high quality balanced DAC (small-ish, lightweight a plus)

[dsavitsk]

Rowland stuff is spectacular - audio jewelry. And for the most part, it sounds spectacular (or sounds like it's not there at all). But the price......

 

I like it as I have a soft spot for transformer coupling And I think it is about the nicest looking gear there is.

[Currawong]

I reckon you can do better than the ULN-2 now. Also, if, for whatever reason, you aren't getting sound out of it you'll be there forever trying to work out which setting was wrong.

 

One idea might be the Metrum Octave, which has dropped in price. Factor in a good USB to S/PDIF converter though (eg: an Audiophilleo 2), as the optical input is awful. It's more mellow-sounding than the Benchmark or Lavry. Though it's two boxes, it's like two elongated small Hammond cases and weighs stuff-all. 

 

Other than that, why not build a maxxed Buffalo III? Easy to do with all the audiophile-approved bits and no headphone outputs.

[guzziguy]

I have another idea, Justin.  Why don't you design and build such a DAC?  I'm sure that you can find some good starting points out there.  It also would be more impressive if, when someone asked "what's that great sounding DAC", you could say it's something that you cooked up.

 

I realize that this wouldn't happen overnight.  You could always buy an inexpensive solution to use until yours is ready.

[justin]

I have another idea, Justin.  Why don't you design and build such a DAC?  I'm sure that you can find some good starting points out there.  It also would be more impressive if, when someone asked "what's that great sounding DAC", you could say it's something that you cooked up.

 

I realize that this wouldn't happen overnight.  You could always buy an inexpensive solution to use until yours is ready.

 

There's no time to do it.  Even if i send off an email and BHSEs started being made in China and were finished in 2 weeks, there would still be no time.  There are other ways though, like MSB offers its DAC modules or complete DAC boards to OEMs to put in their own boxes.  The price would likely be way out of line with my current products, however.  The other way is to try to create a 'real' company and start hiring engineers.  But creating a payroll that is currently several times my profits is probably what sinks most of these companies.

Edited March 6, 2013 by justin

[guzziguy]

Sorry I wasn't clear.  I was talking a one-off box for your personal use, not a new product.  Starting with a kit and enhancing that might be a way to do it quickly.

 

I understand that you probably don't have time for something like this, but I had to ask.

[Cankin]

Apogee symphony

 

Last time I heard it through its headphone out with a pair of HD800, one of my balls exploded because it is fucking amazing, no kidding.

[guzziguy]

If I ever saw fodder for a custom title, this is it!

[spritzer]

A one off dac would also make it much harder to dismiss the source as something it isn't.  We might do a Mafia dac one of these days as we have a very good I/V stage for it... 

[deepak]

I think I will go DAC IV something or another when MSB comes out with the DAC V

 

I heard the base model one at an NH dealer and it was reGronkulous

[Lil Knight]

A one off dac would also make it much harder to dismiss the source as something it isn't.  We might do a Mafia dac one of these days as we have a very good I/V stage for it... 

Exactly what I have been hoping for. With the advent of more and more excellent ES9018 DAC modules, all I actually need is a top of the line, cost no matter IV stage, along with a KG-trademark PSU.

Edited March 7, 2013 by Lil Knight

[spritzer]

Pffft on the Sabre, I won't touch anything that isn't ladder based.   

[Lil Knight]

What's your option(s) for a DIY ladder DAC other than the 1704 these days?

If it is anything like the TotalDAC then that would be a great Mafia DAC.

[Dash]

Music Direct has a HRT Balanced Pro for $299

Edited March 7, 2013 by Dash

[deepak]

What's your option(s) for a DIY ladder DAC other than the 1704 these days?

If it is anything like the TotalDAC then that would be a great Mafia DAC.

I think it has been said somewhere else that with 0.01% resistors it's not even getting close to 14 bit resolution.

[Lil Knight]

Yes, need more zeros there, makes me curious which ladder DAC that is available and feasible for DIY.

[spritzer]

What's your option(s) for a DIY ladder DAC other than the 1704 these days?

If it is anything like the TotalDAC then that would be a great Mafia DAC.

 

Where there is will, there is a way. 

[complin]

 Vincent Brient the owner of TotalDAC comes from an engineering and electronics DIY background.  He offer some OEM and DIY options so he might be willing to work with the community to make something available? Might be worth exploring  

 

OEM or DIY boards:
All the REFERENCE-A1 electronics without enclosure, all the D1 electronics, a board only, 4 way active crossover and more, LCD, Shallco switch, on demand kit etc...: consult me

e-mail: [email protected] 

telephone: +33 2 90 02 11 39 (european time zone)

[spritzer]

I would much rather buy modules from MSB but there is nothing there we can't DIY if we invest enough time/money.   

