[justin w.]

Laser engraving the panels on the next batch of GS-X mk2!

 

[biosailor]

 

 Balanced i believe mine is over 5 v so i backed off high gain although it would give the snare drum a nice crack sound, kick drums a nice thump and sub bass a growl, I'm now med. Its also quiet in medium when no music is playing, nice and black. Thanks just checking. I use hd800S exclusively with TT and GSX MK2, still loving it

Right, DACs in single-ended mode output around 2-2.5 V. Mine runs balanced, so it's around 4-5 V. I've heard once that not all amps take that high an input. The GSX-MK2 obviously has no problems with higher feed. I'm just listening with my Grado GH1 at low setting. Brilliant sound! I envy you for your HD800S! I thought hard about buying it, but I doubt that it would make a big difference to previous generation HD800. By the way, TT is Chord Hugo TT, right? Doesn't it have a headphone amp on board? And how does it compare to the GSX-MK2. The TT is said to be very good, particularly the DAC.

Yes the hugo TT desktop has xlr balanced out. Yes it is very good dac, an improvement over its portable little brother hugo ( I also have that) And for sure it has an onboard amp and even though its rated at the same .5 watt output as hugo, it is darker, wider, better mids and louder. I used it for about a year direct se and would be fine like that. But after reading about GSX MK2, the advantages of increase voltage scale from balanced amps, and recommended by macedonian hero ( who uses the same system) and a few others PM'd me about the benefits of amping TT, and the fact that I have the bug and may add a HP that needs some juice down the road. I decided to add GSX MK2 instead of say coughing up 4 times the cost for dave, chords next logical brand extension. ( which some are amping it with GSX MK2 as well) so in the end this bridge did the trick as I now get that little extra fullness across the range. Plus if you are a chord lover, realize you will be an MK2 lover as well. The chord FPGA, TAPS, flip flops, digital volume are all about transparency and the truth of the music. So getting an amp that does the same makes sense, no point in offering color or distortion at this point. 

I've read good things about the Chord DACs. The Chord Dave Sems to be miraculous, very, very highly regarded in the community. I'd probably be a Dave owner if it weren't this extremely expensive. Something I learned along the years is that there simply isn't a cheap solution for very good performance. It's this simple. But the Dave is way above what I am willing to invest. I guess in a few months I'll be upgrading my DAC and I am already looking forward to hear the improvement in my audio chain. The GSX-MK2 remains the only constant in my audio chain!

 

[wink]

Get The YGGDRASIL..  

 

[biosailor]

  Get The YGGDRASIL..  

I know, the ever looming Yggdrasil! I am sure it most certainly is an excellent DAC, no doubt. It just happened that I went the European path and I'm following this route for my next upgrade. Won't be cheap, but heck, who cares. Counting the many hours of joy experienced with the GSX-MK2 combined with a first class DAC, spending some money is perfectly fine. It will be still some time before I upgrade, though. In the meantime, do enjoy your YGGDRASIL

 

 

[T Bone]

Get The YGGDRASIL..  

Watch out - the Holo Audio Spring DAC is getting some great reviews around here!  LINK   

I am intrigued by their R2R implementation.  You might want to give the Spring DAC consideration before you whip out your credit card.

 

[biosailor]

Watch out - the Holo Audio Spring DAC is getting some great reviews around here!  LINK   
I am intrigued by their R2R implementation.  You might want to give the Spring DAC consideration before you whip out your credit card.

You are perfectly right, I'm closely following the discussion. There's a recent review on Head-Fi's homepage. Truly interesting DAC! I'm anyway into R2Rs! Thanks for the link!

 

[cladane]

Hello,

You are perfectly right, I'm closely following the discussion. There's a recent review on Head-Fi's homepage. Truly interesting DAC! I'm anyway into R2Rs! Thanks for the link!

Going the R2R route with the so transparent GSX is obviously a good choice since you will listen to this 'analog' sounding belonging to these DACs.
Look at TotalDAC offer which introduced the new D1-Core (FPGA converter) nicely priced. Worth a try.

 

[wink]

Get The YGGDRASIL..  

