slackman
100+ Head-Fier
Ok I just ordered mine
Should have it within a week.
I'm expecting a neutral / natural / transparent DAC actually.
I mean the measurements (which I roughly trust in this case) are this:
These measurements likely come from the balanced outs, and probably with a very good digital source.
I actually find it encouraging that the D18 is described as warm, musical and smooth.
A DAC is never perfect of course, but I'd rather have a DAC that approaches "perfection" from the slightly warm / musical side, than one which does so from the slightly cold / harsh side.
A slightly warm smooth DAC isn't bad in an otherwise very neutral system (though it can be bad in an otherwise warm system of course, but my system isn't so), while a slightly cold / harsh DAC can continuously annoy me (though I remember from before treating my old room that an otherwise "warm" system can make this totally unnoticeable)
I also believe the D18 has a good clock for the Sabre DAC.
All that's left for me once it gets here is to find a good reasonably priced async USB to spdif converter.
Or perhaps mod the D18 with a USB to i2s converter inside, this one looks interesting and will give 32bit 384Khz: http://www.exadevices.com/exaU2I/Overview.aspx (though somewhat expensive)
Btw, in some places I find the D18 specs as being 32bit 384Khz capable, however the spdif specs don't go that far.
Does anybody know more about this?
![bigsmile_face.gif](http://files.head-fi.org/images/smilies/bigsmile_face.gif)
Should have it within a week.
I'm expecting a neutral / natural / transparent DAC actually.
I mean the measurements (which I roughly trust in this case) are this:
- Digital Signal : 32 - 192 KHz, 16/24/32 Bit auto detection.
- SNR > -130dB.
- Dynamic Range : 130dB.
- THD+N : <0.0003%
- Frequency response : 20-30KHz -0.1dB.
- Balance : 20-20KHz -1dB
These measurements likely come from the balanced outs, and probably with a very good digital source.
I actually find it encouraging that the D18 is described as warm, musical and smooth.
A DAC is never perfect of course, but I'd rather have a DAC that approaches "perfection" from the slightly warm / musical side, than one which does so from the slightly cold / harsh side.
A slightly warm smooth DAC isn't bad in an otherwise very neutral system (though it can be bad in an otherwise warm system of course, but my system isn't so), while a slightly cold / harsh DAC can continuously annoy me (though I remember from before treating my old room that an otherwise "warm" system can make this totally unnoticeable)
I also believe the D18 has a good clock for the Sabre DAC.
All that's left for me once it gets here is to find a good reasonably priced async USB to spdif converter.
Or perhaps mod the D18 with a USB to i2s converter inside, this one looks interesting and will give 32bit 384Khz: http://www.exadevices.com/exaU2I/Overview.aspx (though somewhat expensive)
Btw, in some places I find the D18 specs as being 32bit 384Khz capable, however the spdif specs don't go that far.
Does anybody know more about this?