Help me out with a DAC!

Joey_V

Anthony,

I read that you want to send me a set of SC.... I'll gladly take you up on that offer. I'm starting surgery rotation so I'm going to be real busy the next 2 months.... but I'm sure I can do a swappy/swap one of these weekends.

Thanks Anthony! I'll send you my info and you ship it out when you can and at your convenience.

Thanks again,
Joey

F1nut

amulford wrote:

Don't even ask, as soon as he types an answer, it it'll change.

Man, I'm digging the hell out of your speakers right now...

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Classic stuff, just effing classic!

amulford

Joey_V wrote:

Anthony,

I read that you want to send me a set of SC.... I'll gladly take you up on that offer. I'm starting surgery rotation so I'm going to be real busy the next 2 months.... but I'm sure I can do a swappy/swap one of these weekends.

Thanks Anthony! I'll send you my info and you ship it out when you can and at your convenience.

Thanks again,
Joey

No problem. Just send me an address.

george daniel

F1nut wrote:

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Classic stuff, just effing classic!

GOLD Jesse,GOLD

Lsi9

over your budget but nice anyhow...
Lossless

Joey_V

THanks everyone..

I contacted PS Audio, backorder on the PS Audio DAC is 1 month! Geez man....

Oh well... I'll sit here and wait, besides, atleast maybe I can actually read some actual reviews on the product. From a technical standpoint, the PS AUdio DAC seems to be a great product, all discreet internals, almost no opamps, Class A input AND output stages, one of the best BB DACs, linear and regulated PS.

I'll wait a month until the backorder is done and then put my order. By that time, I should also have the money to get the PowerPlant Premier and hopefully some cables.

Thanks as usual, Polkies.
Joey

hearingimpared

Zero wrote:

Well I'm currently using a Naim CD5X and .. no wait , this just in... I've got a Lector en route'. More on this breaking news!

I'm awaiting delivery of the OPPO DV-970 HD, $149:eek: It got a great review on page 26 of the new Absolute Sound. It is a combo that supports DVD-Audio/Video, SACD, HDCD, and CD and provides HDMI outputs with 720p/1080i upconversion.

I've been hearing good things here about SACD compared to vinyl and I wanted to check it out without paying an arm and a leg. I also wanted to get a CDP because I am currently using a CD-ROM that I won from WES's kharma.

I figured with my Marigo Signature stabilizing mat, what the hell, $149 can't go wrong. If I don't like it I'll give it to my older son for his HT system.

WTF run it through the Timbre DAC with the stabilizing mat and I may have something here maybe a giant killer.

Toka78

Van Alstine also offers an SS DAC that fits into your budget...if there is something better than AVA gear, at any price, I haven't heard it.

http://www.avahifi.com/root/equipment/dac/omegastar_dac.htm

F1nut

I may have something here maybe a giant killer.

That has to be the biggest myth in this hobby. There are no giant killers, just people who believe they can make a silk purse from a sow's ear.

hearingimpared

F1nut wrote:

That has to be the biggest myth in this hobby. There are no giant killers, just people who believe they can make a silk purse from a sow's ear.

Jess you don't believe that a good transport matched with an excellant DAC can be a killer sounding combo? How come?

heiney9

Two words to back up Jesse.......Toshiba 3950 . Everyone claimed it was a giant killer. Not even close. Those who thought so were smoking crack. Joe, I won't go so far to say there are NO giant killers but they are few and far between as you generally get what you pay for. I would ALWAYS opt for a transport and seperate DAC in most instances but I also know there are high end cdp's that could better such a combo. For me it's always a price vs. performance ratio. Personally if I can spend 60% of the money to get 90% there I'm happy. That last 10% is a **** and is usually where the cost rises exponentially.

hearingimpared

heiney9 wrote:

Two words to back up Jesse.......Toshiba 3950 . Everyone claimed it was a giant killer. Not even close. Those who thought so were smoking crack. Joe, I won't go so far to say there are NO giant killers but they are few and far between as you generally get what you pay for. I would ALWAYS opt for a transport and seperate DAC in most instances but I also know there are high end cdp's that could better such a combo. For me it's always a price vs. performance ratio. Personally if I can spend 60% of the money to get 90% there I'm happy. That last 10% is a **** and is usually where the cost rises exponentially.

Thanks for the info and I definetely agree with your figures. Here is how I was looking at it when I decided to pull the trigger on that $149 OPPO.

I have pretty much the same taste that Chris Martens (of TAS) has, long story behind that one. I have a very very good DAC. I wanted to hear an SACD player for myself in my own home in my own system (in progress) and I needed a CDP. I was probably going to go with the Underwood moded Music Hall CD-25.2 but decided against buying a full blown CDP because of the Timbre DAC. So I figured for $149 dollars what have I to loose? Hook up the OPPO with a very high grade digital cable connected to the Timbre DAC, use the Marigo Sig. stabilizer I have (and love), connect the Timbre DAC to my Spectral pre with some really good ICs and voila start listening. If I don't like the OPPO make it a gift to my son and keep searching for a good CD transport.

Giant Killer . . . well I er a, who the hell knows but I get your's and Jesse's point.

BTW Merry Christmas Brother

hearingimpared

Zero wrote:

Giants are giants for a reason. There is no arguing that.

Thankfully these days - you don't have to spend a lot to match the performance of so called giants... for every success there are 3-4 duds bound by ribbons and hype. But its squabble thats hardly with the time of day if another end has already closed the book based off self appointed knowledge. It happens often, especially in these parts - and thats just plain sad.

I'll let you know if my impending combo is a giant killer or not or if it just does the job and makes me smile and goose bump when listening to music cause after all that's all I'm looking for.

Joe

F1nut

Joe,

No, that's not what I said. A good transport and an excellent DAC will cost you money, therefore no longer making the combo a mythical giant killer. The OPPO is not a good transport (price point and common sense dictate that), so mating it with an excellent DAC is rather pointless, IMO.






Yeah ok nada boy, we're all TOO familiar with your latest and greatest turned POS discovery. Odds are you'd lose.

hearingimpared

F1nut wrote:

Joe,

No, that's not what I said. A good transport and an excellent DAC will cost you money, therefore no longer making the combo a mythical giant killer. The OPPO is not a good transport (price point and common sense dictate that), so mating it with an excellent DAC is rather pointless, IMO.

Point well taken Jess. . . like I said if the OPPO doesn't work out it becomes a gift to my son who is more into the "sound effects" of HT rather than the "sound reproduction" of 2 ch audio.

Thanks for the feedback.

Joe

Merry Christmas Bro

heiney9

Have at it Joe, that's what it's about . In the end only you have to be happy. Merry Christmas to you as well.

F1nut

Roger that and I understand your logic.

Merry Christmas to you and the family.

hearingimpared

The real shame of digital audio is that if you love to tinker and tweak the way I do, you can only go so far with digital but with analog. . .you can cry to the heavens. . . LET THE TWEAKING BEGIN!!! and then start eeking out performance a layer at a time.

I love this stuff guys. . .that's why I'm still on this site at 0148 24/12/2006.

F1nut

Too funny coming from the one who still lives in his mommy's basement and suffers from the delusion that he has any respect around here.

halo

Merry Christmas Eve everybody!

hearingimpared

Now here is a little confusing thought. When I was thinking about buying the Music Hall CD25.2 for $600, I had heard that Underwood did a modification that improved the CDP and brought the price up to $786 (I think). When I told Walt that I really just wanted to use the transport, he told me that they also did a modification on the Music Hall CD 25.2 transport that would cost like $1200. Um am I missing something here does that seem a bit ascew?

Modify the full blow CDP for $200 but modify just the transport for $600. It seemed a little backasswards to me.

Any thoughts????

TroyD

I'm actually interested in the opinion on the Oppo. I'm intrigued as I just read the review in the TAS. They don't seem to be a big advertiser ....so, who knows.

Though, put me in the camp that there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Of course, considering F1's reference, his comments have merit. Now, as compared to other entry level players.....sure that's a worth comparison.

BDT

hearingimpared

Wow all the big guns are up late tonight . . . good evening Troy.

hearingimpared

TroyD wrote:

I'm actually interested in the opinion on the Oppo. I'm intrigued as I just read the review in the TAS. They don't seem to be a big advertiser ....so, who knows.

Though, put me in the camp that there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Of course, considering F1's reference, his comments have merit. Now, as compared to other entry level players.....sure that's a worth comparison.

