Sherwood Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 You have no Mac support, Scream? Feh! This killed you for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron_Dreamer Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 If it was going to be Mac-only, they should have painted it white, like the duet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grawk Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 duet's not white Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jp11801 Posted July 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 If it was going to be Mac-only, they should have painted it white, like the duet! the duet is silver and the Metric Halo has AES, SPIDF and AES so it is not so much a one trick pony. The one bummer is you will need a friend with a mac to set it up initially then you are good to go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron_Dreamer Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Really, shoot, there goes my memory. At least I don't have to feel too silly, since I didn't own one! That would have been really bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jp11801 Posted July 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 with all the DACs you have auditioned its a wonder how you keep them straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron_Dreamer Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 There's my excuse! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atothex Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 the duet is silver and the Metric Halo has AES, SPIDF and AES so it is not so much a one trick pony. The one bummer is you will need a friend with a mac to set it up initially then you are good to go Could you explain that last part to me? I have no idea how these things work, but I was picturing the following setup in my head: PC -> sound card with wordclock <-> ULN -> amp How does the DAC interact with the sound card? I would only need the sound card's drivers to work with Windows? Does my imaginary setup even make sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jp11801 Posted July 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2009 the UNL-2 is a computer based audio interface designed with multiple routing paths. There is a software based mixer and console that may require set up prior to play Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrion Posted August 19, 2009 Report Share Posted August 19, 2009 After a bit of frustration, my 302 is now playing music. At the moment it's directly connected to my amp and I'm using iphone remote to control the volume. I know I have some tweaking to do (with the help of JP), including setting it up as a phono pre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grawk Posted August 19, 2009 Report Share Posted August 19, 2009 dibs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrion Posted August 19, 2009 Report Share Posted August 19, 2009 dibs I was ready to throw it out the window an hour ago but all is good now. There was a ULN-2 on Craig's List in the Bay Area. I might be able to make it available for your mini meet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grawk Posted August 19, 2009 Report Share Posted August 19, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrion Posted August 20, 2009 Report Share Posted August 20, 2009 This thing is pretty slick. I got the tt running through it, thanks to JP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augsburger Posted August 20, 2009 Report Share Posted August 20, 2009 This thing is pretty slick. I got the tt running through it, thanks to JP. Do you/can you run your cdp digital signal through the ULN-2 to see if it is a step up there as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpelg Posted August 20, 2009 Report Share Posted August 20, 2009 If I don't have a Mac Is this thing plug-&-play as a DAC if I only use the SPDIF inputs coming from a CDP transport? Or is there some configuration required via a Mac first? Also, is the value quotient still there if I don't need the preamp functionality (ie. using only the D/A side)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atothex Posted August 20, 2009 Report Share Posted August 20, 2009 From what they told me, if you buy it new, you have to set up a couple things before you can use it as a standalone DAC. You would need a Mac for that initial setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jp11801 Posted August 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2009 JImmy while you could use it without a mac yes set up or changes would need to be done on a mac. I would think though that straight throughput from a transport to either AES, optical or spidf would be relatively easy. If only using the D/A side without needing any DSP then a used version prior to the additional card upgrade was standard would be the move. Check Craigslist for them and hunt a price south of $1000 for a non +2 card unit $800 is a good price. Headphone amp in the unit is decent enough and better than entry level but is a bit bright, most likely for recording/mastering reasons. Right now it is pulling double duty as a phono pre (ADC) and DAC for my mac mini running the amarra software. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopstretch Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 Pretty thorough comparison of the ULN-8 and Berkeley Alpha here. ULN-8 shootouts: Next! | Computer Audiophile Barry seems to really love him some Metric Halo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopstretch Posted October 25, 2009 Report Share Posted October 25, 2009 (edited) Any further reports from the (other) early adopters? And can you use the ULN-2 as a phono preamp OOTB or do you need additional software plugins? Just checking, you understand. Edited October 25, 2009 by Hopstretch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jp11801 Posted October 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2009 Any further reports from the (other) early adopters? And can you use the ULN-2 as a phono preamp OOTB or do you need additional software plugins? Just checking, you understand. You need the metric halo DSP liscense $700 to get the EQ. It raises the new price to about $2300 but to my experience it's the best $2300 DAC and or phono pre. Keep in mind the phono cable goes into the combo jacks that are 200 ohms for the TRS and 3.3k ohms for the XLR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VPI Posted October 29, 2009 Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 John, if I want to connect my phono preamp (Manley Steelhead) to this to digitize for needle drops, I do not need the RIAA curves, etc. correct. I assume I can just run custom cables from the Manley to the ULN-2 then via firewire into the Mini. Am I oversimplifying this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jp11801 Posted October 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 Jeff yes, do not use the multi jacks I think it is the input marked R that is the cleanest signal path but I'll need to check Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n_maher Posted October 29, 2009 Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 Jeff yes, do not use the multi jacks I think it is the input marked R that is the cleanest signal path but I'll need to check It's in the docs somewhere, I've seen it before too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Monkey Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 JImmy while you could use it without a mac yes set up or changes would need to be done on a mac. I would think though that straight throughput from a transport to either AES, optical or spidf would be relatively easy. If only using the D/A side without needing any DSP then a used version prior to the additional card upgrade was standard would be the move. Check Craigslist for them and hunt a price south of $1000 for a non +2 card unit $800 is a good price. Headphone amp in the unit is decent enough and better than entry level but is a bit bright, most likely for recording/mastering reasons. Right now it is pulling double duty as a phono pre (ADC) and DAC for my mac mini running the amarra software. Nums, is there anything included with the DSP license that is useful for the DAC or is it ONLY applicable for the ADC? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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