[estreeter]

 
4K (plus shipping, customs and local taxes) and the pain ends. Or so I'm told. Why does the skeptic in me know that they will always find more 'pain' that needs to be be 'treated'  ?
 
 

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/Just-Finished-Auditioning-Steve-Nugents-New-DAC-Empirical-Audio

“We have had the Weiss, Antelope, several Apogees, the Ayre, Tranquility, the PS Audio DLIII and PWD, and Benchmark. None of these were even close to what your DAC [Overdrive] presented.”

 

[Somnambulist]

The OR's are just too expensive for me. Getting a couple of hundred quid off the NAD knocks it closer to £1k. The speakers I'm building - about £1k I suspect by the time we're done with it all, particularly making them look decent. Do I really want to spend close to another K for a converter? Not really. I'd rather get a good solid, but not uber high-end converter, and spend more on room treatment. I might still get the JK MIII, but only if I was satisfied there's a general agreement on that s/pdif input being just as good as the AES.

 

[MorbidToaster]

Makes sense.
 
Quote:

The OR's are just too expensive for me. Getting a couple of hundred quid off the NAD knocks it closer to £1k. The speakers I'm building - about £1k I suspect by the time we're done with it all, particularly making them look decent. Do I really want to spend close to another K for a converter? Not really. I'd rather get a good solid, but not uber high-end converter, and spent more on room treatment. I might still get the JK MIII, but only if I was satisfied there's a general agreement on that s/pdif input being just as good as the AES.

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

 
4K (plus shipping, customs and local taxes) and the pain ends. Or so I'm told. Why does the skeptic in me know that they will always find more 'pain' that needs to be be 'treated'  ?
 
 

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/Just-Finished-Auditioning-Steve-Nugents-New-DAC-Empirical-Audio

“We have had the Weiss, Antelope, several Apogees, the Ayre, Tranquility, the PS Audio DLIII and PWD, and Benchmark. None of these were even close to what your DAC [Overdrive] presented.”

 
I spoke to Chris about auditioning the OR4 back when it was new, and I also asked Steve if he could get an OR or Overdrive to Chris for review since I generally like Chris' work. Steve said that Chris has never shown any interest in Empirical or reviewing their products, which is too bad as I think he's missing out. (He also stubbornly refuses to use anything other than JRiver, even though there are clearly better products out there).
 
A USB DAC is basically two parts, the USB > I2S conversion, and the DAC itself. The reason why I think the Overdrive tends to outperform its rivals, even the $7K+ stuff, is its advantage in the USB conversion stage. It's pretty much generally accepted that the Off-Ramp is the best there is, other than MAYBE the Stahl-tek ABC which is so expensive that it would be pretty silly to buy anyway.
 
The Overdrive basically uses an internal Off-Ramp as its input, while most of the others are using the XMOS solution. OR > XMOS, so the Overdrive already has a significant advantage before the actual conversion process has even started. I don't think that alone would be enough if the DAC itself was mediocre, but obviously it isn't. The Overdrive DAC seems to be at least as good as anything else in the $5-10K class, combine that with a world class USB input, and you've got a serious machine.
 
Steve also isn't sitting still. The latest Overdrive version called the SE is a sort of "popular plus" version incorporating most of the upgrades available on the standard version, combined with a new power supply that replaces the old AC adapters with three internal switch mode supplies, which connect directly to the wall with a standard IEC input. Steve says that the new PSU sounds even better than the standard DAC with the Monolith battery supply, which is no small feat.
 

 

[ecohifi]

Quote:

The OR's are just too expensive for me. Getting a couple of hundred quid off the NAD knocks it closer to £1k. The speakers I'm building - about £1k I suspect by the time we're done with it all, particularly making them look decent. Do I really want to spend close to another K for a converter? Not really. I'd rather get a good solid, but not uber high-end converter, and spend more on room treatment. I might still get the JK MIII, but only if I was satisfied there's a general agreement on that s/pdif input being just as good as the AES.

If youre looking at speakers, check the Behringer 3031A truths.  They are Active driven by an active power amp 150 & 75 watt amp that hangs on the rear with balance in and RCA.  This is a bargin for $630AUS.  They come with a 3yr warranty   I have had the M51 driving these through  balance and they are amazing for the price.  They have a ribbon tweeter and a kevlar driver, the unit is design for studios and it comes close to the 6ft ribbons and eton drivers that I have purposely built without the grunt and clarity of the bottom end due to there bookshelf size.  They have the clarity and sweetness in the top end that you can only die for that doesnt exist in dome tweeters and units such as Linn Kanns and ProAc tablettes.  I think I have seen then for around the300-400 pounds on the net. 
My son bought the pair and I had a go at him, by the time we hooked them up the SQ silence me!!!!!!
I dont think you get a package like this for the money; ribbon tweeter, kevlar driver, active 150 and 75 watt amp that supports RCA and balance for $630AUS retail, my son paid 530!  Great for a 2nd back up pair.
 
 
 

 

[Somnambulist]

I have Focal CMS 50's, I'd like to upgrade to the Event Opals, and I'm building Linkwitz Plutos for fun as well.

 

[estreeter]

Dave, I'm not seeing the Overdrive SE (or the Syncro-Mesh ..) on the Empirical Audio site - what sort of money are we talking for the SE ? Clearly, Steve has realised that the high-end like pretty casework - the original Overdrive looked more like something you would see in server rack than a piece of high-end audio. 

