[Patu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pricklely Peete /img/forum/go_quote.gif Agreed 100%. Transport quality is crucial to getting the max from your DAC (whatever it is). The Audio-gd CD7 vs the Vanguard CDM12 Pro (top loader) made that abundantly clear with my Reference 1 dac. I was/am shocked by the difference. My computer used as a transport ( Auzen Prelude COAX out/ bit perfect) isn't even close to the CD7 which was a big surprise. The CDM12 Pro was slightly better than the computer but Kingwa told me matter of factly the RE1 needed a better T. Am I glad I heeded his advice even though it cost me another fair chunk of change. Peete. PS Congrats Patu.....the wait is over

I'm considering about going for my old sound card (ESI Juli@) or trying out EMU 1212m. Those two are both extremely good professional sound cards and both support ASIO 2.0. Of course you can pay fortunes for some Lynx sound card but I don't think it's necessary. 1212m is about same price as Juli@ here in Finland, though there's one Juli@ at the FS forum here.

Do you have any other recommendations? I will only use the sound card as transport for my DAC. I use and will always use computer as my source so CDP's are out of question.

 

[K3cT]

So I suppose USB w/ Wavelab ASIO from my laptop doesn't count as a proper transport then?

 

[haloxt]

There's probably a lot of variables, different computers, computer psu's, how clean the power your computer is getting is, usb cable, etc. I think wavelab asio is certainly better than any asio I've tried and better than my iriver h120, but you have to be crazy to put up with all that file uploading and decoding into a graph wavelab does.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patu /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm considering about going for my old sound card (ESI Juli@) or trying out EMU 1212m. Those two are both extremely good professional sound cards and both support ASIO 2.0. Of course you can pay fortunes for some Lynx sound card but I don't think it's necessary. 1212m is about same price as Juli@ here in Finland, though there's one Juli@ at the FS forum here. Do you have any other recommendations? I will only use the sound card as transport for my DAC. I use and will always use computer as my source so CDP's are out of question.

Sorry Patu I can't comment either way on PC/Mac solutions. I'm only familiar with a limited sampling of consumer audio cards. I would imagine the driver sets for pro cards would be better but that is only a guess of mine. I use a dedicated spinner 90% of the time (even for the Head Fi system) and only use the computer for casual listening. Not that I'm saying pc/mac T's can't be good it's just they come up short SQ wise against the T's I have.

Peete.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

Quote:

Originally Posted by K3cT /img/forum/go_quote.gif So I suppose USB w/ Wavelab ASIO from my laptop doesn't count as a proper transport then?

No not all.....if you enjoy what you are hearing then that is all that matters in the end.

It's only us hardcore last 10% of performance types that are continually trying to get the max from all of our gear.

Peete.

 

[iszatso]

Hooking up the dac19 to the c-2c with optical out of macbook running vista via bootcamp, find the sound wonderful, surpassing easily the mf v-dac in most departments. The treble is fantastic with shimmering cymballs and horns that are horns. Driving the denon 7000's easily, lost a little bass thump that the v-dac had, but the bass seems better managed. The vocals sound more warm on the v-dac, but the detail in the flutist inhaling between rifs is truy magical.

Most noticed was the detail, bringing things out of the recordings that hadn't been heard with the v-dac and the mf x-can v3 or the v-dac with the c-2c. That said, back to the quality of the recordings, not so good recordings not so good listening. Mainly listening to flac and mp3 320, which the 320's sound clear and detailed more than ever before. But when a lousy lossy recording comes on, the change track button gets pushed quickly.

I have found the audio-gd products that I have purchased great value for the money, well built, shipped securely from China and delivering great bang for the buck.

Looking forward to upgrading the c-2c's volume pot as a have the original unit without the upgrades. But won't be searching for more audio nirvana for awhile as this sound cuts through to the soul on some recordings, with the detail and delivery and extension of the notes uncanny.

A satisfied audio-gd owner, looking forward to an even better sound after 400-500 of burn-in. Running in mode a, have the mode b, but won't put that in for awhile.

Kingwa said the c-2c and the dac19 was a great matched pair. Couldn't agree more.

 

[Patu]

Let's keep this thread going. Keep them impressions coming.

I now have probably something like 50-70 hours on mine and I stick with my initial impressions. This DAC is extremely loyal for the recording. If you have bad quality recording then you can hear it and vice versa. I've never noticed it so clearly than with DAC19Mk3. Some older recordings which can sound slightly muffled or soft, will sound just like that with DAC19Mk3. Then again if I have some newer greatly mastered recordings like most of Dire Straits production then it will sound clean and clear. The DAC won't add anything artificial to the sound.

