Stello U3 USB > SPDIF Converter

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falconcry72
falconcry72 Posts: 3,580
edited January 2013 in Going Digital
Interesting little unit:

http://www.aprilmusic.com/eng/main/sub02_03_05.html

Anybody have any experience?
2-Channel: PC > Schiit Eitr > Audio Research DAC-8 > Audio Research LS-26 > Pass Labs X-250.5 > Magnepan 3.7's

Living Room: PC > Marantz AV-7703 > Emotiva XPA-5 > Sonus Faber Liuto Towers, Sonus Faber Liuto Center, Sonus Faber Liuto Bookshelves > Dual SVS PC12-Pluses

Office: Phone/Tablet > AudioEngine B1 > McIntosh D100 > Bryston 4B-ST > Polk Audio LSiM-703's
Post edited by falconcry72 on
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  • falconcry72
    falconcry72 Posts: 3,580
    edited January 2013
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    thinkin about picking one of these up... or the Bel Canto mLink... hmm..
    2-Channel: PC > Schiit Eitr > Audio Research DAC-8 > Audio Research LS-26 > Pass Labs X-250.5 > Magnepan 3.7's

    Living Room: PC > Marantz AV-7703 > Emotiva XPA-5 > Sonus Faber Liuto Towers, Sonus Faber Liuto Center, Sonus Faber Liuto Bookshelves > Dual SVS PC12-Pluses

    Office: Phone/Tablet > AudioEngine B1 > McIntosh D100 > Bryston 4B-ST > Polk Audio LSiM-703's
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  • falconcry72
    falconcry72 Posts: 3,580
    edited January 2013
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    well, i pulled the trigger on the stello. Guess I got a little impatient :redface:

    It will be interesting to see how it compares to my Audio GD DI and Musical Fidelity VLink. I'm hoping for an improvement.
    2-Channel: PC > Schiit Eitr > Audio Research DAC-8 > Audio Research LS-26 > Pass Labs X-250.5 > Magnepan 3.7's

    Living Room: PC > Marantz AV-7703 > Emotiva XPA-5 > Sonus Faber Liuto Towers, Sonus Faber Liuto Center, Sonus Faber Liuto Bookshelves > Dual SVS PC12-Pluses

    Office: Phone/Tablet > AudioEngine B1 > McIntosh D100 > Bryston 4B-ST > Polk Audio LSiM-703's
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  • Tbone289
    Tbone289 Posts: 661
    edited January 2013
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    Thanks for mentioning the U3. I'd not heard of it, but just looked up several reviews that were positive.

    Let us know how you like it!
    2.1: PC>Schiit Gungnir MB>Schiit Freya Noval>NAD C-270>Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1, HSU STF-2 5.1: HDMI Bitstream>Denon AVR-1910>polkaudio RTE55, CS350-LS, RT3, HSU STF-2, Visio M55-F0
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  • falconcry72
    falconcry72 Posts: 3,580
    edited January 2013
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    Tbone289 wrote: »
    Let us know how you like it!

    Will do. I might pick up the mlink as well to compare.
    2-Channel: PC > Schiit Eitr > Audio Research DAC-8 > Audio Research LS-26 > Pass Labs X-250.5 > Magnepan 3.7's

    Living Room: PC > Marantz AV-7703 > Emotiva XPA-5 > Sonus Faber Liuto Towers, Sonus Faber Liuto Center, Sonus Faber Liuto Bookshelves > Dual SVS PC12-Pluses

    Office: Phone/Tablet > AudioEngine B1 > McIntosh D100 > Bryston 4B-ST > Polk Audio LSiM-703's
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  • FTGV
    FTGV Posts: 3,649
    edited January 2013
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    I doubt you'll be disappointed with this XMOS based device.
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  • falconcry72
    falconcry72 Posts: 3,580
    edited January 2013
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    Yea, it looks good. The mlink looks good too... just ordered one, oops. Shootout to come!
    2-Channel: PC > Schiit Eitr > Audio Research DAC-8 > Audio Research LS-26 > Pass Labs X-250.5 > Magnepan 3.7's

    Living Room: PC > Marantz AV-7703 > Emotiva XPA-5 > Sonus Faber Liuto Towers, Sonus Faber Liuto Center, Sonus Faber Liuto Bookshelves > Dual SVS PC12-Pluses

    Office: Phone/Tablet > AudioEngine B1 > McIntosh D100 > Bryston 4B-ST > Polk Audio LSiM-703's
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  • falconcry72
    falconcry72 Posts: 3,580
    edited January 2013
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    holy ****. The addition of this U3 is one of the most dynamic improvements I've made to my system in a long time... and at a relatively small cost. I am so stoked. Longer review to come once the mLink gets here so I can compare. All I can say for now is, "Wow'.
    2-Channel: PC > Schiit Eitr > Audio Research DAC-8 > Audio Research LS-26 > Pass Labs X-250.5 > Magnepan 3.7's

    Living Room: PC > Marantz AV-7703 > Emotiva XPA-5 > Sonus Faber Liuto Towers, Sonus Faber Liuto Center, Sonus Faber Liuto Bookshelves > Dual SVS PC12-Pluses

    Office: Phone/Tablet > AudioEngine B1 > McIntosh D100 > Bryston 4B-ST > Polk Audio LSiM-703's
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  • falconcry72
    falconcry72 Posts: 3,580
    edited January 2013
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    Man this thing is awesome. I stayed up til 1AM last night listening, which says a lot for me on a work night!

    I'm hoping that the mLink will be better, but that's really hard to imagine. I want the mLink to be better, though, because then I'll have an upgrade path with the uLink and RefLink. If the Stello is better, then I'd be skeptical of the uLink and RefLink.
    2-Channel: PC > Schiit Eitr > Audio Research DAC-8 > Audio Research LS-26 > Pass Labs X-250.5 > Magnepan 3.7's

    Living Room: PC > Marantz AV-7703 > Emotiva XPA-5 > Sonus Faber Liuto Towers, Sonus Faber Liuto Center, Sonus Faber Liuto Bookshelves > Dual SVS PC12-Pluses

    Office: Phone/Tablet > AudioEngine B1 > McIntosh D100 > Bryston 4B-ST > Polk Audio LSiM-703's
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  • falconcry72
    falconcry72 Posts: 3,580
    edited January 2013
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    Well the mLink arrived yesterday. I have only spent maybe 30 mins with it, but my initial impressions were pretty strong that the Stello was better... that said, the mLink is probably better than the Audio GD DI and and definitely better than the Musical Fidelity vLink. Longer writeup/review/pics to come this evening.
    2-Channel: PC > Schiit Eitr > Audio Research DAC-8 > Audio Research LS-26 > Pass Labs X-250.5 > Magnepan 3.7's

    Living Room: PC > Marantz AV-7703 > Emotiva XPA-5 > Sonus Faber Liuto Towers, Sonus Faber Liuto Center, Sonus Faber Liuto Bookshelves > Dual SVS PC12-Pluses

    Office: Phone/Tablet > AudioEngine B1 > McIntosh D100 > Bryston 4B-ST > Polk Audio LSiM-703's
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter