[Liberatus]

Meanwhile the Oriolus is a true reference system that trades blows and even surpasses Desktop Gear:

DAC - Oriolus BD20 - $460 - Super transparent. I was hearing details I had never heard before. It uses the ES9038Pro DAC module. As purely a DAC, I would say this is more transparent than the RME ADI-2FS. The DAC itself has a very neutral tonality to it. Comes with replaceable opamps in the I/V and LPF stage which I upgraded with MUSES opamps(~$200 upgrade). The MUSES make the DAC have more midrange body and smoother. The soundstage also increases a tad. The stock opamps - OPA1612 + OPA1662 sound a bit bright and analytical(still sounds on the neutral side, this is not a bright DAC) compared to the MUSES opamps. The difference is not that huge but noticeable.

~<$700 for the DAC all in.

EQ - Oriolus SE02 - $250 - There's a Oriolus EQ out there but I don't have it. This exists if you are interested. I might get one later to complete the system.

Pre-Amp - Oriolus BA300s - $360 - This is a tube amp which boosts the signal by +3dB. Compared to the WA11, this is super transparent and does not have any distortion issues. It adds a little richness to the midrange which possibly could be a little distortion but this is barely noticeable and does not sound bad(overly warm) like the WA11 amp. There are 2 versions - mki and mkii. The PCBs are identical but mkii uses USB C. I have both versions and trying to sell the mki on the classifieds.

Amp - Oriolus BA20 - $320 - A simple SS amp. It uses opamps to amplify the sound. There's not much to it. The replaceable opamps are divided into Amp stage and buffer stage. You can choose to bypass both stages. I am still modding and fine-tuning it. The best config I have right now is with MUSES03 opamps(~$250 upgrade) in the amp stage and bypassed buffer stage.

A little technical details:

Spoiler

The amp stage can be bypassed by the NE5532 unity gain opamps which imo is pointless. The stock OPA1611(single version of OPA1612 seen in the DAC I/V stage) sounds a little analytical and bright. The amp stage was replaced with MUSES03 opamps which sound more natural, smoother, has a slightly larger soundstage and more midrange body. I applied a heatsink to all 4 MUSES opamps.

For maximum transparency, the buffer stage should be bypassed with the included adapters. Do note that if the headphones draws more current than the amp stage opamps can provide then they will clip. OP1611 can do upto 55mA which is pretty low(but Diana V2) can be driven to good volume. MUSES03 can do upto 250mA max.

If you need more oomph then the stock buffer opamps BUF634a are decent(best available on the market). They do however decrease transparency by a tiny bit. They can do 250mA continuous and 350mA peak. At that point, the Diana V2 gets so loud that it's damaging to your ears if you listen for more than 5s.
The BUF634a can be made to run in wide Bandwidth mode by shorting pins 1 and 4 which increases air in the sound.

~<$570 all in for the AMP.

I have spent a little more than necessary on the system but I am on the search for the ultimate transportable reference system that is on par or surpasses desktop systems. This stack(BD20 + BA300s + BA20) even at stock ($1140) is miles and miles ahead of the WA11. With upgrades, this surpasses my RME ADI-2FS in detail and technicalities.

I like all the things you say about this stack. But I have 0 experience modding and have no inclination to do so.

How is the low end on this stack? The sub bass, the rumble, and the kick/punchiness?

 

[seamon]

I like all the things you say about this stack. But I have 0 experience modding and have no inclination to do so.

How is the low end on this stack? The sub bass, the rumble, and the kick/punchiness?

It's pretty tight and impactful imo. You can get a better low end by having a MUSES02 in the LPF section on the DAC

 

[silkytoad]

It's pretty tight and impactful imo. You can get a better low end by having a MUSES02 in the LPF section on the DAC

Seamon, what are your thoughts about the stack without the tube pre amp? Would you consider travelling without the preamp to lighten the stack and having one less thing that you have to charge? Thanks for all the great info!

 

[seamon]

Seamon, what are your thoughts about the stack without the tube pre amp? Would you consider travelling without the preamp to lighten the stack and having one less thing that you have to charge? Thanks for all the great info!

