Pars Posted February 18, 2009 Report Posted February 18, 2009 According to the DA and Transport List, this used: SONIC FRONTIERS SFD-2 2 x UltraAnalog D20400A – SM5803AP Had it been a MkII, it would have had the PMD100 instead of the SM5803AP. Same parts as a Mark Levinson No. 30, PS Audio Ultralink. Of course the supporting circuitry, output stage, etc. is probably completely different, so just cuz it has the same chips in it may not mean much.
XXII Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Posted February 18, 2009 According to the DA and Transport List, this used: SONIC FRONTIERS SFD-2 2 x UltraAnalog D20400A
Icarium Posted February 18, 2009 Report Posted February 18, 2009 Yeah I dunno the reviews stack the SFD series pretty on par with the Levinson stuff and the Spectral DAC as well. This dac should not be a slouch at all. I think it's a good value at the 900 dollar price, but it's kind of pointless for me as I plan on getting a 3 at some point. The 3 should basically be on par with the Spectral with the differences a bit less clarity in exchange for fuller mids and more bass quantity.
atothex Posted February 18, 2009 Report Posted February 18, 2009 Sorry to be slightly off topic, but where would the Processor 3 fit in the scheme of things?
Icarium Posted February 18, 2009 Report Posted February 18, 2009 sfd-3 or whatever is the processor 3. That's what I meant. I think they just went all out cost no object with it. I think the biggest difference is probably that it uses discrete I/V designed by Ultra Analog who made the chips while I don't know what the 2 uses, but not that. The Spectral uses a fully discrete I/V as well but it was designed by themselves. The Processor 3 has a tubed output stage versus the spectral's solid state one. Also the tube output stage I think has 2x the number of tubes versus the 2's output stage. Which of course means its way more awesome.
atothex Posted February 18, 2009 Report Posted February 18, 2009 Ah, ok. That's why it's so damn expensive still. Anyways, I was randomly browsing that DAC list and saw that Shanling made some stuff with PCM1704 and PMD200. Would anyone happen to have any info on those?
deepak Posted February 18, 2009 Report Posted February 18, 2009 I find this interesting that the Levinson 30.5 to 30.6 upgrade (that Levinson would do for a fee) involved going from 2 x UltraAnalog D20400A+PMD100 to 4x PCM1704... The 30.6 remains in the top digital I've heard.
XXII Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Posted February 18, 2009 Man, this really really sucks... I go to pick up the DAC and the seller is extremely nice, we listen to the DAC for a while and it sounds great in his system. I then lug the thing home and the right channel is completely distorted. You can still hear some of the music so I don't think it's the DAC that's at fault. I've also swapped the two tubes so it's not the tube that's faulty. Otherwise, I've tried everything else I could think of and nothing helps. To make things suck even more, in the confusion, I manage to fry my Havana by plugging it into the wrong voltage. I guess something might have dislodged on the journey home. But looking inside, nothing looks out of place. Any suggestions??
morphsci Posted February 18, 2009 Report Posted February 18, 2009 Check the interconnects, take two aspirin and call me in the morning.
XXII Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Posted February 18, 2009 Here are some photos. I guess the other strange thing is the silver foil type thing that's convering one of the DAC chips. I just realized that this is the right DAC... Check the interconnects, take two aspirin and call me in the morning. I need something stronger than aspirin I think...
Dusty Chalk Posted February 18, 2009 Report Posted February 18, 2009 Three things: 0 - Don't panic! 1 - have you ever had tube equipment before? They take a while to warm up, give them 30 minutes (monitored of course, just in case something really is wrong). They should audibly get better. 1.5 - Don't panic. 2 - reseat the tubes, just in case. Take them out, and put them back in. He didn't swap tubes on you, did he? You might just have a burned out tube. Those are easy enough to replace. 3 - Do not panic.
Dusty Chalk Posted February 18, 2009 Report Posted February 18, 2009 That's good to hear. Apparently, you can add a module to upgrade it to MKII. I'll check if they have this.That'd be nice.
XXII Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Posted February 18, 2009 I can't believe what just happened....I flipped it over to see if the bottom panel could be removed (it can't)...then I flipped it back over...and then after I turned it on it worked!...for around 10 seconds...then the distortion came back but not as bad as before..
XXII Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Posted February 18, 2009 ...and now it decides to work again...I don't dare move anything ...
XXII Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Posted February 18, 2009 So it's still working.. Three things: 0 - Don't panic! 1 - have you ever had tube equipment before? They take a while to warm up, give them 30 minutes (monitored of course, just in case something really is wrong). They should audibly get better. 1.5 - Don't panic. 2 - reseat the tubes, just in case. Take them out, and put them back in. He didn't swap tubes on you, did he? You might just have a burned out tube. Those are easy enough to replace. 3 - Do not panic. I think it might be that the tubes weren't seated properly. And flipping it over managed to correct things. I don't know! He definitely didn't swap tubes on me. The tubes are just Sovtek 6922s. Nothing worth scamming me over!
