[kool bubba ice]

First off.. I will more then likly be returning this product. Not because I'm disapointed in it's performance, but due to the fact that it's not compatible with my main DVD player..& I'm mainly using the DAC for movies & gaming..Will get the Lite 60 If/When I decide to return it..

Gear being used.
Senn HD 595
Magnavox DVD player
Zenith 318 DVD player (for CD's)
Sony 595 ACD player
Audio Moon Silver Dragon RCA to mini's
Monster Coaxial
PAV2 (Portaphile is getting fixed)

First impressions.

I like to use the first scene in the Predator film, where Arnold is talking to the general at the base.Ther are a lot of sounds/ambient noises that would normaly be missed without good gear..With my Hi Fi Headphones, I can hear a Drill SGT out back saying, Left , right, Left..But is only audio at it's highest level, & still not very clear..With my Portaphile, It becomes even more clear. Now ad the Great March to the equation.. I could hear the Drill SGT through out the conversion, & is clear as a whisle.. I was pretty amazed at how it picked everything up, & was clear & very detailed.

The Great March Modified seems more on the neutral side with litle colorization.Would best be described as a bit cold or boring, but sharp, Not punchy, but cleans up the bass a bit..les muddied & more fullfilling. Where the GM really excels at imaging & depth retrieval. Resolution isn't to shabby either.

I played the wall with the DAC connected to my Sony 595..SQ was was a bit better, but I expected more..Played a Laura Branigan in my Zenith DVD player, & man, what a difference..Much better all around..Was fron't row, upclose & personal, with tight bass, a touch of warmth,deeper soundstage, & the background vocals really shine.although music is colored more then movies when using the GM..Ofcourse it could be the type of music being played..

I'm still new new to the HI FI audio world. Keep that in mind when reading my first impressions.. I will add more impressions with different music types, & ofcourse when my Portaudiophile gets back..

Score 7. The Score could easily change after more usage & burn in time. favorable meter. Moderate.

 

[mindthegap]

The AD 1825 chip that is in the Great March should take DVD-A - unless you are using a universal player with an SACD disk, in which case you are correct, the DIYEDEN GM is not compatable (niether is any other DAC - SACD, go figure)

I would say that the DIYEDEN GM is defective, but it is clocking non DVD-A format.

As far as a "7" goes - do not know what a "7" is. I heard a "stock" DIYEDEN GM and it is a solid Sterophile Class C. If Pacific Valve mods this one like it mods the others, then it DIYEDEN GM is a probably a "B".

I am going to buy because what we have here is potentially a USB DAC with class "B" asperation. For a techie like me, that's all I needed to know.

 

[kool bubba ice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mindthegap The AD 1825 chip that is in the Great March should take DVD-A - unless you are using a universal player with an SACD disk, in which case you are correct, the DIYEDEN GM is not compatable (niether is any other DAC - SACD, go figure) I would say that the DIYEDEN GM is defective, but it is clocking non DVD-A format. As far as a "7" goes - do not know what a "7" is. I heard a "stock" DIYEDEN GM and it is a solid Sterophile Class C. If Pacific Valve mods this one like it mods the others, then it DIYEDEN GM is a probably a "B". I am going to buy because what we have here is potentially a USB DAC with class "B" asperation. For a techie like me, that's all I needed to know.

A 7 seems a bit low..Just after 4 hrs of usage & didn't want to over rate it..& this is my first DAC so I really don't know what to expect. After more listening time I'd probally give it a 7.7..But rating are just one mans opinions..Ofcourse, for the price It would be rated much higher.. Pacific Valve they say prefer the Modded GM to the Lite 60, which cost 80.00 more. Might return it to get the Modded DAC 60..Which sells for 570.00..But I really want the Stello DAC..Guess I want the best for under a grand.

I figured out my DVD problem..My DVD player is set to bitstream by default. I had to change it to PCM. Now it works like a charm..

The Moddied great March comes with USB & a optical cable.. & Pacific Value boxes it like Fort Knox!! Took 9 days, but well worth it.. In the manual they advise that you get a high quality, well shielded power cables & AC filters for maximum performance.. Was thinking about the Bada Filter they sell with the
WIMA MKP 10 capacitors..

 

[GreatDane]

I'm glad to see atleast some feedback on the modded GM. It is the DAC that I've been considering.

 

[kool bubba ice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreatDane I'm glad to see atleast some feedback on the modded GM. It is the DAC that I've been considering.

If you want to know more let me know.. Maybe you can list some reference material (Music/DVD) & I'll see if I have it..I'm also using the 650 with it..But can't really compare quality cause my Portaphile is getting fixed.. I'm back with my Pav2, which is much lower quality then my Maxxed V2..

I played through most of my reference scenes. Blade 1 Fight with Frost. Daredevil fight with King Pin. Black Mamba Vs Go Go navare..Yes, I like action films..

During the Blade fight scene, I heard quite a bit more..When blade says what the &^*^ without speaking, (lip reading) you can actually hear him mumble the word. Not very audible, but you know he is saying it..Was a wow factor for me.

I played 5 CDS, & one song gave me a minor eargasm. Car Wash..Everything was just so sweet.. The clapping actually sounded like clapping, hearing the touch of skin slapping each other..& hearing someone stomp their feet after a clap was pretty remarkable.. Best seperation I have heard in a song by far..The extention (or is that decay) of the instruments was also great.. Too bad all the songs didn't sound this great.. The drum sound, was very differnt. Sounded like two differnt phases..One the boom that is reduced to somthing lite, but they seemed seperated, not one continuous sound.

