[karthur]

I ordered a Sun v2 and Moon HDAM from audio-gd in China on the 4th, and I just received them (on the 8th) in London UK, and I'm not quite sure how it could be so quick especially given that there was a weekend in between the 4th and the 8th!

I popped the Moon (plus extension) into my trusty Auzentech X-Meridian Soundcard and fired up the Little Dot MK III with my Grado SR225's and have been listening for the past hour (to various FLACs) and I honestly can say that I am astonished. It is so good that I'm reluctant to try the Sun v2 as I don't think sound can get better than this....an amazing upgrade, better than any other opamp I have tried (and I have tried a lot of them now including the 627, and 797)...In fact I think I'm going to have to sell my mini-collection of IC opamps....I also have to add that it hasn't even been burned-in yet!!

Now my LD MK III sounds even more like a tube amplfiier. Exactly the sound I've been after. Warm, clear, detailed, balanced, awesome soundstage...yeah, the Moon HDAM is definitely 100% awesome.

edit: the highs now have a real "airy" quality about them...amazing.

 

[viscosity]

how does that soundcard compare to similarly priced DACs?.. the Zero DAC in particular

 

[karthur]

Quote:

Originally Posted by viscosity /img/forum/go_quote.gif how does that soundcard compare to similarly priced DACs?.. the Zero DAC in particular

The soundcard is discontinued...I think the current one is called a Prelude and they are not very expensive. Asus also makes cards with DIP8 sockets (the Xonar series). The Zero DAC is probably better but I have never tried it. Now with the Moon HDAM I don't think I need a DAC at all. I've tried a Cambridge Audio DacMagic and was thinking of buying it but now I'd say that this combination that I have now with the X-Meridian + Moon sounds better. Probably a Zero + Moon would sound better but I'm not sure by how much...probably very little, considering I have it hooked through a Little Dot MK III.

I always hear how DACs are better for noise,etc because they are outside of the computer....but with my Onkyo SE200PCI and Auzentech X-Meridian (combined with a good motherboard and placed far from the video card) I don't think this applies. I can't hear any noise or distortion at all on the Onkyo or Auzentech, and I can't fault the sound on either.

 

[moodyrn]

I doubt a zero with hdam will sound any better than your card with it. I nerver heard it, but I have a prelude with a moon. It sounds far better than a modded zhaolu I had. In fact I sounded better than any dac I've had. I never had a 3000 dollar one but I had a few in the 250 to 800 range, and neither could compete with the sound I'm getting with my mooned prelude. It brought my tube amp to life.

 

[blue_lammer]

Hmmm that sounds interesting. I'm buying an HD2 I think I might try a HDAM as well. How do you keep you unit safe from electroshock and movement?

 

[karthur]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blue_lammer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmmm that sounds interesting. I'm buying an HD2 I think I might try a HDAM as well. How do you keep you unit safe from electroshock and movement?

I haven't come up with a good solution for this yet. I have insulating (soundproofing) foam all over my case, including the bottom. My soundcard is in the bottom PCI slot so I just have the HDAM resting on the foam (at the bottom of the case and at the end of the standard extension cable from audio-gd), with the ground wire tucked between the bottom lip of the case and the edge of the foam.....I definitely need to design something better, but this works for now!

edit: probably a good solution is just to wrap the HDAM in Kapton tape, so that it can't come into contact with anything metal. That would be a cheap, quick (and possibly nasty -looking) solution...

 

[Currawong]

Someone else reported good results using a HDAM on their soundcard, so it's interesting to see a second person get good results.

karthur: are you using a HDAM with the extension wires? I'm trying to imagine how it would sit inside your PC case if so.

 

[burgunder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong /img/forum/go_quote.gif karthur: are you using a HDAM with the extension wires? I'm trying to imagine how it would sit inside your PC case if so.

In other words we need pics

 

[lag0a]

Has anyone tried comparing the SQ of the opa637sm or any opa637 with the Moon HDAM?

 

[viscosity]

I did some research on this and with the card you have, you must be cutting it close in minimum volt requirements for the hdam. I believe the Auzentech X-Meridian feeds its opamps 8v (in comparison to 5v for most soundcards). where as on Audio-gd, they mention 9-25v as the recommended dose.

convenient to use your soundcard but i feel as though it may be bottlenecked.

 

[karthur]

Quote:

Originally Posted by viscosity /img/forum/go_quote.gif I did some research on this and with the card you have, you must be cutting it close in minimum volt requirements for the hdam. I believe the Auzentech X-Meridian feeds its opamps 8v (in comparison to 5v for most soundcards). where as on Audio-gd, they mention 9-25v as the recommended dose. convenient to use your soundcard but i feel as though it may be bottlenecked.

Well, it must be supplying enough juice since it sounds better than any other opamp I have tried...so with even more juice it could possibly sound better? well I think that would be heaven.

Pic attached - it aint pretty.

 

[fzman]

how would you compare the sound of the onkyo card-stock, vs the auzentech (also stock). hdams aside, will conventional chip op amps make the auzentech outperform the onkyo?

best,

Mark

 

[karthur]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fzman /img/forum/go_quote.gif how would you compare the sound of the onkyo card-stock, vs the auzentech (also stock). hdams aside, will conventional chip op amps make the auzentech outperform the onkyo? best, Mark

Well the Onkyo SE-200PCI (non ltd ed) has many large OS-CON caps, a wolfson DAC, and 3 (6 in total) TI NE5532 Opamps (non-socketed) for each channel (L/R). The better caps and (probably) better DAC leads to a better, wider soundstage, more detail, more of a clean neutral sound by default. I think the Auzentech with Moon is pretty similar sounding, but I haven't done a side-by-side comparison. I have the Onkyo hooked up to my AV receiver for home theatre and the sound is amazing. Can't really go wrong with the Onkyo or Audiotrak cards.

 

[karthur]

Ok so here's a photo of the Sun v2 attached to the X-Meridian. It isn't been burned-in (has something like 10 minutes on it) but I find the sound to be brighter and hollower than the moon with slightly less detail on the low end. In fact, the bass seems muffled compared to the Moon....even though I think the Moon has a warmer sound overall...kinda strange...I don't have enough experience comparing opamps to come up with a better description, but I think I prefer the moon.

The Sun v2 sounds great though. I didn't realize the LEDs on it would be green.

 

[blue_lammer]

Must they put LED's into every electronic component these days?? If I end up putting one of those in my computer I could set up a disco room from the lights.

Does anyone know the effects of a HDAM + opamp combination would be. The soundcard im looking at has 3 op-amp slots, 2 are "paired" and the other is alone. Would the benefits of installing a HDAM be removed from the other two opamps?

I think the path goes Single Op --> Pair --> RCA