padam

Was it SR007 Mk1 or Mk2?

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/09/20/best-description-of-a-car-accident-ever

I would probably start with the DAC first, garbage in = garbage out.

My Sony is crying to me now, more poweeer!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday my friend!

How right you are. Why the hell it doesn't turn on!! Oh wait, what's that switch on the PSU?

Oh I see, a pity But if you or somebody else manages to find a solution to the problem in the future let me know by PM. Thanks!

Have a great one Don!

Here is a cheap A900 http://www.hifido.co.jp/KWaudio+ath/G1/P0/A10/E/0-10/S0/C11-60595-10608-00/ Also a new old stock W10VTG http://page10.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/m91932173

I guess this is it Looks very interesting for sure, could be the next one to try

Fortunately I have to

DA11 in the house (that was so quick!) I think I might prefer the Halide Bridge slightly because it adds a little warmth to the sound but the USB input seems pretty decent enough. More relaxed than the Parasound and I use it at the 50 setting, maybe I will try disabling it altogether later on. Operation is a little more quirky (for instance I liked the sample rate leds and simple input switches on the DA10) and I don't feel any need to use the PIC controls either. Now what to do, sell the Bridge, downgrade to a DA10 or move up to a Chord DAC64 or similar? I know, I fail

Does not look hard to do, should only take a few minutes. It is possible that you take out the sockets and send them to someone who does the mod, and put them back - if you don't need to re-set the voltage which is a little trickier (or you just use a step up transformer). Because it is probably in Japan where you can probably find one the quickest.

On today's unscientific comparison the DA10 seemed to outperform a the DAC1 USB, mostly in midrange and soundstaging and smoother highs (and this is from a Benchmark owner). I should add though that with the Halide Bridge plugged into both the differences were considerably smaller. So if the DA11 USB input is not that hot than a DA10 + Halide could be better value for money unless those controls are something special which I am not sure about. I will tell once I receive it for now I can't wait for that! It is on a higher level than the Parasound imho at least with the Halide Bridge.

Is it still possible to join in? I am not sure about it anyway but might be interesting to compare against the Lavry and Benchmark and Parasound.

Yes it certainly would I would go no less than a modded 727A. I don't know if I get flamed for that but on today's micro meet I was shocked by a power cable change on the 717, it was much better sounding than it was before. Apart from the bass which I find hard to get accustomed to it was quite stunning.

I don't get any metallic sounds with the balanced HD250II (even though it has quite a bit more treble than the HD6xx ones) so it is probably the stock Qualia cable which I am restricted to now as the other needs fixing... Sometimes I also get interesting out of the head sounds that I didn't get before with the Parasound because of the narrower soundfield. I hope the DA11 USB input will sound good so I won't need the Halide either.

Yes, my other 'fun' headphone (HD250II) might be preferable with that. There is much less technical difference as it seems to strengthen its own character while the Lavry softens it which can be considered better objectively but I don't consider it to be better. I might even go for a worse (or just different) cable than APS with that one because of the same reason. Pity I did not hear the SR-Omega with the Lavry I think I would have liked it much more than I did.

I used it at 56 since it is not mine it did not want to try the internal bypass but thanks for noting. Also I just used the default crystal setting so far. Unfortunately what I hear is less refinement from the Parasound, it is musical and dynamic but not as smooth, clear or detailed and the soundstage is narrower. It is nice for rock but not that good for classical, etc. so I will be sad to give it back. Tomorrow there might be a comparison against the DAC1 which I heard before and it was also better in the technical sense but also a bt too clinical to me (even if the CEC does make things warmer) and the Lavry seem to strike the balance between quite neutral and not too analytical but we'll see since I did not hear the two together yet it might be close. There is still a slightly metallic quality to the treble (have to use the unbalanced stock cable as there is a problem with the other and I know balanced drive is much better, especially in bass dynamics and soundstage) but aside from that I really like the sound and I was surprised because I expected the Parasond to hold up a bit better.

I had the chance to try a DA10 for a few days. I like it a lot. Is there anything more or less similar in this price range that is worth looking at or should I just get a DA10 or DA11?