[computerparts]

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i pulled the trigger on a DSP 9000 III, I couldn't resist alm:
as soon as i get it, it'll be comparison time b/w that and the SFD-2 III. i feel like a dac shootout would be in order

Nice find. That had to be expensive since there's not many of those around. Let us know how it stacks up. I'm currently at 504 hours on the AN. I think it has settled in enough to where there won't be any more significant changes. It seems I have attained a fairly neutral tonal balance now. But still want to experiment with some more tubes on the amp before I write the review.
 

 

[K3cT]

 
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It could be something to do with the usb to spdif converter. Have you tried bypassing that and just going spdif from pc to dac?
 
Edit: After looking into it, I don't think the Musiland is the problem. But it wouldn't hurt if you could bypass it so that would narrow down the problem.

Thanks, mate. I shall try that with my desktop PC but to be honest with, I'm so enamored with I'm hearing to the point that I have become lazy to muck things around. The modified Parasound has a markedly different sound than my γ2 which uses a sigma-delta WM8741. 
 
A better USB-to-S/PDIF converter is in order but I'm still waiting for Amos' impressions of the Audiophilleo with his Parasound. 

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

A better USB-to-S/PDIF converter is in order but I'm still waiting for Amos' impressions of the Audiophilleo with his Parasound. 

For what the Audiophilleo2 costs, you're likely to get better results with the ART Legato. It doesn't do high res, but you won't need that anyway with an old R2R DAC, and what it has instead is a real power supply, and all top shelf components. The Audiophilleo1 seems just silly when compared to the Wavelink, and especially the Off-ramp 4.

 

[Currawong]

Nothing a custom USB cable with separate power supply can't fix.
 
Only just got my rig set up tonight in the new apartment so I'll hopefully have some time this weekend to play more with the Parasound.
 
Jellojoe: You're right, I was thinking backwards, but I do recall some DACs having OPAMPs on the SE, but not balanced outputs.

 

[K3cT]

Quote:

For what the Audiophilleo2 costs, you're likely to get better results with the ART Legato. It doesn't do high res, but you won't need that anyway with an old R2R DAC, and what it has instead is a real power supply, and all top shelf components. The Audiophilleo1 seems just silly when compared to the Wavelink, and especially the Off-ramp 4.

You've got a point but wouldn't it make more sense to go for something which can do hi-res USB for future flexibility? I also like the form factor of the Audiophilleo. 

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

You've got a point but wouldn't it make more sense to go for something which can do hi-res USB for future flexibility? I also like the form factor of the Audiophilleo. 

While that's true, I would argue that USB converters are improving at a rate where I think it makes more sense to buy now for what you will use now, rather than buying something which may not be quite as good for future compatibility. On the other hand, the Audiophilleo may be able to catch the Legato with something as simple as a USB cable with a separate, battery powered 5V leg, or maybe even the Lab Brick USB hub. The Bridge, Audiophilleo, and Diverter 192 all attempt to "fix" USB bus power from the computer, and I don't think it can be fixed.

 

[computerparts]

Audio Note review coming soon. It will be another lengthy one, hope you guys don't mind.

 

[computerparts]

Update: Audio Note review posted

 

[K3cT]

Quote:

While that's true, I would argue that USB converters are improving at a rate where I think it makes more sense to buy now for what you will use now, rather than buying something which may not be quite as good for future compatibility. On the other hand, the Audiophilleo may be able to catch the Legato with something as simple as a USB cable with a separate, battery powered 5V leg, or maybe even the Lab Brick USB hub. The Bridge, Audiophilleo, and Diverter 192 all attempt to "fix" USB bus power from the computer, and I don't think it can be fixed.

Well since you seem to have a high opinion on the Off-Ramp, I've temporarily ended up with an older Off-Ramp 2 with Superlock 4 courtesy to a good friend of mine. I'm not sure how it's different from the latest revision but I'm going to give it a spin for the next couple of days and hopefully I would be able to post some impressions here. Main comparison would be against the Musiland 01USD. 
 

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

Well since you seem to have a high opinion on the Off-Ramp, I've temporarily ended up with an older Off-Ramp 2 with Superlock 4 courtesy to a good friend of mine. I'm not sure how it's different from the latest revision but I'm going to give it a spin for the next couple of days and hopefully I would be able to post some impressions here. Main comparison would be against the Musiland 01USD. 
 

The differences are considerable. I'm not sure exactly what was changed between gen 2 and 3, and at least gen 3 was very highly regarded for an adaptive mode converter, but if you talk to Steve he'll tell you that the OR4 is a huge leap ahead of the OR3. The headline feature is that its now asynchronous, but there have also been a bunch of under the hood upgrades.

 

[computerparts]

EAD DSP-7000 may be next

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

EAD DSP-7000 may be next

Ooo I would really be curious about what you think of the 7000. I tried mine briefly with a power strip, stock cords, and dirt cheap cables just to make sure it worked properly after it arrived in the mail. In that configuration it sounded good, but I wasn't necessarily blown away by it. Supposedly its pretty sensitive to good power, so once it goes to noble for new caps and everything else, I'm going to hook it up to my line conditioner with some real cables and see how much of a difference that makes. I also want to ask them about some of the upgrades that Empirical used to offer on the 7000 - like adding pulse transformers to the coax input for ground isolation.

 

[computerparts]

I think it should be a great dac for the price. Unfortunately Ive already sold the SFD-1 so I won't have anything in its price range to compare it to. I don't intend to compare it to the AN since that dac is in another league. What were you using as transport?

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

I think it should be a great dac for the price. Unfortunately Ive already sold the SFD-1 so I won't have anything in its price range to compare it to. I don't intend to compare it to the AN since that dac is in another league. What were you using as transport?

 
Coaxial digital output from a soundcard, with lots of jitter I'm sure. Also I was using a $5 digital cable which can't have helped matters. I'm hoping that Noble can replace the original EAD RCA jack on the digital input with a 75 Ohm BNC jack, which I will connect via a real digital cable to an ART Legato (no need for the OR4 as it will never decode anything higher than 48KHz). That ought to improve things considerably.
 
 

 

[computerparts]

I've never been a fan of computer based transport but what you have in mind should improve things.