[Dusty Chalk]

Japanese USB DSD basis

 

Anyone have an opinion on the DSD1794A?

[Currawong]

There's a guy here who did a DIY dual-ES9018 DAC. There's a lot of crazy stuff here like that.

 

Latest FOTM in some circles (ie: a DAC nut on a couple of forums has waxed lyrical over it) is the Chord Qute HD, which is the processing core of their TOTL DAC but in a Chordette case for ~DAC1 money. Not balanced though it accepts DSD over USB.

Edited March 17, 2013 by Currawong

[Torpedo]

As some of you already know, I've been using for the last few days one of those Mytek DSD 192 Preamp. No worries, I'm not going to write a review , but since there seemed to be some interest about it, I'll leave here a few comments, which as a personal opinion, shouldn't be taken seriously at all.

 

- The test system is based on this 2010 13" MacBook Pro enhanced with a 256 SSD and 8GB of RAM. This could be important playing DSD files. Using OSX 10.8.2 (Mountain Lion) and Audirvana so pure DSD stream to the DAC can be used with no software conversion in between. I've tested both Firewire and USB 2.0 (asynchronous) links. Both need custom drivers which the manufacturer provides at their website and are pretty straightforward to install. USB1.0 has a separate input, it needs no drivers, but it just accepts 24/96 and no DSD.

The DAC goes into a YBA Integré DT integrated amplifier, this feeds the venerable pair of Celestion SL600 speakers, which in this small room have been my source of music for a bunch of years now. This is not a specially resolving system, so it's quite likely that some performance flaws are lost in translation. The previous DAC here is a DA-11, so most comments compare both.

 

- The 192 comes with a 1.6.x firmware version which can be upgraded to the current 1.7.1 version by using their tool and the binary provided at the website. This upgrade can only be performed by Firewire link, so be warned. BTW, the unit uses FW400 (6 pins) but the current computers usually sport FW800 (9pins) so a specific cable is necessary and not included. The USB cable is included.

 

- The unit supports all PCM sampling frequencies from 44.1 up to 192 KHz (no 384) and just DSD64, not the newer fancier DSD128. On PCM it works at 24bits which is the default (and it seems that not customizable) setting on OSX. As said above, to use the whole connection speed range, there's need to install drivers and using either FW or USB2.0.

 

- Once installed OSX sees it as either "Mytek Firewire" or "Mytek DSD192", even both, but not being careful in swapping the devices as output, can crash OSX. This has happened to me about 4 times. Leaving it alone on either FW or USB works flawlessly.

 

- The thing has a lot of features, like separate volume control for headphones and line out, separate XLR and RCA line outs, volume control in analogue or digital domain which can be bypassed on the line outs, but still works for the headphones (which is something the Lavry doesn't have so the volume setting is the same on both line and phones output), two different PCM filters, remote control which has one option for Apple remote... No cross-feed, no fancy 3D settings. Its use is pretty intuitive and easy.

 

- Overall I'm liking and keeping it, so the Lavry can go back to where it belongs in the main sitting room system. It sounds good, no particular harshness or mellifluousness. Voices sound fluid and natural enough for me (one of the areas where I'm more picky), detail retrieval is very good, and as far as this system allows, soundstage is wide and deep. I'd say it's more transparent to the recorded virtues and flaws compared to the Lavry, so good recordings sound very good, but the weaker ones are more revealed for what they are. Perhaps the Lavry has this "rounder" and sort of warmer bass which the Mytek delivers more tautly. Both have good punch and are fun to listen, quite easy to live with them.

The headphones out is something I've not tested thoroughly. I'd say it's good enough to work with sensitive cans, but seemed to me in the dry-sterile side of things. I wouldn't use it as the main headphones device considering it has a separate analogue input. BTW, this input can be used as signal input into the computer if using FW or USB 2.0 links for recording purposes. If I didn't understand wrongly, it's not that the DAC acts as an ADC, but it can get the audio signal through those connection into the computer so it can record it if proper software is used. I haven't tested it, so I'm not sure how it works, but I've checked that OSX recognizes the device as an input one, which is not the DA-11's case.

