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granodemostasa

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Heard the MSB Link II (I think it was a II) way back at my first ever Headfi meet. I was pretty indifferent towards it, I just remember a certain dumbass named Trevor who would not shut the fuck up. I felt like pushing him down the stairs at the end of the meet. I think Biggie might remember that dickhead.

Was that TrevorNetwork or something like that?
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Heard the MSB Link II (I think it was a II) way back at my first ever Headfi meet. I was pretty indifferent towards it, I just remember a certain dumbass named Trevor who would not shut the fuck up. I felt like pushing him down the stairs at the end of the meet. I think Biggie might remember that dickhead.

Haha yeah, he drove me to that meet. We got to listen to all his dumbass cellphone conversations at full volume too.

Biggie.

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I just took delivery of an Apogee Mini-DAC yesterday and I'm taking it through its paces.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=238644

^^

You can see where I'm at with things right now but the long/short is: Good first impressions but need more time with it to see if it's really making an appreciable enough difference or not. $700 can go in a lot of different directions, so I'll spend some good time with it today and probably start getting an overall better idea of what it's bringing to the table or not.

I like it a lot so far. :)

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If I was in the market for an external Dac, I'd seriously look into the Weiss Dac1. There must be a reason why most studio engineers consider it the best DAC in existence alongside the Meitner and overpriced dcs units. Plus, it's made in Switzerland and not too expensive, under $10k. Looks pretty ugly and industrial though. Too bad, there's never one on the used market.

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To people that have heard the Ori modded Zhalou what do you think? Ori sent me a lengthy PM explaining the virtues of his DAC (and his X-2 cables) and he hyped it up pretty good ::) (compared it to Emm Labs and dcs gear)

Honestly I'm extremely skeptical since it's information coming from the modder/builder, but I thought I'd hear what you guys had to say.

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Hi

Just say no. I know what he likes, what he listens to and I can understand why he thinks the dac he has on his hands is sooo good.

the OMZ (ori modded zhaolu) has one of the most involving, thick, and splashy mid-ranges of any source out there. by that I mean, that it exhibits the midrange in such a manner that it fools the listener into thinking that he is hearing musical cues, big time detail and a "musical" presentation. IMO, musical cues and holographic imaging are exhibited in the treble and deep (deep) bass, not in the midrange.. what the OMZ is exhibiting is just the thickness of the midrange. the OMZ also has other serious issues with treble extension and bass extension; neither have any real texture, impact or brilliance. while there is nothing particularly rolled off, the reach and quality just isn't there. the Frequency extension just doesn't go well beyond the low and high midranges.

The biggest problem i have with it is that it just makes me nervous and feeling kind of sick to listen to. by that I mean, i'll listen and think (wow, there is something wrong here), and when the VDA-2 is on i feel that the control and fullness of the frequency range is back and I calm down and can enjoy the music much more.

Iron Dreamer said that there was a "glare" in the upper midrange, and I certainly felt the existence of one when I listened at Ori's house. there was just something "wrong" with what i was hearing from the recordings that I'm so used to.

there are some very good qualities to it (sorta), the midrange's thickness and splashiness remind me of the Meier Opera's dac and crossfeed, it has the same affect. the overall midrange detail, and separation are actually quite good, and it certainly does sound musically competent in it's midrange.

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Honestly I'm extremely skeptical since it's information coming from the modder/builder, but I thought I'd hear what you guys had to say.

Not that this is of any help to you but I thought it worth noting that I always get a good chuckle out of the Oritek website. Where does he get those amazing graphics!?!?! ;D

I'm sure you've talk with Skullguise about his Ori DAC, right? Last I talked with him he was pretty happy with it and he's actually someone who I'd trust not to just believe the hype.

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Thanks granodemostasa.

Nate, now that you mention it I think Todd did tell me a bit about the Zhalou (but I can't remember much). We were listening to one at his house but I can't remember if it was Ori modded or not. I couldn't take anything away from listening to it since I wasn't using music I was familiar with (d'oh) and it was my first time hearing Todd's amps.

Hi

Just say no. I know what he likes, what he listens to and I can understand why he thinks the dac he has on his hands is sooo good.

the OMZ (ori modded zhaolu) has one of the most involving, thick, and splashy mid-ranges of any source out there. by that I mean, that it exhibits the midrange in such a manner that it fools the listener into thinking that he is hearing musical cues, big time detail and a "musical" presentation. IMO, musical cues and holographic imaging are exhibited in the treble and deep (deep) bass, not in the midrange.. what the OMZ is exhibiting is just the thickness of the midrange. the OMZ also has other serious issues with treble extension and bass extension; neither have any real texture, impact or brilliance. while there is nothing particularly rolled off, the reach and quality just isn't there. the Frequency extension just doesn't go well beyond the low and high midranges.

The biggest problem i have with it is that it just makes me nervous and feeling kind of sick to listen to. by that I mean, i'll listen and think (wow, there is something wrong here), and when the VDA-2 is on i feel that the control and fullness of the frequency range is back and I calm down and can enjoy the music much more.

Iron Dreamer said that there was a "glare" in the upper midrange, and I certainly felt the existence of one when I listened at Ori's house. there was just something "wrong" with what i was hearing from the recordings that I'm so used to.

there are some very good qualities to it (sorta), the midrange's thickness and splashiness remind me of the Meier Opera's dac and crossfeed, it has the same affect. the overall midrange detail, and separation are actually quite good, and it certainly does sound musically competent in it's midrange.

How are the dynamics with the OMZ? This was the major point he was trying to emphasize as being "explosive"

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yes, it is very dynamic. i guess the difference is the OMZ hits you with a house-sized pillow, the vda-2 shoots you with a bullet. Ori obviously liked the big sound coming off the walls with the OMZ, whereas I was more impressed with the deep vibrations i heard from the vda-2. it's a matter of taste i think.

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Why do you say that? I've heard that he's strange but....

Let's just say his idea of a headphone amp is a single stage OTL using a 6H30P. It had an output impedance of something like 500 Ohms and no bass. Unfortunately I didn't know that much about tube design back then or I would've told Jay to tell Ori that he's a fucking crackhead for coming up with something that dumb.

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Guest sacd lover

Not that this is of any help to you but I thought it worth noting that I always get a good chuckle out of the Oritek website. Where does he get those amazing graphics!?!?! ;D

I'm sure you've talk with Skullguise about his Ori DAC, right? Last I talked with him he was pretty happy with it and he's actually someone who I'd trust not to just believe the hype.

I recently bought a Zhalou dac from skullguise. ;)

I know he stated the unit had some mods. The discrete headamp sounds quite good .... the dac sounds off. I am going to have the dac modded with a zap filter.

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