W4S DAC2-DSDse is on its way

VCoak
VCoak Posts: 200
edited May 2014 in Going Digital
Just got an e-mail from Walter (Underwood Hi-Fi) my DAC is enroute. I ordered the DAC with the upgraded Fermto clock. Pics to follow and then posts on how it sounds.

X-Mas in March...
W4S SX-1000, Adcom gfp-750, Polk 1.2tl, W4S DAC 2 DSDse, 2012 mac mini (mod), JRivers ver. 19, WD Cloud NAS 2 t.b., Monster Cable AVS-2000 signature, Doug's Alpha I/C & Doug's biwire 6' speaker cables
Post edited by VCoak on

Comments

  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited March 2014
    Very nice!
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
  • erniejade
    erniejade Posts: 6,288
    edited March 2014
    Sweet! I was thinking of upgrading my dac2 to that. I cant wait to read your reviews.
    So far, the dac2 that I have put a world of hurt on sacd on my system. Redbook via the w4s sounds better then sacd. High rez even better as long as it was mastered in high rez. I can imagine with the dsdse sounds like!!!


    OOO whats stopping me from doing the upgrade, i have a geek with Fermto clock that should be coming in a few months. I wanted to wait and see how it does before I put the $ into the w4s.
    Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista 300, Audioquest Thunderbird Zero Speaker Cable, Tyler Highland H2, 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.
  • VCoak
    VCoak Posts: 200
    edited March 2014
    W4S DAC@-DSDse is here..

    Still have a few more equipment moves to perform but had to set her up.

    Enjoy...

    W4S.jpg
    W4S 2.jpg
    W4S 3.jpg
    W4S 4.jpg
    W4S 5.jpg
    W4S SX-1000, Adcom gfp-750, Polk 1.2tl, W4S DAC 2 DSDse, 2012 mac mini (mod), JRivers ver. 19, WD Cloud NAS 2 t.b., Monster Cable AVS-2000 signature, Doug's Alpha I/C & Doug's biwire 6' speaker cables
  • erniejade
    erniejade Posts: 6,288
    edited March 2014
    Sweet!! On mine right around the 80-100 hour mark burned it in nicely. But right out of the box it did sound great also but burned in even better!
    Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista 300, Audioquest Thunderbird Zero Speaker Cable, Tyler Highland H2, 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.
  • VCoak
    VCoak Posts: 200
    edited March 2014
    Well I have just over 25 hours on the W4S DAC2-DSDse. What an incredible unit. Not one issue and the music is oh so smooth. Miles Davis was at his best tonight.

    Running the W4S > adcom gfp-750>adcom gfa-5500 into polk SDA SRS 1.2 (mods on their way from Vr3 soon)
    W4S SX-1000, Adcom gfp-750, Polk 1.2tl, W4S DAC 2 DSDse, 2012 mac mini (mod), JRivers ver. 19, WD Cloud NAS 2 t.b., Monster Cable AVS-2000 signature, Doug's Alpha I/C & Doug's biwire 6' speaker cables
  • Devlon
    Devlon Posts: 355
    edited March 2014
    Vcoak, looks like you were up really late listening to your new toy! Keep posting your impressions. I am particularly interested in your impressions of it's USB. My DAC 2 is a little lacking in that department. I might be tempted to send mine in, lol
    Living Room: HK AVR 354 as pre/pro, 2 x Polk Audio Micropro 4000, Adcom GFA-7500, 2 x Mirage OMD-15
    2 x Mirage OMD-5, 1 x Mirage OMD-C1, APC H15, Sony S790, Philips 52" LCD, Beogram 3000, FAT (Firestone Audio Tobby DAC), Harmony One

    Den: Sherwood R-972,as pre/pro, 2 x Velodyne SPL-1000R, 3 x Crown Drivecore XLS1500, 2 x Polk Audio Lsi9
    1 x Polk Audio Lsic, 2 x Polk Audio Lsifx, Sony S790, APC H15, Dspeaker Dual Core 2.0, W4S DAC 2, Keces DA-151
  • VCoak
    VCoak Posts: 200
    edited March 2014
    Hi Devlon,

    Keep it and get the upgrades! Hi-Res and DSD is incredible. I am not one for articulating sound very well but the musicians are literially playing in my sound room. Short of being there live this is one of the best purchases I have done in many years. My SDA SRS 1.2's simply fill the room with the orchestra.

    BTW, thank you for the offer but I firmly believe you can get more if you decide to sell. My next upgrade after the TL process for the speakers will be amps. Will most likely go with mono blocks.
    W4S SX-1000, Adcom gfp-750, Polk 1.2tl, W4S DAC 2 DSDse, 2012 mac mini (mod), JRivers ver. 19, WD Cloud NAS 2 t.b., Monster Cable AVS-2000 signature, Doug's Alpha I/C & Doug's biwire 6' speaker cables
  • VCoak
    VCoak Posts: 200
    edited March 2014
    Downloaded some hi-rez files today. W4S DAC2-DSDse running a few DSD files. This dac sounds incredible. Well worth the money. Still learning about filters/DSP. I attached a few pics.

    Enjoy

    dac dsd 64 resize.jpg
    dac mini resize.jpg
    W4S SX-1000, Adcom gfp-750, Polk 1.2tl, W4S DAC 2 DSDse, 2012 mac mini (mod), JRivers ver. 19, WD Cloud NAS 2 t.b., Monster Cable AVS-2000 signature, Doug's Alpha I/C & Doug's biwire 6' speaker cables
  • erniejade
    erniejade Posts: 6,288
    edited April 2014
    Still digging the unit? Should be close to fully burned in by now.
    Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista 300, Audioquest Thunderbird Zero Speaker Cable, Tyler Highland H2, 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.
  • Christo
    Christo Posts: 30
    edited May 2014
    Keep the feedback coming. I'm considering upgrading to this unit from my current Yulong. If you're a Dave Brubeck fan I highly recommend Time Out on DSD. Simply incredible.
  • VCoak
    VCoak Posts: 200
    edited May 2014
    Hello to All,

    Been very busy with work. Well over 100 hrs on the DAC and still improving on sound. DSD downloads from 2L are incredible with this DAC. I'm running through a USB cable into a dedicated mac mini (SSD w/ 16megs). Not one issue, none!

    They are a little pricey but it works so well and for me is worth every penny. Even the wife noticed an improvement in her genre of music.
    W4S SX-1000, Adcom gfp-750, Polk 1.2tl, W4S DAC 2 DSDse, 2012 mac mini (mod), JRivers ver. 19, WD Cloud NAS 2 t.b., Monster Cable AVS-2000 signature, Doug's Alpha I/C & Doug's biwire 6' speaker cables
  • deafbykhorns
    deafbykhorns Posts: 150
    edited May 2014
    Have you thought about a better power supply? I built a Salas power supply, the difference was spectacular
    Main System- Scratch built 2A3 , Lightspeed preamp, Technics SP15/Graham/XV1s,Klipschorns w/ALK xovers/Trachorns, Speakercraft MT8(4), Sonos ZP90, Yamaha Aventage for surround
    Office System- Adcom GTP500, Bedini 45/45,Lexicon RT-20,Enlightened Audio DAC, Polk SDA2.3TL, Northcreek Borealis
  • headrott
    headrott Posts: 5,484
    edited May 2014
    Have you thought about a better power supply? I built a Salas power supply, the difference was spectacular

    The Salas power supplies are excellent! Highly recommended!
    Relayer-Big-O-Poster.jpg
    Taken from a recent Audioholics reply regarding "Club Polk" and Polk speakers:
    "I'm yet to hear a Polk speaker that merits more than a sentence and 60 seconds discussion." :\
    My response is: If you need 60 seconds to respond in one sentence, you probably should't be evaluating Polk speakers.....


    "Green leaves reveal the heart spoken Khatru"- Jon Anderson

    "Have A Little Faith! And Everything You'll Face, Will Jump From Out Right On Into Place! Yeah! Take A Little Time! And Everything You'll Find, Will Move From Gloom Right On Into Shine!"- Arthur Lee
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    edited May 2014
    Oh say it ain't so...a well built power supply making a difference in the sound ? Amen gents....do they make those already built or are they simply DIY ?
    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
  • FTGV
    FTGV Posts: 3,649
    edited May 2014
    Have you thought about a better power supply? I built a Salas power supply, the difference was spectacular
    While the Salas are excellent regulators theres several issues with that idea.First off you would void the the warranty.The Salas PC boards need a fair amount of chassis realestate.Lastly the integral power supply/voltage regulation is already very good.