I've compared performance playing DSD files natively and PCM of several bitrates. I'd say this things sounds OK with any format you feed it, the differences would come more from the master-mixing than from the format itself. Some DSD files sound horrible (some of those Japanese SHM SACDs) and some plain redbook PCM files sound absolutely awesome. IMHO this thing behaves more like an audio tool directed to pros than a sweet audiophile toy, but being a pro device, I'm liking its sound for relaxed listening quite a lot. If I hadn't liked it enough I'd have tried the newish Benchmark DAC-2, the next to be released in Europe Matrix X-Sabre or the Lynx Hilo, which are all in the sub 2000 euros price tag. I guess I'd need to live with this DAC for some more time to really know its virtues and flaws in depth, but the trial period is over and I've decided to keep it. Time will tell.

[RiStaR]

 

 

- The unit supports all PCM sampling frequencies from 44.1 up to 192 KHz (no 384) and just DSD64, not the newer fancier DSD128. On PCM it works at 24bits which is the default (and it seems that not customizable) setting on OSX. As said above, to use the whole connection speed range, there's need to install drivers and using either FW or USB2.0.

 

 

 

Since I have the same DAC, just want to add that it does support DSD128 on the 1.7 firmware - it displays Hdsd on the screen in that mode.

 

I also noticed Justin's worries about folks figuring out how to use the PC, and I think a properly setup Foobar player would work here. (the interface is simple enough to know that it's a song list and I just double click on the song I want to hear). 

 

DSD really is great and works great for a lot of genre, but sometimes high-res PCM really do sound better for me. For some reason the "grittiness" of PCM works for some material (As I have no clue what the original master files format are for the various recordings it could be that the original master source is PCM)

 

Somethings that I've found out and aren't often mentioned (or not often enough) with regard to the Mytek and DSD in general:

• DSD playback is unmolested through Foobar and if you have lots of DSD tracks from various albums be prepared to have your hand on the volume knob between track changes. Volume differences can and will be high most times.
• As above, none of the DSP plugins work - e.g. HTRF etc
• Even with Native ASIO there may be pops/static noise if switching between PCM and DSD material
• PCM to DSD128 through the Foobar plugin actually makes essentially all my PCM material sound better (maybe my ears has just bought into the DSD character?)
• Depending on your beliefs with regard to burn-in (your ears getting accustomed or components) the Mytek will sound better with time. Out of the box it sounded very tinny to me
• You can trick Foobar to play 352k/384k material as DSD128 by playing a DSD64 file then immediately switching to the high-res PCM file
• There's a simple USB cable hack that means you don't have to worry about expensive USB interconnects - the Mytek has a ton of inputs so you can use 2 x USB cables or 1 x USB cable and 1 x Firewire and let the cable connected to USB2 just handle signals by covering pin 1 & 4 of the cable.
• Torpedo mentioned this, and I do think the ability to handle volume through the Mytek with analog; digital; bypass really offers flexibility for folks with different tastes which may be great for Justin's potential clients.
• Insane number of inputs means folks can come by with their own source material (even analog if they really desire) without ruining your main PC playback setup.

Edited April 16, 2013 by RiStaR

[padam]

I got to borrow a 192 DSD DAC as well for a few days. I am using USB2 as I have no FW input.

I am finding it to be quite different to the Lavry DA11 it will take a while until I get used to it.

 

It is quite a bit more resolving and open (with the O2 I heard things I hadn't noticed before) and as Antonio wrote it has a much "tighter" type of presentation.

 

Overall I would say it is probably nice with darker headphones but it is probably just too much with SR009 or most Lambdas.

 

I am actually enjoying it most with the modified 727 and Sigma Pro, that seems to have the best synergy

 

I'm wondering what would be a great source for the SR009 as it needs to be hyper resolving but at least slightly warm at the same time.

[arnaud]

Eh, you did not get the memo? 

 

The Mytek is supposedly such a piece of junk that your ears will bleed after about 7 seconds, no 5 actually. At least, that's what I read from a high authority on the internet. Could I have been mislead??

 

For the totalDac, how can it only be 14 bit effective while at the same time having a background noise figures shown here http://www.totaldac.com/D1-single-eng.htm or here http://www.totaldac.com/ready_dac.htm? I have been quite tempted by the D1 (and the MSB Analog actually), but the price is definitely keeping me away from impulse purchase

[Nebby]

Eh, you did not get the memo? 

 

The Mytek is supposedly such a piece of junk that your ears will bleed after about 7 seconds, no 5 actually. At least, that's what I read from a high authority on the internet. Could I have been mislead??

 

For the totalDac, how can it only be 14 bit effective while at the same time having a background noise figures shown here http://www.totaldac.com/D1-single-eng.htm or here http://www.totaldac.com/ready_dac.htm? I have been quite tempted by the D1 (and the MSB Analog actually), but the price is definitely keeping me away from impulse purchase

 

Heh, I read the same review and found that interesting as well