PS Audio Digital Link III

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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    edited April 2012
    The Keces is sexy with it's smoked plexi-glass top and very nice teflon connectors.......lol.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • chandler9a
    chandler9a Posts: 878
    edited April 2012
    Man I just looked at that VDA-2 again on their website...It just looks good to me, different than a lot of audio gear. But, I have to make a practical decision so I'm going to sit on this one for a day or two.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    edited April 2012
    It's tiny, tiny, tiny.....4 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 4 1/2".
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • chandler9a
    chandler9a Posts: 878
    edited April 2012
    Wow... that IS small. No matter, it would be wiser for me to purchase something like the Keces anyhow. I'm sure I would be happy with it and it would leave room for other purchases.

    H9, what cable are you using to connect to your source? Is this as important as other cables in the system? I would assume so.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    edited April 2012
    chandler9a wrote: »
    Wow... that IS small. No matter, it would be wiser for me to purchase something like the Keces anyhow. I'm sure I would be happy with it and it would leave room for other purchases.

    H9, what cable are you using to connect to your source? Is this as important as other cables in the system? I would assume so.

    In the computer rig with the Keces since I have DA-151 (which is USB only) I am using a USB cable. In the main rig I used a Signal Cable 75 ohm digital coax and a Blue Jeans Belden 1694A digital coax

    http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/digital-audio/index.htm

    http://signalcable.com/digitalcoax.html

    I use MIT Terminator II's for the analog cables out of the dac in the office rig and MIT Shotgun S2's out for the analog on the main rig.

    Yes, cables are important and IMO, the analog cables seem to make more of a difference as you move up the ladder than digital cables.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • chandler9a
    chandler9a Posts: 878
    edited April 2012
    great thanks, I don't like spending a lot on cables but the truth is, it makes a difference.
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  • dragon1952
    dragon1952 Posts: 4,899
    edited April 2012
    I'll give a thumbs up for the Blue Jeans/Belden 1694A. Also their LC-1 stereo pair.
    2 channel - Willsenton R8 tube integrated, Holo Audio Spring 3 KTE DAC, audio optimized NUC7i5, Windows 10 Pro/JRiver MC29/Fidelizer Plus 8.7 w/LPS and external SSD drive, PS Audio PerfectWave P3 regenerator, KEF R3 speakers, Rythmik F12SE subwoofer, Audioquest Diamond USB cable, Gabriel Gold IC's, Morrow Audio SP5 speaker cables. Computer - Windows 10/JRiver, Schiit Magni 3+/Modi 3+, Fostex PMO.4n monitors, Sennheiser HD600 headphones
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  • chandler9a
    chandler9a Posts: 878
    edited April 2012
    I have always wondered about the Blue Jeans and Signal Cable stuff, I have always done AQ cables bc it was just available. It would be fun to try something else...Plus I like the way those Signal Cables look.
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  • chandler9a
    chandler9a Posts: 878
    edited April 2012
    well guys, I went with the Channel Island VDA-2 with the VDA-1 power supply. I ended up getting it for a really good price so I decided to give it a try. My brother in law has left me in charge of picking out a budget DAC for him so I will be choosing the Keces since it looks great and I will be able to compare the two. If I like the Keces better, I can easily sell the VDA-2 to purchase it.

    As far as the VDA sound.... Awesome! Its only connected to my Bluray player to listen to Pandora at the moment, I noticed an immediate difference in sound already. No digital harshness anymore and smooth as ever! It will sound better once I get the SQB touch set up with lossless files and a better preamp but for now it is extremely sweet, no more fatigue.

    Thanks for all the advice
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  • audiocr381ve
    audiocr381ve Posts: 2,588
    edited April 2012
    SolidSqual wrote: »
    You may want a more conventional DAC setup, but for about $500, I would recommend this DAC hands down. http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/duet2.php

    I've used the Apogee Duet2 in my system with supreme results. I also know a lot of guys big into compute audio who will confirm that this DAC is better than the Wyred4Sound DAC2. The DAC2 is widely considered better than the PS DLIII. If you are interested, I could tell you where to get cables to make the DAC plug and play in your system.

    Mike


    Whoa, verrryy interested in this product (especially since I'm getting in to recording again with Pro Tools). I'm picking up a Digidesign 002R tomorrow, I wonder if it could integrate. Don't mean to hijack the thread but how does this exactly work with a 2 channel system?
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  • SolidSqual
    SolidSqual Posts: 5,218
    edited April 2012
    audiocr381ve wrote: »
    Whoa, verrryy interested in this product (especially since I'm getting in to recording again with Pro Tools). I'm picking up a Digidesign 002R tomorrow, I wonder if it could integrate. Don't mean to hijack the thread but how does this exactly work with a 2 channel system?

    The USB port and wire transfer music data from computer to Duet2 (which is of course a high quality DAC). Connect to speakers with independent speaker output connector. The Duet2 acts as a preamp so you can eliminate that component from your rack unless you need more inputs than the Duet2 offers in which case you can just plug the Duet2 into your preamp and allow it to operate like any other DAC.

    See this link:

    http://apogeedigital.com/products/duet2.php#independent_outputs
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  • audiocr381ve
    audiocr381ve Posts: 2,588
    edited April 2012
    SolidSqual wrote: »
    The USB port and wire transfer music data from computer to Duet2 (which is of course a high quality DAC). Connect to speakers with independent speaker output connector. The Duet2 acts as a preamp so you can eliminate that component from your rack unless you need more inputs than the Duet2 offers in which case you can just plug the Duet2 into your preamp and allow it to operate like any other DAC.

    See this link:

    http://apogeedigital.com/products/duet2.php#independent_outputs

    Okay so from Duet 2 to amp via XLR?

    I'd like to read up on those who are saying that tops the Wyred DAC2. Do you have any links?
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  • chandler9a
    chandler9a Posts: 878
    edited April 2012
    It does look like a cool little unit, let us know if you grab one, Shane.
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  • audiocr381ve
    audiocr381ve Posts: 2,588
    edited April 2012
    chandler9a wrote: »
    It does look like a cool little unit, let us know if you grab one, Shane.

    Will do bro!
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