Thoughts on a bunch of DACs (and why delta-sigma kinda sucks, just to get you to think about stuff)
Apr 6, 2015 at 3:04 PM Post #3,751 of 6,500
   
Nope, this one was posted this morning.  The one last night was $175 before shipping and this one was $98.  Also sold by Stereo Exchange in NYC, so trustworthy seller.
 
I was definitely looking at the 700 tho.  I've got my eye on a few units right now, but I couldn't pass up the Adcom for under $100!
 
Now I need a transport.  Looking at the Gustard U12 and the Audio-GD DI-2014.  Amusing that I'm looking at a transport that cost 3x what the DAC cost.  lol
 
 
beerchug.gif

I took the wife out for dinner the other night,& it was 2x's what you just paid for the adcom600,-LOL
Yours wasn't a sale--it was a gift!!!--NICE !!!
 
Apr 6, 2015 at 3:14 PM Post #3,752 of 6,500
  I took the wife out for dinner the other night,& it was 2x's what you just paid for the adcom600,
Yours wasn't a sale--it was a gift!!!--NICE !!!


I take it you have a pretty wife
wink_face.gif

 
Apr 6, 2015 at 3:34 PM Post #3,753 of 6,500
  10,000 pounds for a Windows PC in a fancy case seems absurdly overpriced to me.
 
You can DIY that including a fancy custom case for a fraction of the cost and it will be every bit as good, including top of the line/boutique components and all the customizing/tweaks you'd want. 
 
   -Mike

 
Makes a Raspberry Pi solution look pretty good, doesn't it?
 
Apr 6, 2015 at 4:19 PM Post #3,754 of 6,500
  Okay well I just snagged an Adcom GDA-600 for a song.  I'm sure it's no Theta, but for the price, it's one way to try vintage R2R on the cheap...

 
Stillhart,
I needed some info on the 700,and I came across this:
Thought it would come in handy:
 
http://www.manualslib.com/manual/206121/Adcom-Gda-600.html#manual
 
Mike
 
Apr 6, 2015 at 4:23 PM Post #3,755 of 6,500
   
Stillhart,
I needed some info on the 700,and I came across this:
Thought it would come in handy:
 
http://www.manualslib.com/manual/206121/Adcom-Gda-600.html#manual
 
Mike

Nice, thanks!  
 
If you can believe it, this one came with a copy of the manual too... tho I wouldn't be surprised if it was just a printout of the one you found.  lol
 
Apr 6, 2015 at 4:52 PM Post #3,756 of 6,500
http://theartofsound.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-16590.html
 
another satisfied Progeny v. A owner, scroll to the very bottom and his ears match what I first wrote about
 
Apr 6, 2015 at 6:14 PM Post #3,758 of 6,500
Is there anyone who is familiar with this dac,and how does Parasound rank in comparison to say,Adcom?
I know,that the Theta's are in great demand.
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/151640286282?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
 
Any help/advice/opinions ,will be greatly appreciated
 
Thanks
Mike
 
Apr 6, 2015 at 7:20 PM Post #3,759 of 6,500
Has anybody else been finding head-fi to be performing significantly worse in the last few months? I find it very slow with all the scripts running and my CPU (albeit an older, but still very good Intel Duo Core). When I first land here I get very slow page loads, huge delays character typing in the editor (the character typing also happens on my work machine which is a current Dell business class machine). I get tons of Webpage not responding messages, script running slow and or not responding messages and the CPU jumps way up - Google 2% head-fi at page load spikes well over 60% and can hang there for a while before coming down to normal 4-10% CPU. I'm not sure what to disable in IE, I wonder how much I can limit the scripts being run for advertising? I know head-fi makes revenues from the ads, which is cool, but man do they bloat the site really badly. Likely they just optimize the site mostly for quad core, high ram machines. It is really bad recently. Going to try another browser and see if that helps.
 
Apr 6, 2015 at 7:22 PM Post #3,760 of 6,500
you aren't alone.  page re-loads or moving to sub pages in Mobile (view) mode on my iPhone or iPad have gotten slower lately as well.
 
