AgentXXL
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- May 11, 2008
- Posts
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I'd trust that impulse. The geek hype train seems to derive from a highly flawed premise that just because a company can build a well regarded "cost is no object" product, then obviously they'll make a great $300 - $1k dac too, subject to the elective upgrades. Er...wait....that actually doesn't follow. Moreover, for all its bells and whistles, the pulse doesn't appear to include the sort of power regulation and independent supplies for the dac board and output stage that you find in a diy twisted pear kit for $700. Throw in an $80 amanero board, and I wonder which will sound better![]()
If you want something that is almost certainly worth waiting for, the bottlehead/john swenson fpga based dac is due to be formally announced in the next month or so. After several years of careful design and redesign work, and multiple prototypes, this is the source I'm saving my money for. Check out Swenson's various posts in this thread about jitter, usb isolation and input design (several of which are on the page I'm linking): http://www.bottlehead.com/smf/index.php/topic,4086.210.html . Note that contrary to the title of the linked thread, they are not yet taking orders. Also, although this is a bottlehead product, I understand that they no longer intend to include a tube in the output stage because it simply isn't necessary.
Not to get defensive (because I have contributed), but it's funny that you mention the power regulation and the amanero board. They do offer an optional linear power supply with separate power for both the USB front end and the rest of the amp (the LPS or LPS4). The lead engineer is also looking at the amanero board and comparing it to his own XMOS design - he said he's willing to use the amanero if it offers an improvement over his own implementation. You're definitely living up to your username. Reading through the comments section on the campaign home page, the LH Labs forum and even the thread here on Head-fi would have revealed this information, but to each their own. If you're not willing to read about the project, then I definitely don't recommend contributing towards it. I just mentioned it as an option and certainly the HD800 inspires a LOT of different component choices.
Dale