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Phasure NOS1 vs. Pacific Microsonics Model Two


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For a while now, I’ve been saying that there is a DAC on the way that will be a 'game-changer'. Well, a year or so later than anticipated, it’s finally here. The Phasure NOS1 is the brainchild of Phasure's Peter Stordiau (PeterSt on this forum), who spent over two years on its development. And as the name implies, it’s a non-oversampling DAC – actually, it’s a totally filterless design with no SDM or analog filtering stage.

 

The NOS1 currently accepts data rates of 32/384 (though my understanding is that it may be able to accept 32/768 rates in the future). So, how does it achieve this? Well actually, there is only one way of getting data into the NOS1… and that is by the use of a computer. But not by the means of a USB, firewire or spdif protocol. Rather, Phasure apply the clever use a PCI extender to allow them to place an OEM ESI soundcard in the NOS1’s chassis. The soundcard uses ultra-stable clocks with a jitter of only 0.5ps and is simply used to produce a digital I2S stream which is fed directly to 8x PCM1704U-K D/A converter chips, sitting in close proximity to, but screened from, the soundcard.

 

And what about the Pacific Microsonics Model Two? Well, I’d happily spend hours describing this gem of audio design, but I once promised that I wouldn’t write anything more about it on CA. So, if you want to learn a little more about it, just look here: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/Pacific-Microsonics-Model-Two. I’ll just say though that I’m using a Weiss AFI1 to pipe data from the computer to the Model Two.

 

So, how do the two DACs compare sonically?

 

The NOS1 is like taking an x-ray of the music. It’s so crystal clear and pure. And yet it’s so easy to listen to. It’s exciting and yet relaxing at the same time. I’ve never been too bothered about imaging, but I’ll just mention that imaging with the NOS1 is super, super sharp. I think people for whom imaging is a big deal would love this aspect of the NOS1. I have no hesitation in saying that the NOS1 is the most accurate DAC I have ever heard.

 

In contrast, the Model Two is more full-bodied. It gives the impression of richer harmonic content. It retains some of the NOS1’s detail but loses its super clarity – it’s simply no match for the NOS1 in this respect. The bottom end is more pronounced and weightier – but then perhaps a little less tuneful for it. It is an incredibly musically engaging DAC though.

 

Over the weekend, we had a friend staying over. Although not a professional musician himself, Paul plays many instruments (very well) and has also spent some time in a professional recording studio. We played a number of tracks that he’s very familiar with. He really, really liked the NOS1. He said that he’d heard things in these tracks that he’d never ever heard before. The NOS1 gave him an insight into the recording/mixing/mastering process in a way that he’d never experienced. After the session, I asked Paul a hypothetical question: He’s just walked into a hifi store which has a NOS1 and a Model Two for sale at exactly the same price. Which one would he buy? He said that he’d want to take the NOS1 home because he knows that his whole collection would sound totally different through it – he would finally be hearing what’s really on his recordings.

 

Well, so much for hypothetical questions. Right now, there are two Model Twos for sale on a popular used gear site. They are $17.5K and $20K respectively. For around 1/4 of the price, you can have a brand new NOS1!

 

However, there is a very important caveat to bear in mind when considering the NOS1. Although the DAC itself is indeed totally filterless, it expects the computer software player feeding it to either interpolate the data or to ‘upscale’ it to a point where any aliasing distortion is well beyond the audio band. The philosophy is then to do no further filtering of any sorts with the data. I’ve used it very successfully with Signalyst’s HQPlayer, using one of HQPlayer’s advanced minimum phase filters set to 32/176.4 output. But not surprisingly, I get the best results by using Phasure’s own XXHighEnd player which is capable of upscaling any data rate (including 16/44.1, 24/88.2, 24/96, 24/176.4 and 24/192) up to 32/384 (and beyond) with zero pre- and post-ringing. At these rates, any aliasing distortion is above 192KHz and well out of harm’s way.

 

I think it's fair to say that the Model Two set the bar for all others to follow when it was released some 10 years ago. And now comes along a DAC that matches it in some areas and handily beats it in all others. That's close enough to 'game-changer' for me.

 

Mani.

 

NOTE 1: I am not affiliated to Phasure in any way, shape or form. I paid the full retail price for my NOS1 (and for my 3 copies of XXHighEnd). I am considering buying a second NOS1 for my office system and again will pay the full retail price if I do so.

NOTE 2: I have no interest in becoming a dealer of any sorts, but if anyone reading this thread is seriously considering buying a NOS1, I would happily offer a demonstration of the DAC in my home. However, it may be better to accept Phasure’s 3 month return policy and listen to it in your own system.

NOTE 3: I have purposely not passed what I’ve written here by Phasure before posting it. If there are any technical inaccuracies, they are purely of my own doing.