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

Dave, I'm not seeing the Overdrive SE (or the Syncro-Mesh ..) on the Empirical Audio site - what sort of money are we talking for the SE ? Clearly, Steve has realised that the high-end like pretty casework - the original Overdrive looked more like something you would see in server rack than a piece of high-end audio. 

 
Yeah it usually takes him awhile to get the site updated. Steve quoted the SE at $6K, which includes the USB and DAC section Hynes regulators, the dual Turboclock upgrade, and the passive heatsink. The price for all of that on the current Overdrive is $5700, so there's $300 for the new AC Substation (which is supposed to outperform the $1200 Monolith) and the new enclosures. Assuming the analog section Hynes regulators and CUTF coupling caps are the same, they would put the price of a "maxxed out" Overdrive SE at $8300.
 
Steve also has a new USB isolating device called the Short-block, which filters out common mode ground noise from the computer. It breaks the power leg connection entirely though, so it will only work with devices that don't require power from the USB port.
 

 

[estreeter]

With freight, 30% Customs and 7.5% VAT, that maxxed-out SE would cost me close to 12K USD by the time I had it in my hands in Thailand. Somnambulist made an excellent point earlier in relation to the Overdrive and the obvious question is : what would you have to spend to do justice to a source at that level ? No-one spends a total of 5K on the amp/speakers to go with a 12K source - you are suddenly in the realm of a 30K+ system. Granted, some on Head-Fi would have spent more than that on gear, and in the speaker world its not extreme by any means, but its fantasyland for me. I look forward to YOUR impressions !  

 

[orkney]

Quote:

Haha, sorry for the thread derail. Anyway, since I2S seems to be off the menu - the next best input on the M51 seems to be the AES/EBU. I'll be going direct from the Mac Mini, so a USB to S/PDIF converter that has the AES output is what I'd be looking for. Currently off the top of my head and excluding the OR4/5 because they're too expensive there's
 
Stello U3
V Link 192
SOtM dx-USB HD
 
And probably some others I can't think of. I'd want to get a (non-silly price) linear PSU for it too.

Honestly, I'd listen to the M51 before deciding on which, if any, USB/SPDIF converter you need. If sounds very, very good through SPDIF, and the native USB is no slouch.
 
o

 

[The Monkey]

I've been listening to the NAD M51 (loaner) for a couple of months now, and I am very impressed.  I'll have more impressions at a later date, but I think this is a nice sounding piece of kit that compares well to my PWD.  A very straightforward unit.  In fact, I wish there were more controls on the faceplate (esp volume) but NAD made lots of good decisions in implementation, imo.

 

[ecohifi]

Quote:

 
4K (plus shipping, customs and local taxes) and the pain ends. Or so I'm told. Why does the skeptic in me know that they will always find more 'pain' that needs to be be 'treated'  ?
 
 

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/Just-Finished-Auditioning-Steve-Nugents-New-DAC-Empirical-Audio

“We have had the Weiss, Antelope, several Apogees, the Ayre, Tranquility, the PS Audio DLIII and PWD, and Benchmark. None of these were even close to what your DAC [Overdrive] presented.”

This is on my want list, when I win tatts!

 

[Somnambulist]

Quote:

Honestly, I'd listen to the M51 before deciding on which, if any, USB/SPDIF converter you need. If sounds very, very good through SPDIF, and the native USB is no slouch.
 
o

 
I plan on doing as much (Mac Mini mini-jack to toslink), however, pretty much everything I've read points to the converters making a noticeable difference, cleaning up things coming from the computer-end, so it seems a worthy investment.
 
Quote:

I've been listening to the NAD M51 (loaner) for a couple of months now, and I am very impressed.  I'll have more impressions at a later date, but I think this is a nice sounding piece of kit that compares well to my PWD.  A very straightforward unit.  In fact, I wish there were more controls on the faceplate (esp volume) but NAD made lots of good decisions in implementation, imo.

 
I'm going to get a Logitech Harmony One+ or some such, can run the NAD off that (as well the other devices in the home theater/hifi rack that have remote control).

 

[woodcans]

My M51 will not work using the hdmi I2S output from my OR5, so I don't think it accepts i2s over hdmi. Sound via OR5 coax is glorious. I can't detect a difference between the OR5 coax and AES outputs into the m51, in my system.

Haha, sorry for the thread derail. Anyway, since I2S seems to be off the menu - the next best input on the M51 seems to be the AES/EBU. I'll be going direct from the Mac Mini, so a USB to S/PDIF converter that has the AES output is what I'd be looking for. Currently off the top of my head and excluding the OR4/5 because they're too expensive there's

Stello U3
V Link 192
SOtM dx-USB HD

And probably some others I can't think of. I'd want to get a (non-silly price) linear PSU for it too.

 

[woodcans]

How unfortunate that the 'computer audiophile' is uninterested in what is likely the cutting edge of the state of the art of computer audiophilia.

I spoke to Chris about auditioning the OR4 back when it was new, and I also asked Steve if he could get an OR or Overdrive to Chris for review since I generally like Chris' work. Steve said that Chris has never shown any interest in Empirical or reviewing their products, which is too bad as I think he's missing out. (He also stubbornly refuses to use anything other than JRiver, even though there are clearly better products out there).