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Posted

I paid $250 USD for each of the two 1100 HDs I picked up (one of Audiogon and one off eBay) in the last year. So that price is right on target (as opposed to a certain other sale going on). About the only thing I can think of testing, and yes this is obvious, is to try each of the inputs for a few songs to check for any electrical issues. Other than that if you have a preference for a rack mounted model or not, they come in both, though the dimensions don't change radically.

It's a very good DAC for the price and built like a tank.

Posted

I think that's a really good price for this DAC. Even if you don't like it, you should have no problem selling it for the same price so I wouldn't worry.

As far as testing, I would bring along an HDCD and see if the indicator LED lights up when it plays. That way you'll know that the PMD100 is working.

Posted
Hi all, there's someone selling one locally for $300 CDN, do you guys think it's a fair price?

The seller said the unit is clean and I'll be going to his place tomorrow to see the unit for myself, but since I haven't bought used gears at this age(10 years for this DAC?), what should I look for particularly?

Thx

**Pending sale to Alec** Parasound DAC 1100 HDCD - Canuck Audio Mart

Decent price.

Yeah nothing much to look out for.. it is built like a tank and with massive redundancies/overkill built in supposedly. I guess open it up and look for signs of mods (Things that look out of place) make sure the PCM63 and PMD100 are in there that's about it.

Posted

Yeah, that page is wrong.

Some of the features for the 1600HD are mistakenly listed there. The chips in the 1100HD are two PCM63-P's. The page also says the 1100HD has balanced analog outputs, which it doesn't have.

Posted
Yeah, that page is wrong.

Some of the features for the 1600HD are mistakenly listed there. The chips in the 1100HD are two PCM63-P's. The page also says the 1100HD has balanced analog outputs, which it doesn't have.

Sorry, I forgot to specify that the PCM63P are J Grade in the D/AC 1100HD.

I don't know what the grade differences mean.

Posted

I think the Northstar DAC was pretty close to the 1100 to Deepak's ears and he sold the Northstar and kept the Parasound. Frankly I haven't heard anything in the 1k range that really comes close.. maybe the PS Audio Digital Link III with culen mods (not sure what the mods really bring to the table but I've never heard it stock).

I wouldn't really blame the seller per se for bad info since the Parasound page is wrong and the seller probably doesn't know any better since he didn't open it up or really do research on it.

Posted
I think the Northstar DAC was pretty close to the 1100 to Deepak's ears and he sold the Northstar and kept the Parasound. Frankly I haven't heard anything in the 1k range that really comes close.. maybe the PS Audio Digital Link III with culen mods (not sure what the mods really bring to the table but I've never heard it stock).

I wouldn't really blame the seller per se for bad info since the Parasound page is wrong and the seller probably doesn't know any better since he didn't open it up or really do research on it.

Actually the Parasound is clearly better. But the performance gap is pretty close. The mids on the Parasound are more natural, but I can see some people here thinking the North Star is better or more acurate with its dry sound.

I haven't had a chance to try the Parasound in my friend's speaker system yet. The North Star sounded good in his system, but his vinyl rig (at 10x the price) utterly destroyed it.

Posted

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3480010795_72ecce13b9_b.jpg

Just got it, the seller is really a friendly one and let me demo it with his system with HDCD and offered me to open the case to see the internal of this DAC even before I ask.

BTW, he asked me if I know the exact difference between 1500 and 1600, since I know some folks here own both units, can someone please give some answers :)

Posted (edited)

In a nutshell:

1600 is a balanced 1100

1500 is a balanced 1000

Basically the 1600 and 1100 have a PMD100. And the 1600 has K grade PCM63.

The 1500 and 1000 have a different digital filter- SM5813AP

Edited by deepak
edited info
Posted
Frankly I haven't heard anything in the 1k range that really comes close..
I don't know if I'd go that far. I've had the 1600 and the Audio Alchemy, and I kept the Audio Alchemy. It's a little more rolled off, but what it gets right, it gets righter, IMHO.

I also mucho :ian: the MSB Link DAC III (which I believe I have 2 of, now), which, at the same time, has better frequency extension in both directions, and is much more moddable, to those with a DIY inclination.

Posted

Yeah the 1500 has nicer pcb/jacks and I think accepts one more coax input or something along those lines.. but uses a crappier digital filter (Not the PMD100) which supposedly has sonic implications outside of just not doing HDCD.

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