willsw

Turning off the prebuffering, etc., I saw the other buffering options under "Device Settings", which I had not noticed before. I increased the software buffering time and it seems to have fixed the problem. I hope it has. Thanks for the help. Right now I'm using a Metrum Amethyst, but usually use a Denafrips Ares. That's actually another problem: after successfully in the past and briefly this time around setting the DACs up as separate, linked zones and outputting to both of them, the Denafrips' USB drive has stopped being recognized by the Mac Mini. I've been meaning to try it with other sources to see if I can reset it. The Ares is designed to disable the USB input unless it is active, so I'm guessing it's something related to that, as its other inputs are fine.

I can't explain why, but I wouldn't be surprised if the EITR utilizes VBUS power for the pre-isolation electronics, or to aid in coupling, and the linear supply is dedicated to other parts.

Hoping this has a simple answer. I'm running the latest Jriver on a mid-2012 Mac Mini with an external USB hard drive (a self-powered Seagate). With 8gb of RAM I was getting regular skipping. I was fairly sure that was enough, but I upgraded to 16gb to see if it would fix it and just because I liked the idea. It skips less, but still skips sometimes. I have pre-buffering set to max, I've played with all the settings that would seem to make a difference, I load the full file to memory, and it still skips. I've experienced it with different DACs, going straight from the Mac to the DAC and going via a Wyrd. It does not seem to skip with VLC player, my other option on the computer. Any suggestions?

One of these: PC-2XR | Jensen Transformers Used with 8" low-capacitance, shielded RCA cables from the PC-2XR to the preamp.

Yes, as I said, it was an imperfect comparison in all sorts of ways. Everyone was aware of these various points of possible mis-representation during the event. There were two people there who had owned Yggys for quite a while who didn't find anything off about how it sounded through the Jensen, and earlier in the week I had listened to the Spring through single-ended outputs and through balanced>Jensen output and found the balanced to be preferable. No doubt it had an affect on the sound, but it seemed more fair to the DACs to run them in as best a mode as we could, given our lack of a balanced preamp. I suppose this little get-together's impressions can either be considered worthwhile even with its flaws due to the variety of ways things were listened to and compared, or they can be easily dismissed as being uselessly subjective for all of the bad practice going on in the comparisons.

It was an imperfect, non-scientific comparison. Levels were matched by ear, balanced outputs heard via a Jensen balanced>unbalanced converter, a variety of inputs used on different DACS. I do think, however, that the consistency in impression over the several different sources and source paths, and then also through different speakers, does give legitimacy to the impressions. One listener who had spent a few hours with headphones and the Spring on another day did prefer the spdif (I don't know if optical or coaxial) input via a Peachtree X1 to i2S via the Singxer. The Spring was only listened to in NOS mode, and we did not play any DSD. This session was aimed at broader impressions; certainly the Spring offers many input and output options to be played with and listened to. Our loan time is up with the unit, unfortunately.

They are! Unfortunately. The stands are almost done, just in the finishing stages. They did have cork between the very hefty wooden cabinets of the KLH stands (no disrespect meant toward KLH, they just happen to be the perfect height, very sturdy, and in need of repair) and the cabinet of the Evoke Eddie. Though we did most listening with the Eddie, we also heard comparisons through Tekton Mini-Lores, Omega Super Alnico High Output Monitors, and listened a bit to the Spatials (the open-baffle speakers) though didn't have time to do much comparison.

For anyone at RMAF today, Kitsune just dropped off a Spring DAC for us to use today in Room 6015, if you'd like to hear it.

This is a terrible first post to make, and it continues the string of replies offering the opposite answer than what you want, but several people have reported that the microZOTL2.0 (a product whose manufacturer I work for) powers the HE-1000 exceptionally well, and it's just about the same price as the Oppo HA-1, though it doesn't have a DAC, and it's not available in silver. The Oppo should be alright, it has low and high gain, and the HE-1000's 35 ohm impedance is within its 32-600 ohm recommended range.