Which DAC to get?
May 27, 2009 at 5:30 PM Post #16 of 40
my vote is for the Beresford 7520. you can get it for $250 or even cheaper if you buy from ebay. there's not much love here because i guess people don't like stanley. but, it's an excellent sounding dac and i prefer it over the oritek. if you're into DIY, then go for the compass. it's the new kid on the block and it's got so much love around here.
 
May 27, 2009 at 6:03 PM Post #17 of 40
May 27, 2009 at 6:23 PM Post #18 of 40
the design of it does look sketchy and similar to those "fake" models. fake or not fake, doesn't really matter to me. as long as it sounds good to my ears. i think you really miss out when you base something on assumption, you should really give it a listen and hear for yourself whether it's a good dac or not.

btw, they are currently having a 15-day trial offer. see for yourself:Beresford TC-7520 DAC - Headphone Amplifier - Preamp
 
May 27, 2009 at 6:36 PM Post #19 of 40
unless I'm missing something, what extra value does that $250 version offer over the $105 one?

I've seen a photo of the inside - and its a $100 dac, alright. nothing to write home about but ok for the $105 price.

$250? no way. and definitely not from that B. company (read up here via the search function and you'll see the history)
 
May 27, 2009 at 6:43 PM Post #20 of 40
i have not heard the $105 version and by looking at the part number it looks like it could be a clone of the TC-7510 (an older model). i am not a technical person, know nothing about electronics, and don't care about the internals. all i care about is sound, so i'm not gonna argue with you. have it your way. why not try it for 15 days, see if you like it? if not, return it?
 
May 27, 2009 at 6:55 PM Post #22 of 40
Quote:

Originally Posted by Epicfailman /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Although my main computer is a laptop, it is not for portability but for desk space. I don't game as much as I used to and the game I still play a lot are older and easier to run. So a gaming laptop made sense to me. I would rather avoid portable DACs if at all possible. Thanks for the help so far guys!


Don't underestimate the performance of Pico DAC because it is portable. It is more advanced than many desktop DACs. Many members here use it with their high end rigs.
 
May 27, 2009 at 7:06 PM Post #23 of 40
Quote:

Originally Posted by SemiAudiophile /img/forum/go_quote.gif
i have not heard the $105 version and by looking at the part number it looks like it could be a clone of the TC-7510 (an older model).


no, the truth came out - do a search and you'll find it.

the company that makes the real dac supplies it to various companies. that mcm is one US distrib and beresford seems to get the things and put his own stamping or labeling on it - but by all net.detective work I've been able to do, he does NOT design or build them.

Quote:

i am not a technical person, know nothing about electronics, and don't care about the internals. all i care about is sound, so i'm not gonna argue with you. have it your way. why not try it for 15 days, see if you like it? if not, return it?


because I *am* a technical person (I do design and build things in this area) and so I'm not going to waste time on what is a no-thrills chipset (that BB chip is nothing special).

the $100ish ebay dac I have is miles more advanced AND upgradable. the TC dac is all soldered in place and its just not worth hacking or even dealing with, imho.

the vendor's behavior DOES matter to me and people should read up on that. if you want the $100 dac, pay $100 for it and not $250.

even if you get the older model (that does not have usb) you can front-end it with a gamma1 usb 'lite' that will use the same burr brown pcm series chip to convert usb to spdif (one 'reclocking' as B calls it). then send that into an spdif input, with the advantage that you can separate the usb and dac parts.
 
May 27, 2009 at 7:19 PM Post #24 of 40
that may be true. but in my experience, of all the dacs i've tried, the 7520 brought the most value and bang for your buck. it easily beats all other dacs (that i've tried) in the same price range. IMO, it's worth well over the $250 i spent on it and i would say it's probably worth over the $600 range based on sound quality alone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by linuxworks /img/forum/go_quote.gif
the $100ish ebay dac I have is miles more advanced AND upgradable. the TC dac is all soldered in place and its just not worth hacking or even dealing with, imho.

even if you get the older model (that does not have usb) you can front-end it with a gamma1 usb 'lite' that will use the same burr brown pcm series chip to convert usb to spdif (one 'reclocking' as B calls it). then send that into an spdif input, with the advantage that you can separate the usb and dac parts.


again, all of that means nothing to me. if your $100 ebay dac is as good as you say it is and has as good of a output stage, i would like to do a comparison of it one day.
 
May 27, 2009 at 7:27 PM Post #25 of 40
order the ebay unit and try it! its 'only' $100. half of what you put into the B dac.

if $250 is not a big deal, what's another $100?
wink.gif


plus you get a defeatable upsampler (kind of neat), you get the same kind of pcm burr brown usb chip, you get socketed dacs and receiver chips (8416 instead of 8414 that I think B uses) and the ebay dac has a LOT more separate power supplies. I can only imagine that can help things.

so, they both share the same kind of usb and cirrus receiver chip but the TC dac does not have upsampling (I think its native 96k but not internally upsampled) and for those that care (I don't) the ebay dac does go to 192k. the TC dac stops at 96k. for those that care about that thing
wink.gif


again, its a reasonable $100 dac for those that want some kind of outboard dac but I cannot believe there is anything more to it than that - listen or not.
 
May 27, 2009 at 8:47 PM Post #26 of 40
Quote:

Originally Posted by Cankin /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Don't underestimate the performance of Pico DAC because it is portable. It is more advanced than many desktop DACs. Many members here use it with their high end rigs.


It is not the quality that is the issue. I don't want to have to deal with changing the batteries and having a unit not perform 100% all the time. When a battery get low in a portable DAC or AMP, I assume it doesn't sound up to par when the battery is at 100%. I could be wrong, and if I am, please correct me. But isn't the pico DAC like $350? Ohhh, I only have 3 days left for the compass to be a good deal for me, so I need to get this sorted out.
 
May 27, 2009 at 9:32 PM Post #28 of 40
Quote:

Originally Posted by Epicfailman /img/forum/go_quote.gif
It is not the quality that is the issue. I don't want to have to deal with changing the batteries and having a unit not perform 100% all the time.


It is fully USB powered, like the Gamma-1 it is only portable because it is so small and so light but probably the best computer-based source for the money.
 
May 27, 2009 at 9:34 PM Post #29 of 40
Quote:

Originally Posted by padam /img/forum/go_quote.gif
It is fully USB powered, like the Gamma-1 it is only portable because it is so small and so light but probably the best computer-based source for the money.


In that case I may end up purchasing one. Thanks guys! as always, more input would be appreciated!
 
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