[mikek200]

   
There's another Adcom GDA-600 for $150 up right now.  Mine will be arriving Monday so I can give some impressions with plenty of time to spare before the auction ends.  I suspect it won't really come alive until I do some of the recommended mods, tho...

Stillhart,
 
Picked up the ADCOM GDA- 700,today
Excellent price....
Might give it to my son..or...???

 

[thegunner100]

  Stillhart,
 
Picked up the ADCOM GDA- 700,today
Excellent price....
Might give it to my son..or...???

Maybe give it a listen first?

 

[haywood]

  Maybe give it a listen first?

I think his plan was to get something to tide him over until Yggy, but it'd be nice to get impressions about all the vintage dacs people are getting in.

 

[mikek200]

  Maybe give it a listen first?

Not that good..?????

 

[Stillhart]

  Stillhart,
 
Picked up the ADCOM GDA- 700,today
Excellent price....
Might give it to my son..or...???

 
Mine arrives tomorrow.  I've been spending some time reading through the posts about modding it and it all seems simple enough except for one step.  I'm trying to dig more into it because the thread is 5 years old so I don't know how much help I'll be getting if I can't figure it out.  lol

 

[mikek200]

 
I think his plan was to get something to tide him over until Yggy, but it'd be nice to get impressions about all the vintage dacs people are getting in.

Yes,that was the plan.
Originally I was looking for a Theta,but that didn't pan out,connection issues,space issues as well.
 
Grabbed a ZDAC,last week,new.....,breaking it in as we speak,,need a few more weeks..,
 
Now,the ADCOM,will be here ..next week,My son,will have a lot of gear to choose from-LOL
 
Amazing how cheap,you can get some of the older gear,the ADCOM was in MINT condition,hope it sounds mint,as well

 

[jexby]

That's the way to do it. Now don't turn it off, ever.

Never have turned off any of my DACs and don't plan to start now.
Pulse X Infinity with femto will also stay powered on forever, (once it arrives).

UpTone Audio USB Regen may replace the Wyrd tho....

 

[kugino]

   
Mine arrives tomorrow.  I've been spending some time reading through the posts about modding it and it all seems simple enough except for one step.  I'm trying to dig more into it because the thread is 5 years old so I don't know how much help I'll be getting if I can't figure it out.  lol

 
 

  Yes,that was the plan.
Originally I was looking for a Theta,but that didn't pan out,connection issues,space issues as well.
 
Grabbed a ZDAC,last week,new.....,breaking it in as we speak,,need a few more weeks..,
 
Now,the ADCOM,will be here ..next week,My son,will have a lot of gear to choose from-LOL
 
Amazing how cheap,you can get some of the older gear,the ADCOM was in MINT condition,hope it sounds mint,as well

interested to hear your impressions and what mods you're planning on doing. i have a gda-700 as well and am looking to fix it up a bit...
 
i'm also on the wait train. looks like a lot of cool DAC technologies coming in the next year so i want to wait til the dust settles before buying my "endgame" DAC...

 

[murrays]

   
interested to hear your impressions and what mods you're planning on doing. i have a gda-700 as well and am looking to fix it up a bit...
 
i'm also on the wait train. looks like a lot of cool DAC technologies coming in the next year so i want to wait til the dust settles before buying my "endgame" DAC...

 
I have a GDA-700 and have done some work on it.  The circuit board is very solid and it's difficult to de-solder components (none of the IC's are socketed).  The ground planes soak up a lot of heat and make it hard to even remove capacitors.  I would suggest using a professional de-soldering station to avoid damaging the boards.  The analogue circuit is a very standard cookbook circuit similar to the Burr Brown application notes (sans servo).  The balanced output is just created by way of an op-amp inverting the single-ended output for the opposite phase.
 
Last year I had to replace the Ultra Analog AES-21 digital receiver and de-jitterisator because of intermittent problems, see here... http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-line-level/250700-ultra-analog-aes-21-upgrade-replacement-project.html#post4057603.  the replacement part was not cheap, but has worked flawlessly since installed.

 

[DecentLevi]

Boy am I glad to find this thread - I'm hoping somebody here can point me in the right direction for a good DAC recommendation for around $150 (or a pricier one that's used).
 
My sound preferences:
         lush, organic, neutral sound signature with highs that are textured / detailed, but not overly harsh.
 
What I'm seeking in an improvement over the Modi DAC:
         better detail retrieval / instrument separation, soundstage imaging / instrument placement, and more 'front row'.
 
A little background is that I've owned a Schiit Modi + Magni for about 1 year but have recently realised that the Modi DAC puts out a sound that is somewhat 'distnant' or 'middle row' with the Magni amp, as compared to more of a 'front row' sound when daisy-chaining the Magni amp to the amplified soundcard of my laptop. But the sound I'm getting now is overtly analytical / bright, and the schematic is perhaps less then ideal.
 
I've tried the Chord Hugo as a DAC and loved it, the Geek Out 450 as a DAC and liked it (but maybe too bright), the Modi 2 and it was 'good', and the Continental Dual Mono and it was phenomenal, yet just not released yet and more than I can afford yet. I've seen a lot of buzz about Adcom DACs - would this be the recommendation based on what I'm seeking (above), and if so then which one is more within my price range? Or is another DAC the one with my name on it? Thanks much guys!
 
