[Hawainpanda]

I'm looking at the theta Pro V and it seems to go really cheap compared to msrp, but isn't it nearly 10 years old? (not so sure) but in anycase should I spend my money on newer dacs that have better tech?

 

[H5N1]

If that's the sound you like, digits on the spec do not mean a thing.

Happy listening.

 

[recephasan]

That technology has progressed rapidly in those ten years. Just make sure you make a listening comparison with the newer ones before you commit.

 

[newmanoc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by recephasan That technology has progressed rapidly in those ten years. Just make sure you make a listening comparison with the newer ones before you commit.

I am not familiar with the equipment you mention at all, but if it is a CD player, I heartily agree with recephasan. Multi-thousand dollar products from 10 years ago do not always hold up well against CD players that cost in the hundreds today. And CDP's that sold for hundreds from that era probably are good candidates for retirement unless you are going to use them as a transport.

 

[D-EJ915]

It's a DAC, I saw one go for 150 bucks on ebay before.

 

[Edwood]

Because nearly all DAC's do not have moving parts like CD Players, they last a lot longer.

But because of the nature of technology, they get "obsoleted" relatively quickly.

So buying used is a great value.

-Ed

 

[Oliver :)]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood Because nearly all DAC's do not have moving parts like CD Players, they last a lot longer. But because of the nature of technology, they get "obsoleted" relatively quickly. So buying used is a great value. -Ed

I think it is trouble with DACs. Stood in front of a Musical Fidelity X (cannot remember whether it was the X-24K or X-DAC, one of the pretty tube-shaped thingies

) for €165 just yesterday, in a place I will not mention before I make up my mind, but lets say the MF looked rather out of place. I just stood and stared, drooling over the pretty thing, and the typical used DAC thoughts ran across..
"This is very nice"
"Yes, but it's also very old"
"This seems to be a good price" (<- GIMME SOME HINTS!)
"Maybe"
"This is 4x cheaper than the AQVOX you want"
"The AQVOX is at least 4x more advanced and has features that are highly critical to you"
"This would look so nice on the desk next to the Mac"
"LALALALALALALAALALALALALALAAAAALALALA"

You know the game. Of course I'd be thankful if sbd. could drop me a hint on whether €165 is a decent price, assuming it is the older X-DAC (heck that one is 18bit!). I hope this is not really threadjacking...

 

[recephasan]

Well, I for one don't think this is threadjacking, since your question is exactly what original one is about.

However, I do not have an intelligent answer except that 18-bit, well implemented, is potentially just as good as or better than those (so-called, because they actually are not) 24-bit ones the low-to-medium priced dacs and CDPs have.

 

[memepool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by recephasan That technology has progressed rapidly in those ten years. Just make sure you make a listening comparison with the newer ones before you commit.

Ken Ishiwata of Marantz maintains that CD players are rather like wines in the sense that some vintages are better than others. Even though market pressures mean that most manufacturers release a new one every few years or so, they merely combine all the elements that are available on the market, ie transports / DA chips at that point.
These components are not always better just because they are newer. For instance if you check out the new Shanling multiplayer

it uses an early 80's designed philips CDM die cast transport. This type of transport is found in all types of players made in the 80's from the lowliest Amstrad to the best Meridiens. But today most CD players use DVD computer transports. You need to pay 16000USD for a bespoke Teac VRDS.

The same is true of chipsets like the TDA 1541 another vintage 80's design still in use today.
In fact it can also be argued that CD transport designs are led by the computer market and not the audio market and what is good for a computer is not always best for audio.

For instance Ishiwata cites BMOS as superior to CMOS due to the higher voltages employed which are better for audio whereas the trend in computing is always towards lower power.

This is why Marantz in the UK now offer further mods to the original CD63KI Signature a 10 year old model. Because the basic synergy of the original components was so great that the machine can be further improved by some judicious tweaking.

 

[Hawainpanda]

150 for a DAC that retailed for 6k...dam it, I wish I knew about that

I guess I should just save up for the mini dac unless a good deal shows up