[Tequilasunriser]

Quote:

Ohh. So the D2 is going to be priced around $300? Hmm. That extra 100 changes a few things. There are many other options for $300. I had thought the d1 an awesome deal for 200, but held back because of the Bit limitation of the USB. However, if it's going to cost another 100 clams to not have the problem... Meh. Am I the only person that feels this way?

Don't let the USB limitation turn you away from the D1. It has excellent sound quality. What else can you get for $200 that is a DAC, headphone amp, pre amp, and tube pre amp with awesome sound quality? It might not be the best out there but for it's price it is an excellent jack of all trades. Plus, if you use optical or coax you'll get the 24/96 encoding.
 
I'd start with this unit and if you decide you need better sell it and get a better unit. I can honestly say that I'm satisfied with it and probably won't upgrade for a while if decide to upgrade at all, I see no need at the moment.
 
I've got it hooked up as a tube pre amp to my NAD receiver that I recently acquired from a fellow Head-Fier. Blasting Rammstein never sounded so good. 

 

[_Spanky_]

Quote:

Don't let the USB limitation turn you away from the D1. It has excellent sound quality. What else can you get for $200 that is a DAC, headphone amp, pre amp, and tube pre amp with awesome sound quality? It might not be the best out there but for it's price it is an excellent jack of all trades. Plus, if you use optical or coax you'll get the 24/96 encoding.

QFT.
 
Shameless plug: Mine is still for sale, I'll be listing it on eBay on Sunday though.

 

[Killbox]

Is the D1 a good dac? I'm planning on getting a DAC for my headamp (Heed CanAmp) and my Nad speaker amp. Having problem deciding between this and Beresford. 

 

[uelover]

Quote:

Is the D1 a good dac? I'm planning on getting a DAC for my headamp (Heed CanAmp) and my Nad speaker amp. Having problem deciding between this and Beresford. 

D1 is a good DAC. Just get the tube upgraded to GE 5670 and you are safe.
 
Oh and one thing, don't use D1's preamp.

 

[Killbox]

But the tubes are not used for "dac work" ? that's just for the amp part ?  I'm only gonna use it for dac. 

 

[reiserFS]

There's an output labeled "Tube out" which uses the tube in the D1 as a buffer and a normal direct line level DAC only output.
 
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But the tubes are not used for "dac work" ? that's just for the amp part ?  I'm only gonna use it for dac. 

 
 

 

[_Spanky_]

 
Quote:

But the tubes are not used for "dac work" ? that's just for the amp part ?  I'm only gonna use it for dac. 

No, the tube isn't used for the amp section. You have 2 choices for DAC output, solid state and tube. If you're going to use the D1 strictly as a DAC, I think there's better choices. But, if you like the tube or will use it as a headphone amp or if you like the flexibility and features, it's a nice unit all around.

 

[Killbox]

Ok, then this may not be the thing for me. I've allready purchased a Heed CanAmp that will be paired with my AKG Q701, so I only need a dac.  Maybe the Beresford is a better option. 
 
Do you have other suggestions?

 

[_Spanky_]

Well to be fair, I don't think you're going to find a DAC with tube flavor for as cheap as the D1. If you're going to use the DAC only, that's really the only advantage it has. You can wait 3 months or so for the D2 or check out what Audio-GD has to offer.

 

[SteveNZ]

I hope he decides against using blue LEDs on the D2. They are inevitably too bright and IMHO tend to be representative of gimmicky products. 

 

[Ultrainferno]

Quote:

I hope he decides against using blue LEDs on the D2. They are inevitably too bright and IMHO tend to be representative of gimmicky products. 

There are lots of companies using these leds, I can assure you it's not a representative of gimmicky products
And btw he already used less bright blue leds in his A1

 

[uelover]

Quote:

I hope he decides against using blue LEDs on the D2. They are inevitably too bright and IMHO tend to be representative of gimmicky products. 

The newer D1 has a much dimmer blue LEDs than the earlier batches. It is so dim that I don't know if its on or off under normal room lighting.

 

[reiserFS]

You can solder a resistor to it to dim it a bit, did that to my unit back then and it worked flawlessly.
 
Quote:

I hope he decides against using blue LEDs on the D2. They are inevitably too bright and IMHO tend to be representative of gimmicky products. 

 
 

 

[sizzlincok]

Quote:

There are lots of companies using these leds, I can assure you it's not a representative of gimmicky products
And btw he already used less bright blue leds in his A1

Yah. I noticed that the A1 has a slightly dimmer LED than my D1.
 

 

[Tequilasunriser]

The LED on my D1 (version 3) is really dim. Can't see how anyone could complain about it.