[Bombik]

I Ordered (already shipped) NOS upgrade kit for DAC19. Will come back with news shortly.

In meantime I heard vintage Philips Dac960. Very nice dac, first and only one from philips. Based on tda1541a DA processor.
I think when comparing with DAC19 agd gear is overall slightly better yet Dac960 was more musical. But requires some major modding (nos mode etc.) which I find difficult/expensive..

 

[srisaikat]

I think you did the best thing by ordering the upgrade kit for NOS-19. With Spdif input at default setting (8x oversampling, without any jumper) it is very marginally better than my Pioneer N-50, also sound quite close to some other DS DACs I owned (Arcam, Rega, wolfson based FUN etc.... except Sabre DACs).
 
First 2 weeks I was quite confused with DAC-19 (10th An), is this really an upgrade compared to Pioneer N-50? I felt like cheated by those long threads in support of Ladder DACs. To tell you the truth those two (Pioneer N-50 & DAC-19 10th) sounding quite close, just the AGD DAC-19 (without any jumper) was little hefty on mid, that's it. I felt like I am possessing an additional gear.
 
After 2 weeks I started tried with the jumpers. First difference was discovered when I put a Jumper on PLL, some type of stiffness from sound signature gone vanished. Now I found it was sounding more easy compared to N-50. Later I put 2 additional jumpers on ISP0 and ISP1. What a natural tone! I never heard such fluidity, decay, timber ever in my life with any DAC I owned except from Vinyl from 70s or 80s.
 
Now I know, NOS ladder DAC is the way to go, at least for my taste. I also want to upgrade to NOS-19. Please share, how much it is going to cost to get the kit? I do not use USB input, only COAX & Optical. So will this upgrade will work for the Spdif as well? Will I need especial technical skill to install the Upgrade kit?
 
Too many questions I asked. Pardon me, but I am very excited to know there is an Upgrade Kit available to convert my favorite DAC to NOS-19.

 

[Bombik]

Yup, very similar path here. I ended with pll on, 2x OS. imo best setup which in my case ruined all previous and I consider it end for the moment and before NOS mod.

 

[eschell27]

I just popped mine into 2x OS tonight for the first time. With a Regen it is sounding pretty fantastic thus far. Figure i will give this an evening of listening then try NOS tomorrow to compare. Recently been looking into getting a decent transport to try out the spdif input. Anyone have any experience/knowledge they have about how the rca/bnc spdif inputs sound compared to the amanero usb on a dac-19 10th anniversary, transport/source used, how they differed etc.
 
I'm also curious about what is involved in the NOS upgrade kit as i haven't yet found much technical info about the install or what comes in the kit. Wondering if it will be easily reversible in the event one wants to switch back or have the option of switching back and forth.

 

[petemac110]

  Oh, I see. So, in theory, you can, for best results, have both in the same time. Thank you!

 
For the sake of clarification, no, you can't undertake the TCXO upgrade and Amanero384 Combo upgrade at the same time.
 
The TCXO upgrade only applied to the old VIA USB32 USB board. The Amanero board (and XMOS U8 board) do not have upgradeable XOs - they are soldered directly onto the PCBs and are surface-mount rather than through-hole construction like the USB32 XO/TCXO.

 

[Peti]

   
For the sake of clarification, no, you can't undertake the TCXO upgrade and Amanero384 Combo upgrade at the same time.
 
The TCXO upgrade only applied to the old VIA USB32 USB board. The Amanero board (and XMOS U8 board) do not have upgradeable XOs - they are soldered directly onto the PCBs and are surface-mount rather than through-hole construction like the USB32 XO/TCXO.

Thanks for the clarification!

 

[jdpark]

  I just popped mine into 2x OS tonight for the first time. With a Regen it is sounding pretty fantastic thus far. Figure i will give this an evening of listening then try NOS tomorrow to compare. Recently been looking into getting a decent transport to try out the spdif input. Anyone have any experience/knowledge they have about how the rca/bnc spdif inputs sound compared to the amanero usb on a dac-19 10th anniversary, transport/source used, how they differed etc.
 
I'm also curious about what is involved in the NOS upgrade kit as i haven't yet found much technical info about the install or what comes in the kit. Wondering if it will be easily reversible in the event one wants to switch back or have the option of switching back and forth.

I'm curious about this myself. Tempted to try the Cambridge CXC, since it's getting great reviews, and isn't terribly pricey. Some people swear there are huge differences between transports, and others will swear with equal force saying that all transports are equal unless one is broken. Most computer geeks and people around here say USB is better, and I tend to agree, but I haven't tried a really good SPDIF transport, so cannot say for sure. I also have some programs on my computer that essentially shut down all non-audio related programs and services, and I notice a major improvement in my set up. 

 

[srisaikat]

I wanted to be safe for sure, so never tried with USB as I guess I have to customize the PC to a far extent for making it dedicated to music only purpose and to dis-engage the PLL that is absolutely necessary. What I found (with own ear) till now PLL itself is source of noise generation to some extent. I never like the sound of DAC-19 when PLL is engaged. PC booting time also an additional disadvantage. So at this moment I am using Pioneer N-50 (which is very high quality component as a stereo only source with Spdif output) and DAC-19 Combo. Please remember, even as a standalone DAC Pioneer N-50 is quite hard to beat. I found the DAC-19 only substantially better and different than Pioneer N-50 when it's PLL (off) has a jumper and the mode is 2x with 90 db stop band or NOS 
 
For NOS kit I have emailed to Kingwa. They sent me a quotation with detail procedure. It surely need certain technical skill to convert a DAC-19 to NOS-19. So I feel it is not safe or wise for me to upgrade it by myself. There is a great chance that DAC might get damaged with wrong operation. I am sharing some pictures what I received from Audio-gd. There is also additional firmware up-gradation steps to follow after hardware related tweaks.
 

 

 

[lenroot77]

If anyone is looking for a Dac-19 here in the states, I have listing in the classifieds.

Thanks

*should say I'm considering selling mine.

 

[Stillhart]

If anyone is looking for a Dac-19 here in the states, I have listing in the classifieds.

Thanks

*should say I'm considering selling mine.

 
Didn't float your boat?  What are you going with instead?

 

[lenroot77]

Didn't float your boat?  What are you going with instead?

No it's great! Just considering trying something different. And as funny as it sounds it doesn't fit into "my listening space" very well.

 

[Astral Abyss]

No it's great! Just considering trying something different. And as funny as it sounds it doesn't fit into "my listening space" very well.

 
Good luck finding something better for $800.  Just build a new shelf or something...  or do like I did and mount your monitors on an adjustable arm so you have more desk space for audio gear.  

 

[lenroot77]

Good luck finding something better for $800.  Just build a new shelf or something...  or do like I did and mount your monitors on an adjustable arm so you have more desk space for audio gear.  

I'm really not going to find much better am I? I've kinda been looking around and there aren't any obvious choices.

 

[Youth]

I'm really not going to find much better am I? I've kinda been looking around and there aren't any obvious choices.

I'm gonna upgrade to Gungnir Multibit but it's more expensive.

 

[Stillhart]

I'm really not going to find much better am I? I've kinda been looking around and there aren't any obvious choices.

 
 

I'm gonna upgrade to Gungnir Multibit but it's more expensive.

 
The GMB is an obvious choice.  I personally wouldn't call it an upgrade as much as a sidegrade with a different sound.  You might also check out the Metrum Musette (Zach/ZMF is an authorized dealer).  But yeah, I still think there isn't much in the price range that's any better; the DAC-19 is awesome.