Jump to content

The Great Dac search


granodemostasa

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 367
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

i've always heard that it was in the same league as the benchmark DAC1. i've never heard the apogee.

Ah I see. :D

What do you guys think about picking up old DACs from the early this decade or late 90s that used to sell for a two or three grand but now for a couple hundred used? Is it worth it to look at them or are today's upsamplers just so much better than those NOS DACs of past?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

if they sounded good then, they probably still sound good now.

Hah, good point. ;D

I used to be one of those "OMG UPSAMPLERS ONLY!" people, but I've been reconsidering my standpoint since my wallet can't take it (I can't afford a new good upsamplers; most of the upsamplers under $1k other than perhaps the VDA2 are kind of lacking when compared to older NOS units). Of course, if I can find a Northstar, Esoteric, Stello DA220, or Lessloss for $1k or less, it would be a different story. But of course, chances of them showing up at those prices are quite quite rare.

Oh, I wish I had a new DAC. My DAC, despite using a decent chip, is not so good to my ears (there is more to the sound of a DAC than its chip after all). My budget can stretch to $1k if required. Perhaps I should just pick up a VDA2 or M24 if I start being desperate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah I see. :D

What do you guys think about picking up old DACs from the early this decade or late 90s that used to sell for a two or three grand but now for a couple hundred used? Is it worth it to look at them or are today's upsamplers just so much better than those NOS DACs of past?

old DACs are the new tubes!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And yet the TDAs are pure shit. :( Yes, I said it. :angel:

But they use them in the $20,000 (or whatever the hell it costs) Zanden, therefore it must be good!

I don't think I've heard a DAC with one of those TDA chips, but I can't say it's a life experience I desperately need either. I have the PCM1700 in my CD player and like what it does, and I've heard the PCM1702 in Biggie's player and really liked that. The ones I do want to hear at some point are the PCM63 and PCM1704.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Haha, well, the TDAs can sound very musical depending on the implementation. And you still need a couple dozen of those chips in parallel to fix the horrible linearity and a crazy awesome filter circuit/solution. So it all depends on the hax solution required to fix the chip, but with an ingenious hax solution, you end up with something quite musical and quite good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hah, good point. ;D

I used to be one of those "OMG UPSAMPLERS ONLY!" people, but I've been reconsidering my standpoint since my wallet can't take it (I can't afford a new good upsamplers; most of the upsamplers under $1k other than perhaps the VDA2 are kind of lacking when compared to older NOS units). Of course, if I can find a Northstar, Esoteric, Stello DA220, or Lessloss for $1k or less, it would be a different story. But of course, chances of them showing up at those prices are quite quite rare.

Oh, I wish I had a new DAC. My DAC, despite using a decent chip, is not so good to my ears (there is more to the sound of a DAC than its chip after all). My budget can stretch to $1k if required. Perhaps I should just pick up a VDA2 or M24 if I start being desperate.

If you can find a Northstar I would do it. I can honestly say I would pay Perrotta Consulting's demo price had I known it sounded this good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only reason the TDA chips became popular is because it is so easy to build a DAC with them, if you can build a cmoy you can almost build a TDA154X DAC.

The NOS Cartel is going to have your head, justin! :police:

the explanation seems to be fairly accurate...though it's the 1543 in particular that seems to be the easy one

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The funny part is how true that is. I've recently heard of TDA 154X chips going for the same price on ebay as a good NOS tube.

Probably a TDA1541, those chips are supposedly the real winners of that family but they're a bitch to implement correctly and they've become fairly rare. Most NOS stuff available these days is based on the 1545 or 1543. The 1545 is supposed to be a poor mans 1541 while the 1543 is the most common and cheapest/easiest to implement.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Thrashed might be a better word for it. I was not too impressed by that piece the one time I heard one, certainly not for the cost.

so you don't think it's on level with other 2K dacs?

yea... it's a little scratched there and there, but if anyone has seen my HD650s i don't mind blemished looks so long as it sounds great.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.