n_maher

Exactly, I have no context for the opinion that he's offering. Only that he made a seemingly offhand comment that pretty much dismissed the Alpha DAC. Or at least that's the way that I read it. So now I'm trying to figure out where he was coming from and yes, so far he's struck me as a douche so I'm not exactly coddling him while doing it. Maybe he considers his ECD-1 to be "just another mid-fi DAC" but heck if I know what his definition of mid-fi is.

I think my comments are relevant regardless. He's comparing a ~3k stetup to a 30k setup in a system that he's largely unfamiliar with and claiming that not only is the $30k setup superior (color me unsurprised) but that the Alpha DAC is just another mid-fi piece of equipment. I'd like to know how exactly he reached that conclusion since I don't think Jeff is exactly a shilling moron here to sell us on the Alpha and may have heard some ok rigs in his time.

Provided that one selects a step-down transformer capable of providing adequate current I see no reason that it would be at all audible unless the component it's feeding would provide crappy power to the amp regardless of what it's fed. When you think about it every component uses either a step down or step up trafo in generating B+.

Ok, now explain to me what makes the Ayre just another mid-fi DAC? You were comparing it to what, a $30k digital front end? Did you compare the Ayre to anything remotely close in price or are you just talking out of your ass and trying to use hyperbole to impress us?

Something does not compute. You paid $5, what is there to wonder about? It's almost guaranteed to be a throw-away item, if you're lucky it's half-decent.

Please elaborate on your extensive experience with both, lest I be tempted to whack you with a for being a giant .

They didn't say anything about a new driver as far as I've read.

Pretty minor annoyance really, should be hard to tell that anything happened in a couple days when I can stop wearing the splint on the finger. Mostly I feel like a dumbass.

Ditto on that front, I found the 125s to be pretty awful and can't imagine that a cable change did much to change that.

*right click* *save*

What else was I supposed to do? I was just sitting there for about an hour and a half before anything happened. Finally home now, 7 stitches and a tetanus shot later.

Unfortunately I'm still sitting here.

I can certainly think of better places to have watched the second half of the Pats game. Otherwise I'm just happy that it's mostly painless. I'd like to think I'll be out of here before too long - it's been over a hour already.

Currently sitting in the ER waiting to get stitches in my left index finger. I attacked it earlier today with a hack saw.

Happy Birthday Al!!!

Overpriced? I liked the Wadia CD player that I had well enough, it was built like a tank and had a pretty unique feature set (built in remote preamp, digital inputs) but Wadias in general seem to command a premium price. Especially the older stuff. About the only piece of gear that I'd like to own made by Wadia is the Ipod Dock.

Nicely done Mike. Next time we want your chip number so we can organize some sort of drinking game based on your splits.

Good luck Mike!

Translation: Pass Dac for Stretch?

Clearly it needs bigger cables.

One already exists, sorta. No idea who owns it anymore.

I would not suggest using a beta, regardless of gain with the JH13s. While their 119db is not the most sensitive I've seen with IEMs if there's even a hint of background noise in your amp or source you're going to hear it. The idea that he was showing them off driven balanced at RMAF is pretty crazy.

Shoot, how did I miss this, Happy late Birthday!

Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings The Flood