jumper Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 Posting this question as I need some last second advice. My goal was to get a nice oversampling PCM DAC, my sights were set on Yggy. I'm ready to bring it in when I came across a very nice Bottlehead DAC, used but at a fair price (lower than Yggy). I got excited as I'm in line for the MicroRendu, talk about component synergy The Bottlehead comes at a nice savings vs the Yggy, however I will be adding a LPSU though which brings the price back up a bit. Yggy has internal linear power, also has the nicer D/A chips and is balanced (the rest of my system is balanced) whereas the Bottlehead is single ended. I can take the savings from the Bottlehead and pocket them, or apply to even better power supplies, room treatments, etc. Obviously its about the implementation and the digital filter, I feel both DAC's shine in these regards. Any thoughts on my two choices? Link to comment
jumper Posted March 10, 2016 Author Share Posted March 10, 2016 Well I think I'm done sitting on the fence, gonna go for the Bottlehead as soon as I get home from work... Link to comment
Panelhead Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 Which Bottlehead sac is it? 2012 Mac Mini, i5 - 2.5 GHz, 16 GB RAM. SSD, PM/PV software, Focusrite Clarett 4Pre 4 channel interface. Daysequerra M4.0X Broadcast monitor., My_Ref Evolution rev a , Klipsch La Scala II, Blue Sky Sub 12 Clarett used as ADC for vinyl rips. Corning Optical Thunderbolt cable used to connect computer to 4Pre. Dac fed by iFi iPower and Noise Trapper isolation transformer. Link to comment
jumper Posted March 10, 2016 Author Share Posted March 10, 2016 Its the only DAC I've known Bottlehead to put out, John Swenson's design: Bottlehead DAC | Bottlehead Link to comment
odelay Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 I wonder why the Bottlehead hasn't had more attention here? Let us know how you like it :-) TF cards - USB -> GentooPlayer in RAM on Rpi4b, Ian’s PurePi II, FIFO Q7, HDMI-pro -> Audio GD R-27 -> S.A.T. Infinity monoblocks -> Gallo Stradas + TR-3 sub / Erzetich Phobos Link to comment
jumper Posted March 11, 2016 Author Share Posted March 11, 2016 I wonder why the Bottlehead hasn't had more attention here? Let us know how you like it :-) Good question... perhaps because it was a limited run, I believe only 20 units were built. The hype was minimal as well, at least compared to what you see from some of the larger brands. I believe this DAC is all about John's filter, as well as the overall chip implementation. But perhaps the lack of attention also stems from no DSD, no fancy D/A chip(s), no balanced outs... despite those not being what this DAC is about. I just can't wait to plug MicroRendu into it... just need to figure out power supplies now. Link to comment
Panelhead Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 Its the only DAC I've known Bottlehead to put out, John Swenson's design: Bottlehead DAC | Bottlehead Back about 15 -20 years ago I thought there was a dac or two. Maybe not. They had a lot of products back then. Speakers, amps, phono stages, and of course preamps. Most were kits. I thought there was a dac too. Never saw one at the Texas BottleHead meets. Saw most of the other products. A lot of bottles were emptied at those meetings. 2012 Mac Mini, i5 - 2.5 GHz, 16 GB RAM. SSD, PM/PV software, Focusrite Clarett 4Pre 4 channel interface. Daysequerra M4.0X Broadcast monitor., My_Ref Evolution rev a , Klipsch La Scala II, Blue Sky Sub 12 Clarett used as ADC for vinyl rips. Corning Optical Thunderbolt cable used to connect computer to 4Pre. Dac fed by iFi iPower and Noise Trapper isolation transformer. Link to comment
jumper Posted March 11, 2016 Author Share Posted March 11, 2016 Back about 15 -20 years ago I thought there was a dac or two. Maybe not. They had a lot of products back then. Speakers, amps, phono stages, and of course preamps. Most were kits. I thought there was a dac too. Never saw one at the Texas BottleHead meets. Saw most of the other products. A lot of bottles were emptied at those meetings. Well you could very well be correct because I'm certainly not thinking back that far. I'm not a kit guy and keep my tubes in my guitar amps so Bottlehead was only on the fringe of my radar. Where in Houston are you? I'm up in Spring. Link to comment
Panelhead Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Well you could very well be correct because I'm certainly not thinking back that far. I'm not a kit guy and keep my tubes in my guitar amps so Bottlehead was only on the fringe of my radar. Where in Houston are you? I'm up in Spring. I go to Spring and the Woodlands every week. It is usually early for meetings. Customer support strained the kits. Some could build 20 with no issues. Others had 20 issues with the first one. Knowing that Swenson was involved in the Bottlehead Dac is comforting. He came to at least one Texas Bottlehead meet. This was back when modding a 99.00 DVD player was hot. He had a roadmap for getting good sound from these with extensive modifications. The Bottlehead dac looks good even though I did not see a lot of details. 2012 Mac Mini, i5 - 2.5 GHz, 16 GB RAM. SSD, PM/PV software, Focusrite Clarett 4Pre 4 channel interface. Daysequerra M4.0X Broadcast monitor., My_Ref Evolution rev a , Klipsch La Scala II, Blue Sky Sub 12 Clarett used as ADC for vinyl rips. Corning Optical Thunderbolt cable used to connect computer to 4Pre. Dac fed by iFi iPower and Noise Trapper isolation transformer. Link to comment
jumper Posted March 15, 2016 Author Share Posted March 15, 2016 Bottlehead DAC just arrived, looks very nice IMHO... Some folks didn't seem to like the slightly DIY look but I find the unit overall appealling. No listening test yet as I'm waiting for MicroRendu and my PC has already been repurposed and positioned for NAS duty. If MicroRendu takes too long I'll bring my Oppo up from the living room and give it a spin. Link to comment
adamaley Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 Pics please. I've had the Crack in the past and the S.E.X, and really like their sound. Link to comment
jumper Posted April 10, 2016 Author Share Posted April 10, 2016 Gladly, I'll take some this afternoon / evening. It's just sitting lonely on a shelf with a Curious link hanging off the back waiting for the Microrendu... I'll post a couple pics soon. Link to comment
jumper Posted April 13, 2016 Author Share Posted April 13, 2016 Pics please. I've had the Crack in the past and the S.E.X, and really like their sound. Sorry for the delay, here are a few pics I took this morning. Obviously a very DIY look but clean and well executed, definitely what to expect from Bottlehead. Still haven't fired it up since I'm reorganizing my 2 channel system layout and awaiting the MicroRendu as well. Link to comment
asdf1000 Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 Hi mate, just stumbled on this thread. What were your thoughts? If you don't me asking :-) Cheers! Link to comment
GUTB Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 Single-ended Burr-Brown PCM design that has nothing special about it except a home-baked upsampling filter running on a FPGA. Link to comment
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