avreality Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Dear Chris, Thanks for your great articles, particularly the reference music server. My current set-up is LaCie 1T external HD iMac 2.4G (Supernova Toslink cable) Lavry DA10 (Wireworld Silver Eclipse XLR) K&H O110 active monitor I'm going to upgrade my DAC Lavry DA10 to alpha DAC from Berkeley Audio Design. You've mentioned that the AES is the best way for this new DAC, I just wonder how big is the difference by using the Toslink cable with mini-Toslink adapter. If there is huge difference, apart from switching to the Mac Pro + Lynx sound card, can I use the Weiss AFI1 firewire interface to connect my iMac to the new DAC? How dose it sounds compared to your reference music server? Regards Link to comment
starcat Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 The Trends Audio UD-10.1 is the best usb to AES/EBU interface I have heard to date for the Mac. It is extremely well bult and can be even battery powered (or self powered over the USB bus). Gives extremely tight bass and clear highs. Excellent for about US$180. Link to comment
The Computer Audiophile Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Hi starcat - I have a Trends Audio UD-10.1 on the way here right now! Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems Link to comment
starcat Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Chris, enjoy it - I have one sitting on my desk :-) Its really really good! The only "drawback" is that it can't do all HD sampling rates and you need an external DAC, in other words the only other box I can compare it to (which gives more functionality) is the Weiss DAC2 or Minerva which are both in a totally different league! This means I wouldn't exchange the UD-10.1 for no other USB converter, no Benchmark, no nothing, but only for the Weiss DAC2. PS: talking only 2-channel stereo devices here, and not comparing anything that does more, like Lynx AES16e, etc Link to comment
znorter Posted November 2, 2008 Share Posted November 2, 2008 I am very interested about this thread...thank you for the answer(s). l. 1stSYS...[iPad with MPaD like remote]Auraliti PK100(HD 1Tb W.D.)=>W4S dac1=>Megahertz audio integrated valve OTL amplifier=>SonyMDR-10(the King)headphone.[br]2ndSYS...iMac w/iTunes=>HRTstreamer II=>Adam A5 powered speakers. Link to comment
starcat Posted November 2, 2008 Share Posted November 2, 2008 Hey Chris, was wondering if you have got the UD-10.1 and can comment already? Thanks and greetings Link to comment
The Computer Audiophile Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 Hi starcat - Started listening to it last night (very late). So far it's passing the music stream bit perfect to my Alpha DAC. More to come. Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems Link to comment
avreality Posted November 3, 2008 Author Share Posted November 3, 2008 Dear Chris, Really excited to your coming comment on the convertor. How does it compared with the optical output using Toslink cable from iMac? avreality Link to comment
The Computer Audiophile Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 Hi avreality - You're the second person today to talk about comparing it to the standard Toslink output. I will certainly compare the two :-) Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems Link to comment
starcat Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 Absolutely amazing and highly recommended. I can advise anyone prior spending $3k on an esoteric USB converter with "very low jitter", please do you a favor and invest in top speakers, then in amps and *then* in anything like DAC or transport. You will get incredibly better sound spending $3k on speakers and $200 on something like the UD-10.1 than the other way round! This is even more valid for $100 USB cables. Link to comment
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