Its weird but I am excited about this $125 item that just got delivered
polkfarmboy
Posts: 5,703
When I saw this pop up for $125 I thought wow? Its only a coax and optical 24/96 but as we all know thats not the whole story. Anyways I can drag my logitech squeezebox out the closet and try some ripped cd's and I even want to put my bluray player through this via coax.
This thing is solid and heavy with the kind of build quality thats rare these days with an external ac supply etc. I get so many pieces of great gear but its always just a kinda 'this sound like this and that sounds like that'.
Man I even love the box with the artwork!
This thing is solid and heavy with the kind of build quality thats rare these days with an external ac supply etc. I get so many pieces of great gear but its always just a kinda 'this sound like this and that sounds like that'.
Man I even love the box with the artwork!
Comments
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Nice pickup and the WW cables around it LOLKlipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
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Is that a VTI rack? I've been thinking of picking one up.2 channel:
Bryston 4B3, Bryston BDA3, Cary SLP05, Shanling CDT1000SE with parts conneXion level 2 mods, Nottingham analogue ace space 294, soundsmith Carmen MKii, Zu DL103 MKii, Ortofon MC 20 MKii, Dynavector XX2 MKii, Rogue Audio Ares, Core power technologies balanced power conditioner, Akiko Corelli power conditioner with Akiko Audio HQ power cable, Nordost heimdall 2, Frey 2, interconnects, speaker and power cables, Focal Electra 1028 BE 2, Auralic Aries Femto, Black diamond racing cones, ingress audio level 1 roller blocks, JL Audio E110 with Auralic subdude, Primacoustics room treatments.
Theater:
Focal Aria 926,905,CC900, SVS PB ultra x2. Pioneer Elite SC85, Oppo BDP93, Panamax M5400PM, Minix neox6, Nordost Blue heaven LS power cables. -
The cables arrived at the same time and I just unboxed those as well as other mystere goodies! But the MSB dac is the star of the show and has my interest more than the other packages.
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Is that a VTI rack? I've been thinking of picking one up.
Yes Mickey, there is a store that lets you submit your best offer and they accepted the first one I put in. I can find out more info on what I paid and etc if you pm me later when your goung to pull the trigger. -
For what you paid, it's a nice dac, not the best sounding imho though. Given the gear you've had roll in/out of there, why are you jones-in over this one ?HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
Well its the analogue output stage that has me most excited. Its massive and it weighs a ton ,plus price and musicality are very different. I have all the right cables amps and speakers to really extract the true potential. I have had some pricey stuff that either lacks synergy or is just boring on my rack but nothing like this.Well I did have an old theta dac and it was amazing even though I heard similar comments that mirror yours Tony.
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What kind of ancillary are you running out of the dac? If you're running cables in the thousands, it's not a fair representation of the dac if value is what you are going for.
Although if you're comparing apples to apples, then if you've run other days on same cords, then it's the only way to level the playing fieldMagico M2, JL113v2x2, EMM, ARC Ref 10 Line, ARC Ref 10 Phono, VPIx2, Lyra Etna, Airtight Opus1, Boulder, AQ Wel&Wild, SRA Scuttle Rack, BlueSound+LPS, Thorens 124DD+124SPU, Sennheiser, Metaxas R2R -
The cables job is to get out the way and let the unit be more of itself and although pricey they have been in my rig for a couple of years. Value is not something I am factoring in with the MSB but I just love listening to stuff and this seems very well designed plus its the worlds first stand alone 96 khz 24 bit dac.
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Most of the weight is in the steel chassis on those. I remember there was an effort among manufacturers back when those came out to try and make digital playback sound more like analog sources. The result was usually pleasant sound, but lost a lot of detail and clarity compared to digital technology these days.
Have fun with it though. It is good to experiment at that price. -
Thats true but back then they never even had the internet for 96khz sources available via digital download.
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DVD-Audio discs were available at and above that resolution around then, but the main intent of the Link DAC was to improve the sound of redbook CDs for a low price.
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I dont know if its worth it but what if I purchased a stello usb to coax as that has a built in reclocker.
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polkfarmboy wrote: »The cables job is to get out the way and let the unit be more of itself and although pricey they have been in my rig for a couple of years. Value is not something I am factoring in with the MSB but I just love listening to stuff and this seems very well designed plus its the worlds first stand alone 96 khz 24 bit dac.
Yes, but if someone is buying a $125 DAC, they're not going to run it with the cables you got. So it's difficult to truly assess how good that DAC is when taken out of context.Magico M2, JL113v2x2, EMM, ARC Ref 10 Line, ARC Ref 10 Phono, VPIx2, Lyra Etna, Airtight Opus1, Boulder, AQ Wel&Wild, SRA Scuttle Rack, BlueSound+LPS, Thorens 124DD+124SPU, Sennheiser, Metaxas R2R -
I had a link DAC that was Modwright modified. I don't remember thinking much of it at the time but it may have been a poor fit in my set up.Audio: Polk S15 * Polk S35 * Polk S10 * SVS SB-1000 Pro
HT: Samsung QN90B * Marantz NR1510 * Panasonic DMP-BDT220 * Roku Ultra LT * APC H10 -
Nothing special.While a good budget unit in it's day the analog section is typical of budget DAC's.A pair of IC opamps powered from standard low performance 3 pin voltage regulators.Likely just a direct implementation of the app note in the data sheet for the Burr Brown dac chips.polkfarmboy wrote: »Well its the analogue output stage that has me most excited.
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Way to crush my hopes and dreams FT
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Sorry,I guess that was a tad negative.Enjoy your new toy.
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polkfarmboy wrote: »The cables job is to get out the way and let the unit be more of itself and although pricey they have been in my rig for a couple of years. Value is not something I am factoring in with the MSB but I just love listening to stuff and this seems very well designed plus its the worlds first stand alone 96 khz 24 bit dac.
Yes, but if someone is buying a $125 DAC, they're not going to run it with the cables you got. So it's difficult to truly assess how good that DAC is when taken out of context.
Building a system is all about getting rid of bottlenecks. By getting everything else up to par and introducing an 'inferior' or less expensive product to the rig, you hear more of what that product actually brings to the table. It also doesn't bode well if you make multiple changes to a system you are intimately familiar with while trying to assess a piece.
Agreed.Magico M2, JL113v2x2, EMM, ARC Ref 10 Line, ARC Ref 10 Phono, VPIx2, Lyra Etna, Airtight Opus1, Boulder, AQ Wel&Wild, SRA Scuttle Rack, BlueSound+LPS, Thorens 124DD+124SPU, Sennheiser, Metaxas R2R -
Pseudofolliculitis Barbae?Currently orbiting Bowie's Blackstar.!
Polk Lsi-7s, Def Tech 8" sub, HK 3490, HK HD 990 (CDP/DAC), AKG Q701s
[sig. changed on a monthly basis as I rotate in and out of my stash] -
Well I did manage to find a stello U3 digital reclocker and I can use the usb to coax converter. One thing thats always been on my mind is how the Anthem D2 v would sound if I used it as a usb dac so now I can give that a bash!
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The U3 is an excellent usb-spdif convertor.