I'm guessing it's actual head-fi back end servers initiating new connections to <insert Ad agency plug ins here> that have slowed down when doing page re-loads?
 
Apr 6, 2015 at 7:25 PM Post #3,761 of 6,500
  Is there anyone who is familiar with this dac,and how does Parasound rank in comparison to say,Adcom?
I know,that the Theta's are in great demand.
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/151640286282?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
 
Any help/advice/opinions ,will be greatly appreciated
 
Thanks
Mike

 
While I can't speak specifically to how that DAC sounds, I can note one thing: That Parasound Zdac is a multi-bit Delta-Sigma design (AD1853). It's likely a bit of a different animal compared to the r2r DAC's that have been under discussion.
 
The Parasound DACs that use Burr-Brown/Ultra Analog chips are the 1000, 1100HD, 1500, 1600HD, and 2000. 2000 uses Ultra Analog 20400A and is generally a bit pricier than the others in that series. IMO, YMMV, etc. - but I think that the Parasound that I've heard (1500 & 1600HD) sound better unmodded than the Adcom GDA-600/700 unmodded.
 
With some work, which is well documented across the web, the Adcoms can gain ground or reach parity. They shine with some opamp and cap swaps which help quite a bit with clarity and detail. (I plan on modding my GDA-600 sometime this summer if I get so motivated.) 
 
Apr 6, 2015 at 7:29 PM Post #3,762 of 6,500
I find the site the absolute worst performing website I have ever known as of late, and I've been on the Internet extensively since 1998. I'm sure some of it is my computer, but I'm sure a big part is poorly optimized ad content integration as you suggest. I hope an admin takes note as it is actually heating my laptop up significantly from the crazy CPU use. Just nuts, can barely use the site at times. Just now had to use notepad to first type my message as the editor doesn't respond worth a damn, and it is only this site so I don't think my machine is the main problem. It is a Dell Workstation class 4GB RAM machine with an Intel Duo Core so that should be adequate to load a freaking web page.
 
Apr 6, 2015 at 7:38 PM Post #3,763 of 6,500
  I find the site the absolute worst performing website I have ever known as of late, and I've been on the Internet extensively since 1998. I'm sure some of it is my computer, but I'm sure a big part is poorly optimized ad content integration as you suggest. I hope an admin takes note as it is actually heating my laptop up significantly from the crazy CPU use. Just nuts, can barely use the site at times. Just now had to use notepad to first type my message as the editor doesn't respond worth a damn, and it is only this site so I don't think my machine is the main problem. It is a Dell Workstation class 4GB RAM machine with an Intel Duo Core so that should be adequate to load a freaking web page.

Have you been doing regular file structure maintenance?
 
You know, HD de-frags, Registry cleaning etc., and especially cookie and flash player purging?
 
JJ
 
Apr 6, 2015 at 7:43 PM Post #3,764 of 6,500
This is a fresh Windows 7 install. I only use this machine to run JRiver for my drumming music and for reading this and very few other audio sites.
 
Apr 6, 2015 at 7:47 PM Post #3,765 of 6,500

That chasis is a standard stream com chasis - a lot of guys who build dedicate audio PC's use them - they are completely noisless
http://www.streacom.com/products/fc5-alpha-fanless-chassis/ 
 
I will be building one in the summer with the very same body except in silver. 
The deicated Audio PC that I heard at a meet this year was amazing. 
 
I had my laptop - a Lampi gen4 - and my WA5  vs  Dedicated Audio PC - Cuinis DAC - WA5
The result was that the Dedicated Audio Pc with the Cheap 250 euro Cuinis DAC clobbered the other setup.
Even when I swapped out the Cuinis for an Rdac the peformance was really close to the Laptop/Lampi  
 
 
Dedicated Audio PC's are the real deal - especially ones with their own power supplies but it can be tough to find someone who can put one together for you. I had to get a friend to source the parts and will work with hi on it come summer time. 
 

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