Best Single Ended USB DAC under 1000?

[wrecked_porsche]

Just to add to that, I was using the pico as a preamp for my SRM-T1 that was driving a Lambda Singature the other day. It made the sound quite crispy and bright overall. Its much better than using the Ibasso D1 (stock V2 opamps).

No flaws, just saying the sound was rather crisp and some might/might not like it. I prefer the SRM-T1 hooked up to my Samsung Z98G CDP over the pico. Pico was a nice match for the MDR-CD3000 though. Its a pity I had to give the pico back to my friend yesterday.

The question lingering in my mind is how much/does the pico amp section influence the DAC section? Would be nice to do a side by side comparison with the current pico and the future DAC only version.

[donunus]

If you're really curious, go find Iron Dreamer's DAC comparison with the DA10, DAC1, Aqvox (same as the DA53), and Opera (I think that was it).

I saw that. I just sent Iron Dreamer a PM regarding the settings he used for the mark 2 model if it was the same as the mk I. Wonder why he didn't use upsampling on it in his review

[padam]

I think I settle with a DacMagic for now (it's about 230 EUR here), the exchange rate makes the others much more expensive. I know that my Stax deserves a better source but it will be better than nothing.

The other one I am looking at is the Abrahamsen DAC but it will only come out in January 2009 with an estimated pricetag of 475 EUR.

[laxx]

That Abrahamsen DAC reminds me of an Electrocompanient ECD-1 DAC.

[iceman94]

That Abrahamsen DAC reminds me of an Electrocompanient ECD-1 DAC.

Abrahamsen looks to be closely related to Electrocompaniet. Their History section lists the same two names as Electrocompaniet, Otala and Lohstroh, the product websites end in .no, and the Abrahamsen website is copyright ECS Holdings- the EC part sounds familiar. Wonder what's going on there.

[n_maher]

Abrahamsen looks to be closely related to Electrocompaniet. Their History section lists the same two names as Electrocompaniet, Otala and Lohstroh, the product websites end in .no, and the Abrahamsen website is copyright ECS Holdings- the EC part sounds familiar. Wonder what's going on there.

According to several folks there's no "closely" about it.

Yeah, Per Abrahamsen was one of the founders of Electrocompaniet about 30 years back. In the spring of 2004 Electrocompaniet were officially bankrupt. The rights to Electrocompaniet were later sold to and revived by the company Westcontrol.

[spritzer]

It's run by the guy that founded Electrocompaniet. Now thanks to you lot I'm looking into the V2.0 integrated amp for my speakers. Here I was hoping I could get away with a cheap NAD or Onkyo...

[padam]

The V6.0 will be much cheaper than the ECD-1, wonder if it has the same internals.

[spritzer]

I highly doubt that they are in any way similar, let alone if the v6.0 is made in Norway. The cost of making one unit in overhead alone is much, much higher then in the US let alone the Far East so the parts have to be cheaper to maintain the profit margin.

[The Monkey]

^someone should buydat.

[Dusty Chalk]

Dew et.

[Sherwood]

Gah! QUIERO.

I made him an offer. Fingers crossed. I've wanted this bad boy since a weird old Turkish cable maker played it for me years ago, and only now am I stupid enough to buy it.

[deepak]

Dew et.

Duet

[padam]

I found a local deal - again. This time it is an almost new CA 840C. Price is about 750 EUR (negotiable). As I've read it can be used as a DAC quite easily. What do you think, should I go for it?

[Dusty Chalk]

x2

You'd need a USB -> digital converter, though.

[The Monkey]

Should I bother trying out the CA DACmagic?

[donunus]

Has anyone here compared a havana dac against a pico?

[falkon]

I would try somewhere else. Not too many people interested in NOS dacs here.

[donunus]

whys that?

[Tony]

An upgraded Melior Bitstream runs 1000$ from Museatex, when available. My own unit sounds great but there is much availability both in sound and layout among the different units (spritzer, for example, had one looking different inside, which he found harsh). There is variability not only in the revision of John Wright's upgrades, but also in how the units come back to him. They were made when Wright used to work with Meitner, none are being made anymore, so each existing unit may have undergone unpreditcable changes through the year, with owners trying to make them sound better. This also happened to Bidats.

[HeadphoneAddict]

An upgraded Melior Bitstream runs 1000$ from Museatex, when available. My own unit sounds great but there is much availability both in sound and layout among the different units (spritzer, for example, had one looking different inside, which he found harsh). There is variability not only in the revision of John Wright's upgrades, but also in how the units come back to him. They were made when Wright used to work with Meitner, none are being made anymore, so each existing unit may have undergone unpreditcable changes through the year, with owners trying to make them sound better. This also happened to Bidats.

Under those circumstances You mention, I would be more reluctant to recommend that one if it were me.

[luvdunhill]

Under those circumstances You mention, I would be more reluctant to recommend that one if it were me.

This is pretty common with most modded gear. The number of permutations isn't quite as many as Tony suggests, but there are 6 versions that I know of that really fall into two major categories.

[Tony]

HA: A matter of points of view.

That I know, anyway, it's possible to know beforehand from John what Revision of his upgrades can be performed.

[luvdunhill]

HA: A matter of points of view.

That I know, anyway, it's possible to know beforehand from John what Revision of his upgrades can be performed.

yup, in general, the ones with the separate clock board that isn't integrated into the main boards are the more desirable units. The issue is, these were the ones with the bad caps that must be replaced... so, you're right in that a minimal amount of upgrades need to be done to these.

[deepak]

The Museatex Bitstream is a great DAC. That said it still remains very good digital, and can't quite reach vinyl's resolution (so far only few multi thousand $ DACs/CDPs I've heard can come close to).