DAC shoot-out?

[Negotiableterms]

RichPA said somewhere that he's going to have a DAC shoot-out in his demo room at the Fest:

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1010658&postcount=57

So, I was wondering, who is bringing what DACs?

[RichPA]

RichPA said somewhere that he's going to have a DAC shoot-out in his demo room at the Fest:

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1010658&postcount=57

So, I was wondering, who is bringing what DACs?

I'll have a Monarchy M24, Modwright-modded Perpetual Technologies P3A, and a Behringer DEQ2496 (which I use as an EQ, but the DAC section has received a little buzz elsewhere on the internet). Some others have offered to bring stuff, but I'll let them speak for themselves here - and more are welcome, at least up to a point :)

[luvvinvinyl]

There will be a raffle of a Redgum RG-CD5 cdp that will also work as a standalone DAC. Maybe Grumpy will let you haul that one in, too.

[Strawman]

Can't you wait untill I win it?

[luvvinvinyl]

BTW, there is an upgrade available for the RG-CD5 DAC. I will speak to Glenn, the donor, about procuring one for that unit.

And, it won't be drawn until the end of the Fest, so, no, I can't wait.

[JustBuyNew]

Im bringing this one to try http://pacificvalve.us/LTDACAHM.html

[Negotiableterms]

Rich, I'd be willing to bring some DACs just for comparison of the results of increasing levels of upsampling, but I have a long way to travel and would rather go light. Here's an idea for a vertical sample:

20/ 8 x - MDA-700

24/192 - Grace m902

24/384 - Cambridge 840C (also a CDP)

24/768 - MDA-1000 (unless Ron-C or anyone closer has one of these big heavy beasts)

It'd be fun to have some well-regarded older models with 16 bit and 20bit 4x oversampling too. Anyone have a super-transport like an MCD-1000? It'd be nice to remove any transport deficiency from the equation.

Rich, what's the rest of your room's system going to be, and how many of these infernal gadgets do you want cluttering it?

[RichPA]

Wow, those are some very serious DACs, and likely superior to the relatively modest systems I'm planning (as I really don't want to tear down my main system, and everything I bring has to fit into a minivan):

Forte 4A and Dynakit ST-35 amps, may bring along my Adcom 535L as well
ACI Sapphire IIILe and Ohm Microwalsh speakers
QED and perhaps McCormack TLC-1 passive preamps (the Monarchy M24 is a dac/pre with an extra line-level input)
Audio Alchemy DDS-III transport

As for how many, well, I guess I hadn't thought about it. I'd love to hear any or all of the ones you mention (I have especially been curious about the Grace, which I am sure is the lightest and easiest to carry of those). Comparing the levels of upsampling sounds like fun; I had also thought about bringing a Behringer SRC2496 which allows on-line selection of sample rates from 44.1 to 96 kHz.

[Negotiableterms]

I can probably manage to bring the first three (the Grace, for sure!) but tearing the MDA-1000 out and shipping the giant box is scary. I'm hoping Ron-C would lend us one for a couple of hours? We can beg, right?

[Drybasement]

Rich,

Looking forward to visiting your demo room.

How about some test cd's. I've got DCC, MFSL, Chesky...you name it. SACD?

[RichPA]

Rich,

Looking forward to visiting your demo room.

How about some test cd's. I've got DCC, MFSL, Chesky...you name it. SACD?

Bring 'em along. I won't be set up for SACD, though, unless someone else brings a player - only ever heard it on loaner players in my own system.

[speedle]

I'll be bringing the oft-mentioned Entech number cruncher DAC, as part of our primary source system, which is just a Squeezebox and portable hard drive. It would be interesting to hear some comparisons though!