What DAC for the K1000?

[kool bubba ice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 003 I received my DAC-AH HA from Pacific Valve a few days ago, and there is a design problem with it. I contacted PV and they told me I could either wait until they figure out what is wrong with the AH HA and fix it (there was no timeframe), or I could just send it back and they would send me a DAC equal in price to the AH HA, or a more expensive one and I could pay the difference. I'm not to keen on waiting on them to fix the AH HA, nor am I to keen on replacing it with an equal cost DAC. I would like to pay the difference (and they said I could have a discount because of the trouble) of a more expensive one and get that instead. I really want and like the LiTe DAC-38, however I of course have no experience with any of the DACs they sell. I would like to steer clear of the tube models if possible, unless there is a really big reason why I should get one. Here is the list of DACs I can get from them: DAC-AH HA! DAC-60 DAC-60M (pv modded dac60) DAC-68 DAC-62 (pv modded dac60) DAC-38 Great March Great March (pv modded) Great March Madness! (pv modded) DAC-AM (pv modded) And here is their website where you can view them all: http://pacificvalve.us/DACS.html Again I really like the DAC-38, is that a good choice? I am hoping somebody who has listened to a few of these DACs will be able to steer me in the right direction. If you are to lazy to post, I have also added a poll for you to vote which one I should get. But please, for my sake, please post any knowledge/experience you may have as well.

PV told me the 38 is their best DAC.. Very neutral & uncolored.. & said it has better highs & (I think) Mids then the Lavry10..But the bass is a bit lean incomparison..

 

[003]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hugz whats the fault in your DAC-AH, out of curiosity?

It distorts and clips, and miserably fails the udial clipping test.

Oh, and I ordered the DAC-62

This is going to be the end of me...

 

[Scifiguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kool bubba ice PV told me the 38 is their best DAC.. Very neutral & uncolored.. & said it has better highs & (I think) Mids then the Lavry10..But the bass is a bit lean incomparison..

Interesting. According to Danny, the owner of GR Research who also carries lite dacs, he says it does not sound as good as the dac60. Also if you read the section on pacific valves website called watercooler talk (on the individual dac pages) they say the dac-62 is their "best". They also say of the stock dac60 which has a very similar output stage to the dac38 "that there are better choices" such as the modded dac-60 or dac-62 which have fixed this weakness.

I did a lot of research reading everthing I could find on these dacs, and I really think for the price the modded dac60 and 62 are some of the best deals going right now - although the paradisea may be there with them as well. I think the dac62 is an awesome choice.

 

[hugz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 003 It distorts and clips, and miserably fails the udial clipping test. Oh, and I ordered the DAC-62 This is going to be the end of me...

did it make a siren/bird chirp on udial?

 

[kool bubba ice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scifiguy Interesting. According to Danny, the owner of GR Research who also carries lite dacs, he says it does not sound as good as the dac60. Also if you read the section on pacific valves website called watercooler talk (on the individual dac pages) they say the dac-62 is their "best". They also say of the stock dac60 which has a very similar output stage to the dac38 "that there are better choices" such as the modded dac-60 or dac-62 which have fixed this weakness. I did a lot of research reading everthing I could find on these dacs, and I really think for the price the modded dac60 and 62 are some of the best deals going right now - although the paradisea may be there with them as well. I think the dac62 is an awesome choice.

Sorry. This was before the 62 was released.. I still have the emails..

 

[Scifiguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kool bubba ice Sorry. This was before the 62 was released.. I still have the emails..

No need to apologize as I certainly wasn't saying you were wrong, it only goes to show the ambiguity of what is "best" and how it seems to change with every passing day. First the dac60 is way better than the benchmark, then benchmark is way better than mcintosh, then the entech number cruncher is way better than both and on and on. It is all kind of silly. I think to some extent when you get into this pricerange and above it starts becoming simply a matter of personal taste and we often choose gear more on the sound of the reviews rather than the sound of the gear. Cheers

 

[skyline889]

So what's the difference between the DAC 62 and the 68? Any reason why the cheaper (MSRP) DAC is preferred?

 

[003]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hugz did it make a siren/bird chirp on udial?

It sounded like a modulating laser beam with a phone dialing in the background.

 

[003]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hugz did it make a siren/bird chirp on udial?

It sounded like a modulating laser beam with a phone dialing in the background.

 

[akwok]

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyline889 So what's the difference between the DAC 62 and the 68? Any reason why the cheaper (MSRP) DAC is preferred?

The DAC-68 has digital volume control on the preamp, which causes there to be hiss even on the non preamp'd outs.

Plus, the chip used is not PCM1704U-K.