Audiobyte Hydra: High-End USB interface

[preproman]

Quote:

On the technical paper is noted: "*during battery charging , the device will be powered automatically from external power supply"
 
This DDC doesn't look as "smart" as the Ciunas which always operates on battery. It got my attention too, though!

 
That's fine, as long as the external PSU is a good linear one.

 

[germay0653]

Has anyone heard the Hydra-X > Burson Conductor with a pair of Fostex TH-900's?

 

[dan.gheorghe]

Quote:

Has anyone heard the Hydra-X > Burson Conductor with a pair of Fostex TH-900's?

 
Just with D7000.

 

[germay0653]

Hi Dan,
 
How did it sound with the D7000's?  Was the same synergy there, as the Audeze's?  I love the Condutor's DAC and headamp and would like to have the ability to play DSD through it, at least DSD64 and DSD128 via S/PDIF since the Conductor doesn't have I2S connectivity.

 

[DarKu]

Quote:

Hi Dan,
 
How did it sound with the D7000's?  Was the same synergy there, as the Audeze's?  I love the Condutor's DAC and headamp and would like to have the ability to play DSD through it, at least DSD64 and DSD128 via S/PDIF since the Conductor doesn't have I2S connectivity.

I was with Dan at his place and listened to D7000 with that combo too. It was an amazing experience, it really opened the D7000 sound and it was a very engaging experience. I also had D7000 for few weeks at my place but at that time it was an tube setup (DAC and amp) and the sound was much worse, cleary not the same sense of control, speed and articulation. Conductor rocked with D7000 and I am pretty sure it will work the same with TH900

 

[germay0653]

Thanks DarKu!
 
I still have my pair of D7000's and recently, 3 - 4 months ago, purchased a pair TH-900's.  Is using the Hydra-X that much of an improvement over the Tenor USB PCB that Burson uses?
 
Gery

 

[SoupRKnowva]

This thread got me super interested in the unimorph dac and the wavequest dac. I wonder what the prices are on those two pieces or if they're available as 117 volt versions

 

[preproman]

Does the Hydra-X have Windows 8 drivers?  Sorry if I missed it somewhere..

 

[dan.gheorghe]

Quote:

Hi Dan,
 
How did it sound with the D7000's?  Was the same synergy there, as the Audeze's?  I love the Condutor's DAC and headamp and would like to have the ability to play DSD through it, at least DSD64 and DSD128 via S/PDIF since the Conductor doesn't have I2S connectivity.

I agree with DarKu . I really love the D7000 with Conductor & Hydra-X. I will do a review on these soon. It is sad that Denon discontinued this wonderful cans. Hydra does support DSD, so it will be good for a future dac with dsd capabilities. 
 
 

This thread got me super interested in the unimorph dac and the wavequest dac. I wonder what the prices are on those two pieces or if they're available as 117 volt versions

 
I have recently talked with Nucu and he said he has the new Audiobyte DAC flagship in development (Audiobyte WaveDream). I think it will be above Wavequest and Unimorph. I am really curios about it.
 

Does the Hydra-X have Windows 8 drivers?  Sorry if I missed it somewhere..

I am listening to music with Hydra-X on Windows 8 as I am writing this sentence.


 

 

[SoupRKnowva]

Quote:

I have recently talked with Nucu and he said he has the new Audiobyte DAC flagship in development (Audiobyte WaveDream). I think it will be above Wavequest and Unimorph. I am really curios about it.  

 
The wavedream looks like its going to be a disc spinner though. I would be looking more for a straight dac. I see that he has the Wavequest 2 listed, but almost no information on it. though there isnt really any info about the unimorph either. The only downside I can see to the Wavequest is that it's only single ended. But I bet putting two more of those MSB dac modules in there would raise the price significantly...I should shoot him an email to ask some questions

 

[CChang]

Being a Rockna Wavequest DAC & Audiobyte Hydra -X user, I was told by Nicolae Jitariu that the Wavedream is now a pure DAC, not a player anymore. The official website is not updated.
I was told the Wavedream still employ MSB discrete true ladder dac as the Wavequest. But there should be balanced and unbalanced versions and regular dac and signature dac versions (signature version make use of better matched resistors, pls refer to MSB official website for difference in spec). So all in all there are four options in this upcoming flagship dac.
Being a fan of discrete true ladder dac and a fan of Rockna (Rockna make very promising digital filter), I'm on the queue for this new flagship dac. Expecting to get in two months.

 

[CChang]

[/IMG]

 

[CChang]

 

[dan.gheorghe]

Quote:

Nice picture CChang. What is that USB cable? What is your experience with Hydra and USB cables? 

 

[preproman]

Can someone post a picture of the external PSU?