CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS

  • December 31, 2015, 09:37:41 AM
  • Welcome, Guest
Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 [6] 7 8 9 10 11 ... 145

Author Topic: Not a lot of DAC talk on here...  (Read 232926 times)

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

DaveBSC

  • Best Korean Sympathizer
  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Pirate
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +222/-50
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2092
Re: Not a lot of DAC talk on here...
« Reply #50 on: September 05, 2012, 11:16:29 PM »

You'd want to use a DAC with a USB receiver that is self powered. Many of them use the Vbus line to power the USB input, and with a notebook running on a SMPS that means lots of DC ripple and a very noisy ground. The AQVOX or a Vaunix Lab Brick are better than nothing, but the best way to do it is to have a self powered USB input and cut the Vbus line entirely.
Fair enough, so the Dacport LX wouldn't be good (bus powered)?

No, and the adaptive mode USB only compounds the problem. Adaptive is much more sensitive to the input signal than asynchronous mode. Centrance really hasn't kept pace with USB tech. You'd be way better off with the JKDAC32. Use the Short Block with that and you should get some seriously good sound.
Logged

Tari

  • Poet Laureate of Changstaria
  • Mate
  • Pirate
  • ****
  • Brownie Points: +245/-1
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 854
  • Is tari a wizard
Re: Not a lot of DAC talk on here...
« Reply #51 on: September 05, 2012, 11:31:38 PM »

Dave, have you tried the Femto?  A dealer has offered me a free trial and I'm wondering if it's worth the cost of shipping 50 pounds there and back.
Logged

DaveBSC

  • Best Korean Sympathizer
  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Pirate
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +222/-50
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2092
Re: Not a lot of DAC talk on here...
« Reply #52 on: September 06, 2012, 05:01:54 AM »

I'm afraid I haven't. From what I've heard it's in the same league as DACs like the Pandora, Meitner, Bricasti, etc. but it also costs the same as those DACs. One thing I'd like to know about it is whether the USB input is isolated, and where it gets its power from. The volume control is the typical 32-bit digital type, nothing special, and not good enough to replace a top quality linestage. If the USB input is not isolated or self powered that would be disappointing, I wouldn't want to have to spend another $1000+ on a converter to have USB done properly on a USB DAC. That's the rub I have with the Meitner and EMM DAC2X. I've heard very good things about the Aesthetix as a DAC, but its USB input seems to be similarly compromised.


Logged

Sforza

  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Pirate
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +12/-0
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 225
Re: Not a lot of DAC talk on here...
« Reply #53 on: September 10, 2012, 07:11:13 AM »

Would anyone be able to give subjective listening differences between the W4S and Anedio DAC using balanced outputs? I've pretty much narrowed down my choices to these two, but I haven't heard either of them. I know that good DACs are supposed to be as close to neutral sounding as possible, but I think subjective differences in sound are still possible hence my question.

Dave, would you be able to give comment on the Dacport's measurements? Specifically on the 91pp jitter measurement which is better than a lot of the budget async DACs like the HRT ones. Wondering if the implementation of the USB receiver might have sacrificed performance somewhere else.
http://www.stereophile.com/content/centrance-dacport-usb-headphone-amplifier-measurements

Also, I'm wondering if I'll be able to get significantly better sound out of the dacport if I switched to an external power supply, since it should lead to lower distortion numbers. The distortion measurements are pretty good as is. Hope that made sense.
Logged

DaveBSC

  • Best Korean Sympathizer
  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Pirate
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +222/-50
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2092
Re: Not a lot of DAC talk on here...
« Reply #54 on: September 10, 2012, 07:05:43 PM »

Dave, would you be able to give comment on the Dacport's measurements? Specifically on the 91pp jitter measurement which is better than a lot of the budget async DACs like the HRT ones. Wondering if the implementation of the USB receiver might have sacrificed performance somewhere else.
http://www.stereophile.com/content/centrance-dacport-usb-headphone-amplifier-measurements

The HRT DACs are just not very good. That's still an impressive result though unquestionably, whatever type of jitter rejection is used at the conversion stage is definitely doing its job. Still being adaptive mode will mean sensitivities to things like USB cables that would be largely eliminated with asynchronous mode.
Logged