BDT

Troy what's your take on vinyl vs. SACD?

TroyD

My take?

Well, it depends on your frame of reference. Again, if your reference is F1's Tri-Vista rig, why, indeed, would anyone want to revisit vinyl. My opinion is that vinyl CAN sound better than digital, but there are some big if's in that statement. My theory is that to achieve a comparable level of resolution, vinyl is about 3X more expensive. That's just a rule of thumb, not any sort of hard and fast rule.

Done RIGHT, though, I think SACD is damn tough to beat. If you get the chance, get your ears on F1's Tri-Vista rig.


You know, Sean likes to take shots at F1, eh, whatever...but, there is no denying that F1 has some reference level gear at his disposal. I'm not denying that Sean doesn't have a good pair of ears but at the rate that he swaps out gear (which if it's not yours, that's the nature of the beast)...I take the opinions with a grain of salt.....

BDT

TroyD

As a pure side note, I'm all for taking up a collection to buy Zero a plane ticket to Chicago so he can hump JoeyV's leg in private rather than trying to polish his knob here in public.

BDT

hearingimpared

TroyD wrote:

My take?

Well, it depends on your frame of reference. Again, if your reference is F1's Tri-Vista rig, why, indeed, would anyone want to revisit vinyl. My opinion is that vinyl CAN sound better than digital, but there are some big if's in that statement. My theory is that to achieve a comparable level of resolution, vinyl is about 3X more expensive. That's just a rule of thumb, not any sort of hard and fast rule.

Done RIGHT, though, I think SACD is damn tough to beat. If you get the chance, get your ears on F1's Tri-Vista rig.


You know, Sean likes to take shots at F1, eh, whatever...but, there is no denying that F1 has some reference level gear at his disposal. I'm not denying that Sean doesn't have a good pair of ears but at the rate that he swaps out gear (which if it's not yours, that's the nature of the beast)...I take the opinions with a grain of salt.....

BDT

I gotta get me to a good SACD setup . . . I'm dying to hear it!

What you said about 3x more expensive is right on but the real issue I think is, is one willing to go through all the setup and resetup and tinkering and tweaking that is necessary with a good vinyl rig?. . . I know I am but you know what I am getting older and my hands shake a little and my eyes aren't what they used to be and my patience sometimes runs a little thin and sometimes I just want to sit and zone on some great music without all the exercise.

So I gotta hear SACD!:D

TroyD

hearingimpared wrote:

I gotta get me to a good SACD setup . . . I'm dying to hear it!

What you said about 3x more expensive is right on but the real issue I think is, is one willing to go through all the setup and resetup and tinkering and tweaking that is necessary with a good vinyl rig?. . . I know I am but you know what I am getting older and my hands shake a little and my eyes aren't what they used to be and my patience sometimes runs a little thin and sometimes I just want to sit and zone on some great music without all the exercise.

So I gotta hear SACD!:D

I'm not speaking for F1 but I'm sure he would be more than happy to demo his rig if you ever got down that way. If you want to know what good SACD is, that, IMO, is a very valid reference.

Well, I think that part of the attraction to vinyl IS the whole ritual and to be honest, sometimes I just don't have the time. So, there you go.

Hey man, you ever get too shaky and so forth (official dibs!) I'd be MORE than happy to give that VPI Mk IV a good, permanent home.

BDT

hearingimpared

TroyD wrote:

I'm not speaking for F1 but I'm sure he would be more than happy to demo his rig if you ever got down that way. If you want to know what good SACD is, that, IMO, is a very valid reference.

Well, I think that part of the attraction to vinyl IS the whole ritual and to be honest, sometimes I just don't have the time. So, there you go.

Hey man, you ever get too shaky and so forth (official dibs!) I'd be MORE than happy to give that VPI Mk IV a good, permanent home.

BDT

My crystal ball doesn't show that happening for a quite a while there Broham but you got the dibs if it happens. . . but the real attraction on that Mk IV is the SME Series V tonearm.

PS: It the ritual that I love so much but as I said the body is getting a little creaky.

F1nut

Nada boy, since you have no idea who comes and goes here, you really have no basis for your comment. However, we all know it to be a fact that you live where you live, have no car or job at 24 years of age and as Troy pointed out, own next to nothing as far as gear goes and have a major crush on Joey.

Case closed!