My new $50.00 DAC

Danny Tse

Just picked up my first ever DAC, a new Entech (Monster Cable) Number Cruncher 203.2 DAC, off of ebay for under $55.00 including shipping, sales tax and insurance. Apparently these are NOS units. I am planning to use it with an old-school "Made in Japan" Pioneer DV-414 DVD player as my CD transport. If I only have money for one of those Pioneer PD-65 Stable Platter CD players :rolleyes:

There're still some Entech DACs available at ebay. Just do a search. I am not affiliated with the seller. I will post some pictures and reaction once I have everything set up.

RuSsMaN

That's funny, I had that one in my 'watch' list, but forgot about it.

I'm sure it will sound decent, they weren't exactly cheap retail.

Cheers,
Russ

audiobliss

What were they retail?

adam2434

Yeah, I've been watching those too. Just pulled the trigger.

For $50 shipped - what the heck. I'll be interested to see if it sounds any better than the DAC in my Sony 222ES. If not, I'll probably just use it with a cheap DVD player for a set-up in one of my kid's rooms.

These go back to '98-99, and I think they originally MSRP'd for around $300-400. Some of the original reviews said they were a bargain at that price.

I was also looking at the Liteaudio DAC-ah for $175, but couldn't pass up the Entech at that price.

RuSsMaN

The Lite Audio is the bomb, esp if you replace just a few caps.

WTF, found one - bought it and (gulp) refurb Monster power conditioner from the same seller for $109.

Like you said adam, if it does blow my shirt up, I've got a d/a for the kid's playstation rig, or the garage rig.

Cheers,
Russ

Early B.

Please forgive my simple questions, but I'm not familiar with DACS:

1. Will the use of this device impact the "tube sound" of a tube CDP?

2. Does an external DAC automatically disable the internal DAC?

3. I've read that this particular DAC is a bit on the bright side. Is this true?

4. Will this DAC work on a DVD player for HT surround sound playback?

Thanks.

univera

RuSsMaN wrote:

The Lite Audio is the bomb, esp if you replace just a few caps.

WTF, found one - bought it and (gulp) refurb Monster power conditioner from the same seller for $109.

Like you said adam, if it does blow my shirt up, I've got a d/a for the kid's playstation rig, or the garage rig.

Cheers,
Russ

You guys crack me up. Who the heck uses a DAC for their kids stereo system or video console? Just state the fact: you have turned your kid's rooms into an extension of your obsession:)

adam2434

univera wrote:

You guys crack me up. Who the heck uses a DAC for their kids stereo system or video console? Just state the fact: you have turned your kid's rooms into an extension of your obsession:)

Very funny! Guilty as charged. I use my kids' and sister's systems to experiment with cheap gear. They're happy with a boombox, but I feel compelled to elevate their listening experience with School House Rock and The Lion King Soundtrack.

audiobliss

adam2434 wrote:

Lion King Soundtrack.

Hey, don't be dissin' that, now!! :mad: :rolleyes:

adam2434

Early,

1. Since the tubed cdp uses tubes for the analog output stage, I wouldn't see a benefit with the Entech dac. You would loose the tube factor of a tube cdp.

2. Yes.

3. Heard a little of that too. If it's brighter than the dac in my cdp, I won't like it.

4. No, not compatible with a DD or DTS bitstream. It will process PCM 2ch up to 20 bit word length.

Early B.

Thanks, Adam.

It sounds like a great deal, but I don't have a use for one.

adam2434

Early, thinking more about 2., actually I'm not sure if it will disable the internal dac when a digital out is used. You still may be able to use the internal dac through the analog outs, while simultaneously sending the digital out to an outboard dac.

audiobliss

adam2434 wrote:

Early, thinking more about 2., actually I'm not sure if it will disable the internal dac when a digital out is used. You still may be able to use the internal dac through the analog outs, while simultaneously sending the digital out to an outboard dac.

Indeed, you can. But, with regards to the question about the tube CDP, you can't simulataneously use the internal DAC and the external DAC on the same output. Since you can only use one, either you will have the tube effect of the CDP's tube driven DAC, or you'll be using the external DAC's ss circuitry. Once a signal has been converted to analog, you can't convert it to analog again.

Danny Tse

Can't believe I paid 2X for the same DAC!

Just found below link....

Group buy, anyone?

Let's see....if I buy the whole lot and make approximately, say, $12.00 for each on ebay....$3,600! Hmmm, on an investment of about $5,300....

univera

Danny, that sounds interesting. I want one for myself regardless. That is a good bit of packing/shipping for $12.00 profit, but relisting should be a cinch. I'm thinking about this one....

Danny Tse wrote:

Can't believe I paid 2X for the same DAC!

Just found below link....

Group buy, anyone?

