[DanBa]

Quote:

Also, I only use the SR-71b in balanced output mode, but I don't have a balanced input cable yet.  
 
When I first got the SR-71b it was slightly more aggressive sounding than totally neutral, but much less aggressive sounding than my Protector.  Over time it did mellow out and become very transparent and uncolored, and I used it most of the time with my HE-6 and JH-13Pro.  I currently find that my DACmini > SR-71b > LCD-2 rev1/Silver Dragon is a little darker sounding than the LCD-2 right out of the DACmini headphone jack, but it's certainly not too dark or too bright.  I do prefer the DACmini headphone out just a little more if I'm using my LCD-2; however, the SR-71b pairs up with my HE-500/HE-6 cable just a little better than they do with the DACmini.  It's all about synergy.  And my SR-71b is also great with my balanced HD600, HD800 and HE-6.  Even my Westone ES5 which have a little stronger top end than my JH-13Pro pair up well with the SR-71b and TWag V2 Eclipse balanced cable.  So for me, I'm betting I'd still be happy with an LCD-2 rev2 with my SR-71b.  I don't find many phones that the SR-71b doesn't get along with nicely.
 

 
Thanks!

 

[ptrok]

>Headphone Addict- I was wondering if the Dacmini benefits from an alternative psu at all. I have the Dacmini and cinsidering your experience with other psu for other amps I was just curious about your opinion on this.

 

[plin]

Quote:

>Headphone Addict- I was wondering if the Dacmini benefits from an alternative psu at all. I have the Dacmini and cinsidering your experience with other psu for other amps I was just curious about your opinion on this.

 
According to the manufacturer, no, because DACmini uses a special isolation technology that minimizes effects of lower quality PSU, so there is no need to use a better one:
 

[td]  [/td] [td]

External Power​

[/td] [td] Whether powered from the wall, or from a DC source, such as a car, boat or a battery, DACmini makes full use of the external power, generating isolated +/-15V voltage rails inside the unit and feeding that to all internal analog circuitry. A full 30V of clean power lowers the noise and reduces distortion. DACmini is flexible with regard to the external power supply. This comes from our experience designing professional equipment for our broadcast customers, who don't always have the right power supply nearby, yet the show must go on. DACmini can take any power supply with +9...19V DC (1A), giving you extra flexibility and peace of mind.

[/td]

 

 

[roker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict
/img/forum/go_quote.gif
In contrast, the DACmini is a warm sounding amp, but really has almost no sound signature of it's own.  It seems utterly transparent and spacious, and tends to disappear and get out of the way, but it never does this at the expense of being too neutral, analytical or cold.

 
Thank you. 
 
These are words I like to hear.
 
I have 45 days to return it, but I'm hoping this works out for me.
 
I may not have the experience you do under your belt, but I'll write a simple review and post here in about 2 weeks.
 
The test for me is my speakers which are not as forgiving as my D2000s when it comes to source. 

 

[ptrok]

>plin- thanks for the info, I appreciate the response.

 

[roker]

I'm trying my hardest to not post a "wowie this is awesome" post
 
but man, is it awesome so far.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

>Headphone Addict- I was wondering if the Dacmini benefits from an alternative psu at all. I have the Dacmini and cinsidering your experience with other psu for other amps I was just curious about your opinion on this.

 
Quote:

According to the manufacturer, no, because DACmini uses a special isolation technology that minimizes effects of lower quality PSU, so there is no need to use a better one:
 

[td]  [/td] [td]

External Power​

[/td] [td] Whether powered from the wall, or from a DC source, such as a car, boat or a battery, DACmini makes full use of the external power, generating isolated +/-15V voltage rails inside the unit and feeding that to all internal analog circuitry. A full 30V of clean power lowers the noise and reduces distortion. DACmini is flexible with regard to the external power supply. This comes from our experience designing professional equipment for our broadcast customers, who don't always have the right power supply nearby, yet the show must go on. DACmini can take any power supply with +9...19V DC (1A), giving you extra flexibility and peace of mind.

[/td]

 

 
Quote:

Thank you. 
 
These are words I like to hear.
 
I have 45 days to return it, but I'm hoping this works out for me.
 
I may not have the experience you do under your belt, but I'll write a simple review and post here in about 2 weeks.
 
The test for me is my speakers which are not as forgiving as my D2000s when it comes to source. 

I have that 15v Sigma 11 for my Nuforce HDP, which does make a very noticeable differece in the sound.  So I tried the S11 a while back with the DACmini, after confirming that it was (+) center tip like my HDP, but I didn't think there was very much difference in sound.  I wanted to imagine that it sounded a little more organic and transparent with the S11 PSU, but I couldn't reliably with certainty pick which PSU I was using each time, when swapping plugs without looking to see which one I was using.  It absolutely wont make it sound worse, for sure, and if there was an improvement with the S11 it was fairly subtle and I don't think that I would invest $250 on a PSU for such a subtle improvement in sound.  This was with a brief 1-2 hours of listening one night, and I'd probably need to try the S11 for a week or longer and then switch back to the stock PSU to see if there is a noticeable drop in sound quality after acclimating my ears to the S11.
 
Now, my Apogee mini-DAC is not supposed to benefit from an upgraded PSU either, but I bought it from Iron_Dreamer with an included 12v S11 PSU.  When it arrived the S11's transformer in side had come loose from it's mounts and it pulled some wires loose, so I used it with the stock PSU for a week or two until I could repair it.  When I finally switched to the S11 I found the Apogee to have a more refined sound with a fuller bass response.  So, it's always worth trying a better PSU, because it might indeed help.
 
