[barkerpj]

I'm thinking of upgrading from my SB2 to an Off Ramp and wondered if anyone else had done any comparisons between the two.

There is a big price difference so I'd hope the Off ramp was a big improvement.

thanks in advance for any answers.

[oris98]

Hi all,

I am also interested to know the differences between the two. Any one has compared them ?

Thanks.

[audioengr]

Peter Shand recently paid me a visit at BBR and brought his SB2.  We compared it to the Off-Ramp Turbo and the Off-Ramp I2S (prototype).  It was not bad from the S/PDIF output driving a modded P-3A, but the Off-ramps were both better.  They will do 24/96 and the SB2 wont.  I forget his moniker.  

I imagine that the SB2 can be as good as the Off-Ramp at 44.1 with mods and a Superclock3.  The two crystals that I saw in there were not familiar frequencies though, and the wireless board is epoxied to the main board at the connector. May be difficult to mod the way I want to.  I may try one after the RMAF.  So many projects...my Off-Ramp I2S is a first priority.  I have customers with deposits on this one and it's not even a product yet.

Steve N.

[Jon L]

Peter Shand recently paid me a visit at BBR and brought his SB2.  We compared it to the Off-Ramp Turbo and the Off-Ramp I2S (prototype).  It was not bad from the S/PDIF output driving a modded P-3A, but the Off-ramps were both better.  They will do 24/96 and the SB2 wont.  I forget his moniker.  

I imagine that the SB2 can be as good as the Off-Ramp at 44.1 with mods and a Superclock3.  The two crystals that I saw in there were not familiar frequencies though, and the wireless board is epoxied to the mai ...

Steve, will the Off-Ramp I2S require that the outboard DAC also get modded by you to accept I2S cable?

[audioengr]

Steve, will the Off-Ramp I2S require that the outboard DAC also get modded by you to accept I2S cable?

Yes, the P-3A must get mods to perform optimally with the I2S Off-Ramp.  It will still work without mods, but not nearly as good.  Other DAC's must have more extensive changes to accept I2S.  The P-3A will also require a special I2S cable that I make.

Steve N.

[oris98]

Steve,

Will the Benchmark CD1 be able to mod for accepting I2s too ?   I though at one point, you were thinking of modding the CD1 to accept USB directly..  Is it still in your plan ?

Thanks.

[jman66]

Steve,

Any timeline on when the I2S Off-Ramp will be available and at what
price? Would it hold true that ANY dac which has an I2S input could be
"fed" by the I2S Off-Ramp?
Thanks!

[audioengr]

Steve,

Will the Benchmark CD1 be able to mod for accepting I2s too ?   I though at one point, you were thinking of modding the CD1 to accept USB directly..  Is it still in your plan ?

Thanks.

I believe I can mod the Benchmark to replace the other inputs with I2S.

If I were to mod the CD1 to add I2S, it would probably eliminate it's use as any thing else.

Steve N.

[audioengr]

Steve,

Any timeline on when the I2S Off-Ramp will be available and at what
price? Would it hold true that ANY dac which has an I2S input could be
"fed" by the I2S Off-Ramp?
Thanks!

I need to design and fabricate a circuit board and then debug it after the RMAF.  This will take a month or two.

Any DAC with I2S should work with it, assuming that it is the same I2S.  There can be variants.

Steve N.

[Ronm1]

Steve, will the Off-Ramp I2S require that the outboard DAC also get modded by you to accept I2S cable?

Yes, the P-3A must get mods to perform optimally with the I2S Off-Ramp.  It will still work without mods, but not nearly as good.    The P-3A will also require a special I2S cable that I make.

Steve N.

Steve

  You have my curiosity raised...
  Are the P3a mods diff than your existing P3 mods?
  Is this cable diff than what Brad already makes?
  I looked on the site but couldn't any info on the above!

[audioengr]

Steve, will the Off-Ramp I2S require that the outboard DAC also get modded by you to accept I2S cable?

Yes, the P-3A must get mods to perform optimally with the I2S Off-Ramp.  It will still work without mods, but not nearly as good.    The P-3A will also require a special I2S cable that I make.

Steve N.

Steve

  You have my curiosity raised...
  Are the P3a mods diff than your existing P3 mods?
  Is this cable diff than what Brad already makes?
  I looked on the site but couldn't any info on the above!

Yes, these mods are new, just for the I2S.  The I2S cable is my own design.

Steve N.

[jman66]

Peter Shand recently paid me a visit at BBR and brought his SB2.  We compared it to the Off-Ramp Turbo and the Off-Ramp I2S (prototype).  It was not bad from the S/PDIF output driving a modded P-3A, but the Off-ramps were both better.  They will do 24/96 and the SB2 wont.  I forget his moniker.  

Perhaps I'm missing the "big picture" but what benefit is the 24/96 capability now that the Secret Rabbit Code binaries are no longer available?

[Marbles]

Foobar 2000 has it's own 24/96 upsampler that's not too bad.....

[audioengr]

Peter Shand recently paid me a visit at BBR and brought his SB2.  We compared it to the Off-Ramp Turbo and the Off-Ramp I2S (prototype).  It was not bad from the S/PDIF output driving a modded P-3A, but the Off-ramps were both better.  They will do 24/96 and the SB2 wont.  I forget his moniker.  

Perhaps I'm missing the "big picture" but what benefit is the 24/96 capability now that the Secret Rabbit Code binaries are no longer available?

Marbles is right, the SSRC resampler is pretty good as well.  However, I am working with Erik in Australia to make the Secret Rabbit Code available to my customers, so it may be available again.

Steve N.

[Marbles]

my Off-Ramp I2S is a first priority. I have customers with deposits on this one and it's not even a product yet.  ...