[mrspeakers]

Original keeps the sample rate and depth of the source. AIFF tales 2x the storage of ALAC.

 

[Vangelis]

Original keeps the sample rate and depth of the source. AIFF tales 2x the storage of ALAC.

Yup, that was what I did wrong. . Now I just have to find a way to delete the old files from the convertered folder.
Thanks

 

[Monago]

So I've had the Taurus MKII for a few weeks now, and am absolutely blown away by it's performance. However, I'm having an issue, and was wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar who could chime in on a possible fix.
 
Using the XLR output, if I play anything that's lower in volume level - quiet spots in classical for instance - the left channel slowly begins fading until it eventually disappears. The only way to bring it back is playing something inherently loud, or waiting for a piece of classical music to hit full stride. If the left channel hasn't faded completely during a quieter piece, there's a discernable imbalance that favors the right channel. This happens when selecting both STD and BAL options through the XLR output. The single ended jack however, works flawlessly.
 
95% of my music collection and games are problem free. Blueray content (movies/tv shows) and classical music is where I'm having issues.
 
Very frustrating considering the price tag of this amplifier. I sent Auralic an email yesterday and haven't heard anything back yet.
 
Has anyone heard of, or experienced anything like this using the Taurus? Or any balanced amp for that matter...

 

[Chodi]

  So I've had the Taurus MKII for a few weeks now, and am absolutely blown away by it's performance. However, I'm having an issue, and was wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar who could chime in on a possible fix.
 
Using the XLR output, if I play anything that's lower in volume level - quiet spots in classical for instance - the left channel slowly begins fading until it eventually disappears. The only way to bring it back is playing something inherently loud, or waiting for a piece of classical music to hit full stride. If the left channel hasn't faded completely during a quieter piece, there's a discernable imbalance that favors the right channel. This happens when selecting both STD and BAL options through the XLR output. The single ended jack however, works flawlessly.
 
95% of my music collection and games are problem free. Blueray content (movies/tv shows) and classical music is where I'm having issues.
 
Very frustrating considering the price tag of this amplifier. I sent Auralic an email yesterday and haven't heard anything back yet.
 
Has anyone heard of, or experienced anything like this using the Taurus? Or any balanced amp for that matter...

I am guessing you have this setup with balanced input from your dac? It's possible that the problem is not the Taurus. I see you have an AP2+PP try taking that out of the system and running straight from your usb. Also try a different usb port. If you are using a usb 3 port try changing to usb 2 port if available. Basically you want to be sure the problem is the Taurus. The problem you describe could be coming from your computer, your AP2 or your dac. It really sounds like a strange problem to be coming from the amp but I read somewhere that the Taurus only uses the Orfeo modules when in balanced input so the left one could be bad. I would carefully eliminate everything in front of the Taurus as the potential cause before sending the amp back. Even a defective cable could be the cause.

 

[project86]

I agree with the above. Not that it's completely impossible for Taurus to be the culprit, but it does seem less likely. If you isolate it and discover it really is the Taurus then I'm sure they will take good care of you. 
 
The big High End Munich show just ended, and I suspect AURALiC was probably in attendance. So there may be some delay in responding if they are just now travelling home. 

 

[Chik0240]

Same opinion here, the channel imbalance might come from lower volume value of the used ALPs pot, which is imperfect at low volume, but the fading away symptom seemed weird

 

[BeyerMonster]

  Same opinion here, the channel imbalance might come from lower volume value of the used ALPs pot, which is imperfect at low volume, but the fading away symptom seemed weird

Anyone know what pot the Taurus actually uses? I noticed a few reviews used verbiage like "ALPS RK27-style", but nothing concrete. There was no also no mention of this in any Auralic documentation that I could find. The logical conclusion here would be that they could change this part out at any time (standard operating procedure for non-specified items).

 

[rydenfan]

  I agree with the above. Not that it's completely impossible for Taurus to be the culprit, but it does seem less likely. If you isolate it and discover it really is the Taurus then I'm sure they will take good care of you. 
 