 

[GreatDane]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm betting that the GM would be quite an improvement over what I'm hearing with my current use DVDP.

The price is right for this DAC it seems since I was originaly going to buy the MicroDAC to mate with my MicroAmp but I really don't need the portabliity.

 

[bluemeteor]

Wow. If you can hear all that detail without grain - I am intrigued.

What about dynamics - any futher thoughts?

 

[tourmaline]

For that, you might wanna wait till the STORM D03 comes out. Quote:

Originally Posted by kool bubba ice But I really want the Stello DAC..Guess I want the best for under a grand.

 

[bluemeteor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tourmaline For that, you might wanna wait till the STORM D03 comes out.

I would opt for a 30 day money back and avoid the Hong Kong Risk

 

[peelax]

Well my modded GM has just been shipped (took a bit longer cause I wanted 220v version but still v fast from Pacific!). I'll be comparing against a micro DAC and Aria built in DAC when it arrives, as a newbie this will be the acid test to see if I should spend even more money on a source eventually

 

[kool bubba ice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by peelax Well my modded GM has just been shipped (took a bit longer cause I wanted 220v version but still v fast from Pacific!). I'll be comparing against a micro DAC and Aria built in DAC when it arrives, as a newbie this will be the acid test to see if I should spend even more money on a source eventually

Awesome I would like to know which one you think is better.. Pacific recommends getting a Good low noise AC filter & shielded power cables to get the maximum out of your Modded March.. I'm getting the Paramax 4300..Retails for 250.00, But I can get it for 98.00 with my BB discount..Looking at the Cardas twinlab Shielded power cables & the green/Blue Dragon power cables from Drew..

 

[kool bubba ice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluemeteor Wow. If you can hear all that detail without grain - I am intrigued. What about dynamics - any futher thoughts?

Well, some of the detail isn't as clear as others, but you can still make it out, like blade saying what the F without speaking. I heard him mumbling it, but it wasn't that clear, & you had to listen for it. My power been out for nearly 48hrs...(posted a few times at my moms house, but my rig stayed at home.) I will let you know when I get more time with it tomorrow.. I'm amazed at the detail & depth..Ofcourse, I'm sure phones, & amps play a huge part in it too. I will also let you know how the DAC sounds when my better amp gets fixed. Portaphile Maxxed..

 

[kool bubba ice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tourmaline For that, you might wanna wait till the STORM D03 comes out.

I will check it out.. Thanks..

 

[peelax]

I got my Pacific Valve Great March a couple of days ago here are my impressions (you will have to excuse my poor descriptions):

Firstly I am comparing it to a Micro DAC, and I got my girlfriend to help me do a bit of blind testing. I could NOT reliably tell the difference between the two DACs so I think my subjective opinions need to be taken with a grain of salt. I would say that I thought I could sometimes hear a difference, especially when I was not blind testing. However when I tried to use the differences I thought I had perceived to guess which DAC was which I failed miserably.

I think that there is more resolution in the bass produced by the March when compared to the Micro, but overall the small details seemed less prominent, that isn't to say they weren't there (the details on both these dacs is great) but just not as forward in the March. I would say the bass is more prominent with the March in general with a very slightly more "natural" sound. Initially I thought there was more holography with the march but now I am not so sure, I now think there is something that makes the March sound a bit more exciting - although this could just be because I was excited about getting it

Overall I really don't think there is much in it, I am very happy with my investment but I don't think I'm going to be spending a lot of money on a source again (well maybe a nos

) as I don't think I have the golden ears to detect differences. I'd say that both of these DACS are very neutral and revealing without being cold or harsh (more true for the march) in any way.

Build:

I opened it up, now the modifications cost $90 so I'm not expecting the earth, if anything its worth it alone to know its been tinkered around with (with the cool pv sticker on the front). However from the pv website:

Replaced OPA627 OP AMP with Analogue Devices AD827

Now the op amps weren't 627s, there are 3 of them in there but only one is now a 827. I guess this is one for RCA one for balanced and one for the phones output on the DAC???? so I assume the 827 is powering the RCA. Well anyway it would have been good to get a more straight forward explanation about this. Having said that I don't even know if you need 1 op amp per channel - in which case what is going on here?

From pv:

Main Capacitors changed to Roederstein, WIMA and Black Box

That orange cap at the top is actually a seimens, fair enough but again their web page is lacking somewhat. I'm not sure why they have used 3 different kinds of caps or why they are using them in parallel with the small square WIMA ones. Unfortunately it kind of looks like they have run out of the matching ones and stuck any old thing in there - I'm sure this isn't the case but I didn't know seimens were renowned for their caps and in fact on their web page it looks like they have just left the original cap in place where this seimens one now goes:

I would certainly recommend this DAC for anyone after a neutral and detailed sound without wanting to break the bank.

 

[fewtch]

It sure looks sweet to me, even the unmodded version. The whole idea of the Zhaolu is starting to wear thin in my mind... I'm glad I didn't get one. Starting to think about either cheaping out on a DAC-AH or going all out on a Great March eventually. That's if both these DACs are still offered when I'm ready to purchase.