Audio gd

pearsall001

FTGV wrote: »

Actually it's essentially just a linear supply with the transformer mounted remotely .Since the current requirements should only be in the hundreds of milliamps range I suspect the folks at Cambridge would be clever enough to size it accordingly.IMO it is the filtering and voltage regulation stages within the main chassis that are of more important and will have greater impact on SQ.

I have full faith that CA designed the DacMagic to perform to it's maximun level with their properly designed walwart producing all the juice it needs. On a side note I do know the importance of clean, pure, power. Case in point...I worked at Sony Music for a number of years & was quite friendly with all engineers & management. The Sony plant produced CD's from start to finish. From the original recording to the father, mother, down to the production lines.

In talking to the top engineers about audio & the whole recording industry they talked alot about their multi million dollar machines & how they operated. To a man they all made it quite clear that all machines were required by Sony to be run off of an Equitech Balanced Power unit to insure pure, clean power. Without getting techinical, which I'm not qualified to do anyway, the engineers sited how inferior our power here in the US is technically inferior. The US standard of 120vpositive/0v negative is not proper electric flow. The Equitech units (which were specified by name from our Japanese management) were the original patented units. The Equitech produces electric at 60vpositive/60vnegative. Which insures that all machines run at their optimum peek levels. And I mean everything was run into the Equitech units.

Even artists, groups, bands had it in their contracts that all of their recording sessions down to the production lines had to run off of Equitech units. One of the big contracts was Pink Floyd & they were fanatics abouy having Equitech power all equipment during their recording sessions down to the production line. It was serious stuff there at the plant as far as using Equitech was comcerned.

So, I figured if it's good enough for Sony, Pink Floyd that it was good enough for my rig. I purchased a unit 6yrs ago & was simply amazed at the difference it made on both audio & video. Apparently now all of my gear is getting properly supplied electric which in turn gets the maximum performance from my gear. My entire rig is plugged into the Equitech & I'd never be without one. So my DacMagic's walmart is getting the best possible juice it can & is why it sounds incredible. Bottom line, gear plugged into the wall is running at less than it's full potential. Balanced Power baby is where it's at!!!! If you're into the technical stuff give Equitech's white papers a read. Very interesting stuff.

FTGV

I have read all of Mr Glasband's white papers and agree his approach has great merit enough to convince me to build my own balanced unit for use with my source /low level components.Clean AC is certainly benificial but the quality of the DC operating voltages within components is far more important IMO.

tonyb

Have to agree with H9 on the power supply, and also agree with you guys on balanced power. Have heard the benefits of both and it's not slight by any stretch.
Balanced power, or regenerated power units like Equitech or PS Audio premiers don't come cheap though. Getting back to the power supply/walwart thing, it comes down to design gents. In the case of the dacmagic,or V-dac, they were engineered that way to perform not necessarily at their peek, put to meet a price point. I'll bet ya if you added a well built power supply to these units performance would be kicked up a notch or 2, bet then, so would the price of the units. I think Audio-gd does it in reverse and builds around a power supply first, even the analog output stage, which we all know the importance of that. Thats why to get to the price point Audio gd does, you won't find 5 different input options, and maybe a less than adequate usb option on some lower line units. You also don't get the fancy outside of alot of dacs. It's a philosophy that many of us subscribe to, analog output stage, and power supply. I don't listen to, nor can I hear the difference in the fancy outsides, or 4 vacant inputs. So I guess if I was going to build a dac myself with x amount of coin, where would I start ? Kingwa thinks like I do, thats why I decided to give his dacs a whirl. His dacs won't fit every need nor be to everyones SQ likeing, as goes for any brand of gear. For the 250 I spent used, it was a frickin' bargain.

heiney9

In no way was I trying to imply the DAC Magic was garbage. I know it gets good reviews and is from a respected company. And a lot of people who opinion I value here say it's great (like Phil). I don't like walwarts, period. Even if it's not of the switching variety which are the worst. So far for my budget, and percieved "bang for the buck" the Audio GD stands out to me from a design philosophy so that's why I am pursuing it for my secondary rig. In the end the performance and build quality and it's ability to deliver like the marketing states will be the only determining factor. I have learned to moderate my expectations of lower cost gear and in some instances it has really surprised me and in some instances I have been disappointed based on expectations which have been derived through marketing speak or website testimonials.

H9

pearsall001

Great conversation going on here guys. I respect everyone's opinion on different gear & the why/why not that certain gear gets chosen. It's a great learning atmosphere here on this forum. Hell, it would be boring as hell if everyone thought the same way. I'm always picking up a tid bit of info here & there & that greatly helps me on making my moves as I pursue my audio journey. Keep it coming guys!!! Cheers to great sound!!!

Phil

PS: I still don't care what anyone thinks...I love my NAD AVR for 2 channel!!! :razz:

tonyb

Heck, I'm just happy we made it 3 pages with no name calling, gear bashing, or threats of a wedgy.

sucks2beme

So is somebody going to buy a DAC here or not?

praedet

All Audio GD USB interfaces are USB Audio 2.0 compatible. In other words, they don't require a special "driver" to work on windows or Linux.

heiney9

praedet wrote: »

All Audio GD USB interfaces are USB Audio 2.0 compatible. In other words, they don't require a special "driver" to work on windows or Linux.

Yes, well that's all fine and good and I would expect that. But I want to bypass the horrible Window's k-mixer so I need to be sure I can find a driver that work, like an ASIO or WASAPI driver. For example Musiland has software drivers available to use the aforementioned. Going thru windows with the generic driver doesn't achieve a bit for bit perfect stream.

