Mr.Sneis
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2004
- Posts
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Quote:
I just came from APOGEE in Santa Monica... the mothership. I go back in 2 days in case any one has any questions.
I dropped off my Apogee Mini-DAC to have the volume potentiometer replaced (sounded scratchy). The word from the head techs is that USB 2.0 had hte drivers re-written in Apple 10.6 and now are no longer inferior to firewire.
I have a firewire Mini DAC.
I enjoy that it sounds amazing (was better than original Duet) and that it can function as a stand alone piece.. so I can use it in so many ways.
1. As a headphone amp (transportable)
2. To add two more channels of output to my Macbook Pro as part of an "Aggregate device" in Midi so it effectively becomes a 4 channel sound card- I monitor my pre-mix dj'ing with macbookpro headphone out/TTVJ Millett Hybrid Portable/Ultrasone Edition 9.
3. It functions as a stand alone DAC being fed airtunes/airportexpress/wireworld Optical TOSLINK/apogee mini dac/Genelec s30d ribbon studio monitors (re-clocking the crummy jitter laden signal withs its asynchronous DAC) this adds another zone of music to my home.
4. In my car it gets.... McIntosh API/iPad/Wadia 171i/Apogee Mini DAC/Nakamichi TP 1200MKII Special Shop Limited Edition remote headunit/ Remote Nakamichi Pre-amp in trunk with visco elastic and spring islolation/McIntosh MEN 452 5 way Electronics crossover/ McIntosh MEQ 4 channel 6 band parametric EQ/McIntosh MC4000M 6 channel 1000 watt and and MC440 6 channel 400 watt amp/ Jehnert.de door panels for Mercedes E500 w124 chassis.
5. Or in the car it gets- iPad/remote app/controls Macbookpro 15" music Library with 500 GB solid state drive/channel D Pure vinyl/ flac 24 bit 192 which controls itunes/Apogee Mini DAC 24 Bit 192khz in//Nakamichi TP 1200MKII Special Shop Limited Edition remote headunit/ Remote Nakamichi Pre-amp in trunk with visco elastic and spring islolation/McIntosh MEN 452 5 way Electronics crossover/ McIntosh MEQ 4 channel 6 band parametric EQ/McIntosh MC4000M 6 channel 1000 watt and and MC440 6 channel 400 watt amp/ Jehnert.de door panels for Mercedes E500 w124 chassis.
6. Or in the car - Airtunes from anyones ipod touch, ipad or iphone - Airport express- Hosa Optical converter optical to spdif coaxial/ Apogee Mini DAC spdif coax in//Nakamichi TP 1200MKII Special Shop Limited Edition remote headunit/ Remote Nakamichi Pre-amp in trunk with visco elastic and spring islolation/McIntosh MEN 452 5 way Electronics crossover/ McIntosh MEQ 4 channel 6 band parametric EQ/McIntosh MC4000M 6 channel 1000 watt and and MC440 6 channel 400 watt amp/ Jehnert.de door panels for Mercedes E500 w124 chassis.
And sometimes...
it is taken out of the car when I get to the ski house... and ..
256gb Solid state Red Wine audio Imod/wadia 171i/ apogee Mini-DAC/ Audio Research VT-100 MK2 tube amp/Magneplanar Tympani 1-d Loudspeakers.
I like that it works whether it is attached to a Mac or not. Apogee said to me yesterday the only step up sonically from the Mini DAC was the Symphony.
I would be curious to hear Headphone Addicts opinion of the Mini DAC vs the Duet 2 A/B'd - I did an a/b of the mini DAC vs the Lavry -21 and found the Apogee Mini Dac won out. And I really thought the Lavry would win (plus the Lavry looks nicer- I wanted it to win...)..but the Mini DAC for me was the clear winner delivering a deeper more 3 D soundstage with my Magneplanar Tympani's- and a more cohesive midrange.
Glad to hear the MiniDac is still an awesome DAC compared to several years newer gear! Honestly I don't even believe the parts inside are "top of the line" or anything but the Apogee implementation is just that good. Have you played around with upgrades to your Power Supply?