PS- @Stillhart - Is it just my bad memory or did you look older the last time we met at Can Jam near L.A.? (LOL)

 

[drez]

Spoiler: Warning: Off topic follow up to my previous post about my music computer(s)

Anyway, update on my previous computer transport post.  Well I threw my Corsair AX1200i back onto my dedicated music computer and it sounds good again.  So I see one of two scenarios:
 
1. My dedicated music computer performs better with the Corsair PSU than the Teradak Linear
 
2. The Teradak Linear is under-specified for my music compute.  Well really I could see a drop of possibly 45 watts from this system if I were to use lower powered CPU but maybe it would be more suitable load for the linear PSU.  Either way I can't really be bothered to go out and build a computer to match a power supply which may or may not be better in real life.  So yes the Teradak will probably be put for sale.

 

[conquerator2]

Wyrd is to the left.



Audio-gd SA31SE - Gustard U12/Audio-gd DI-V2014 converters - Theta Digital DS Pro Basic II

I won't comment yet. My brain is overwhelmed. :blink:

If the Theta lasts, probably the best 400$ I've spent yet on Audio

 

[Currawong]

  Boy am I glad to find this thread - I'm hoping somebody here can point me in the right direction for a good DAC recommendation for around $150 (or a pricier one that's used).
 
My sound preferences:
         lush, organic, neutral sound signature with highs that are textured / detailed, but not overly harsh.
 
What I'm seeking in an improvement over the Modi DAC:
         better detail retrieval / instrument separation, soundstage imaging / instrument placement, and more 'front row'.
 
A little background is that I've owned a Schiit Modi + Magni for about 1 year but have recently realised that the Modi DAC puts out a sound that is somewhat 'distnant' or 'middle row' with the Magni amp, as compared to more of a 'front row' sound when daisy-chaining the Magni amp to the amplified soundcard of my laptop. But the sound I'm getting now is overtly analytical / bright, and the schematic is perhaps less then ideal.
 
I've tried the Chord Hugo as a DAC and loved it, the Geek Out 450 as a DAC and liked it (but maybe too bright), the Modi 2 and it was 'good', and the Continental Dual Mono and it was phenomenal, yet just not released yet and more than I can afford yet. I've seen a lot of buzz about Adcom DACs - would this be the recommendation based on what I'm seeking (above), and if so then which one is more within my price range? Or is another DAC the one with my name on it? Thanks much guys!

Did you try adding a Wyrd to the Modi? If you still have the Hugo I feel it makes a substantial improvement to that too. It's worth trying with different DACs to see if it will improve the sound quality.

 

[purrin]

Wyrd is to the left.



Audio-gd SA31SE - Gustard U12/Audio-gd DI-V2014 converters - Theta Digital DS Pro Basic II

I won't comment yet. My brain is overwhelmed.

If the Theta lasts, probably the best 400$ I've spent yet on Audio

 
Oh no! Another Theta!

 

[Stillhart]

  Boy am I glad to find this thread - I'm hoping somebody here can point me in the right direction for a good DAC recommendation for around $150 (or a pricier one that's used).
 
My sound preferences:
         lush, organic, neutral sound signature with highs that are textured / detailed, but not overly harsh.
 
What I'm seeking in an improvement over the Modi DAC:
         better detail retrieval / instrument separation, soundstage imaging / instrument placement, and more 'front row'.
 
A little background is that I've owned a Schiit Modi + Magni for about 1 year but have recently realised that the Modi DAC puts out a sound that is somewhat 'distnant' or 'middle row' with the Magni amp, as compared to more of a 'front row' sound when daisy-chaining the Magni amp to the amplified soundcard of my laptop. But the sound I'm getting now is overtly analytical / bright, and the schematic is perhaps less then ideal.
 
I've tried the Chord Hugo as a DAC and loved it, the Geek Out 450 as a DAC and liked it (but maybe too bright), the Modi 2 and it was 'good', and the Continental Dual Mono and it was phenomenal, yet just not released yet and more than I can afford yet. I've seen a lot of buzz about Adcom DACs - would this be the recommendation based on what I'm seeking (above), and if so then which one is more within my price range? Or is another DAC the one with my name on it? Thanks much guys!
 
PS- @Stillhart - Is it just my bad memory or did you look older the last time we met at Can Jam near L.A.? (LOL)

 
I know there's a lot of Schiit love in here, but I've said it before and I'll say it again:  I wasn't very impressed with the Modi.  I couldn't hear a difference from the Sound Blaster card I'd been using as a DAC at the time (paired with a Matrix M-stage amp and AKG Q701).
 
When I upgraded to the Audio-GD NFB-15, I heard an obvious improvement in separation, clarity and black background.  That was testing against the Sound Blaster using only the DAC of the NFB-15 with the Matrix (so apples to apples DAC test).  Then I tested the NFB-15 amp vs the Matrix M-stage, I couldn't hear any difference with my headphones.  Given that, I sold the Matrix and had a very cheap upgrade for a notable improvement.
 
Now that I've got a few more DAC's under my belt, I know that the NFB-15 is very warm and mid-forward.  It doesn't have quite the clarity of the Sabre chips, but it doesn't have that digital treble and one-note-bass either.  The Wolfson is an interesting chip and it's really nice if you want a warm setup.  Since I was pairing it with a very bright headphone at the time, it worked quite well.
 
Still, I think it's a great bang for the buck, especially if you can find one used at around $200-225.  Even new, though, the pricing is comparable to the Magni 2/Modi 2 and I think the DAC at least is a notable step up.  (I've never heard the Magni so I can't comment on how the amps compare.)  In fact, it's my number one recommendation for anyone getting their foot in the door with audiophile DACs.  Sorry, Schiit!
 
Re the Adcom, it'll be arriving today.  I'll give some first impressions later.
 
(Also, LOL!  Yes, I'm a bit older than that little guy...tho we dress alike.)