Icarium Posted February 18, 2009 Report Posted February 18, 2009 I find this interesting that the Levinson 30.5 to 30.6 upgrade (that Levinson would do for a fee) involved going from 2 x UltraAnalog D20400A+PMD100 to 4x PCM1704... The 30.6 remains in the top digital I've heard. They aren't the first company to take a possibly backwards step.. I don't really understand why Spectral would go from using Ultra Analog parts to the delta sigma AD1853 which I believe is the same chip they use in the benchmark and the apogee rosetta I believe... Who knows Despite that though I'm sure the SDR-4000 sounds pretty awesome as DAC chip is only like 1/3rd of the puzzle at most with I/V and analog output stage being pretty key.. as well as digital filter. That being said that PCM1704 is probably just as good or nearly as the Ultra Analog part. As is the PCM63. These "vintage" chips (PCM1704 is still in production) are still very competitive. Still, I think the only clear "upgrade" feature is that the PCM1704 is the only mass produced resistor ladder (R2R) dac that will do 24/96. The PMD100 does not do 24/96, but the PMD200 and numerous other digital filters do. This is possibly why made the change. Dunno. Did you get a chance to stop by Goodwin's yet Mr. Pak?
deepak Posted February 18, 2009 Report Posted February 18, 2009 I am definitely not knocking the Ultra Analog DSP, that was never my intention. I haven't heard a DAC using the Ultra Analog yet. I do like the 1704 DAC/CDPs I've heard and I'm itching to hear the SimAudio Andromeda. I haven't made it down to Goodwins yet, on call on this rota leaves me with no free time. I might get a chance at the start of March.
Icarium Posted February 18, 2009 Report Posted February 18, 2009 Yeah I didn't think that was your intention I was only offering my conjecture. I love the PCM1704 myself. I own 4 sources that use it
luvdunhill Posted February 18, 2009 Report Posted February 18, 2009 Yeah I didn't think that was your intention I was only offering my conjecture. I love the PCM1704 myself. I own 4 sources that use it Do any of them use DF1704 as well?
Icarium Posted February 18, 2009 Report Posted February 18, 2009 The Assemblage 3 had a mod that uses the DF1704 in a little board. I pulled it out and put the PMD100 back in. The UX-1 may use the DF1704. The D70 I know has a PMD200 in it but it may have a DF1704 as well... I know it doesnt use the PMD200 full time I don't think and may only use it for decoding HDCD. The Assemblage uses the PMD200.
XXII Posted February 19, 2009 Author Report Posted February 19, 2009 Okay, so it now seems to be working so I guess the worst is over . Now for some initial impressions: Amp: Square Wave XL Headphone: Balanced APS recabled W5000. As soon as it started working and I put on the W5000 I was blown away (no doubt partially due to relief!). I was playing some Rachael Yamagata and her voice was like nothing I heard before. Some sweet mids here! It also seemingly managed to reduce the nasal quality of the W5000 that plagues the mids of some songs. The next thing that struck me was that the timbre of the drums seemed incredibly realistic. The bass was also full of impact yet very tight and fast. Actually this leads me to one flaw I find with the sound: It's incredibly aggressive. I feel physically assaulted when listening to Metal (Sikth) and I had to turn down the volume to avoid being pummeled. This is effect is probably caused by a combination of the forward lower mids/ upper bass, the fast attack, and the bass impact. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure that it trounces my Havana although I haven't been able to A/B them since I blew the fuse on my Havana (a moment's idiocy). But keep in mind that my impressions are probably not that fair partly due to sheer relief and partly due to the fact that I'm now using Cardas Golden Reference XLR cables (which I also bought yesterday from another local seller for $200). instead of my Aural thrills RCA cable. I've also never had a chance to listen to the standard Benchmark, Lavry, Stello,... so I don't have a common reference point with most of you. Now I need to find CD transport with digital XLR out or even something that uses AT&T glass optical. I realized yesterday that the optical out on the DAC was not toslink . Any suggestions? Also, a big thanks to morphsci and Dusty_Chalk for their reassurances in my moment of need . A few more pictures:
Dusty Chalk Posted February 19, 2009 Report Posted February 19, 2009 Hooray. Just a belated response to this:He definitely didn't swap tubes on me. The tubes are just Sovtek 6922s. Nothing worth scamming me over! Agreed. And I didn't mean necessarily scamming -- he might have done it right in front of you. You know how tuberollers are, "oh, yeah, for my system, these are fine, but for yours, I suspect you'll want these..." etc. That kind of thing. I wish you many hours of enjoyable listening.
Icarium Posted February 19, 2009 Report Posted February 19, 2009 That foil on one dac chip cover is really bizarre though.
Dusty Chalk Posted February 19, 2009 Report Posted February 19, 2009 I don't think it's extra foil, I think the label peeled off, and the foil is underneath.
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