 

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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Hi Chris, I bet Peter's got some nice photos of the NOS1 that would do it justice. Peter? If not, I'll post some when I have a chance.

 

But you can probably just make out some of the cutouts in the chassis on the photo that ted_b posted. If you look towards the bottom, you'll see a rectangular cutout - this is for the PCI extender connection.

 

Mani.

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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"I've been searching Peter's web forum and have read your other comments there (nice and thorough, thanks), but there doesn't seem to be an introduction or basic description of the DAC...only that it sounds great and is unique."

 

OK, the way that it's configured in my system is as follows:

- PCI extender output card placed in PCIe slot of computer

- PCI extender cable links computer to DAC

- OEM ESI soundcard placed in PCI extender input card which sits in DAC itself

 

It's a bit like using a Magma PCI extender and placing the whole DAC in the external Magma box, with its own power supply etc.

 

Neat idea. It sounds simple, but I'm sure was a PITA to get working correctly. I know that Peter spent quite a while on all this, and on keeping the noise down to (I think) an unmeasureable level at the output of the DAC. You'll probably understand slightly better now why the NOS1 looks the way it does - there's a lot of isolation and regulation going on in there.

 

Mani.

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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Here's what it says in the Manual:

 

- 100% Filterless Non Oversampling, using 8 x PCM1704U-K Burr Brown (Texas Instruments) multibit 24 bit D/A converter chips

- Filtering to be applied in software

- Output Impedance is 33 Ohm

- The Clock section consists of replaceable oscillators, separately for the 44100 Hz and 48000 Hz base. The provided oscillators carry an overall jitter of better than 0.5ps and phase noise of better than 120dBc/Hz at 100Hz and better than 108dBc/Hz at 50Hz. Oscillators sit 12cm from DAC chips.

- S/N ratio in-(audio)band is at –132dBFS at full scale (-0dBFS) differential (XLR) output.

Out band (from off 31000Hz and up to 96000Hz which is the measureable limit) this is better than –144dB, and at the limit of the analyser operating at 24 bit and 192KHz.

- Mains related products measure 17uVRMS at –121dBFS (measured at 50Hz mains)

- SE (RCA) output measures in(-audio)band Unweighed 0.0018% THD+N at 16 or 24 bit input and a 1KHz test signal with a sample rate of 44100Hz and Arc Prediction filtered into 176400Hz. The THD+N from Differential (XLR) is beter than 0.0015% which is under the typical specs of the DAC chips.

 

Perhaps Peter has some nice graphs he could show us?

 

Mani.

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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I've written before (http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/How-can-influence-SQ) that the sound from the Model Two seems very dependent on the AES interface and cables that feed it.

 

I'm using a Weiss AFI1 interface connected to the Model Two with short AES cables with built-in group loop isolators. The Model Two remains the clock master, with the AFI1 slaved to it via a short BNC cable. I believe this setup is at least as good as using a Lynx or RME PCI card. However, I'm not sure how it would compare to a Mykerinos PCI card. It could well be that I have never heard the Model Two working at its best.

 

Mani.

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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I was sent a PM with a few questions, and thought that others might be interested in my answers.

 

”I'm very used to the Mac environment and I wondered how you see the learning curve on the XXXhighend part on a PC?”

 

I usually find any player that I’m using for the first time really frustrating. And XXHighEnd is certainly one of the more sophisticated players out there. Look, I would be lying if I said the learning curve is easy. HOWEVER… the Phasure forum will see you through - that, I can almost promise you. It’s a very friendly and helpful forum. Peter himself is very active and always helpful, although I’ll warn you now in case you don’t know, he’s a ‘typical’ Dutchman – I love the Dutch (some of my best friends are Dutch - I don't hold it against them) but to some other cultures, they can come across as a little... 'direct', let's say. And of course, you have to learn Double Dutch to understand a word they say - anyone who's read any of Peter's posts on CA will know exactly what I mean...

 

”Peter's posts seemed to emphasize that a laptop didn't have enough processing power to be ideal. Do you have any comment on that from your experience?”

 

The issue here is that XXHighEnd is a true memory player. It conducts any pre-processing that needs to be done before it starts playing. As part of this pre-processing, it will convert all non-WAV formats into WAV before playing. Now, if you’re feeding it a WAV file and not applying any on-board upsampling then there likely won’t be much load. Here, a laptop might be OK. Indeed, I can even use XXHighEnd on my CAPS machine like this... at a very long push. However, with a NOS1, you have to apply upsampling (32/352.8 or 32/384 recommended), unless you like having headaches. A laptop will still work, but you may get frustrated at having to wait a while before anything plays.

