[koikoi]

Hi there,

I have been looking for a USB DAC for my PC Hi-fi system. The HRT Music Streamer Pro (link http://highresolutiontechnologies.com/music-streamer-pro ) seems to be a very good solution. It has balanced output and it wokrs on the asynchronous-mode to eliminate jitter. I have a chance to get one from second hand at around £250.

I have googled a lot and found that, there are two versions of this DAC. One version use 4 x 5534A single operational amplifiers for output and the other use 2 x 1612A dual operational amplifiers. According to some one else, the 1612 version should have better SQ then the 5534 version simply because the 1612 OPA has much better performance then the 5534 OPA.

I do not know much about electronic things, but checked the datasheets on the TI Instruments website, this seems to be true.

Does someone have any idea about the SQ of the two versions of the DAC? Does it worth to pay more money (e.g. £50 more) to get a 1612 version?

Thanks
Koikoi

datasheets for your reference
OPA 5534 http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/ne5534.pdf
OPA 1612 http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/opa1612.pdf

 

[koikoi]

so sad....no reply....

 

[giraffe]

I hadn't heard of the two versions...do you know how to tell which version is which? Or do you having any links talking about the two versions?

 

[koikoi]

I hadn't heard of the two versions...do you know how to tell which version is which? Or do you having any links talking about the two versions?

hi giraffe,
Unfortunatelymy source is not in English, but you can easily find photos of the hrt ms pro PCB boards on google. Then you can tell the difference.

E.g. these photos



You can see the numbers of chips are different. the above photo has 2 OPAs, the second one has 4 OPAs.

 

[giraffe]

Ah, thanks for those pictures! I have a HRT MS Pro, and I could open it up later to check what version I have. I wouldn't be able to compare versions, but I could post my impressions for you sometime if you're interested. Also, I noticed music direct has a sale on these going on, but only to US addresses: http://www.musicdirect.com/p-1665-hrt-music-streamer-pro.aspx
If you have a friend that could ship to you, that might be a good option if you'd prefer new, although I don't know the version...

 

[koikoi]

Ah, thanks for those pictures! I have a HRT MS Pro, and I could open it up later to check what version I have. I wouldn't be able to compare versions, but I could post my impressions for you sometime if you're interested. Also, I noticed music direct has a sale on these going on, but only to US addresses: http://www.musicdirect.com/p-1665-hrt-music-streamer-pro.aspx

If you have a friend that could ship to you, that might be a good option if you'd prefer new, although I don't know the version...

Thanks for the information.
I think I have to confirm the version before I buy one. It is a bit annoying if you know there is a better version exists, even if there is no audible difference between the two versions. :frown:

 

[koikoi]

more discussion please....

 

[koikoi]

bump before it goes to 2nd page.....