 

[biosailor]

Hello,
Going the R2R route with the so transparent GSX is obviously a good choice since you will listen to this 'analog' sounding belonging to these DACs.
Look at TotalDAC offer which introduced the new D1-Core (FPGA converter) nicely priced. Worth a try.

Thank you for suggesting TotalDAC's D1-core! Very interesting suggestion. I kept neglecting TotalDAC, as I considered them exorbitantly expensive. But this is a nice piece of equipment I'd be willing to invest. I am aware that TotalDAC's reputation is stellar!
Investing into a new DAC has to wait a bit, though. I just ordered Aurender's N100H streamer. Not cheap either. But the gain in sound quality is just about stunning. I can only imagine what an upgarde to a first-grade DAC will add to my audio chain. I have to note, though, that my present DAC is not bad either combined with the Aurender streamer, I am enjoying music so much more. But definitely, the next step up will be a new DAC.

 

[biosailor]

  Get The YGGDRASIL..  

I love your persistence 

 !!! But true, I know that Yggdasil's reputation is stellar, no doubt! I don't know why, but I am just not attracted by Schiit. It's psychological 

 

[cladane]

Hello @biosailor,

Thank you for suggesting TotalDAC's D1-core! Very interesting suggestion. I kept neglecting TotalDAC, as I considered them exorbitantly expensive. But this is a nice piece of equipment I'd be willing to invest. I am aware that TotalDAC's reputation is stellar!
Investing into a new DAC has to wait a bit, though. I just ordered Aurender's N100H streamer. Not cheap either. But the gain in sound quality is just about stunning. I can only imagine what an upgarde to a first-grade DAC will add to my audio chain. I have to note, though, that my present DAC is not bad either combined with the Aurender streamer, I am enjoying music so much more. But definitely, the next step up will be a new DAC.

Man of good tastes Owning the N100H. Great music server with many sound improvements and a top integrated app Qobuz streaming). Beats an optimized Mac mini which isn't also cheap.
The TotalDAC is a true resistive DA converter, not so
You have a 15 days trial possible.

 

[wink]

  I love your persistence 

 !!! But true, I know that Yggdasil's reputation is stellar, no doubt! I don't know why, but I am just not attracted by Schiit. It's psychological 

But...    but,      it's great Schiit.....       

 

[biosailor]

 
But...    but,      it's great Schiit.....       

I KNOW, SIGH !!!! Call me one of those queer Europeans 

  Believe me, I've had a lot of Schiit equipment!

 

[biosailor]

Hello @biosailor,
Man of good tastes Owning the N100H. Great music server with many sound improvements and a top integrated app Qobuz streaming). Beats an optimized Mac mini which isn't also cheap.
The TotalDAC is a true resistive DA converter, not so
You have a 15 days trial possible.

It took me a long time to discover the Aurender. The first thought was that I want to somehow circumvent my Mac Book Pro. The first thing I tried was the Auralic Aries. Connection to my DAC was a breeze. I downloaded Auralic's Lightning app onto my iPad and it went perfectly well without my Mac. So far so good, but the sound quality with the Lightning app was a bit disappointing, flat, lifeless, unengaging. It turned much better when I used the Aries as an endpoint with Roon. Then it started to shine. BUT, I needed to use my Mac as a Roon server.
 
So I started thinking about buying a Mac Mini. But just as you say, getting the darn thing to sound good requires a lot of tweaking. So no option either.
 
Next was thinking about Sonore's MicroRendu. There had many raving reviews been written. But again, a good power supply is required, and, it takes again a computer to run Roon on it. There is, of course, the option of bundling it with a Small Green Computer, but to me it sounded like a lot of tweaking. AND, the cost was not to be underestimated.
 
Till I searched the internet for a good streamer. Naturally, among many others, Aurender got me truly interested. After giving it a try, I was hooked! Finally, my GSX-MK2 got its proper input.
 
Sorry GSX-Mk2 afficionados for going somewhat off-topic!

 

[Whazzzup]

For myself i have a 256 gig phone, i have a 3 terabyte fusion drive, i built around that.