It's a mini adventure in hifi!

From what I've read and been told the DAC64s design is a bit special....something to do with the way the digital filter works. Its called WTA (Watts Transient Alignment), after its designer, Rob Watts. Think the DAC-64s receiver chip is unique as well, but less confident about that....

Having spoken to Isaac about it in the past (he's met mr watts and chatted about this in quite some detail I venture), this filter arrangement is something quite different and clever - certainly not something you could replicate yourself since the DAC chip is not an off the shelf design and very little out there works in quite the same way.

Yes, the DAC64 has a SMPS, and an op-amp output stage, so nothing special there, but I suspect Rob Watts would be fuming about the 'not much of note' comment . If you don't like the sound of it, fine but it does have some quite noteworthy and different design features.

 

the chord dac64 is pretty unique,they stand apart in that robs design is the only custom designed asic used as a DAC.

the entire DA conversion process is different to any other design, both the dac and receiver chip are custom designed around each other. who actually does their chip fab is neither here nor there, the application of the DA conversion process and the hardware is unqiue to robs design, chord and tube technology who licence it.

i'd warrant that you wouldn't notice any change by swapping the SMPS for a linear one.

i haven't heard your system but i have heard the DEQ alongside the DAC64, and they aren't even on the same planet to my ears.

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Well at least one person here has actually heard the two next to each other.

As I said, the DAC is custom and there is a buffer; which I gather from the Chord website is what makes the input receiver different. Assuming a low jitter transport, one would hope the buffer wouldn’t really make much of a difference. Which leaves the DAC chip itself with its WTA filter being the only thing to set it apart, as far as I can see from their literature.

All this is really pretty meaningless, when what is important is how it sounds. In my system at the time, even with the Chord transport it sounded really very similar to the DEQ. Perhaps the DAC64 hates TVC preamps, or the DEQ loves them! Or the same for Bryston active crossovers and amps?

Since I have heard the stock DEQ significantly bettered by both the modded version and other more expensive DACs and CD players as well as the fact Dev uses a TVC pre-amp, you can see why I don’t think getting a DAC64 is exactly the best option for Dev in order to get a super upgrade as suggested by Joe, a few pages back now.

I would still be interested in a bake-off to show that in the right system the DAC64 can better the DEQ, or indeed that in the right system the DEQ can be as good as the DAC64.

 

In a clasic exemplar of hubris, my DAC went 'phut' last night and has stopped working. That'll learn me to gloat!

 

Guys you need to try the Beresford TC-7510 DAC. It is superb!!!

I tried out the DEQ, very kindly brought over to my flat by Tenson, and whereas I liked the sound, I was not overly convinced enough to buy it.

I did a bit more research and there seemed to be some noise about the Beresford DAC. With his 7 day money back guarantee I decided in for a penny in for a pound and bought one.... Since then I cannot get enough of it.....

Check out the following. The new MkIV has an improved (no hiss)headphone amp

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34391

http://www.homehifi.co.uk/products/TC-7510UK.html

 

Sorry to hear that Joe, I assume it's a DAC64, is it covered by any warranty?

 

No; it was secondhand when I bought it (from Michaelab on this very forum), and that was two years ago. Fortunately I've remembered I have an el-cheapo DAC sitting in a cupboard that can be used as a temporary stand-in.

... which I plugged in last night and which sounded surprisingly good in capturing the essentials of the music, though with a slightly smaller soundstage and much less detail than the DAC64. However, something else has gone horribly wrong, because later in the evening, when I tried to play some vinyl, no sound emerged from the speakers. Switching back to CD resulted only in a horrible buzz/hum from the speakers.

Damn and blast!

 

It's getting less and less mini!

First off, I added another box, home-made:





And now another SM70 mk2 is winging its way to me to monoblock them.

Next up is a homebrew DAC, of which more later.