USB Tube DAC - What have you tried

thsmith

I am thinking of giving a music server a try, maybe the Mac Mini.

I sold off my PS Audio DAC III when I picked up the Jolida CDP.

Anyone tried one of the China DACs like Grant Fidelity Tube DAC-09, found on ebay under various names ?

http://show.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/st.pl?accstube&1274308013&item&Grantfidelity

I know some here seem to like the CHina stuff once doing some tweeks, Jolida CDP for example.

TIA,

Tracy

heiney9

Looks alot like the Maverick DAC.

http://www.mav-audio.com/base/product/tube_magic_d1

I heard The Maverick at Polkfest and was unimpressed. Shoot MillerLiteScott a PM it was his we heard at PF. I believe he did a short review which he posted here and his thoughts were it was mediocre for a main rig audio piece.

Plus you reach a point where when each piece in the chain has tubes, it *can* start to have negative affects on the final output. Not saying that can't be overcome, but it's a much harder balancing act.

H9

thsmith

Thanks H9. You are right in that the Maverick looks likes GF Dac. Several on ebay look the same too.

I have to say so far I have not had a problem with too many tubes, yet. Well, except rolling and cost

I will search for MillerLiteScott post to see if I can find a review.

intangible

I have a Maverick D1 in my bedroom. It is a step above the $80 Asus sound card and internal pre/pro DAC I used to use and a step below the DACMagic I use now. It is good for what it is - a cheap combo DAC/pre-amp with a small footprint for the nightstand. The tube stage doesn't really do anything. There may be a little less fuzziness to the sound when you bypass it or that may be my imagination. It is limited to 16/48 over USB, so your hi-res tracks have to be down sampled.

thsmith

I found Scotts review.

He says "I took my Maverick D1 down to the Capital Audio Fest so Mark could use his BBQ amp. He used That combo with the LSi9's and the RTiA9 they had there for the demo. Mark could probably give a better evaluation of the synergy than I could because he was listening to it all weekend. For the money, $200.00, I do not think you could find a better sounding more versatile Tube Pre-amp/dac/headphone amp on the market.

I have rolled some tubes through it and also upgraded the op amps in the output stage and headphone stage. I am not a headphone guy so I have nothing to compare it to and I only own a pair of JVC marshmellows."

Then I found this review of the Jolida Glass DAC which would be great to hear follow up reviews on how it liked it but says this about the Maverick so I am a little confused. May have to shoot him a PM. "I sold my Jolida JD100 cd player last fall to make the move into digital music with the Squeezebox Touch. I searched the net for a tubed DAC that would give me the sound that I was use to with the JD100 which IMHO sounded pretty good in my rig. I already had the Maverick D1 which for the money is a great unit and is currently the center piece of my computer rig but just did not rise to the level of the JD100."

thsmith

intangible wrote: »

I have a Maverick D1 in my bedroom. It is a step above the $80 Asus sound card and internal pre/pro DAC I used to use and a step below the DACMagic I use now. It is good for what it is - a cheap combo DAC/pre-amp with a small footprint for the nightstand. The tube stage doesn't really do anything. There may be a little less fuzziness to the sound when you bypass it or that may be my imagination. It is limited to 16/48 over USB, so your hi-res tracks have to be down sampled.

Thanks, that seals or kills the deal for me then.

thsmith

Maybe a tube DAC using USB is not the answer for me in the price range I am looking.