[regal]

 
Quote:

 
 
I would be glad to, always like to hear and learn.  Why not send one over?
 
Was the Audio GD Compas nos?  I owned the ack dack as well.  We have a mini meet coming up in Denver in a few weeks.  Any "better engineered" nos dacs that should be on my must seek out list?
 
 I liked an older EAD 7000mkii with PMD filter quite a lot, wish I had not parted with it, think that used r2r dac.
 

 

Yes the EAD was a good DAC add a discrete zero NFB analog stage to it and you would have had something really special.   IMO all NOS DAC's are poorly engineered.
 

 

[tamahome77]

Look into Audio-gd dacs..especially the Ref-1 or 7.  Also look for the vintage dacs such as the assemblage dacs, museatex bidat/bitstream, parasound HD series or sonic frontiers.

 

[Currawong]

Quote:

Careful matching with the right power cord (you must ditch the stock cord), the right digital cables, and you have to warm the darn thing up for at least 30-50 minutes.  If not, you will not be hearing what it can do.

Sorry, but if you need "the right power cord" and whatnot for the DAC 1 to sound good, then out of the box it's a crap DAC.  With all that stuff, you're hearing what the system as a whole can do, not the DAC 1.

 

[FallenAngel]

Ok, seriously, I had a conversation with a lunatic once about a DAC he sold me, said all sorts of things about making sure I had a good power cable, good USB cable and was running off a laptop that wasn't a Dell or IBM... like I said - freaking lunatic!  If some product spokesperson tells you that you "need" to have some fancy cables and a specific laptop to try to make some product not sound like crap, he's full of it and you should go elsewhere.  Oh, this also happened to be the person who designed a DAC with $3.00 0.1uF output coupling caps into a $3,500 *caugh* Ultra-Fi MusicStream *caugh* piece of crap.
 
As for the mention of the EAD DAC, I loved mine, DSP-7000 mkii, hating that I sold it, wanted to get it back but it was sold before I got the PM in.  Oh well, always next time.  On the hunt for another quality older DAC.

 

[bixby]

 
Quote:

Sorry, but if you need "the right power cord" and whatnot for the DAC 1 to sound good, then out of the box it's a crap DAC.  With all that stuff, you're hearing what the system as a whole can do, not the DAC 1.

Obviously I was not as clear in my post poor choice of words perhaps.  The dac does not sound like crap out of the box, I don't think it would be selling as well as it is if it did. If you have heard it and feel it is a crap dac then that is your opinion.
 
Although I will admit it does sound a bit bright with the stock power cord.    Even a $10 cord changes it for the better.    What I tried to convey and did not is that it does benefit from an aftermarket cord as do most dacs I have owned.  Now if you are a believer that a $2 power cord is all you need then that is cool.  To my ears though cables matter and all cables.  I can put 3 different toslink cables on it and hear differences with all and that really gets the non believers riled.
 
 
More importantly it sounds quite a bit better when powered up for a half an hour or so, even more so than a cord change.

 

[Currawong]

It's all relative.  I thought the DAC 1 sounded great, until I compared it to a vintage PCM1704-based DAC, and then it sounded bright, harsh and unnatural in comparison.  Otherwise, was a great match with a tube amp (with slightly forgiving sound signature) my friend owned at one time.  Since there aren't any R2R chip based half-rack DACs (closest is a Lavry Gold) I'm sure most buyers don't know what they're missing, so no problem.  I hope one day, though, to try a UNL8, which at least one admin here, who usually listens with vinyl, reckons is excellent.  IIRC it's around $2k.

 

[The Monkey]

The UNL-8 is $5,995 direct from Metric Halo.

 

[Currawong]

Doh, ULN-2.  I was being lazy not checking first.

 

[The Monkey]

I've heard good things about that one too.  (The same good things you have heard.

)  I had a chance to try the ULN-2, but it was at a meet, so it's really hard to form any real impressions.  It has a ton of features, though.  I just don't like the TRS jacks for input.

 

[yococo96]

now it's all about the tubadour and the tranquility. 
more reviews on the tranquility than on the tubadour. 
has anyone compared?

 

[Sam-Fi]

That is for me too yococo.

 

[burnspbesq]

I can't believe there are over 80 posts in this thread and no one has touched on the most important characteristic that distinguishes good USB DACs from unlistenable USB DACs.
 
Asynchronous USB is inherently better than adaptive.  There is no conversation to be had on this point.  It just is.
 
If your primary source is going to be USB, there are only two brands that you should listen to:  Wavelength and Ayre.  Everything else is a waste of time.

 

[Headphony]

^Great, thanks for coming out.

 

[3X0]

I can't believe there are over 80 posts in this thread and no one has touched on the most important characteristic that distinguishes good USB DACs from unlistenable USB DACs.




 




Asynchronous USB is inherently better than adaptive.  There is no conversation to be had on this point.  It just is.




 




If your primary source is going to be USB, there are only two brands that you should listen to:  Wavelength and Ayre.  Everything else is a waste of time.

Your post would've been fine without the hyperbole.

 

[Uri Cohen]

There are more DACs with async from companies other than Wavelenght and Ayre. 
 
Quote:

I can't believe there are over 80 posts in this thread and no one has touched on the most important characteristic that distinguishes good USB DACs from unlistenable USB DACs.
 
Asynchronous USB is inherently better than adaptive.  There is no conversation to be had on this point.  It just is.
 
If your primary source is going to be USB, there are only two brands that you should listen to:  Wavelength and Ayre.  Everything else is a waste of time.