Tube PreAmp is optional. It's just to add flavor to the midrange. This is super good without it

 

[cj3209]

While I don't doubt @seamon and his thoughtful analysis comparing his Oriolus 'stack' to the WA11, I own the WA11 and use it for portable/transportable use and I think the sound overall is pretty good (especially with the Diana Phi) as it drives all my headphones well. I don't expect it to compete with my desktop amp and perhaps as a result, I am not as critical as I could/should be and I'm not looking for a replacement. But, I do appreciate reading other head-fier opinions.

BTW, I also own the Oriolus BA300s amp and I think it sounds great connecting my other transportable setup (AK SP1000 to Oriolus BA300s to headphones). I'm a fan of Oriolus so @seamon's comments are interesting.

Cheers!

 

[Naugrim]

So i just sent back my loaners (DPhi and 1266 TC). As much as I loved the 1266, the form factor is a big deal for me on my desktop - especially as I'm jamming on my modular synth. So DPhi it is. Selling a bunch of gear to make the sale, but I'll have it within a month or two. In the end, I just love the sound signature of the Abyss products. So many other products are too warm, too heavy or lack bass. The one thing I wold like is a bit more sparkle, but otherwise I'm very happy with the product. It's great for electronic, which is my jam. But it's also beautiful with acoustic stuff. I like it better on male voices than female for some reason, and really like it with any kind of string instrument. I wasn't too impressed with the sound stage, which is why I'm not going to even try the V2... I want as much as I can get in that form factor. These are end game for me, with my only other planned upgrades being to a Chord Hugo TT2 and maybe eventually and MScaler. I'd love to be done after that. The combination of detail and bottom end is what sold me.

 

[cj3209]

So i just sent back my loaners (DPhi and 1266 TC). As much as I loved the 1266, the form factor is a big deal for me on my desktop - especially as I'm jamming on my modular synth. So DPhi it is. Selling a bunch of gear to make the sale, but I'll have it within a month or two. In the end, I just love the sound signature of the Abyss products. So many other products are too warm, too heavy or lack bass. The one thing I wold like is a bit more sparkle, but otherwise I'm very happy with the product. It's great for electronic, which is my jam. But it's also beautiful with acoustic stuff. I like it better on male voices than female for some reason, and really like it with any kind of string instrument. I wasn't too impressed with the sound stage, which is why I'm not going to even try the V2... I want as much as I can get in that form factor. These are end game for me, with my only other planned upgrades being to a Chord Hugo TT2 and maybe eventually and MScaler. I'd love to be done after that. The combination of detail and bottom end is what sold me.

You can easily add a touch more top end if you use ROON's DSP. I'm not a big fan of Chord products (I owned a Mojo, Poly, and Hugo2); they sound a little too clinical for my tastes. The Poly clinched my Chord journey end; I'm upset at losing like a month of my life trying to get that thing to work...but I digress...

 

[Naugrim]

I LOVE the Chord sound. I've never tried the TT2, but I have tried the Hugo 2, so I'm assuming it'll be the same. They say that it has great emphasis on low end and is very detailed. That sounds right down my alley.

 

[dRnRcR]

I use the qutest into a SPL phonitor E and love it. Previous dac was the rme adi-2. I much prefer the qutest. Would love to be able to afford a Tt2 with mscaler.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Also surprised to read that this stack sounds better to you than the WA11; the WA11 sounds really good with my Diana Phi.

I thought so too (portable wise), till I tested with WA8. I simply love the pairing of Diana (either Phi or V2) with WA8 for portable set up.

 

[seamon]

Hello good peeps of the Diana thread. Here's an update for those who have been following my adventures in transportable gear for driving the Diana V2.

