[iamdone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RogerWilco I thought all of vlads stuff was made in china.He is blowing smoke if he thinks he will have it made here.NOS multi stacked dacs have been out for a very long time. I remember years ago something about the distortion that stacking dacs create.Theory only i quess When i owned the audio mirror dac i thought it was very good.But it seems to have more of an upfront presentation instead of hanging back behind my system.

Yeah, I'm not really concerned about the politics of the whole thing. As long as he honors his warranty and I'm happy with the sound, that's all that matter to me.

I guess the upfront presenation works great for my RS-1. I was worried it might make things too lush but it doesn't take one bit of excitement away. As I said, I don't have any experience with other DACs, so I really don't know how they sound different from each other.

 

[WK446]

iamdone:
I had a minor problem with the left channel of my first Audio Mirror DAC. Vlad was great in that he shipped a new one out to me before I sent the old one back. He didn't want me to be without a DAC...

I love the DAC. For the money, it's an absolutely fabulous sounding DAC. I also note that there is no apparently high frequency roll off with this DAC.

I agree with RogerWilco. There is a more upfront presentation with the Audio Mirror. I find the presentation very intimate. The midrange is especially lush and full-bodied.

 

[daba]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobeau ... The thing is, even though the Bel Canto would be some 3x the price, I could resell it for what I bought it. I'd be losing a bit if I decided to turn around and sell one of these eBay DACS (like $100+ taking shipping costs into account).

This is particularly true, as a used Bel Canto DAC2 or a used Benchmark DAC-1 have market values of ~$800-$850. With that in mind, should you dislike the sound of one of the well-established DAC's, it wouldn't be too hard to resell it without much monetary loss; however, with a DAC direct from HK you might have some difficulty getting rid of it.

Another thing I might add is how the warranty issue would work out should your HK-made DAC-68 fails on you. Quoted shipping prices were $98 to the US or Canada; given the round trip you have incurred about 30% of the DAC's new market value in shipping costs alone. You need to ask yourself if you are willing to take that risk.

 

[daba]

Quote:

Originally Posted by WK446 ...

Dennis,

Can you do a more in-depth review of the DAC-1 vs. Audio Mirror? Thanks.

 

[akwok]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daba This is particularly true, as a used Bel Canto DAC2 or a used Benchmark DAC-1 have market values of ~$800-$850. With that in mind, should you dislike the sound of one of the well-established DAC's, it wouldn't be too hard to resell it without much monetary loss; however, with a DAC direct from HK you might have some difficulty getting rid of it. Another thing I might add is how the warranty issue would work out should your HK-made DAC-68 fails on you. Quoted shipping prices were $98 to the US or Canada; given the round trip you have incurred about 30% of the DAC's new market value in shipping costs alone. You need to ask yourself if you are willing to take that risk.

Well.. I mean, if the DAC-68 is a godsend DAC, I wouldn't mind shelling out $98

.

That is.. it performs relative to it's cost.. considering the Audio Mirror clone is $100.. and the DAC-68 is $575..

I'm highly optimistic.. maybe too much so

.

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

It's the typical risk versus reward

 

[Borat]

Sorry to OT:

Someone on DIYaudio has the Lite DAC-68 and reports slight hiss on his due to the digital volume control on the unit. I think he said he bought it second hand so it cannot be confirmed if all units exhibit the same problem.

Read more here

After further research, it looks like the DAC-72 and DAC-60 essentially use the same parts except the 72 uses a 20-bit 96kHz BB DAC chip and the 60 is a 24-bit 96kHz BB DAC chip.

Here is another review of the Lite DAC-60, which oddly was not located in the review section for the DAC on the DIYclub website:

Quote:

letter from Dan Todd by Dan Todd Just wanted to say THANK YOU!!! I have received my DAC-60 unit and have been listening to it for the past 30 minutes. I can honestly say that it has been my best purchase over the past 20 years in High End Audio. The unit is beautifully constructed with very premium parts. I have been purchasing, modifying, and building my own equipment over the past 20 years, but I don't feel the need to modify this unit. It truely is an incredible deal, worth twice the asking price. It will bring me much pleasure for the coming years. I doubt that anything could come close in performance for three to four times the price. Dan Todd This article was published on Wednesday 20 April, 2005.

 

[WK446]

daba:

Here is a link to the Audiogon thread where I compared the Audio Mirror to the Benchmark DAC-1 (and to some of the other sources I mentioned). BTW, I am user, "B18c96specr" on this thread.


Quote:

Originally Posted by daba Dennis, Can you do a more in-depth review of the DAC-1 vs. Audio Mirror? Thanks.

 

[akwok]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Borat Sorry to OT: Someone on DIYaudio has the Lite DAC-68 and reports slight hiss on his due to the digital volume control on the unit. I think he said he bought it second hand so it cannot be confirmed if all units exhibit the same problem. Read more here After further research, it looks like the DAC-72 and DAC-60 essentially use the same parts except the 72 uses a 20-bit 96kHz BB DAC chip and the 60 is a 24-bit 96kHz BB DAC chip. Here is another review of the Lite DAC-60, which oddly was not located in the review section for the DAC on the DIYclub website:

Hmm.. maybe the DAC-38 might be a better option then.. I was scared about the digital interface screwing things up. A lot cheaper too!