 

Many of us have spent a lot of time comparing various setups, and the pretty unanimous verdict is that XXHighEnd works best with a pretty powerful machine with lots of fast RAM. If you look at the forum, many of us use at least i7 machines with 8GB RAM – certainly not gaming machines, but better than most (all?) laptops. (Actually, being a memory player, the speed of the RAM may be even more important the CPU.)

 

”My interest is in going right from the DAC to amp, so the output section matters a lot too.”

 

I’ll let Peter chime in here, as I don’t actually know much about the output section. But I know that Peter has specifically designed the NOS1 to drive power amps directly. Many of us do this and enjoy improved SQ as a result.

 

”I wondered if after a little more listening time, your impressions stay so positive?”

 

I’ll write them up in a follow-on…

 

HTH.

 

Mani.

 

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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"Finally, exactly how was the determination made that it outperforms the storied and legendary Model 2?"

 

Purely subjectively.

 

Mani.

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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I'm sitting at the back of the classroom with my arm all the way up - a first for me.

 

Steve, don't get me started on accents...

 

Mani.

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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I think this was a genuine misunderstanding.

 

It happens to the best of us... just ask my wife.

 

Mani.

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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"When used with a Lynx, RME or Mykerinos card using external word clock from the Model 2 the system is effectively asynchronous, since the master clock is inside the Model 2 and the upstream chain is locked to the Model 2. This is clumsy since every sample rate change requires manual intervention at the Model 2 but it does a good job. None of this addresses the effects of RF leakage and conducted emi in the cables between the boxes. Keith Johnson spends considerable time checking for problems when he sets up the Model 2's and he uses isolation transformers on the power to reduce these effects."

 

Although I would never consider that I could match KOJ's setup skills, I do slave the interface to the Model Two in exactly the way described. I also use ground isolators between the interface and the Model Two and power both units from a PurePower2000 AC regenerator running in battery mode.

 

Mani.

 

 

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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"My opinion is that the lower the offset the better, below 50 mV is good, but I would rather see DC offset in the single digits."

 

I'm measuring 5mV at my NOS1 analog outputs.

 

Mani.

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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“I wondered if after a little more listening time, your impressions stay so positive”?

 

Yes, I remain pretty much enamored with the NOS1. There is a purity to the sound that I’ve simply never heard from any digital or analog source before.

 

My Model Two remains switched off nowadays, being used purely for ADC duties when required. As a DAC, it just can't match the NOS1. However, there is one consolation - 16/44.1 HDCD and 24/176.4 HRx commercial releases are some of the best sounding files I have in my collection and sound totally wonderful played back on the NOS1.

 

Mani.

 

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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"Mani, does this mean there's a chance one of us might be so lucky as to acquire your Model Two without being in your will? ;0"

 

Hi Clay,

 

Haha. No, my Model Two's here to stay... albeit in a purely ADC capacity nowadays. There's a 'quality' to recordings made on a Model Two that I just love. I record at 24/192 myself and then tend to upsample to 32/384 in XXHE before feeding to the NOS1. Although I have to say that even commercial 16/44.1 HDCD releases upsampled to 32/352.8 in XXHE sound particularly good on the NOS1.

 

Mani.

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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I've just been listening to Claire Martin's "Too Damn Hot" album recorded at 16/44.1 HDCD.

 

This sounds very good played back bit-perfectly through XXHighEnd (i.e. no upsampling) and feeding the Weiss AFI1 to PM Model Two. Here, the Model Two's PMD100 filter is engaged and is decoding the HDCDC signal. However, the album sounds altogether superior through the NOS1. I've used the word before - there is a purity to the sound that is utterly beguiling. Of course, here I'm upscaling the 16/44.1 HDCD signal to 32/352.8 using XXHE's zero pre- and post-ringing "Arc Prediction upsampling". Also, importantly, I'm using XXHE's "Peak Extend" feature - although XXHE comes with an HDCD decoder as standard, I don't like the way it sounds and tend not to use it.

 

Actually, there is such a difference in performance that I'm wondering whether the AFI1 is really up to the job of serving the Model Two.

 

Mani.

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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I'm not surprised KOJ uses Lynx cards - was there even a choice before the RME AES-32 came along? I myself have the latter, though I've no idea how it compares to the Lynx. I have however compared it extensively to the Weiss AFI1, but can't really decide which one I prefer. They certainly sound different.

 

So, KOJ doesn't use a Lynx or a newer Mykerinos for recording, hey? What on Earth does he use then? Can you reveal anything here Demian, or is it a RR trade secret? Whatever he's using, is it purchasable? (IIRC, he uses his own speakers for monitoring, which apparently are not purchasable.)

 

Maybe I should commission someone to stick an OEM ESI soundcard in my Model Two and take a I2S feed from it... works a treat in the NOS1!

 

Mani.

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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What? I have the NOS1 sitting here, and it looks nothing like you describe. And what's more, it's cost of goods is bloody high - this is obvious when you take a look inside it.

