least this good (and hopefully better).
 
Here are the products that have caught my eye (not my ears because I haven't heard them).
 

• Centrace DACmini (like the style, has all the functionality I need)
• Audio-gd Fun (confused by all the flavours)
• Burson 160D (too expensive though)
• E9/E7 (like the price)

 
I'm wondering how the DACs of these products stack up to the first generation Streamer +.
 
Any suggestions are welcome.  Thanks! 

 

[JIGF]

 
Quote:

• Centrace DACmini (like the style, has all the functionality I need)

I think the RCA out is fixed.
 

 

[elnero]

Quote:

 

I think the RCA out is fixed.
 

Which from his description sounds like what he would want but if variable output is required I'm pretty sure CEntrance will do that upon request.
 

 

[songforyou]

Thanks for the replies.
 
Yes, fixed is what I want.  I will feed into the line in on an integrated and contol the volume there (no need for variable volume on the line out of the DAC/amp itself).
 
Any thoughts on the relative sound qualities of the DACs mentioned?
 
Thanks! 

 

[SoupRKnowva]

Quote:

Thanks for the replies.
 
Yes, fixed is what I want.  I will feed into the line in on an integrated and contol the volume there (no need for variable volume on the line out of the DAC/amp itself).
 
Any thoughts on the relative sound qualities of the DACs mentioned?
 
Thanks! 

I know that Headphone Addict loves the LCD-2's with his DACmini, he actually likes how it sounds better than with his ZDT, though i havent heard either.

 
 

 

[K3cT]

 
Quote:

oh not directly. i mean as a dac.
 
 

 
I like what I'm hearing that's for sure. The γ2 has a nice forward, detailed, meaty midrange that complements well with the LCD2. Mine is also a bit to the brighter/brasher side that synergize well with the ortho too. 
 
I made a comparison with the Opus and Buffalo II some time back so you might want to check it out here. I used an LCD2 back then so you might find it helpful. 

 

[franklyshankly]

since there is an active amp thread, I think this source thread should be "resurrected" ... has anyone heard the LCD2 with V-DAC? Would that be a shame, or would it be an okay substitute while saving for better DAC? I'm using USB only. Has anyone tried this?

 

[grokit]

I haven't heard the V-DAC, but I would say it most likely depends on how good your amplifier is. And I agree, it would be nice to see this thread resurrected as the LCD-2 reportedly scales up to both better amps and better sources quite well. 
 
I am running the Matrix Mini-i with a Bravo/Supplier, which is a galvinically-isolated usb/spdif converter/word clock through Pure Music out of my Mac into a great balanced amp, the Woo WA22. I really like the sound but have been wondering how much better it can get with a higher-end DAC like Audio GD's NFB-1ES, which reportedly has great synergy with the Woo tube amps.

 

[franklyshankly]

Thanks Grokit, I'll be using a vintage Sansui, so I'm not really sure how great that is (probably not the best, but not terrible either?).
I'm kind of struggling with going for a really high end DAC just because most of my music is lossy and I'm thinking that I'd like to create a high (ish) end vinyl system for the LCD2s. Not sure if a mid-fi DAC (like Havana/Minimax/W4SDAC1, etc) would be wasted on streaming music/mp3 .... This hobby is exhausting for OCD people like me!!!! LOL ....
I'm sure the LCD2s are better with a better source, at least that's what I've gleaned from the threads, but I suppose I'm just not ready to spend as much as it takes. I'm thinking the VDAC will be good but I might go a bit higher, like DAC 25.3 or something ...

 

[KingStyles]

IMO, if you are using a lossy format, getting a high end dac isnt going to make much of a difference. The high end dacs only help in getting every little minute detail from the recording. Those details were probably cut out when it was converted to lossy. Little details like the beattles song that plays in the background of eclips on the DSOTM album. Having a high end dac would help to reveal this, but it probably wouldnt be there in the lossy format. Thus no benefit gained.
 
If you are thinking of going vinyl, I would go that route. It sounds great with the lcd2. The warm vinyl sound with the lcd2 warm midrange is a real treat.

 

[franklyshankly]

Thats kind of what I was wondering .... then in that case the V DAC would be sufficient, or maybe the NFB3?
Not sure why but I'm really excited about the idea of vinyl on the LCD2, just seems like it will be a nice combo.