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amirm

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Haze

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Hi there. Welcome to the forum. Saw a youtube video of it a couple of months back and was very interested. It is a gorgeous looking unit.

Alas, I have a ton of stuff to review that has been loaned to me (let alone stuff that I have bought but not reviewed). So give me 3-4 weeks and then remind me and I will purchase and review.

Well I'm a bit late bit this is the reminder :)
 
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amirm

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No bother. Are you doing the Mayflower Arc?
The specs looked interesting until I got to this:

1537201638298.png


Very strange that USB input does not go above 48 kHz whereas the rest of the DAC does.
 

scibry

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Amir, if you are interested, I have a Dragonfly Red and Xonar STX PCI-E audio card (socketable op-amps, etc) that I'd be happy to ship out. I saw the audio card had some interest in another thread, as well as the Red had been mentioned.
 
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amirm

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Amir, if you are interested, I have a Dragonfly Red and Xonar STX PCI-E audio card (socketable op-amps, etc) that I'd be happy to ship out. I saw the audio card had some interest in another thread, as well as the Red had been mentioned.
Thanks a bunch. Someone has already sent me the Xonar card but I am very interested in Dragonfly Red. Please start a conversation with me in a week or two to send it in. Alternatively if you are not in a hurry, you can send it in now and I will get to it in the next few weeks.
 

Sal1950

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Haze

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The specs looked interesting until I got to this:

View attachment 15732

Very strange that USB input does not go above 48 kHz whereas the rest of the DAC does.

Yeah over USB only 48kHz and 96kHz at 24bit are selectable with 96kHz being recommended. I guess because they are the only two settings people ever use anyway? It is an odd quirk. Oh and it grounds itself via USB so even if you are using the optical in you still have to plug the USB into something or you get hum.
 

Haze

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Oh can I also ask have you given any thought to re-testing to odac plugged into a USB hub? I own one and I know from experience it is a incredibly picky about what USB port you plug it into. Plugging it into a USB hub (particularly a USB 3.0 hub) takes care of its issues (for me)
 
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amirm

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Oh can I also ask have you given any thought to re-testing to odac plugged into a USB hub? I own one and I know from experience it is a incredibly picky about what USB port you plug it into. Plugging it into a USB hub (particularly a USB 3.0 hub) takes care of its issues (for me)
The problem is that every hub is different so hard to get any generalized data.
 

Sal1950

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It is an Essence STX II.
Wow, pricey card. Be interesting to see how the dac performs in a build. I imagine the high advertised snr numbers will be dependent on the motherboard it's installed to?
 
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amirm

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Wow, pricey card. Be interesting to see how the dac performs in a build. I imagine the high advertised snr numbers will be dependent on the motherboard it's installed to?
Possibly. We will know after I measure. If it is the same as what they spec, then it may be immune to much of the motherboard vagaries.
 

Haze

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The problem is that every hub is different so hard to get any generalized data.

Got you. Well one thing I will say is the O2/odac combo unit I have remains the best sounding amp dac combo I've ever heard. I really want my ears to be backed up by the data! :D
 

phrosty

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Any interest in non-objective things? I have the ZO 2 and ZO FS from Digizoid -- they are feedback-based bass boosting amps. I'm not sure how you could reasonably measure them -- maybe with their settings at 0.

The 2 sounds good but is analog and noisy and warm, while the FS is all digital and clean.
 

folzag

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Greetings, Amir.

First, I have to say, I love the site. Congratulations on an awesome idea, executed on awesomely.

I've held off suggesting it, but the amp reviews of late have made me re-consider. I have a Sony HAP-S1. It's a DAC, headphone amp, and 40W/ch loudspeaker amp. 3-in-1. Jack of all trades. Um, hopefully not master of none? Well, I think it sounds nice anyway. There is some what I perceive to be mains hum in the headphone amp. I have active speakers so use it mostly as a DAC. I wrote a feature-level review for Archimago back in May.

I understand the review backlog and all, but, irrespective of that, is it something you would be interested in?
 
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