So, when talking "high-end" DACs....

[Jon L]

has anybody heard the Lessloss DAC? It's being popping up a lot lately, and I've yet to see someone give any impressions regarding it.

There's this review.

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue35/lessloss_dac.htm

[philodox]

I had the lessloss dac (loaned from Konig) in my rig for a solid month or so. It sounded great, but I think it was not quite at its full potential since I was using my own source as transport rather than a properly modded/slaved transport. It has absolutely no jitter reduction, so you really do need to mod your transport to get it working at full potential.

Until recent it was my must have source when I got the money, but I've been taken by the sound of transformer output and will likely build a DAC and use the K&K active output stage... I love my new CD player, but with the passive stage I am listening at 12-4 o'clock on the K340s and even have to max it out with some classical. The active stage also apparently adds a bit of sparkle, which wouldn't be a bad thing on my rig.

[grawk]

With a potentiometer, you'll theoretically get better sound the more open you have the volume anyway, so that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I had the lessloss dac (loaned from Konig) in my rig for a solid month or so. It sounded great, but I think it was not quite at its full potential since I was using my own source as transport rather than a properly modded/slaved transport. It has absolutely no jitter reduction, so you really do need to mod your transport to get it working at full potential.

Until recent it was my must have source when I got the money, but I've been taken by the sound of transformer output and will likely build a DAC and use the K&K active output stage... I love my new CD player, but with the passive stage I am listening at 12-4 o'clock on the K340s and even have to max it out with some classical. The active stage also apparently adds a bit of sparkle, which wouldn't be a bad thing on my rig.

[Contrastique]

I had the lessloss dac (loaned from Konig) in my rig for a solid month or so. It sounded great, but I think it was not quite at its full potential since I was using my own source as transport rather than a properly modded/slaved transport. It has absolutely no jitter reduction, so you really do need to mod your transport to get it working at full potential.

And that would mean getting an external soundcard which has WordClock or SuperClock input in order to slave it as the soundcard in the MBP probably doesn't have that feature...

To use it without that mod would be a waste of such expensive device. Too bad.

[Pars]

And that would mean getting an external soundcard which has WordClock or SuperClock input in order to slave it as the soundcard in the MBP probably doesn't have that feature...

To use it without that mod would be a waste of such expensive device. Too bad.

You could mod a CDP or a transport to accommodate this function as well. Probably the best way to do this is via a TentLink... expensive but apparently works very well.

[Contrastique]

You could mod a CDP or a transport to accommodate this function as well. Probably the best way to do this is via a TentLink... expensive but apparently works very well.

Yeah maybe something for the future. I probably won't use a CDP when I get my MBP some day...

Thanx Aarvark for the pics. I have no idea what it all means what you can see on the inside but I thought the BelCanto was smaller but it actually looks pretty big on your pics.

[The Monkey]

I need a new DAC. The DAC1 is awfully bright with my Stax rig. It's bright with other rigs too. It's just bright.

[The Monkey]

what are you willing to spend?

No more than $1500.

Alternatively, I am considering the GES, which may warm things up a bit.

[grawk]

I need a new DAC. The DAC1 is awfully bright with my Stax rig. It's bright with other rigs too. It's just bright.

mac mini + apogee duet

[naamanf]

So far I am pretty happy with my XPS->Buffalo DAC.

Not high end as far as price goes though.

[The Monkey]

this, maybe? i hear this dac is pretty good.

Yup, just saw those two. Very tempting...

[Dusty Chalk]

mac mini + apogee duet

Fanboy.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[grawk]

Bang for buck...it's hard to beat.

[Cankin]

Anybody heard Squeezebox duet? I know it's not high end, but do you think it is decent sounding?

[Contrastique]

With dynamic headphones, i wouldn't worry so much about what is "high end," i would worry about what sounds good to you and what gives adequate detail retrieval and accurate tonality, unless you are going to end up with really picky, revealing phones like the Qualia or R-10 (i don't particularly like either of those, but they definitely need a high end source). even my favorite phones, the L3000 and the HP-1000, reveal only a portion of what a true high end source can deliver.

I've reread this particular bit with great interest.

As I probably won't pick up either the Qualia or the R10 in the future it's kind of worthless / unnecassary buying a high-end dac when used headphones can't reveal the true nature of a source. I'm sorry this sounds overly logic but I actually kind of read over this bit at first.

It gives the future search more sense. Thanx.

[aardvark baguette]

Now I kind of want one of these

fkclo over at the 'fi said he preferred it to his Dac3. And its ~$500 less than the Dac3 street price

They have a pricier version, the ijazz, "available now" as well.

As mentioned above, the current output of the TDA1543 drives a proprietary discrete I/V converter. But why? Typically, I/V conversion is performed by an op-amp utilizing 100 percent negative feedback. We all know feedback isn't the best answer sonically, so there must be some other benefit driving this choice. That benefit is presenting a very low load impedance to the DAC, usually less than 50 ohms.

More recently, a trend has developed that uses a simple resistor for the I/V conversion. However, this resistor must be on the order of 1,000 ohms, and while this resistor does eliminate the feedback commonly associated with the op-amp method, it does little in the way of giving the DAC what it wants, i.e., a load impedance on the order of less than 50 ohms.

That's where the proprietary discrete I/V converter found in the iRoc comes in. It not only eliminates negative feedback, but presents a load impedance across a wide bandwidth that is less than 50 ohms. The best of both worlds, as it were, and sound of the iRoc reflects this design improvement.

[aardvark baguette]

shrugs.

[JBLoudG20]

Bye my MSB.

[aardvark baguette]

Bye to your MSB? or I should buy your MSB?

[JBLoudG20]

I say bye, you buy. Ok sir?

[JBLoudG20]

i don't know shrugs. is he big in stupid names branding?

No but he love you long time.

What the hell is with using Hammonds in production products?

[aardvark baguette]

They strike a chord with the consumer

[Hopstretch]

iJizz

Fnarr, fnarr.

[Pars]

My thought exactly.... $1500 DAC in a Hammond 1455.

But wait, the money is in the circuit... gotcha

A lot of use of half-truths in the marketing fluff as well:

As mentioned above, the current output of the TDA1543 drives a proprietary discrete I/V converter. But why? Typically, I/V conversion is performed by an op-amp utilizing 100 percent negative feedback. We all know feedback isn't the best answer sonically, so there must be some other benefit driving this choice. That benefit is presenting a very low load impedance to the DAC, usually less than 50 ohms.

More recently, a trend has developed that uses a simple resistor for the I/V conversion. However, this resistor must be on the order of 1,000 ohms, and while this resistor does eliminate the feedback commonly associated with the op-amp method, it does little in the way of giving the DAC what it wants, i.e., a load impedance on the order of less than 50 ohms.

That's where the proprietary discrete I/V converter found in the iRoc comes in. It not only eliminates negative feedback, but presents a load impedance across a wide bandwidth that is less than 50 ohms. The best of both worlds, as it were, and sound of the iRoc reflects this design improvement.

Nice leading the audience with the "We all know...". Feedback has its uses. I would agree from what I have heard in I/V stages (Jocko variants) that feedback isn't a good thing here. An I-out DAC really wants a dead short, and <50 ohms isn't a particularly good impression of a dead short... < 1 ohm would be much better, but certainly less than 3-5 ohms is easily doable. And is the TDA1543 well thought of (at least excluding Monica...)? I guess if it sounds good...

[aardvark baguette]

My only real motivation is a positive review from a fellow Dac3 owner. Nothing else, really.