 

gkoones, you're a twat.

 

Mani.

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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Oh, so that's your mission is it? To cry "caveat emptor" whenever a new product that threatens to enhance the state of computer audio is mentioned... on a site devoted to exactly that?

 

If anything, the NOS1 runs totally counter to the high end audio industry. It has been developed by a music lover for music lovers... and is very, very good value for money (or sound... take your pick).

 

List the major components? No.

 

Mani.

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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"Its a tape system whose identity escapes me."

 

Yes, it'd be interesting to know exactly what KOJ uses for recording. However, of even more interest to me is how he then transfers from tape to digital. More specifically, which dual-AES interface he uses - is it the Lynx or something else?

 

"I have been looking at making an interface from the Juli@ to a dual link interface for the Model 2 and its clones. I may have a way finally but need the motivation to actually build them. With less than 100 or so of the model 2 in existence and more than a few in service where the interface isn't needed its a small market. Since this is more hobby than income for me it needs to be fun."

 

It's obvious to me that the Model Two itself is a superb converter. Feed it an analog signal, take it through its AD and then DA stage (@24/192) and then compare with the original feed. If your experience is like mine, the original and the AD/DA will sound identical. That's good enough for me.

 

However, I've found interfacing the Model Two to a computer using a dual-AES link more than a little challenging. Neither the Weiss AFI1 or RME AES-32 are perfect. The Mykerinos may come closer (I've never heard it), but it's expensive...

 

Demian, it would be great if you could create a better dual-AES interface for the Model Two than currently exists. What could we do to make it more fun for you to make this happen?

 

Mani.

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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I would be very interested in trying the Model Two being fed by the NOS1, even if it's just a single AES output.

 

But ultimately, I'm looking for an interface that has dual-AES (2x 96) ouputs, dual-AES inputs (for recording) and also a wordclock input so that I can compare slave vs. master. Now of course, if the NOS1 could potentially achieve all this, it would be a very, very interesting proposition indeed.

 

Off topic: So, the "painter" said pink with blue and yellow dots is OK? Excellent.

 

Mani.

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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"If Peter is up to tweaking one and hooking it up to your box (in place of his DAC) that would be the best way to see how they compare."

 

Demian, thanks for the offer - I really appreciate it.

 

I can't speak for Peter, but I would certainly love to hook your board up to my Model Two and see how this compares to the NOS1. There are a few logistical issues here (Peter lives in Holland, and I in the UK), but assuming Peter has the time and interest to try this, I'm sure we could work through them.

 

Perhaps it's best to take this off-line - I'll send you a PM.

 

Cheers,

Mani.

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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"Four I2S ports at 192/24 gives you stereo 768/24."

 

Hi Miska,

 

Is this purely theoretical or have you managed to get this to work? With an ESI card? Of course, I wouldn't expect you to disclose any 'trade secrets', but it would be good to know if it is at least possible in practice.

 

Cheers,

Mani.

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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Detailed NOS1 specs and measurements can be found here: http://www.phasure.com/index.php?topic=1560.0

 

I think everyone would agree that these are 'worldclass' by anyone's standards, and of course unprecedented for a NOS DAC.

 

Unfortunately, I don't have any equivalent specs and measurements for the Model Two.

 

Mani.

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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I stated earlier in this thread:

"Mains related products measure 17uVRMS at –121dBFS (measured at 50Hz mains)"

 

The Phasure site seems to contain a typo. Peter?

 

Demian, I'm really looking forward to hearing your findings about the TI boards. It would be great to get the Model Two interfaced to the Juli@, though I understand this is far from a done deal at this point. But I just wanted to say that I really appreciate your help in this matter. It's the sort of thing that makes CA a great place - people from all over the globe helping each other out, not in the pursuit of profit, but in the pursuit of great sound.

 

Mani.

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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Yes, I think I recall noticing that the 'µ' had been replaced by a 'm' and not a 'u' when I posted the specs earlier in this thread. But I hadn't noticed the mistake on the Phasure site until Demian pointed it out.

 

Looking forward to installing and hearing the latest version of XXHE when I return home this weekend... I heard it's a bit 'special'.

 

Mani.

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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"... KOJ just won a Grammy for his surround recording of the Britten..."

 

Apparently, this surround recording was originally recorded at 24/176.4 on a bunch of Model Twos, and then transferred to SACD (http://www.stereophile.com/content/professor-johnson-scores-his-first-grammy).

 

He has some interesting thoughts on SACD:

"SACD is a strange animal. It's a very inefficient, DSD-based system of encoding, with compression methods going on to allow the data to fit. It technically is not as good as a straight 176/4 file because of what one has to do to make it fit onto the DVD, but it's a whole lot better than 44.1."

 

Mani.

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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