No good indication of how it performs though.. no reviews.

Can anyone decipher this:

EDIT : Whoops!

I just searched for DAC-38 on here and there's a LOT of hits. What grabbed me was :
Quote:

"1) The sound of the completed project as described by the builder I found on diyAudio.com: "The DAC sounds very good. I can only compare to CI Audio VDA1 and optional VAC1 power supply. It sounds better, soundstage much wider and accurate, qualities that CI Audio had in the top range now are present in midrange and at lower freq (dynamics, etc).""

Hmm.. maybe it is a good 'switch' rather than an upgrade.. I'm still interested in the DAC-68 though. I might spring for one in mid Sept.

 

[elnero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobeau I don't doubt it a bit. Price isn't a huge issue for me though, I'm new to DACs and was initially thinking of picking up a used Bel Canto 2... just curious if this is of that level. I just bought one of the best dynamic cans there is (the ATH-L3000s) and want something to bring out what it can offer. The thing is, even though the Bel Canto would be some 3x the price, I could resell it for what I bought it. I'd be losing a bit if I decided to turn around and sell one of these eBay DACS (like $100+ taking shipping costs into account).

I think first off you need to decide what type of DAC you want to go with. I thought the MiniMax with it's tube output stage would sound similar to the non-oversampling philosophy but if the Dialogue II is any indication of the non-oversampling type of sound then I would have to say they are quite different. In design the DAC-72 looks to be almost the antithesis of something like the Dialogue II.

One thing to note, some of the other DAC's listed here have some pretty high shipping costs but the one's I linked to on eBay have a flat $35 shipping rate and it's extremely fast shipping. For myself I figured if I tried one and didn't like it the loss should be fairly minimal. I guess because of my location I'm used to having to take a bit of a loss to audition gear.

 

[sacd lover]

I think first off you need to decide what type of DAC you want to go with. I thought the MiniMax with it's tube output stage would sound similar to the non-oversampling philosophy but if the Dialogue II is any indication of the non-oversampling type of sound then I would have to say they are quite different. In design the DAC-72 looks to be almost the antithesis of something like the Dialogue II.


Care to share any descriptions on the sound and sound quality of the Dialougue II ?

 

[elnero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sacd lover Care to share any descriptions on the sound and sound quality of the Dialougue II ?

At this point I think it's still settling in so I don't want to carve anything in stone but my initial impressions are quite favorable. It has a very big, spacious sound, that has a really organic natural flow. Low level detail seems to be excellent, for instance Sarah McLachlan's "Hold On" off the Freedom Sessions album is a simple her and the piano rendition of the song. The ambience of the room and the sustain of the piano notes really showed through and Sarah's voice has a nice rich velvety quality but I also noticed some low level things like possibly her seat creaking that I hadn't noticed before, it really lent to the intimate feel of the song.

At first I thought there was a treble rolloff and there still may be but it's less pronounced now than when I first listened. In fact, last night I was listening to Roger Waters "Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking" and Roger's voice as well as some cymbals had a strange bite to them that I'm not used to hearing. I'm not sure what's going on there because other albums that I've had sibilance problems with or I've found bright in the past have come through wonderfully using the Dialogue II.

So far I've found there is more bass presence than the MiniMax, it's a fuller more rounded sounding bass. It doesn't lack for texture or detail by any means though. In fact I would probably say the same overall, the Dialogue II has a very full, yet slightly rounded sound that is very spacious but a bit blurry in focus. The MiniMax seems a little more defined and focused.

Again though, these are only initial impressions and subject to change as things settle in and I get more listening and direct comparison time in. It should also be noted that at the moment I'm using the MiniMax with it's own internal headamp while the Dialogue II is being used with a Grado RA-1.

 

[sacd lover]

Thanks for the summary elnero.

 

[bobeau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by elnero I think first off you need to decide what type of DAC you want to go with. I thought the MiniMax with it's tube output stage would sound similar to the non-oversampling philosophy but if the Dialogue II is any indication of the non-oversampling type of sound then I would have to say they are quite different. In design the DAC-72 looks to be almost the antithesis of something like the Dialogue II.

That's a good point. The thing is I'm almost leaning to a more traditional DAC just because I'm slightly worried about things becoming too lush/warm... I want to get a PPX3 Slam (tubey tube amp).

To that end though I really can't justify spending $800 on a DAC anytime _real_ soon, so I think my course of action is to get a Dialogue II since it's cheap and sounds quite interesting how you describe it. Without a doubt it should be a nice step up from my 0404.

Then down the road when I want to try a more standard DAC I'll do it. And even if a Bel Canto is much better and I decide to unload the Dialogue, at least it will have seen some use and I'll have had the experience of a NOS DAC which should justify the loss.

 

[iamdone]

Just a follow up about the Audio Mirror. I noticed there is a difference between using an optical and a coaxial cable. I'm just using Monster cables at the moment (all I had) but I don't know if the sound difference is due to emu-1212 outputs or the Audio Mirror inputs. I read some comparison here about the Benchmark sounding different between the two inputs and I've come to the same conclusion with this DAC.

The coaxial sounds fuller with betters soundstage and a more natural sound. The optical sounds slightly brighter, with a crisper more detailed sound. I definately prefer the sound of the coaxial. Over time, I'll probably play with power cords and other cables, but the current sound is perfect for me.