About the soundstage. It's definitely deeper and more 3D than with Audionemesis. It's easier to pinpoint the instruments to the soundstage. Actually mpost of the time, it's quite difficult with Audionemesis. I can't remember the track but I just remember how easy it was to hear that the drums are actually clearly further away than vocalist and guitars/basses.

I briefly switched to Audionemesis this weekend and noticed clear differences. It has flatter sound with lacking three dimensionality. Soundstage might've been slightly wider but the deepness just wasn't there. That makes the sound flatter and more lifeless. Dynamics aren't even close compared to DAC19Mk3. Bass sounds more one note and doesn't go as deep as with Audio GD. Top end is more relaxed, which is good if you have some poorly mastered, extremely bright and fatiguing tracks but it's not that good with well mastered tracks. Luckily there aren't that much of those poorly mastered tracks, at least not in my collection. At the same time, this is the strong point of Audionemesis. It will always sound pleasant and relaxing. This doesn't mean that DAC19Mk3 wouldn't. But it won't mask the faults of poorly mastered tracks like Audionemesis does. Anyway, I strongly prefer Audio GD now.

My whole collection is in FLAC format and I use foobar2000 + Asio4all. Digital signal is bitperfect through cmediadrivers. Coaxial connection in use ATM but I will switch to optical when I change my transport. I'm getting either ESI Juli@, which I've owned previously, or EMU 1212m. Maybe both of them and test which one is better. There's one of each for sale as used here in Finland.

 

[Patu]

I bought a new transport today. ESI Juli@ and EMU 1212m were the last two in my consideration. I was lucky to have them both FS as used for a good price. I ended up choosing 1212m because it was only 1,5 years old (ESI would've been almost 4 years) and I could go pick it up instead of having it shipped to me.

Well I hooked it up and it's working fine. Patchmix wasn't that hard to configure. I checked few patchmix threads here in Head-Fi and got it working. At this point, that's pretty much everything I can say about it.

 

[K3cT]

Has anyone ever compared this with the DAC-only Pico?

 

[iszatso]

Mode B, do I need to install that mode to switch between listening to flac recordings and watching videos thru vlc to eliminate the crackling sound present in VLC and imbedded web browser videos?

Any impressions on the sound signature differences between using mode A and B listening to flacs? Have the mode B module but haven't swapped it out for the mode A as the mode A is pretty delicious for these old tired ears.

(Darn Edgar and Johnny Winter concerts in my youthful years..)

 

[Patu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iszatso /img/forum/go_quote.gif Mode B, do I need to install that mode to switch between listening to flac recordings and watching videos thru vlc to eliminate the crackling sound present in VLC and imbedded web browser videos? Any impressions on the sound signature differences between using mode A and B listening to flacs? Have the mode B module but haven't swapped it out for the mode A as the mode A is pretty delicious for these old tired ears. (Darn Edgar and Johnny Winter concerts in my youthful years..)

For me the Mode A works fine with everything, FLAC, movies, videos etc. No problems this far. I have the Mode B module also but haven't tried it yet.

 

[squall343]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patu /img/forum/go_quote.gif For me the Mode A works fine with everything, FLAC, movies, videos etc. No problems this far. I have the Mode B module also but haven't tried it yet.

yup same thing for me..

iszatso, are u using any special audio software?

 

[haloxt]

The crackling gets worse when your processor is working more right? If so you just have to increase the latency on your media player and also asio software if you're using that.

Because of slow burn-in I am probably just going to stay with mode A and only use mode B when I start listening to a lot of 24-bit/96khz music. My initial impression was that A is more transparent, but B more forgiving because it is a little bit aggressive.

 

[iszatso]

Thanks people. It's something I can fix versus "oh my god..." Will increase latency. I think switching between mediamonkey and foobar and tinkering with settings doesn't help.

 

[Patu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iszatso /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks people. It's something I can fix versus "oh my god..." Will increase latency. I think switching between mediamonkey and foobar and tinkering with settings doesn't help.

I've had some crackling problems with some DACs also. For example Heed Dactilus. Raising the latency usually helps but one time it didn't. I was confused and didn't know what to do. At the time I had my computer connected to my integrated amps USB-in and at the same time optical cable connected to a separate DAC which I was testing. Well by accident I unplugged the USB cable and the crackling was gone. USB connection caused the other DAC crackle. So if you have audio signal going through USB, try unplugging it.