Note, here is what Apogee said about using an upgraded PSU, back in 2008: "Thank you for your email.  There is not a lot of merit to doing this. The external power supply is just a "raw" power supply. The actual power supply is inside the unit. It chops up the externally supplied power, converts and regulates it to all voltages required to operate the converter. It does not draw more than 7 watts, which is half of  the included external power supply's capacity. I cannot think of any advantage of having a bigger power supply."

 

[roker]

 
[size=medium]

Totally ridiculous and unnecessary.  I bring to you my CEntrance DACmini unboxing video.  I usually say this is pointless but I find my self looking for them on youtube all the time. I noticed there were barely any CEntrance DACmini vids in general and thought I'd give it a stab.  Now I know it won't top that Auditor vid posted last week, but I'll try my hardest.  Enjoy!
 
 
 

​

[/size]

 
(I took this from my thread ... seemed no one cared.)

 

[roker]

This dac/amp is a total gateway drug.
 
If the dacport is near/close to the sound the DACmini produces, then I might buy one just to have around.

 

[tinseljim]

Just in case you missed it the DACmini just won a Blue Moon award on 6moons:
 
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/centrance/1.html
 
Brilliant, though doesn't say a lot about the Head-Fi angle and how it compares to others. I did skim read though so could have missed it. 
 
 
 
 

 

[plin]

Quote:

Just in case you missed it the DACmini just won a Blue Moon award on 6moons:
 
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/centrance/1.html
 
Brilliant, though doesn't say a lot about the Head-Fi angle and how it compares to others. I did skim read though so could have missed it. 
 
 
 
 

That's what solid engineering can do!
 

 

[roker]

Quote:

Just in case you missed it the DACmini just won a Blue Moon award on 6moons:
 
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/centrance/1.html
 
Brilliant, though doesn't say a lot about the Head-Fi angle and how it compares to others. I did skim read though so could have missed it. 
 
 
 
 

I'm not a fan of 6moons, but I am a fan of a great sounding piece of audio equipment.

After spending the weekend with it, I can't help but feel like I've been missing out for too long.
 
Oh and congrats to the CEntrance guys.  Talk about some hard working fellas (and gals?)  Great customer service, great product.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Just in case you missed it the DACmini just won a Blue Moon award on 6moons:
 
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/centrance/1.html
 
Brilliant, though doesn't say a lot about the Head-Fi angle and how it compares to others. I did skim read though so could have missed it. 

They deserve that award.  Like I said, the DACmini alone gives my Apogee mini-DAC > maxed Woo WA6 a run for the money, for a lot less than half the cost ($795 vs $2000 used, after upgraded tubes).  
 
While I enjoy listening to one rig about as much as the other, I use the DACmini significantly more in my bedroom rig because I don't have to warm up any tubes to get great sound.  Before I got the DACmini I used the Apogee's headphone out while waiting for the WA6 tubes to warm up.  The Apogee mini-DAC's headphone jack sounds very good, but it's not as refined sounding and has a shallower soundstage than the DACmini's (or WA6) headphone out.  So not only is the DACmini better to use as an amp while the tubes warm up, but it's been good enough that I haven't needed to warm up the WA6 much lately.

 

[roker]

Quote:

They deserve that award.  Like I said, the DACmini alone gives my Apogee mini-DAC > maxed Woo WA6 a run for the money, for a lot less than half the cost ($795 vs $2000 used, after upgraded tubes).  
 
While I enjoy listening to one rig about as much as the other, I use the DACmini significantly more in my bedroom rig because I don't have to warm up any tubes to get great sound.  Before I got the DACmini I used the Apogee's headphone out while waiting for the WA6 tubes to warm up.  The Apogee mini-DAC's headphone jack sounds very good, but it's not as refined sounding and has a shallower soundstage than the DACmini's (or WA6) headphone out.  So not only is the DACmini better to use as an amp while the tubes warm up, but it's been good enough that I haven't needed to warm up the WA6 much lately.

You know, I spent some time the other day reading about the 10 things that went into the design of this product and a lot of it is simple yet practical BUT the difference is execution.  The case might look sparse on the inside, but the way they seperated everything and the technology behind it really make this amp shine.  Had they tried to fit everything into a smaller case and perhaps put the entire amp/dac configuration on one PCB, I don't think the same results would've been replicated.
 

 

[tinseljim]

Quote:

They deserve that award.  Like I said, the DACmini alone gives my Apogee mini-DAC > maxed Woo WA6 a run for the money, for a lot less than half the cost ($795 vs $2000 used, after upgraded tubes).  
 
While I enjoy listening to one rig about as much as the other, I use the DACmini significantly more in my bedroom rig because I don't have to warm up any tubes to get great sound.  Before I got the DACmini I used the Apogee's headphone out while waiting for the WA6 tubes to warm up.  The Apogee mini-DAC's headphone jack sounds very good, but it's not as refined sounding and has a shallower soundstage than the DACmini's (or WA6) headphone out.  So not only is the DACmini better to use as an amp while the tubes warm up, but it's been good enough that I haven't needed to warm up the WA6 much lately.

That really is high praise. Are there any comparisons to other preamps? If using the DACmini as dac/preamp?