Let's see....if I buy the whole lot and make approximately, say, $12.00 for each on ebay....$3,600! Hmmm, on an investment of about $5,300....

phoneisbusy

Danny Tse wrote:

Can't believe I paid 2X for the same DAC!

Just found below link....

Group buy, anyone?

Let's see....if I buy the whole lot and make approximately, say, $12.00 for each on ebay....$3,600! Hmmm, on an investment of about $5,300....

Wow! Sounds like a lot of work for you though. That being said, let me know if you decide to do it.

I'm going to keep an eye on the auctions. Shipping to Canada may be a downer. They appear to use UPS.

Dave

sucks2beme

univera wrote:

You guys crack me up. Who the heck uses a DAC for their kids stereo system or video console? Just state the fact: you have turned your kid's rooms into an extension of your obsession:)

My 17 year old son uses my Beyerdynamic heaphones with a Denon cd player and a Pioneer Elite a35r integrated. He also uses it with pc games.
He listens on it quite a bit. I didn't give them to him. He came to me and asked to use them. Never too young to like good audio!!!

Danny Tse

phoneisbusy wrote:

Wow! Sounds like a lot of work for you though. That being said, let me know if you decide to do it.

The "warehousing" of 300 boxes would put me under. On top of that, it's the end of the month, and being a government employee, I don't even have money for today's lunch.

univera

Danny Tse wrote:

The "warehousing" of 300 boxes would put me under. On top of that, it's the end of the month, and being a government employee, I don't even have money for today's lunch.

Danny, I thought you were a high roller being that you already had Blue-Ray or HD-DVD:)

univera

sucks2beme wrote:

My 17 year old son uses my Beyerdynamic heaphones with a Denon cd player and a Pioneer Elite a35r integrated. He also uses it with pc games.
He listens on it quite a bit. I didn't give them to him. He came to me and asked to use them. Never too young to like good audio!!!

I agree totally, but he still isn't using a DAC for his game module. That's a bit over the top!

phoneisbusy

Danny Tse wrote:

The "warehousing" of 300 boxes would put me under. On top of that, it's the end of the month, and being a government employee, I don't even have money for today's lunch.

There's an email with pics of someone turning their cubicle into an office with some judicious use of cardboard for walls. I imagine the same could be accomplished using the 300 boxes.

Would appreciate your impressions on the dac after you've received it though.

regards

Dave

Danny Tse

univera wrote:

Danny, I thought you were a high roller being that you already had Blue-Ray or HD-DVD:)

High roller? I don't even have Tivo :rolleyes:

Phoneisbusy.....I will be putting in those imaginary door/wall markings on the floor Les Nessman used in "WKRP in Cincinnati".

cmy330go

Danny Tse wrote:

....Phoneisbusy.....I will be putting in those imaginary door/wall markings on the floor Les Nessman used in "WKRP in Cincinnati".

If you do that....I would also like to encourage you to throw live turkeys out of a helicopter on thanksgiving day.

What a great old show!

organ

This is interesting. Can't wait to hear what you think of it.

george daniel

cmy330go wrote:

If you do that....I would also like to encourage you to throw live turkeys out of a helicopter on thanksgiving day.


That actually happened years ago in a major city. The turkeys were supposed to fly, however since they were "farm" raised,they just fell like bombs,SPLAT,,thru automobile windshields etc.Needless to say,it was not a pretty sight,I believe that they were dropped from a helicopter while hovering over a shopping center parking lot.The radio station got a few calls that day. :eek:

adam2434

Mine is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. I plan to A/B it vs. my CDP's DAC, after I let it break-in for about a day.

Anyone get theirs yet and have any observations?

WilliamM2

So did anyone recieve theirs yet? They are still available, and I was thinking of picking one up to hook to a CD changer have.

How does it sound?

Systems

These are good little DAC's they use the same Crystal dac chip set that Audio Research used in their unit at the time.

adam2434

Finally got a chance to listen to this thing after a couple weeks of travel for work.

What I'm hearing so far is more detail than my CDP's DAC - more resolution in the high frequencies of cymbals and acoustic guitar and more pronounced layering of instruments, especially front to back depth. It sounds a little more 3D. I think it's more resolving of fine detail - the stuff that gives you the spatial cues about instrument placement and studio acoustics.

Even the bass sounds slightly more detailed and tighter.

The downside is that some bright recordings have a bit more bite - not enough to be fatiguing, but definitely noticeable.

When I first hooked it up, I used some AR Pro Series II digital and analog ICs I had lying around. Over the weekend, I put my better MIT ICs and a Monster digital coax in the chain. With these cables, I hear more of the increased detail/resolution described above.

This DAC is also "louder" because of its higher output voltage.

So far, I'm liking the extra detail, but time will tell. Folks with a cheap CD or DVD player should try this out for $50.

Snapped a couple pics. They're from inside and behind my rack, so they're not very good.