The big High End Munich show just ended, and I suspect AURALiC was probably in attendance. So there may be some delay in responding if they are just now travelling home. 

They were certainly there. I believe that show was to be the debut of the Aries 

 

[gevorg]

If the problem is due to an amplifier channel imbalance, one way to deal with it is to lower the gain to better match headphones (gives more "headroom" to volume pot). If there are no gain settings in Taurus, try to lower the volume a little on the DAC/transport. Not the ideal solution but might worth a try to compare.

 

[Monago]

It seems as if my issue went away after further use of the XLR output. After plugging in my HD650's and playing music for 24 hours continuously, I came back to find the amplifier functioning perfectly; no noticeable channel imbalance to speak of. I'm not sure what sort of component burn-in could have resolved the unbalanced channels I was experiencing, but it seems to have righted itself......
 
WOOOT!!!

 
I eliminated everything else as a possible cause as everyone who replied here suggested, and it did indeed come down to the amplifier. So as one last ditch effort to fix things before considering the possibility of sending it back to Auralic and waiting (for what would seem like forever), I plugged in some headphones and prayed.
 
On a somewhat unrelated note, I really can't say enough about this amplifier. Just.... freaking wow. I'm continually floored by its performance. Platitude city incoming: I'm rediscovering my music collection, and I'm hearing things in recordings I haven't heard before. Coming from the Burson Conductor, there's absolutely no comparison. Everything John said in his Innerfidelity review is true, and then some.
 
Anyway, thanks for all the replies everyone. I appreciate the help.

 

[Chik0240]

It seems as if my issue went away after further use of the XLR output. After plugging in my HD650's and playing music for 24 hours continuously, I came back to find the amplifier functioning perfectly; no noticeable channel imbalance to speak of. I'm not sure what sort of component burn-in could have resolved the unbalanced channels I was experiencing, but it seems to have righted itself......

WOOOT!!!

I eliminated everything else as a possible cause as everyone who replied here suggested, and it did indeed come down to the amplifier. So as one last ditch effort to fix things before considering the possibility of sending it back to Auralic and waiting (for what would seem like forever), I plugged in some headphones and prayed.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I really can't say enough about this amplifier. Just.... freaking wow. I'm continually floored by its performance. Platitude city incoming: I'm rediscovering my music collection, and I'm hearing things in recordings I haven't heard before. Coming from the Burson Conductor, there's absolutely no comparison. Everything John said in his Innerfidelity review is true, and then some.

Anyway, thanks for all the replies everyone. I appreciate the help.

Same boat here, I come from the soloist sl to the taurus, nt saying that the soloist is a bad performer. It's great, but not at the same league comparing to the taurus (a sit should for 3 times the price)

Two things confirmed from Mr. Wang of auralic (special thanks to him answering everything from email, no matter how bothersome and not sales related are!)
1) the Taurus mk ii is mainly opamp based - I am surprised as I was previously in the anti opamp camp!
2) Alps rk27 is used in the taurus, which is considered to have good performance, stepped attenuator is not used due to the 24 steps is considered troublesome and might be difficult to find a suitable setting

 

[Chik0240]

double posted

 

[Sylafari]

Anyone one know a good reputable online dealer that sells the Taurus MK II in the US? I did a few searches and found only some site called HiFi Heaven had them.

 

[sathyam]

Anyone one know a good reputable online dealer that sells the Taurus MK II in the US? I did a few searches and found only some site called HiFi Heaven had them.

You can get it from Ciamara Corporation, based in NY. I called them.

 

[BeyerMonster]

stepped attenuator is not used due to the 24 steps is considered troublesome and might be difficult to find a suitable setting

You can definitely make a stepped attenuators that has more than 24 steps. The Placette passive linestage I use for my full-size system has something like 127, as does the optional stepped attenuator for the upcoming Violectric V281. Whether it's worth the cost is up for debate, but it's definitely possible.