Anyone have or tried this. Some good reviews but is it that good.
Yes it is that good. Just performed a shoot out with the Lector CDP7. The Lector a tubed unit and the Altman not. The Altman had a clearer picture into the music and more slam in the bass. Overall the Lector won out in micro detail, decay of instruments, depth of soundstage and overall tonality. The top end is where the biggest difference was. The Lector being more natural with sibilance and more extended. The performance difference was a matter of omission. What ever the Altman did music wise was nothing to complain about. If your looking for dynamic bass, clarity and slam the Altman is for you. The Lector was not three times better for the money. The Altman is one third the price. It was close sometimes very close to the Lector. If the Lector was not in my system and I never heard it I could live very happily with the Altman. For $1500US BUY IT. rollo
Although I have no experience with this particular DAC, Paul Hynes told me that he has supplied a number of high speed regulated power supplies for it, to universal praise. I use a PH PSU with my Squeezebox, and I can fully believe that the Altman DAC can be significantly improved with Paul's stuff, at quite modest cost. It's worth having a chat with Paul - see http://www.paulhynesdesign.com/page7.html
Another alternative would be to get Vinnie from red wine audio to build you a custom battery. It works really well and is in dimensions only about the size of the altmann itself (twice the height). Worked well for me (think it was somewhere between 200-300USD). The red top is definately not WAF friendly. I've owned several DAC's over the years (DAC64, AA DDE III, NOS, etc) and I reckon its on a par with the DAC64. I never did a head to head so I can't say for sure tho.
P.S. I don't mean the same in sound style - different presentation to the DAC64. Although I'll always say the amp & speakers make a far bigger difference than the DAC.
Oh I have it too but you know what I've no idea how good it is It's my 2nd dac. The other was I bought back in 1994 - an Audiolab 8000 Dac, so I'd expect it to be better than that. I've decided not to audition and compare it to the other dacs since I'm very pleased the way it sounds. I can say that after 3 months or so it just gets better and better... as I told it would. Good to read Rollo thought it at least gave a good impression against his Lector. It rather confirms all the other good reviews it gets. Mind you one person thought the Benchmark Dac 1 was better than the Altmann Dac. He reasoned that when partnered with a very good high end transport than he thought the Benchmark was better. His said that "I did put it with the MBL transport 1511 (or 1521).....also tested it in the Bladelius player (not sure which model, but swedish made)....also into and Accuphase (that was paired to the Benchmark DAC1).... To me the DAC1, seemed to follow the music....versus the AAD that made the music follow it...sorry but this is what i experienced...." With the JISCO anti jitter things (an optional extra) I notice a cheap £5 toslink cable is on par with say my rather old XLO Reference 1 (nowadays worth £50) RCA digital cable. Others with more expensive digital cables report the same thing. Btw Rollo what Transport did you use? jaspal
