Thoughts on a bunch of DACs (and why delta-sigma kinda sucks, just to get you to think about stuff)

[Stillhart]

Deep breaths, everyone. No need to get personal.

 

[prot]

thx for the fast admin cleanup ... sorry for that, it did not go as I (foolishly) expected

 

[Liu Junyuan]

Deep breaths, everyone. No need to get personal.

No worries. He will be the first person I have ever blocked. I'm done with it and won't be further trolled.

On with the DACs!

 

[arnaud]

 
'
 
First time the Theta put me to tears.. it was beautiful.. I haven't listened to many electronic music songs since using this DAC and just listened to Nero and was floored. How is this digital harshness not hurting my ears already?? I was hearing sounds not heard before.. bass control and impact unlike anything I have heard.. Do we blame it on our headphones when in reality it was our DAC all along?? Next LA /San Diego Head-fi meet you will hear this beast...
 
one problem with Theta, it makes music sound too good 

I don't want Schiit to end up crying when they find out what their user base is using to pay homage to the Iggy, so I am proposing this alternative
 

 
I might even prefer an older record from them:
 
l
 
Although I can't guarantee my DAC can resolve fly's part in the recording, I rest assured you won't be disappointed listening to these recordings with the Iggy...

 

[estreeter]

@purrin, I read your thoughts on the BADA - just wondering if you've spent any time with the Reference ?
 
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/599-berkeley-audio-design-alpha-dac-reference-series-review/
 
16K is a lot of beer and buffalo wings, but you seem to have access to other gear in that sphere and beyond : just curious. 

 

[borrego]

   
I think you would be surprised. Yggy is able to scrape off a lot more musical information than I thought ever existed in old 16/44 Redbook CDs. But then again, a decent amount of pop/rock from the 70s and 80s was well produced and recorded. Also Daft Punk sounds better on Yggy. Incredible bass slam and articulation*, separation, precise imaging. These are crucial to techno. There's no requirement for pristine recordings, although I think you get more back from them compared to mediocre recordings.
 
* Henceforth to be known as "Moffat Bass". I know you Theta owners know what I am talking about, especially on the higher-end units.
 
 
At least you have a backup plan now for your Theta. Are you still visiting the Los Angeles area this summer?

 
You know, the fact is I am just looking for reasons for not buying the Yggy.
 
Reasons:
1. Fewer than 25% of my music material are considered as good, or considered as "true to live" recordings.
2. The power of my current apartment is not stable, with voltage varies between 210V to 225V. (unfortunately, Schitt's reply to me the Yggy power section can handle 230V +- 10% without problem...)
3. I need to upgrade my current CAS setup (e.g. like running 2 computers for setting up JPlay in client server mode) to make the best out of my DAC.
4. I want to keep my NFB-1, or upgrade to another audio-gd PCM1704 DAC, so I can keep using the current mode output to my audio-gd Master 1 preamp of my speaker setup. Would the JFET analogue output section of the Yggy color sounds more than audio-gd's CASS, and offset the AR5791 advantage over the Sabre or PCM1704?
5. How important is "true to live" sound from the DAC if I am listening to my Grado?
 
I am currently struggle at Reason (3) above.

 

[Baldr]

Moffat bass lives in Decca Cartridges, as well.  They were my original bass repro inspiration. Mark I and IIs really rock.  Sorry for ot.

 

[johnjen]

If memory servers those decca carts. were a bitch to dial in.
 
JJ

 

[wink]

Decca Deram cartridges?

 

[Baldr]

Decca Mark I and Decca Mark II.  They are a bitch, expensive and require the old Decca arm or the Decca-SME adapter.  Absolutely worth it.  The Derams are the mega-cheapo underperformers.

 

[johnjen]

And OH the shreeks and feelings of abject horror when the arm dropped from any height, and the stylus imploded…
 
But their 'direct' path to the coils is still superior.
 
JJ

 

[wink]

Quote:Baldr

 The Derams are the mega-cheapo underperformers.

Yep, that's the ones I remember.....

 

[prot]

Going back to our DACs, I recently came about an all-in-one audiobox ... swiss army kind of stuff. With an encouraging review from qobuz of all places
http://www.qobuz.com/ie-en/info/Hi-Fi-Guide/Pro-Ject-DAC-Box-RS-inputs-and176406
DAC, HP amp, preamp, nine(!) digital inputs, tube and solid state outputs and a remote control ... plus a (unique?) novelty feature: two different DAC chips.
I dont expect it to be TOTL in any respect but at about $1000 street price it might just be the best hifi bargain.
Did anyone try it? Especially curious about the quality of the HP out.

 

[hodgjy]

   
Yes, a UPS is the answer you seek.  Something like this is a pure sine wave one (as suggested earlier) and can be found much cheaper on eBay.  I've no first-hand experience with it, but I have been considering trying it...
 

---

 
 

Excellent; thank you.

 

[pyfgcrl]

I actually have that Cyberpower for my desktop PC (the 1350VA version to be exact). One day I plugged just my Matrix X-Sabre DAC and Bryston BHA-1 amp to its battery outlets and it made the sound quality *worse* than straight from the wall. Collapsed soundstage, edgy, flat sound. Really blew my mind, I did not expect to hear any difference. This made me venture into audiofool territory and a few weeks ago I bought a used Furman IT Reference 7 (balanced isolation transformer). Another surprise! It made the DAC and amp sound better, like I don't want to take off the headphones from my head, the music "feels" good. Better soundstage/localization of instruments, and better/punchier bass. Never thought I would use these words to describe a power component, but here I am. What.

There's actually a reason that a Balanced Isolation Transformer costs more than a ~$115 UPS, pure sine or not.  There's oodles of noise coming out of those cheap CyberPower UPSes, which is why I also agree with you and went for the "Hospital Grade" Tripp-Lite over the regular version.  Twice the price, but I still paid < $400 for a 1000VA and <$300 for a 500VA unit.  I find CompSource always tends to have these for cheap.  Tripp-Lite's documentation calls out that the -HG models have leakage current less than 100µA, which it definitely doesn't say for the regular ISOlatOR series (non Hospital Grade).  I find a lot of stuff that's labelled and marketed to audiophiles costs a ridiculous amount of money over the regular product, but then it's all about finding one that works well.  That's my two cents, YMMV.