My philosophy for the different components were
DAC - Neutral + Transparent
PreAmp - Flavor
Amp - Wire with Gain

The BD20 DAC and BA300s mkii PreAmp nailed the first two but the BA20 was not quite up to par. It was making the sound too warm. I tried the stock BUF634A, tried to drive the BUF634A in wide bandwidth mode (35kHz vs 210kHz), tried to bypass the buffer stage with both the included adapter and a custom one made from OCC Silver but to no avail. The sound was a bit warm, it was not the wire with gain that I wanted the amp to be. Then I realized the answer was right in front of me all along - "47". This is another buffer opamp included with the BA20 amp which uses the LMH6643MA, a dual opamp and somehow converts it to single opamp slot use for the buffer stage. This was pretty much the last remaining piece of the puzzle. After installing the 47 opamps in the buffer stage, the amp has started to behave like a wire with gain. Moreover, the amp does not clip no matter how loud the headphones are driven. I am talking ear damage + levels. You can crank up the amp all the way up and it runs fine.

I genuinely believe this stack is better than most desktop gear for driving the Diana V2. We would be talking $2000+ in desktop gear before it beats this.(This is my opinion based on what gear I have heard, feel free to disagree) Ever since I sold my LCD 4, I have missed the sound every single time I have listened to the Diana V2. The Diana V2 just didn't compare to my LCD 4 setup.......until today. Today is the first time ever since owning the Diana V2 that I did not miss my old LCD 4 setup sound.

I also discovered some additional quirks of the system that need to be taken care of. These are the things you don't need to worry about in a desktop system.
For the best sound quality, the 4.4mm to 4.4mm cables between the modules must not have the 5th pin (Ground) of the Pentaconn connector connected in the cable. Moreover, the Preamp and Amp must use separate power sources and these must not be connected to the wall or just use the battery inside each module. Essentially what we are doing is transferring just the sound signal between the modules and not connecting the separate grounds of the modules. This gives the lowest noise floor for the system.

Do note that custom 4.4mm to 4.4mm cables made this way for this may not be compatible for other stuff like the WA11 which needs the Ground pin to be connected for the 4.4mm cable. PS: Remember the WA11 drama thread

I may get a couple of cheap slim power banks for extra battery life.

I like all the things you say about this stack. But I have 0 experience modding and have no inclination to do so.

How is the low end on this stack? The sub bass, the rumble, and the kick/punchiness?

Doing what I did is as easy as plugging out the stock opamps and plugging in new ones and applying heatsinks on top. This is very similar to Lego but for audiophile equipment.

With the new setup, the bass is thundering. I would never have expected such a tight and impactful bass out of a device this small but this can shake you!

Seamon, what are your thoughts about the stack without the tube pre amp? Would you consider travelling without the preamp to lighten the stack and having one less thing that you have to charge? Thanks for all the great info!

I gave this thought, experimentation and AB testing. The increase in sound quality the PreAmp gives me is worth the extra effort to bring this along almost 10 times over. If I forgot to bring the PreAmp along, I would buy another one. This is after discovering the quirks mentioned above.

 

[Pictograms]

I thought so too (portable wise), till I tested with WA8. I simply love the pairing of Diana (either Phi or V2) with WA8 for portable set up.

I have the WA8 with Diana Phi as well, it sounds fantastic, I actually sold my desktop amp because I didn’t use it anymore.
The convenience of being able to sit anywhere in the house was also a huge plus!

 

[TheMiddleSky]

First time ever I plugged Diana V2 to Dave. I always like the pairing of utopia + Dave, but never thought that Diana would become a beautiful pairing too with Dave.

They produce very clean, balance, spacious and fatigue free type of sound that truly enjooooyable.

 

[silkytoad]

First time ever I plugged Diana V2 to Dave. I always like the pairing of utopia + Dave, but never thought that Diana would become a beautiful pairing too with Dave.

They produce very clean, balance, spacious and fatigue free type of sound that truly enjooooyable.

Is the built in amp in the Dave able to properly drive the Dianas? So envious of your Dave, enjoy it in good health!

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Is the built in amp in the Dave able to properly drive the Dianas? So envious of your Dave, enjoy it in good health!

Yes, I would say properly driven in term of control, technicalities, and "room" for volume. Actually I prefer direct from Dave rather than Hugo TT2 + Violectric V281 / Alo Studio Six.

Unfortunately, not my dave haha.

It opens up my mind a bit though, rather than buying separate DAC + Amp, perhaps better just go straight to Dave instead.