[Br777]

maybe he just liked their design? - thats the only logic i can find here. also the price difference between these two is obviously huge - whats making such a difference...

im just dumbfounded...

 

[Myriad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IPodPJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's almost identical to the eBay one. He most likely purchased the eBay one, shoved some higher quality parts on the board, cased it up, and branded it. This doesn't look good for Decware.

Might wanna take a closer look...

 

[qusp]

similar yes, identical...not so much. for starters there are far more reservoir caps in the power supply, the wimas and oscons are probably not fake, the relays on the spdif and USB switching are actually there. you guys are incredible tho, one picture of a design using similar parts on a red PCB and youve all jumped to the conclusion its the same thing, the number of dacs around using this chipset is actually pretty massive (especially in asia and on ebay I must admit) I have to say i'm a bit puzzled about the use of the risers though, if designing something from scratch, unless he plans an upgrade path for the PCB I see them as doing more harm than anything, especially for a high speed circuit. its possible this combination and layout is very close to the datasheet for the chips, considering they are all from the same manufacturer, that would explain the similarities, and 'God is in the detail' so to speak. the filtering and output I/U is different and as decware says in the literature this is where most of the work is done, tho it would seem most of the work was done in filtering, because buf634 and another fet opamp isnt what I would call ground breaking..
there is no denying they are similar and if I were him I sure wouldnt have chosen a red PCB for that reason as ebay is full of them at the moment.

but none of this is any reason to start slandering the man

 

[Jon L]

I was actually thinking more along the line that Decware possibly OEM'd their DAC board from the same Chinese factory that makes that eBay DAC, but with some different layout and different capacitors, etc.

This is what Monarchy does with LITE DAC's.

IMO, Decware's forte is in their analogue equipment, e.g. amps and preamps. If you look at Decware's digital equipment, such as their CDP, it's a Tascam CDP with stock output stage bypassed with a tube stage. Nothing wrong with that, as other companies do similar things, but I wouldn't be surprised if the complex digital boards are OEM'd from elsewhere...

 

[Currawong]

^^ This. It's probably not a bad DAC, it just doesn't look good when you can buy its baby brother on eBay for $120. The other thing is, for Head-fiers at least there is some pretty hard-core competition at that price point.

 

[Skylab]

I'm going to see if I can get one to review. I kinda wish he'd gone with a tube output stage though

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skylab /img/forum/go_quote.gif I kinda wish he'd gone with a tube output stage though!

x2.

Although, he's making the DAC less expensive, & probably more widely popular, without the tubed output stage. Reading the ad copy, it also allows him to market his zBox buffer to get similiar (if not identical) results as having it built in.

What would be really cool if he (or someone) came up with a way to make the output stage modular, in plug-n-play fashion like PC boards. Buy the base model with SS output stage board, and then have the option to upgrade/change to the tubed stage in a user-installable package. There are power considerations with the tube stage, but such modularity & upgradeability would be a real value-ad, imo.

 

[Skylab]

Right - that would be cool. I'm not keen on the ZBox idea - I don't want a SS output stage followed by a tube buffer stage with the requirements of interconnects between them...one output stage at a time, please

But the modular idea is a cool one!

 

[CountChoculaBot]

To be fair, based on the evidence we have now, I don't think it'd be prudent to throw skepticism to the wind just yet.

 

[Dan Millheim]

I actually just ordered the Zdac-1 to hold me over until my Sonicweld Decoder comes in. I've owned a Zbox buffer in the past but preferred the Audio Horizon TB5.0n buffer which is a really great. I'll let you know what I think of the Zdac after it burns in a bit.

 

[oldson]

i cant afford to follow this thread ;(

 

[Il Mostro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skylab /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm going to see if I can get one to review. I kinda wish he'd gone with a tube output stage though

Kind of deviates from his usual M.O. for this type of gear, doesn't it? Makes me think he just got something off someone's far east shelf, with a circuit design that did not easily lend itself to adding tube output stage, and stuffed it with upgraded bits. I have found his CDP's (well, his mods of existing models) to lean towards the strident side of the spectrum.

 

[Br777]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan Millheim /img/forum/go_quote.gif I actually just ordered the Zdac-1 to hold me over until my Sonicweld Decoder comes in. I've owned a Zbox buffer in the past but preferred the Audio Horizon TB5.0n buffer which is a really great. I'll let you know what I think of the Zdac after in burns in a bit.

cool, cant wait to hear your review!, please post a link to the review thread

 

[julius_the_cat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Br777 /img/forum/go_quote.gif just take him up on his trial offer.. he does honor it, and i dont believe he gets many returns.. Im finding it near impossibly to find any of his gear for sale, cause no one wants to part with it. .

Not exactly my experience. Money back guarantee meant that when I bought Decware ERR speakers in 2008, I paid shipping BOTH ways plus 10% restocking after waiting nearly five months. My total cost $350 and three weeks of excuses and a bit of attitude for tinny sounding highs and NO bass. I couldn't in good conscience have sold them to anyone.

 

[Br777]

Quote:

Originally Posted by julius_the_cat /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not exactly my experience. Money back guarantee meant that when I bought Decware ERR speakers in 2008, I paid shipping BOTH ways plus 10% restocking after waiting nearly five months. My total cost $350 and three weeks of excuses and a bit of attitude for tinny sounding highs and NO bass. I couldn't in good conscience have sold them to anyone.

fair enough..