PS Audio DLIII Review, what should I try next?
Dec 19, 2007 at 6:08 PM Post #17 of 29
Quote:

Originally Posted by shiosai /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Cullen Circuits' modified PS Audio Digital Link III DAC on the way, see mod cullen preview:

6moons industryfeatures: 6moons Favorite Discoveries of 2007 - Paul Candy


please post your impressions when you get it... i'm personally a PS Audio fan, so i'd love to hear your thoughts.

when i heard the unmodded DLIII, it sounded very smooth to me (good enough that it's the component i planned to buy next). but who knows, it may have been the other components or the source material.
 
Dec 20, 2007 at 3:32 AM Post #18 of 29
Quote:

Originally Posted by regal /img/forum/go_quote.gif
The highs are so metallic, ever chew on your foil gum wrapper by mistake? That is the feeling you get from the highs.


Do you have DLIII set at 192kHz? If so, don't. What's your transport, digital cable, power cord, IC, rest of the system?

Quote:

Originally Posted by regal /img/forum/go_quote.gif
The mids are grainy and hollow.


Compared to a really good unupsampled midrange, i.e. Oritek Zhaolu, you could call it hollower and less dense, yes. There *is* relatively more grain, too, but really, it's on par with the established hifi standard. Once again, don't use 192kHz. I would keep DLIII myself if I could bypass the whole upsampling completely.

Quote:

Originally Posted by regal /img/forum/go_quote.gif
The mid bass is missing that lateral dimension that wraps the music on the sides.


Now you've completely lost me.
 
Dec 20, 2007 at 3:09 PM Post #19 of 29
I sent the DLIII back, the difference in musicallity vs my old DAC was huge.
I think I need a DAC that smooths over imperfect recordings.
I am buying a Lite DAC-60, against my better judgement after the DAC-AH fiasco (How hard is it to get a I/V resistor correct?)

First thing I will do with the DAC-60 is check to see if the PCM1704 is configured for 24 bit as advertised and verify that the I/V resistor is the correct value.
 
Dec 21, 2007 at 4:56 AM Post #21 of 29
Dec 21, 2007 at 5:20 AM Post #22 of 29
Quote:

Originally Posted by regal /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I sent the DLIII back, the difference in musicallity vs my old DAC was huge.
I think I need a DAC that smooths over imperfect recordings.
I am buying a Lite DAC-60, against my better judgement after the DAC-AH fiasco (How hard is it to get a I/V resistor correct?)

First thing I will do with the DAC-60 is check to see if the PCM1704 is configured for 24 bit as advertised and verify that the I/V resistor is the correct value.


maybe you should get the newer versions of the AA, the DDE 3.0 and the DTI 2.0. I heard it and it sounded great
 
Dec 21, 2007 at 10:43 PM Post #24 of 29
Quote:

Originally Posted by regal /img/forum/go_quote.gif
The highs are so metallic, ever chew on your foil gum wrapper by mistake? That is the feeling you get from the highs.


My guess is that you got a defective Digital Link III.

I agree with the comments regarding burn-in and turning off the upsampling as means to improve the smoothness and reducing the glare in the upper treble ranges, but even just out of the box, I found the DLIII to sound wonderful. So much so that I eventually sold my Apogee Mini-DAC and Grace M902 and bought a second DLIII.

I use one of the DLIII's with my two STAX systems and the other on a ribbon speaker system -- both systems are intolerant of harsh treble. In both cases, the DLIII is very musical and pleasant without a trace of listening fatigue.

I, too, am interested in hearing how the Cullen Circuit mod sounds.
 
Dec 21, 2007 at 11:02 PM Post #25 of 29
Quote:

Originally Posted by jinp6301 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
maybe you should get the newer versions of the AA, the DDE 3.0 and the DTI 2.0. I heard it and it sounded great



Actually the DDE v1.2 is newer than the 3.0. I have never heard the 3.0, but Dusty V at CI was a technical manager for AA. He said the v1.2 was very highly regarded. He said the musicality came from the filter used. It also came with a PMD100+AD1862 which is universally praised


Maybe that DLIII was defective, I did let it burn in 3 days. However further research I have found several posts at other forums with people strongly disliking the sound. So I am not alone and I won't be trying another one.

I have a Lite DAC60 due next thursday. I will post my findings.
 
Jan 2, 2008 at 2:29 AM Post #26 of 29
Quote:

Originally Posted by VicAjax /img/forum/go_quote.gif
please post your impressions when you get it... i'm personally a PS Audio fan, so i'd love to hear your thoughts.

when i heard the unmodded DLIII, it sounded very smooth to me (good enough that it's the component i planned to buy next). but who knows, it may have been the other components or the source material.


The Cullen Circuits' modified DLIII doesn't belong to me, but thanks to a very generous friend that he let me has his brand new modified DLIII for home audition. That rocks! You're awesome.
wink.gif


It's still running in and less than 50 hours of play time, but at this time, the bass impact/dynamics is pretty impressive at this price point. Using the same power cords, the blacksand violet Z1 on the DLIII and GCHA, this combination has more bass dynamics over BC3 (bel canto dac3) and GCHA. I have to use Acrolink P4030 power cord on BC3 to get the bass dynamics. Haven't swapped power cords on DLIII, will do so when it's more burned-in. The midrange of DLIII also has some creaminess that I like... But the resolution is just ok, I didn't hear new things in the recordings with this mod DLIII.

On the MS-Pros I actually hear a good soundstage depth that I only heard in RS-1s before. Maybe it's too early to say, the modified DLIII indeed sounds very good. And it doesn't get very hot unlike the GCHA.


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One thing I don't like about the modified DLIII is the WBT NextGen 210cu RCA jacks, it's too tight.


Sorry for my too brief impressions, I will post more maybe next week when it's got more time of play.
smily_headphones1.gif
 
Jan 19, 2008 at 9:43 PM Post #28 of 29
Quote:

Originally Posted by minivan /img/forum/go_quote.gif
thanks for the review shiosai, how much is the mod dliii all up?


Cullen does 3 levels of mods. The top one, level 3, runs in at about US$1700 INCL the DLIII. The DLIII alone retails i believe for US$999.
 
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