[A.Thorsen]

Just for my clarification: All the positive and glowing CS feedback in this thread is in regards to a stock and UN-modified CS?

 

[music_man]

i think everyone elses is unmodified. i have two that are unmodified and one that has an improved internal power supply. these units really need to be on at least minimal($200) power conditioning. my modified unit sounds the same as a stock unit on a cheap power conditioner but without one. thats all.

not a heavy mod. the op-amps, dac and everything else are stock.
i replaced the power supply caps and resistors with(if i remember) elna,vishay of same specs as the stock parts. also a rectifier diode i think.
i bluetacked the dac and receiver ic's and put tiny heatsinks on the op-amps. thats it.

i did not see any heavy mods that can be done to this unit anyways.

so, consider my unit what you would hear with a stock unit on a $200 power conditioner. or even a monster power strip for $140(probably). it might have a little less jitter with the bluetack. i do not find jitter a problem as long as you use a real coaxial cable(belden,$25).

i didn't want people thinking i had something different i was hearing. it is not.

music_man

 

[A.Thorsen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by music_man /img/forum/go_quote.gif i think everyone elses is unmodified. i have two that are unmodified and one that has an improved internal power supply. these units really need to be on at least minimal($200) power conditioning. my modified unit sounds the same as a stock unit on a cheap power conditioner but without one. thats all. not a heavy mod. the op-amps, dac and everything else are stock. i replaced the power supply caps and resistors with(if i remember) elna,vishay of same specs as the stock parts. also a rectifier diode i think. i bluetacked the dac and receiver ic's and put tiny heatsinks on the op-amps. thats it. i did not see any heavy mods that can be done to this unit anyways. so, consider my unit what you would hear with a stock unit on a $200 power conditioner. or even a monster power strip for $140(probably). it might have a little less jitter with the bluetack. i do not find jitter a problem as long as you use a real coaxial cable(belden,$25). i didn't want people thinking i had something different i was hearing. it is not. music_man

Thanks for that.

 

[warrior05]

I do have one negative thing to say about the CS - where's the bloody on/off switch! I don't know if this is something typical with pro equipment. I imagine PreSonus expects this to be part of a rack of equipment that are plugged into a power conditioner which is used to turn everything on/off. It is rather inconvenient otherwise. Other than the 2 headamps and the lights nothing else is sucking juice so I imagine just leaving it on 24/7 is not a big deal but I just prefer not to. I have it plugged into a no nonsense strip which is plugged into my power conditioner but the strip is mounted on the back of my desk leg. Not the most convenient spot. Hate to cut into the cord and solder in a switch. Anyone have any other ideas?

By the way - still loving the CS. I've been listening to it out of the built-in headamps and enjoying every note!

 

[The Monkey]

The DAC1 also does not have a power switch. I don't know about the CS, but Benchmark has confirmed that the DAC1 is meant to be left on. EDIT: hit post too soon, I also dislike the lack of the power switch regardless of whether or not a component is designed to be left on 24/7.

 

[music_man]

i hope they raise the price of the cs to $2,000. then people will stop calling it a bargain and start calling it high end. it amazes me how people comment on gear based on price. i comment on gear based on quality. this thing is off the chain! i do not know many other amps that can power both k701's and hd650's to bliss. not to mention at the same time! all i ever listen to anymore is the cs powering k701's that are recabled.

to really make the cs sound high end you need a high end source with no jitter, a real coaxial cable and power conditioning. i see people that called the cs less than "high end" were not pushing it with a top source and feeding it with a good power conditioner. you will be amazed at the difference on the cs with a $5,000 cdp or $5,000 sound card. people are looking at it wrong. they think why in the world would you put a 5 grand source to a $500 dac/amp. i don't think of it as a $500 dac/amp. it is worth much more. presonus is just doing us all a huge favor. get it before the price does go up.


to everyone that has one and has not dialed in the cue on the headphones please try it. i bet you will be even more impressed.

warrior05, do not cut the power cable. there is +18 +18 +9 -0 in there. you would need three micro switches. those are 30ga wire in there. forget that idea. maybe use a lamp cord with a inline switch if you must. the absolute best thing to do is plug it directly into the power conditioner without even using a strip. the strip makes the groung path longer. bad for the sound quality. it should be left on 24/7. it draws less than 1 watt with no music playing and costs about 2 to 3 cents a day to run in most places.

it also should be powered on constantly for at least 500 hours. after 500 hours it really opens up even more. with the k701's(recabled) the soundstage is like reference loudspeakers. i have never heard this with headphones before and you all know i have a few.

spreading the cs love
music_man

 

[Azure]

Alright already! I put up a WTB post

Why do you have THREE CS units? Do you really need that many connections and stuff, or do you have multiple units for modding/comparisons and stuff?

 

[The Monkey]

How is the build quality on this unit?

 

[MaMMa]

This is the first time in a long while that I am actually anticipating my birthday.

 

[JMcMasterJ]

For those of you wondering if you can run balanced HD650s from this unit the answer is yes and it sounds amazing. The headphone amp is also very good, but the soundstage is much bigger with the balanced outs.

 

[The Monkey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMcMasterJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif For those of you wondering if you can run balanced HD650s from this unit the answer is yes and it sounds amazing. The headphone amp is also very good, but the soundstage is much bigger with the balanced outs.

What kind of termination do you need for the HD 650 to run balanced out of the cs?

 

[JMcMasterJ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Monkey /img/forum/go_quote.gif What kind of termination do you need for the HD 650 to run balanced out of the cs?

You need TRS termination. I'm using a stock cable with XLR connectors connected to XLR to TRS adapters.

 

[MaMMa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMcMasterJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif You need TRS termination. I'm using a stock cable with XLR connectors connected to XLR to TRS adapters.

Where can I get these?

 

[robm321]

Thanks Music-man for the reviews. Don't worry. I don't hold the price of the CS against it.

The benchmark has its flaws at its price. My only question is a comparison with the Bel Canto and others that are more musical. I think they would be a better comparison since the benchmark falls on the analytical side which is like you said preference.

I prefer my Cary 308T to my Sony XA777ES on redbook. The Sony is hyper detailed but more analytical. So, the CS interests me. But I'd like the CS compared to musical Dacs that can be had used for around or under $1K. I don't care about an amp - just the DAC.

Thanks again for the great impressions

 

[music_man]

i'll try to compare. the musical fidelity a324 was maybe a little better but it was not balanced. the xdac with the xpsu is not as good. neither is the channel islands vda-2 with psu. that is to a stock cs with power conditioning,good cable and good source.

i see you have the xa777es. the cs will make it all better. i am using mine with a scd-1 and it is amazing. i think the people that said the dac1 is a "lot" better are either ones that just happen to love that sound or they have an inferior source driving the cs.

i will tell you one dac i work with that i promise is a "lot" better, lavry gold. that is not exactly fair though

oh, and the build quality of the cs is good enough. it is not as solid as the benchmark but moreso than the apogee.

i also wanted to point out that the wallwart does not matter here. it is a linear psu inside of the unit. the wallwart is only a stepdown ac transformer. not the usual ac>dc wallwart. improvements can be made inside the unit if you know how. not with a better transformer.

btw, i'd like to mention again how sick i am of various gearslutz(.com) bashing this. if it sold for 20 grand they would love it. those guys are straight up imposters. no i do not belong there.

music_man