Peachtree DAC-IT (ESS Sabre32 9022 based DAC) - Thoughts ???

[spirovious]

Thanks for that link Spiro. But they look like 2 years old. Things might have changed a lot in this time. What do you say ?

This must be with earlier DAC chip ESS ES9008 & newer with ESS ES9018 which is same as AL8002 CDp.

 

[vasishta.sushant]

@vasishta.sushant
But DacMagic is designed to work well with SPDIF inputs. Don't expect good performance using USB over SPDIF if going for DacMagic.
On the other hand rDac is designed to work well with USB input.

I haven't seen enough data point to corroborate the stated fact but I would be cautious if you say so. Also I have seen how the HRT Streamer II, that I initially had, works. Its a great buy but only the USB input kind of puts me off. What if later I'd like to hop places ? I would love to get the Streamer II+ which is quite a step up over the II version but again the only USB thing is stopping me.

Now a days almost every laptop comes with optical out. If USB is the only possible option then better consider some other DAC which works well for USB.

I've a netbook which doesn't have any optical out so will have to make do with the USB ports.

 

[grubyhalo]

You can contact magma for chassis options for the DAC. If it was me deciding, the Buffalo II DAC would be a no brainer. Some points that you may be interested in:

1. The DAC module itself comes pre-built making it much less riskier. The PS and the output stage would have to be soldered by the user but I understand that this is not too difficult.

2. You get excellent support from the designers as well as the user communities at both the DIYA and the twistedpear forums.

3. Twisted Pear should be coming out with a USB module that would support bit-rates till 384kbps. Since USB would be your primary source this would be something that would come very handy.

 

[vasishta.sushant]

3. Twisted Pear should be coming out with a USB module that would support bit-rates till 384kbps. Since USB would be your primary source this would be something that would come very handy.

By USB module, do we mean the USB mass storage device support ? So that I can load my USB thumb drive and it will be played from that module itself ? If thats on the cards, I wouldn't mind waiting for that.

I was initially interested in getting the Marantz CD6003 and was planning to use its USB input only but realized that I'll be doing injustice to myself and the great device

 

[grubyhalo]

No, that's not what it is. You can hook up your PC to the DAC through a USB cable to listen to music. The DAC would be detected as a sound device similar to a sound card on your PC...

 

[borg]

You can contact magma for chassis options for the DAC. If it was me deciding, the Buffalo II DAC would be a no brainer. Some points that you may be interested in:

1. The DAC module itself comes pre-built making it much less riskier. The PS and the output stage would have to be soldered by the user but I understand that this is not too difficult.

2. You get excellent support from the designers as well as the user communities at both the DIYA and the twistedpear forums.

3. Twisted Pear should be coming out with a USB module that would support bit-rates till 384kbps. Since USB would be your primary source this would be something that would come very handy.

Any idea when the dac kit and thse usb module will be available

i plan to get this this and assemble in a same cabinet with the linuxguru's diy amp i am going to build

Now need a volume control which can be remotely controlled and a device to share the front speakers with my AVR

 

[grubyhalo]

From the twistedpear Buffalo II page:

"The Buffalo-II (BII) DACs currently on sale will be shipped the week of May 22nd.

We will be offering more pre-orders every two weeks on Saturday or Sunday for the foreseeable future."

Not sure when the new USB module is slated for release.

Casing the DAC together with the power amp would not be a good idea in my opinion...

 

[borg]

this says they are doing some modification so no dates can be announced
Next stampede of pre-orders? - General Questions - Twisted Pear Audio Support

 

[ravi_d]

I've a netbook which doesn't have any optical out so will have to make do with the USB ports.

I have the issue of connection dropping out using the USB input on DacMagic from my laptop. I had to go with the option of spdif/ optical connection and I could hear the improvement in sound quality and no more dropping issues.
There are reviews for DacMagic mentioning it works better with SPDIF inputs and there are reviews for rDac mentioning USB input working better than SPDIF.

19k for DacMagic seems like a good price but if you face the same issue as I faced you may want to upgrade your laptop or upgrade the Dac again which is not either a good thing.

If considering a chinese DAC like Yulong D100 you can use Aramex to get it from there.

 

[abhi_jollyguy]

Abhi,

My system (leaving alone the DAC is nearly finalized). I'd just replace the Polks with Aviano 2s. Having said that, I know the DAC would heavily influence the sound signature.

My preference if you ask me would be more around being able to feel the harmonics, the backstage symphonies (can't put it in some other words). The vocals is what I am primarily looking at. Slight less bass and slightly less sparkly highs would be fine but the vocals is what I die for.

I am mostly into acoustic tracks. Some cover tracks and hindi music. The vocals play a major part in my kind of listening. I know you'd probably suggest me to go the Vinyl way but I hate spending money every time I want to listen to a new track. I can stretch once but not every month. Also I've all my collection on my PC so there is not other good way to boost the experience than getting a decent DAC.

ok so ur primary focus is at vocals then I would recommend u Musical Fidelity V-DAC and Matrix Mini-i Balanced DAC.

I've suggested u both the DAC's by luking at ur system and the sound signature u just told me in this post.

 

[anm]

don't know the pricing but this should have async USB goodies.

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/Young-DAC-M2Tech-384khz-Async-USB