Promitheus DAC anyone?

geitebukk · « **Reply #320 on:** 10 Oct 2008, 07:01 pm »

I just been a lucky owner of this DAC. I am living Norway and is the 3th owner of it. I have been told by the seller that it is the last version and bought early this year. However I am not sure if the pulse
trafo is the silver one how can I check that? The one I got have the PCB and output trafo placed on wood.
At the moment I am looking forward to replace the output NE5234 with
the Burson modules.hey are will be fit in tomorrow and later on get their own dual PSU for the best working condition.
So fare I have just changed the chassis power input to Furutech gold
and put some bitumen on the transformers for mechanical damping.
When I have finished the mods and upgrades I will post some picture.
I send a mail for Nicholas about 2 weeks ago hower I guess his SPAM filter eat it. I want his thoughts about if the following will improve the sound.
I was wonndering if someone had tried to use the DAC with putting
the PSU transfirmer and brigde outside the DAC cabinet or done some clock tweaking or change the regulation items with some super regulators.

Copperhead · « **Reply #321 on:** 13 Oct 2008, 08:21 am »

I received my dac and silver interconnects from Nick today. Fitted with the Burson discrete opamps, silver pulse transformer and an optical input.
It came very well packed and beautifully presented. The timber chassis is more a work of art than a commercial appliance.

I thought long and hard about what I wanted, and what I needed, but because of where I live, auditioning multiple dacs was never a possibility.
So any purchase was going to be something of a gamble. The benchmark for me was the Paradisea, which a friend owns. He plays around with tubes,
but otherwise it's standard, and it's a very impressive dac, which is about as expensive as I wanted to go. But Nick's ability to customize became a
telling blow. The Burson's over standard opamps, variable gain, which was huge for me, as the hard drive media center I'm using has very low output. Moving the jumpers to the 4v output fixed that.

Problems? My friends Paradisea was delivered in 4 days after paying on ebay. The Promi dac took over 17 weeks to get here. The incredibly long
wait combined with some complaints that surfaced after I had ordered, and the difficulties contacting Nick by email, made me very uncomfortable.
So there were definately plenty of times I wondered if I had made a mistake.

But all doubts were squashed the moment I turned it on. I'm not going to go on with a flowery disection of the sound quality. Quite simply, it is staggeringly
good. Brandi Carlile was performing in my loungeroom, and a steady stream of artists have followed her. If it continues to to improve as it burns in I'm
going to be extremely satisfied, for a long time. Compared to the Paradisea, without yet hearing them side by side, the Promi sounds in a different class,
it seems to do everything better. But a real comparison will have to wait.

The hum problem reported by some people, is completely absent in this unit. It is dead silent.

Many thanks to Nicholas. The long wait was well and truly worth it.

tanchiro58 · « **Reply #322 on:** 13 Oct 2008, 09:52 am »

Hi Copperhead,

Congratulations on your Promitheus DAC.

I had to sell my Altmann Attraction DAC and keep the Promitheus DAC for a long time comparison in my system. I also prefer the Promi DAC over Paradisea (old version).

Good choice indeed,
Tan

PromitheusAudio · « **Reply #323 on:** 14 Oct 2008, 09:02 am »

Quote from: geitebukk on 10 Oct 2008, 07:01 pm

I just been a lucky owner of this DAC. I am living Norway and is the 3th owner of it. I have been told by the seller that it is the last version and bought early this year. However I am not sure if the pulse
trafo is the silver one how can I check that? The one I got have the PCB and output trafo placed on wood.
At the moment I am looking forward to replace the output NE5234 with
the Burson modules.hey are will be fit in tomorrow and later on get their own dual PSU for the best working condition.
So fare I have just changed the chassis power input to Furutech gold
and put some bitumen on the transformers for mechanical damping.
When I have finished the mods and upgrades I will post some picture.
I send a mail for Nicholas about 2 weeks ago hower I guess his SPAM filter eat it. I want his thoughts about if the following will improve the sound.
I was wonndering if someone had tried to use the DAC with putting
the PSU transfirmer and brigde outside the DAC cabinet or done some clock tweaking or change the regulation items with some super regulators.

Can you resend the email again. COuld have miss it thanks
Your dac should have the silver pulse transformer as it has become a standard item for a while back already

geitebukk · « **Reply #324 on:** 14 Oct 2008, 05:46 pm »

I will resend the mail again as I have been asked to do.

highdfever · « **Reply #325 on:** 6 Nov 2008, 09:40 am »

Finally replaced the NE5534 by Sun discrete Opa - GD Audio. Much better than the 5534 in every aspect. Suggested Promitheus DAC user to replace the 5535 to either Sun discrete Opa or Burson Discrete opamp

Andis

kp93300 · « **Reply #326 on:** 17 Nov 2008, 07:20 am »

Quote from: highdfever on 6 Nov 2008, 09:40 am

Finally replaced the NE5534 by Sun discrete Opa - GD Audio. Much better than the 5534 in every aspect. Suggested Promitheus DAC user to replace the 5535 to either Sun discrete Opa or Burson Discrete opamp

Andis

Hi Highfever,
Is this a drop in replacement and do you have to use the extension lead.?
Can you close the cover after installation and does it run very hot ?
You need to buy 2 pieces of the single opa ?
Thanks in advance
kp93300

highdfever · « **Reply #327 on:** 17 Nov 2008, 04:02 pm »

Yes, just a direct drop in, you can either use the extension cord (can cover the top plate if you put the Opamp aside), or put one more IC socket to make it higher so that there will be enough space to insert the opamp (but then you cannot cover the top plate).

I have ordered both the SUN and Moon discrete Opamp and SUN runs very hot with 2 very bright green LED/each opamp. You have to order 2 single opamp to replace the 2xNE5534. I found SUN is more dynamic and hi-fi sound while Moon is more natural.

kp93300 · « **Reply #328 on:** 18 Nov 2008, 07:31 am »

Hi Andis,
thanks for the reply.
will order the Moon to try .
Do you need to adjust the power supply of the DAC ?
kp93300

highdfever · « **Reply #329 on:** 18 Nov 2008, 01:39 pm »

I am not a technical guy, so dont know how to adjust the power supply and how/where to connect the ground wire.

Andis

Milenko27 · « **Reply #330 on:** 13 Dec 2008, 11:04 pm »

Hi, just ordered the Moon op-amps, anyone know where the ground wire should be soldered?

And everyone who has tweaked their unit....pictures please

analogmart · « **Reply #331 on:** 17 Dec 2008, 11:46 am »

Quote from: Milenko27 on 13 Dec 2008, 11:04 pm

Hi, just ordered the Moon op-amps, anyone know where the ground wire should be soldered?

And everyone who has tweaked their unit....pictures please

Hi Milenko,
Closet ground point:
At the right side of Opamp where two transformers located, you will see four wires from PCB to transformer
inner group of color red and white come out from "G" on board, outer group of Red and White is signal.
So, you can solder to any color that come from "G".
Hope this help,
Mart

Milenko27 · « **Reply #332 on:** 17 Dec 2008, 07:04 pm »

That helps, thank you very much. That looks reasonably doable.
Just waiting for the opa-moons now, they are in shipment transit at the moment.

kdinmd · « **Reply #333 on:** 21 Dec 2008, 09:38 am »

Nick,

What's the price of your Dac with USB and Coax inputs and the Burson op-amp upgrade? And the lead time for shipment?

Thanks much,

Kevin

Milenko27 · « **Reply #334 on:** 26 Dec 2008, 09:50 am »

Hi,
when grounding the opa-moon, what works best, ground on the input side of the output transformer or on the output of the output transformer? If that made any sense at all?

If i ground on the output side will it be better for the output transformer?

tanchiro58 · « **Reply #335 on:** 26 Dec 2008, 07:53 pm »

Quote from: Milenko27 on 26 Dec 2008, 09:50 am

Hi,
when grounding the opa-moon, what works best, ground on the input side of the output transformer or on the output of the output transformer? If that made any sense at all?

If i ground on the output side will it be better for the output transformer?

It does not matter since ground can be anywhere in the DAC. I soldered the ground of the Burson opamps to one of the closest screw of the PS transformer where the ground wire connected to the AC plug.

Milenko27 · « **Reply #336 on:** 26 Dec 2008, 08:18 pm »

Thank you, i soldered the ground to the output side of the transformer. Not the nicest lay out though, but that is easy to unsolder later on anyway. First impression, very satisfied, i feel the music flows more natural. It is almost as it breaths the music into the room.

This dac is an amazing buy and i guess a dream for every tweaker....

tanchiro58 · « **Reply #337 on:** 26 Dec 2008, 08:49 pm »

Quote from: Milenko27 on 26 Dec 2008, 08:18 pm

Thank you, i soldered the ground to the output side of the transformer. Not the nicest lay out though, but that is easy to unsolder later on anyway. First impression, very satisfied, i feel the music flows more natural. It is almost as it breaths the music into the room.

This dac is an amazing buy and i guess a dream for every tweaker....

Yes, it is an absolute awesome dac after doing some tweaks (but no one would not believe this?!). That is the reason I sold my Altmann Attraction DAC.

Ronw · « **Reply #338 on:** 4 Jan 2009, 03:45 am »

I am inquiring to see if anyone on this forom who owns or has access to the manual for the Promitheus dac and would be willing to email me a copyof it.maybe i can reciprocate in some way.
Thanks in advance,
ronw

walkern · « **Reply #339 on:** 14 Jan 2009, 12:48 am »

Hey Tan (or anyone else with a manual handy),

I noticed that you reduced the output level of your DAC to 1 Volt. I just changed amps, and now one click up on my TVC and the volume is already pretty high. I'm too lazy to head to attic to try and find my owners manual for my DAC. Can you let me know how to set the jumpers so I am outputting 1 volt from my DAC?

Thanks,

Neil