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T+A new flagship streaming dsd1024 dac


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I was hunting around just yesterday and saw the new DAC on T+A's site. I didn't see the price, but saw it was listed under their top of the line product family, so I had my doubts...

 

Maybe the 8 Series family will get something next year? 

 

I also emailed T+A again about the DAC 8 DSD lacking Linux support at DSD512 because I'm now facing a problem where if I want to buy one of the many new and capable streamers/renderers that work at DSD512, I also have to buy a new DAC FFS...

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I didn't know that 100% and I do know that the Amanero USB board in the DAC 8 DSD is an older model which makes configuring it much more difficult, but there has been progress and you can see that in the beta firmwares that can be flashed onto the DAC 8 DSD right now.

 

And Amanero's persistence that it's possible is also reassuring, as they'd be the best SMEs to say whether there'll be light at the end of this tunnel or not. 

 

In having talked with both T+A about this on several occasions over the past 18 months and with Amanero, I been given the impression that there's not a concerted effort from T+A about this problem. Amanero may have some interest, but without support and ownership from T+A, the right elements aren't in play to drive a dependable outcome in a sensible timeframe. That's my opinion, but I have put some legwork into it vs. just firing off the cuff. 

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  • 1 month later...
On 4/8/2019 at 8:37 PM, OE333 said:

 

... even though a bit off topic in this thread:

There is no "old" or "new" Amanero board - in fact there is only one Amanero USB receiver design. Most other companies just use the Amanero standard module. T+A decided to place the whole Amanero hardware directly on the DAC  PCB to get shorter signal paths - otherwise everything is 100% compatible to the Amanero original design.

 

Please believe me, we try what we can to push Amanero and we give all support that we can (like paying license fees, testing, testing testing, helping Amanero with hardware etc.) but we can not help with the development of the receivcer firmware itsself because it is closed source....

 

For the new SD/SDV3100HV devices with their DSD1024 capability (which is out of reach for the Amanero design) we decided to design our own UAC3 compliant proprietary USB receiver solution. This solution supports native DSD1024 for both Windows and LInux. The necessary Linux patches were made available by us and we hope that they will be included in mainline kernel soon. For the time beeing anybody interested in the patches please send me a PM.

When I was researching about the issue beforehand and later when I was discussing it with Domenico from Amanero, that was what I understood. I guess I was incorrect and I appreciate the courteous way that you have corrected me about it. 

 

If there is a time that I can afford the new SDV3100HV, I will enjoy giving it a shot. I am still happy with the DAC8DSD's sound quality, but it's lack of modern Linux compatibility is not a pleasant thing to deal with in my system. I think the approach that you've taken with the SDV3100HV's USB and ethernet implementations will serve you very well into the future. I'm very happy to see your company taking a different approach this time around and I hope the SDV3100HV meets a warm welcome in the market. Hopefully I can join those new buyers sometime later.

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  • 10 months later...
15 hours ago, barrows said:

oh man, you take the words right out of my mouth.

 

I really think there would be a market for a really good, discrete, DSD only DAC, with just a single USB input and an (by passable) analog volume control, optimized for DSD 256 (but compatible with higher rates).  Keep it simple, but pay attention to the details for the best possible sound quality.  High End is already niche!  Considering that there is now a fair amount of software (not just tweaky HQPlayer) which does a good job at oversampling to DSD, maybe this would not be too niche...

I see you comment a lot over on Mike of Mivera Audio's forum, especially before when he was releasing a PureStream Mk2 standalone DAC, that was specialized for DSD256 only. 

 

I'm not sure if you ever for to listen to his Mk1, but isn't that just like what you're talking about here? Or are you meaning something better than that?

 

I would also love a DAC 8 DSD upgrade option, but the DAC 8 DSD's internals are all a single PCB, so the looks of the upgrade path to me are a full guts replacement... Which sounds pretty out there. I'd say if anything, given the situation, they'll just release a whole new DAC 8 DSD replacement, without any upgrade option, as the cost of the upgrade would be too significant. I'd be happy to get surprised, though!

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Thanks for explaining a bit more, I follow what you mean now. 

 

It sounds interesting, but I can't see anyone ever taking up a commercial offering like that, it would really cut the legs out from under the total potential client base, in an already niche market. 

 

But it might work in a First Watt style approach, as a labour of love by a skilled designer(s), schematics and part lists fully offered for DIY, and an assembled version available in standard case work at a DIFM premium. First Watt has done well off this approach and produced many unique components that might never have otherwise made it as a pure, commercial, Pass Labs product.

 

From my seat, that's an "inside man" project, and an industry insider like you might be in a good position to make it happen, or by coordinating a collaboration with other members of the trade?

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