How timely - I found one of these used (a month old) in France. It was shipped to me a week ago and should be here within the next week.
So far, the best DAC I've heard is the Altmann, which I own. The problem is it creates noise issues run through my TacT. Both pieces have been at TacT and arrive back today. There's a good chance these two won't ever get along, as the TacT has a variable 24-bit output and the Altmann is 16 bits. Neither Altmann nor TacT gave me any good reason why this would be, but there you have it. If by some miracle they are happy together now, great. But, I'm not holding my breath.
During the handwringing stage, I was upset that my system was so close to my own personal perfection but that a low-level noise persisted. The Altmann's presentation is my idea of MUSIC. The thought of having found my own tropical island, only to have it taken away, was awful. Reading through the Altmann website, he says:
Texas Instruments offers some great R2R DACs that were developed by Burr-Brown. The flag-ship is the PCM1704, which is the only audio converter available with true 24-bit noise-free resolution.
So, I started reading up on the PCM 1704. It isn't that widely used but seems to be universally praised.
There are precious few DACs using this chip but this is how I found Lessloss. They use batteries for the output section, which along with NOS architecture, have proved favorable in my listening experiences. However, they also use filtered, isolated AC power for the digital section which they say is superior to DC for digital applications.
The battery charging circuit runs about 10 hours, then if not manually powered down it will power itself down for recharging.
They state that tremendous benefits can be realized by disabling the clock in the transport and using only the clock in an external DAC (assuming the DAC is good of course). A few reviews on Audio Asylum agree with this thought. Lessloss says this can even be done with a cheap CDP, though they offer a modified Rega player. They say the combination is as good as digital gets (why of course!).
I doubt I will take the soldering iron to the TacT to try out the Master/Slave possibilities, but never say never in this crazy hobby.
Anyway, in the very near future, I will be able to post thoughts between the Altmann and Lessloss DACs. I have very good feeling about the Lessloss unit, but it will have to be Very Good Indeed to trump the Altmann. FWIW, the guy that sold me the Lessloss said he owned the Altmann which he liked very much but ultimately preferred the extension, dynamic pop, and detail of the Lessloss. Dare to dream . . .
I would encourage anybody interested in the ideas posted on the Lessloss website to contact them. I e-mailed them a few times and they are super guys. Their English is perfect (Liudas grew up in Texas) and they took a lot of time with me, even after I told them I was buying a used unit.
I will be posting thoughts within the next week or so. You heard it here first . . .