MisterRogers

  • It's a beautiful day in his neighborhood! He is a master DAC builder after all...
  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Pirate
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +82/-1
  • Online Online
  • Posts: 257
Re: Not a lot of DAC talk on here...
« Reply #55 on: September 17, 2012, 07:43:03 PM »

wow. I was chatting with LFF during our weekly DIY build session this morning (he's putting together a pimped BIII, I some casework for my 'Wire' amp), and made the statement that the DAC is probably the component (beyond mastering) that should get the most attention. I've built all together 6 DAC's now; 3 of them extreme builds (DSD support, Paul Hynes Regs throughout, shunts, etc.) and I can tell you flat out: a top tier DAC can make a huge difference. Here's a short story:

Brought my Minute EL34 SE to the Studio meet in Santa Monica awhile back - it was sourced by a Bifrost (a good value DAC). It was generally well received driving my HE-6's, but jaws didn't drop. I brought the same chain to the LAX meeting but swapped out Bifrost for a BIII build with DSD support, <3pps jitter coming from the receiver, Paul Hynes regs (separate +/- for the IV, separate for the DAC, PH shunt regs on the Sabre), and some of the same peeps who listened in Santa Monica were blown away.

Now the Minute's a great amp (especially with the HE-6), but it took a serious DAC to bring out the best in it. Add to that some well/digitally mastered SACD rips, and you have something very special. So to me (IMO, etc.) - I'd tend to your source, get a great DAC, a decent amp, and some good cans.

The amp will generally have more influence over the 'voice' of your music (fast, slow, thick, thin) than a DAC (the exception being some NOS/Tube DACs). Nail down the parts of your chain that are about faithful reproduction, then pursue the 'voice' you like the best. My 2 cents.
« Last Edit: September 17, 2012, 09:40:20 PM by MisterRogers »
Logged

Babaluma

  • Listens to Can on his cans?
  • Powder Monkey
  • *
  • Brownie Points: +3/-0
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 27
  • Manual Gain Rider
    • Hermetech Mastering
Re: Not a lot of DAC talk on here...
« Reply #56 on: September 17, 2012, 09:20:54 PM »

I was blown away when going from a "prosumer" soundcard/interface, to a higher end DAC last year. I'd been using Echo Audio cards for about ten years (first a MIA PCI card, then an Audiofire 12, both with a PC), but last year switched to an RME HDSPe AES PCIe card (just an AES interface, no conversion), with external Crookwood converters. I have a Crookwood C1 monitor controller, headphone amp, analogue VU meter, 2 x DACs and 1 x ADC combo for my mastering studio. It's been a real revelation! The HD600s have never sounded better. It's also great to be using the same DAC to feed the monitor chain and the analogue mastering chain. Less second guessing!

My friend keeps trying to convince me to upgrade to an HD800 with a QES Labs amps and balanced cables though. Should be going round his place to check them out some time soon. Will take my HD600's to compare.

Willakan

  • Pirate
  • **
  • Brownie Points: +20/-17
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 113
  • I'm quite reasonable really.
Re: Not a lot of DAC talk on here...
« Reply #57 on: September 17, 2012, 09:46:44 PM »

Boo...balanced. Stick to single-ended for headphone driving IMHO.
Logged
Indecent lover of cheap opamps...

Babaluma

  • Listens to Can on his cans?
  • Powder Monkey
  • *
  • Brownie Points: +3/-0
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 27
  • Manual Gain Rider
    • Hermetech Mastering
Re: Not a lot of DAC talk on here...
« Reply #58 on: September 18, 2012, 05:51:08 AM »

He reckons balanced sounds much better with that amp/can combo, but I've yet to hear any balanced phones! Always wondered about it myself...

burnspbesq

  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Pirate
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +50/-23
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 640
Re: Not a lot of DAC talk on here...
« Reply #59 on: September 21, 2012, 02:18:30 AM »

The Ayre QB-9 is outdated and outmatched

Really. By what, pray tell?
Logged
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 [6] 7 8 9 10 11 ... 145