H9

falconcry72

Here's a thought:

Could you continue to use the Musiland software with the Audio GD DAC???:question:


edit: Here's another thought:

If the asio4all driver works with MM and your OS, then you're good to go. Try the asio4all driver now with your Musiland. If it works then the question is answered.

http://www.asio4all.com/

heiney9

falconcry72 wrote: »

Here's a thought:

Could you continue to use the Musiland software with the Audio GD DAC:question:

Not without using the Musiland. My goal is to simplify (if I can) and get rid of some cables and the extra piece of gear. Maybe that's possible, maybe not.

H9

falconcry72

heiney9 wrote: »

... Maybe that's possible, maybe not.

I think it might be possible, dude.

And go reread the post you just replied to, I edited it with a brilliant effing suggestion.

heiney9

Musiland has it's own ASIO driver. I am pretty sure I can get a universal ASIO driver to work with MM and the Audio GD when I finally pull the trigger.

falconcry72

heiney9 wrote: »

Musiland has it's own ASIO driver. I am pretty sure I can get a universal ASIO driver to work with MM and the Audio GD when I finally pull the trigger.

Yea I know the Musiland driver/software. I bought and setup a Musiland for my dad.

I was under the impression that you weren't pulling the trigger on the Audio GD piece because you didn't know if you'd be able to get the asio4all driver to work with MM. Trying the asio4all driver with the Musiland will let you know for sure before you buy the Audio GD piece. I know that the asio4all driver works with the Musiland, because that's what I've got my dad using now. There is a known compatibility issue with the Musiland software and machines that are running Windows 7 64 bit with AMD processors. My dad has that combo, he had issues with the Musiland, and when we switched to the asio4all driver it's been perfect since.

The only thing I don't know is whether the asio4all driver works with MM. My dad and I both use Foobar.

FTGV

Just as a follow up the NFB3 appears to use the Tenor TE7022 USB data reciever chip which is USB2.0 compliant 24/96k capable.

BlueFox

Pangea has just come out with a PS upgrade for the DAC Magic, Wadia iTransport, and other components. In keeping with their low cost philosophy it is only $99 dollar.

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PGP100

heiney9

Just to follow up about USB connections..........for me after a little hunting on the 'net it is a non-issue. I am using an older version on Media Monkey with the ASIO plug-in and ASIO4ALL driver and it works flawlessly. I did set the driver to sample at 44.1 and I think it sounds best rather than upsampling to 48 or whatever it is.

The NFB-3 may be on the horizon to go head to head with the Keces DA-151 I just purchased. Keeping my fingers crossed it all works out.

H9

PrazVT

Pangea has just come out with a PS upgrade for the DAC Magic, Wadia iTransport, and other components. In keeping with their low cost philosophy it is only $99 dollar.

I just got one and I believe Phil ( pearsall001) has one too. Definitely worth it.

heiney9

*BUMP*

I am currently running Tony's Audio GD NFB-3 in the office rig. He was kind enough to loan it to me prior to buying it to make sure I liked it. I did get the USB running late last night, not as easy as others but I got the settings figured out. Only had a short listening session late in the evening. I like what I hear so far.

More evaluation to come as I have time to listen.

H9

EndersShadow

Looking forward to a shootout of it v. the Keces

tonyb

Looking forward to the comparison too.

I think when I dropped it off, Brock was in the middle of a 5 card stud game at work. I believe the Dorito's on his lips and the Ace that fell out of his sleeve when he went to shake my hand gave it away.:cheesygrin::cheesygrin:

cstmar01

heiney9 wrote: »

*BUMP*


More evaluation to come as I have time to listen.H9

Psh, Brock make a quick decision, isn't that what its about? You had it for like 10 mins that should be good enough, right? :rolleyes:

tonyb

Take your time Brock, that dac has less than 60 hours on it.

Also, for those interested, this is not the Audio-gd 3.1 dac, but the older 3.0, which is almost the same as their original Dac 19. Same body, same look, better parts.

sucks2beme

Good deal. That's what I have. This makes it a better shoot out for me. The Keces once was on my short list.
This will either make me happy, or unhappy! The Audio-GD seems to like burn in. Or time for the magic
in my brain to adjust, if you believe some people. Either way, longer use is a good thing.

audiocr381ve

Can I be next in line to try the Audio-GD out? :P

That's really cool that you let him borrow it. Do you guys work together?

tonyb

audiocr381ve wrote: »

Can I be next in line to try the Audio-GD out? :P

That's really cool that you let him borrow it. Do you guys work together?

There is no line per say, Brock wanted to buy it, so I let him try it out first....with a few caveots. As far as working together, nope, unless you count around here.
If Brock decides to pass, then I will just stick it in the FM.

heiney9

tonyb wrote: »

Looking forward to the comparison too.

I think when I dropped it off, Brock was in the middle of a 5 card stud game at work. I believe the Dorito's on his lips and the Ace that fell out of his sleeve when he went to shake my hand gave it away.:cheesygrin::cheesygrin:

You caught that, eh? Don't tell the boss! Lol

heiney9

Long.....check that..... very long week at work. Got my butt kicked today because we are so busy. More of the same tomorrow. I hope to put some hours on it this weekend. Stay tuned and I won't be making a hasty review. It usually takes me about 3 months to fully formulate an opinion for public consumption.

What I've heard so far is pretty darn good.

H9

P.s. Don't worry Tony it won't take me 3 months to decide and send payment :cheesygrin:

tonyb

You had me at "3 months"...LOL!!!

Hey man, whatever....don't scare me like that again.

EndersShadow

heiney9 wrote: »

It usually takes me about 3 months to fully formulate an opinion for public consumption.

Putting a reminder to check back in 3 months on my outlook calendar :cheesygrin: