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SE version? I have the original Tranquility and this is the first I have heard of the SE. I went to the dB labs website and there is not mention of it. I normally get emails updates from Eric but don't remember anything about an SE version. So, how do I get this or how do I order it? Do we send it in to get it updated? Thanks.
Another brand-new review of the Tranquility SE.... and a rather interesting comparison with the Weiss 202! http://digital-analog.blogspot.com/2010/12/review-db-audio-labs-tranquility-dac.html
SE version? I have the original Tranquility and this is the first I have heard of the SE. I went to the dB labs website and there is not mention of it. I normally get emails updates from Eric but don't remember anything about an SE version. So, how do I get this or how do I order it? Do we send it in to get it updated? Okay, I also see it is recommended to use the Mac Mini(700.00 from Apple) with the Tranquility. I currently am using a Mac Book Pro. I am also using the USB from Db labs. I put the Mac book pro on the floor connected to the Tranquility and into the preamp from there. I have a remote ap. for my iphone so once I sit in my listening chair, I don't have to get up. I can just choose whatever I want from my lossless Itunes library from my listening chair. My question is would I be able to use my remote control app. with the Mini Mac?
This is what I actually love about the Tranquility, because you actually see results when you upgrade a component for more money. You see where your money is going and the value it is adding to the system.
There's a difficult flip-side to this issue. While you do see results, this opens up a pandora's box of "solutions" looking for a problem. In other words, what if you're very happy with the sound of the Tranquility with stock power cords on your Mac Mini, stock hard drive, etc? It seems every week there's a new tweak begging for you to part with more of your hard-earned cash. Audiophilia is a challenging enough disease to kick without products that come along and add to the temptation.Realize, I'm just playing devil's advocate here. I agree it's a stellar DAC, and I'm very happy with mine. I also agree that because of its quality it tends to maximize the impact of investments upstream from the DAC, as well as downstream. However, there are those who have balked at the prospect of buying it because it purchase of a Mac Mini is so highly recommended alongside it. But it wouldn't have to stop there, and it hasn't. Now there are Mach2 mods, power cords and Mac Sandwiches, more and more expensive USB cables. I'm sure a boutique audiophile manufacturer is working on their own external hard drive made especially for the Mac Mini right now.As a happy listener with my Tranquility SE and stock 2010 Mac Mini with firewire external hardrive, I'm just struggling with keeping my money in the bank right now and resisting upgraditis and tweakalingus. I agree, though. Very nice review.~Ben
Yeah, feel free to use it, Dave. And I didn't mean my comments as criticism of you or others. I have interest in your and their products, and I have no doubt they help. It's just that eternal question for me of where does it all end...? I just thought it worth bringing that tension out into light a bit, that the revealing nature of the Tranquility can cut both ways. Of course, none of us would be into this hobby if we didn't give in to tweakalingus on a somewhat regular basis. I'm just trying to contain some of the damaging side-effects.
Phil,First of all, welcome to AC and what a terrific first post!This was a very nicely done review and thanks for being so thorough and capturing your thoughts and insights as you went through the process. It sounds like you're on your way to great sounding USB solution As many have said there is probably even more room in terms of power cords, mac upgrades, etc.I've been using the BDA-1 for awhile and many of your findings are very consistent with my own, including the HiFace option for USB. As you so clearly stated, some users may have different needs in terms of the trade-offs, such as multiple inputs, etc. I became rather hooked on that particular feature for my own system, so took a little different path, given the BDA-1's USB is rather mediocre in stock form. I also tried the stock HiFace with both a Macbook/Pure Music and W7 with mixed results. I had much better results (smoother, less dryness to sound, vanishing harshness in details) using an Audiphilleo 1 USB->S/PDIF converter into one of the BNC inputs of the BDA-1, along with a very low cost ($130) Alix Linux appliance for USB source. It also supports native hi-rez to 24/192 with no supplemental application needed to switch sample rates. This DAC combo by itself is more expensive, in the range of $2650-$3150 retail, plus a file server/NAS, but I think it allows the BDA-1 to perform much better than stock USB or HiFace (including 16/44.1 redbook), while retaining the rich functionality it has. In my case, not having the Mac in play made the overall front end cost lower as my total Linux USB and server/drives investment is under $500 total, so turnkey about $3200 retail. This is a Tranquility review, but I want to make sure BDA-1 owners as well as those considering it as an option, know there are other options sonically, if that is also a feature set they want to retain, including Bryston's own Linux based BDP-1. As a bonus, you get hi-rez support if it's important for you (it was for me), as well is IR volume control/track control integration with the Bryston remote functions. Not needed for everyone but the trade-offs work well for my own needs.Tom
I owe Eric a few minutes of time, as I have been saying for a while I would put down a few words in review regarding Tranquility and dB Audio Labs' USB cables.In short background, I got on board early on with the initial promotion pricing for the Tranquility DAC, added a Essential USB cable, then recently sent both back to upgrade to the SE version of the DAC and cable.I could write a bit about this gear and how it sounds with my system, but much of that is very well covered already in this huge thread. As a brief aside, other than the savings/value with the introductory offer, the reason in the end I decided to take the plunge on this DAC is because of the information I found in this thread. I know it has strayed quite a bit from the traditional path of the standard review threads here on AC, but honestly it has done so, in my opinion, in a manner that is very arguably much more helpful, productive, and comprehensive way than the traditional "standard" of review information in the scope of Internet communities in general. I think it would be a great disservice to see it either locked or ended due to what has become its unique nature. Short story long, just as it is, it gave me the information I needed to make a well informed buying decision - the fundamental purpose for a "review" if ever I could think of one.That said, the note I wanted to add has less to do with the nuts and bolts of the equipment itself, but rather I wanted to say a few words about Eric and the way dB Audio Labs does business. It is both unique and refreshing to me - a statement made crossing various industries with which I do or have done business.First off, in my early exchanges with Eric, I thought I had enough information to make a purchase based on what I read and the email exchange I had with him. The funny thing is, he basically all but politely refused to sell me something without actually talking to me on the telephone first. To say the least, I was a little surprised and taken back by this, considering the direction online business has gone these days (actually, at first, I was a little annoyed, to be completely honest).From that phone call on, however, I was very glad to have spoken to Eric and can say nothing but good things about the way dB Audio Labs does business. It really shows in that the goal of this company isn't to sell a piece of equipment. The goal, rather, is to provide a complete "solution" to a client. The goal is to see through to delivering on a promise to improve the sound and enjoyment a client gets from their stereo. From technical details, to design philosophies, to specific advice regarding getting the whole thing (a client's system) running its best - and not just inclusive of the company's "recommended" configurations - db Audio Labs is about getting the most one can out of their music system, and if (how) what they have to offer can help deliver on that goal.I was excited when I got my first Tranquility DAC. That unit was a little sick when it arrived (output voltage was off between L/R channels, I think?). Eric was quick to get the problem resolved, and I was very happy with what I had. A little while later, Eric called me out of the blue to ask me how everything was going and we spent an hour or two talking about different things - the purpose of his follow up call to identify any opportunities there were to suggest adjustments to my existing system/equipment to make sure I was getting everything I could out of the DAC. All was well.Later still, Eric was confident that his USB cable would make things noticeably better, and offered a free demo to prove it - a "free demo", as in "I'll ship you one of these cables without so much as taking down your credit card number as collateral to give it a shot, and if it doesn't do anything for your system or you don't like it, just send it back". For various reasons, I didn't get a chance to get the cable pulled out of the box and hooked up for quite a while (a few months, if I'm remembering correctly). I called Eric back finally to actually PAY for the cable he sent me (note I had still not hooked it up yet). Eric tried to insist that he not get paid for it until I tried it - now even months after the "demo" period should have been over, but I won this exchange and got him to take my money.I read the buzz from RMAF regarding the SE version of the DAC and cable, saved my pennies, and a month or so later called Eric to ask about the upgrade offer he made available following the show. I called Eric out on the phone that when he sold me the original Tranquility, he said he was selling me the last DAC I would ever need to buy. He started to joke a bit about the audio industry, how things can always be made better, upgradeitis, and so on. . . I stopped him there and put it another way. I had bought some gear from him, and now he was giving me the full value I paid for that gear back to me to invest in new gear he believes is better for my system than the gear I had. How many other places in the audio industry offer an opportunity to their clients to improve their systems as products get better without facing the prospect of having to resell their old products - at best in most cases breaking even financially - with zero potential of losing money on their original purchase? In short, although the physical parts that make up the gear I bought from Eric may not have been the last I would ever have, not a single dollar I have invested in dB Audio Labs has gone to waste, something I can't say about the majority of money I've invested in other pursuits in this hobby.Thanks to all for their time in reading my thoughts, and Eric at dB Audio Labs for demonstrating one "right way" of doing business.
I have not done any adjustments to my speaker placement (per Eric's suggestion going up to the SE).Cheers!
