[stokitw]

The DAC&AMP works pretty well.
The AMP part alone doesn't work with my GS-1000 well.
The sound is harsh and rough..

I now use it in the office along with AKG K271s.
It is definitely powerful enough to serve K271s to its potential.
I don't have other phones which really need amp though..

Since only other DAC I have is Grace m902, I cannot really compare it against others within similar price range..

Overall it is a good buy, the DAC is good and the amp is powerfulm it light up the K271s and keep its balance sound signature.

 

[shrisha]

I would really recommend give it at list 400 hours of burn in first. You will see guys, sound will improves noticeably.

Actually AMP section is stronger then DAC one. Just give to this baby some time.

And the most what is recommended is opamps rolling. I'm on wait for a bunch of it and as soon as I'll get and try them, I will let everybody know about changes and best opamps options.

 

[FraGGleR]

Thanks for the updates Shrisha. Please let us know what you find. I am still very interested in this dac/amp.

 

[FraGGleR]

For everyone who has said the amp is better than the dac (it is modeled after the slee novo after all), how would you compare the dac to others that you have heard? Thanks.

 

[devast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FraGGleR /img/forum/go_quote.gif For everyone who has said the amp is better than the dac (it is modeled after the slee novo after all), how would you compare the dac to others that you have heard? Thanks.

The problem being that it's a not-so-popular entry level dac, many people like myself bought this as my first dac/amp aka the entry to hi-fi

So most ppl who bought this really have no point of reference, maybe you should convince some experienced member to get one and check it out.
Nevertheless i really like mine, and i feel it's getting better over time. When i powered it up first, i thought i was an idiot spending $160 for it ($160 in eastern europe is like $600 in the US comparing average salaries). Now after some listening i understand what precise bass means, my onboard soundcard has much more bass, but it's totally off. Also i feel the soundstage is great, sometimes i get frightened about how my tracks sound, i never heard that kind of presentation before. Please take my words with a grain of salt, as i've never heard any expert equipment. I'm listening on hd555s, that's not in the high-end line either.
Sorry for my bad english, it's not my first language. Happy listening

 

[Eugene.C]

It's better to have another headphone amp to drive my HD600 than using this DAC's amp part. I've got an amp using SOLO's principle. The DAC part is quite good I think. My friend bought a Denon DCD-2000 CD player and I listened to it for a period of time. He also got a pair of HD600 and a Graham Slee SOLO. If it can be quantified, I think the mini USB DAC MK2 has 70% of what a Denon CD gets.
Sorry for my bad English.

 

[FraGGleR]

Thanks guys, and don't apologize for your English. It is just as good if not better than some native speakers I have talked to.

I do feel silly sometimes because I have no point of reference other than my laptop so its not like I could really tell if I got a good deal or not either

I just like to obsess about things and get the absolute best possible deal.

 

[Fidelity]

The DAC is bargain at $150, I'd opt for this over the more expensive Cambridge Audio Dacmagic or Musical Fidelity V-DAC, a significant upgrade in quality over this will cost you several times more...

 

[devast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fidelity /img/forum/go_quote.gif The DAC is bargain at $150, I'd opt for this over the more expensive Cambridge Audio Dacmagic or Musical Fidelity V-DAC, a significant upgrade in quality over this will cost you several times more...

I did some checking/measurement on mine with my limited knowledge:
The buffer output is directly wired to the headphone amp input, without any dc blocking capacitor. It's good, couse caps degrade the audio signal and it's bad couse dc offset produced by the buffer opamp will be amplified by the headphone opamp. I managed to measure 100+ mV on each channel when the volume pot was maxed, and source was coming from the dac part. It's said that over 50mV will kill your headphone. The offset scales logarithmically with the volume pot, at 12 o'clock it was like 20mV what is borderline ok, and i can't listen over 11 on my headphones, couse it's too loud. However... play nothing on it, set it to digital, max the volume pot, plug in a headphone, go sleep and next day your phones will be dead probably.
Since i'm not even a beginner in audio electornics, i don't know exactly where i should add caps, and i have no clue what values/types i should use. Also i ordered some opamps, lt1364 for the buffer and opa2111 and lm4562 for the headphone amp, we'll see how much improvement it will produce when they arrive.

 

[Fidelity]

Yes I'd start with swapping out both the stock opamps as well, I'm sure the more knowledgeable members here in the DIY section could advise on a few mods to improve this unit further.

 

[SteveNZ]

I've been looking for something like the HifiDIY Mk2 unit for plugging into the mac to get decent audio out of into my Sennheiser HD280's and the Grado Alessandro's. A TOSLink input would be quite useful to me (an old iRiver H340 MP3 player here has optical out) but it looks like there's plenty of room there to add a separate connector if need be. The Muse unit has this already but the PCB quality looks quite inferior to the Aune unit.

I'd be interested in knowing what suggestions people have for components to upgrade.

I was looking at the Beresford TC7520 as a possible alternative but I've read elsewhere on this site that the manufacturer is "difficult"? Any ideas if this might be a comparable unit? Or the Tianyun Zero for that matter?

 

[minusthetom]

Just to confirm what others have said I have also come to the conclusion that this unit doesn't synergize well with grado's.
Sounds fantastic with my westone 3's however.

 

[devast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveNZ /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was looking at the Beresford TC7520 as a possible alternative but I've read elsewhere on this site that the manufacturer is "difficult"? Any ideas if this might be a comparable unit? Or the Tianyun Zero for that matter?

The Zero is nice, as a dac. The headphone amp part of it is kinda trashed, i don't like its design. The Beresfold is a $100 rebranded unit sold for $250. If you plan on using a discrete headphone amp then strictly as a dac the zero might be a bit better. There are some tube amps out there too sub $200. For $150 this unit is a pretty decent solid state dac/amp combo, it all comes down to personal preferences in the end. Of course it has room for improvement, but what $150 unit does not

 

[FraGGleR]

Could try the Maverick Audio. It is a rebranded Grant Fidelity DAC-09 which sells for nearly $400. For like another week you could can get the Maverick Audio version for $200 shipped to the US. It is a dac/amp combo with a built in tube buffer. The Grant Fidelity gets very good reviews so the Maverick looks to be a great deal, possibly even better than the Aune. Unfortunately, only one member of Headfi.org has gotten one and he hasn't posted his impressions yet, just pictures. If I weren't so keen on see what Nuforce is bringing out in November, I would own the Maverick already. There is a thread in the Amp subforum that I have posted more info.

If I had to buy a dac/amp today, it would be the Maverick for $200, around Christmas it will most likely be the Nuforce HDP for $400 if it rates well with some of the veterans here.

 

[SteveNZ]

Hmm, the Maverick looks like a very promising unit. I wonder what difference there is in the quality of the tube (and potentially other components) to the Grant Audio unit. I found a post by one of the Grand Audio chaps on another forum which unsurprisingly was basically trying to dissuade people from buying the competitors unit (along with some plausible sounding possibly concerning information). It's obviously from the same manufacturer but whether or not it's spec'd to order remains to be seen.

Very tempted to buy one and hope for the best...