[jtwrace]

To use one in an audio circuit we have to provide very effective EMI and RFI filtration after the MOV to reduce their deleterious effects.

Dave

That's where the MajikBuss or UberBuss excels.  Right?

[dBe]

I use a gas discharge surge arrestor in place of MOVs and I have had good results in protecting my DIY projects.
See link:   http://www.mouser.com/Search/Refine.aspx?Keyword=gas+discharge+surge+arrestor&FS=True
Scotty

Great choice.  Quiet and tough.

Dave

[Danny Richie]

FYI, it still benefits quite a bit from a good power cable.

[Afterimage]

So what is the verdict.  Aftermarket power cord into a power conditioner?  Or aftermarket power cord into wall?  or stock power cord into wall or conditioner?  dB, what would you guys recommend?

[TRADERXFAN]

I think it should be safe to say that the importance of power filtering is going to be related to the quality of the power and noise on the lines of the place in question -it may vary widely in importance. 

I found that there was a noticable difference in power cord.  Can't give much info on filtering though.

-Tony

[newzooreview]

@Danny
@TRADERXFAN

Can you tell me which power cords are working well with your Tranquility DACs?

[Danny Richie]

I am using the Electra Cable B-7. http://www.electracable.com/powercables.htm

[dBe]

I think it should be safe to say that the importance of power filtering is going to be related to the quality of the power and noise on the lines of the place in question -it may vary widely in importance. 

I found that there was a noticable difference in power cord.  Can't give much info on filtering though.

-Tony

Tony,

I have never seen a digital piece of gear that didn't repond positively to the PROPER kind of power filtration.  AC nasties running around in the ground plane and the ones that are not filtered out by the power supply are responsible for all kinds of digititus crapolii.

Dave

[Cycles2]

I originally posted this on A'gon and saw there are some interesting posts on Audio Circle re: the Tranquility USB DAC from db Audio Labs.  I hope you find it helpful for those of you into computer audio or thinking of getting into it.

I can only say that as an early adopter of a computer music server setup I've owned more USB DACs than I care to admit. I'm not sure why I chose the USB DAC route vs. other interface options. I was probably influenced years ago by the content on the Wavelength website and have found no reason to change. I use a Mac Mini with an external 500GB drive with music ripped in AIFF format.

My comments that follow are only to compare USB DACs to USB DACs as I have no basis for comparison to vinyl or other PC interface options (i.e. TOSLINK). I also have no affiliation with any manufacturer as over the years I've purchased USB DACs from Wavelength, Bel Canto, UltraFi and db Audio Labs, all at list price. For completeness the specific USB DACs that I've owned or auditioned (in chronological order) include the Wavelength Brick and Cosecant ver 2 (both non-async models), the Bel Canto DAC3 (using the USB interface), the UltraFi iRoc, and I auditoned the USB interface on the AMR CD-77. I currently own the Tranquility USB DAC from db Audio Labs which is the comparison basis for this post.

I don't have any formal training when it comes to understanding tech specs and I don't claim to have a trained set of ears. My evaluation is mainly based on what sounds good on my system. During my USB DAC journey over the past 2.5 years my system equipment has remained the same with some skr and i/f cable upgrades.

With some of the DACs that I've owned I would typically try to find songs that sounded good on my system rather than listen to the songs that I enjoy. What I experienced was that some DACs made the music sound lifeless as the music lacked dynamics. I also had a challenging time getting a low noise floor with some of the DACs even after following the 'best practice tips'.

With the Tranqulity USB DAC I now find that I've forgotten about the equipment in my system and can enjoy listening to songs that I like. The Tranqulity DAC is dead quiet but as soon as a musical source is applied is when the enjoyment begins.

The Tranquility possesses the dynamic range that we've all come to expect from any gear that we allow to part of our systems. Bass presentation from the Tranqulity is terrific. By comparison bass was totally void with the Wavelength DACs. The Bel Canto DAC3 reintroduces bass but it tends to be a bit muddy and at times gets in the way of the music. Improved bass with the iRoc and the AMR-77 but none of them compare to the Tranquility as you swear it's coming from a source different than your loudspeakers as the seperation from the other instruments is uncanny. Same high praise for mids and highs from the Tranqulity.

Enough about bass, mids and highs. Here's what's really interesting. I'm hearing new artifacts in songs that I've listend to hundreds of times. I think it's due to the sense of having much more space around the instruments creates a huge soundstage that provides width, depth and height.

I'm particually critical to the sound that should be produced when a drumstrick strikes a cymbal. This is the first DAC that gets that sound correct as well as the natural decay of the cymbal. If any of you have the Al Dimeola song 'Flesh on Flesh' listen to the splash cymbal from the 3:45 to 4:00 point in the song. With my previous DACs, this was a bit painful to listen to as the splash cymbal seemed to collide with other musical notes of the song. Digital harshness may be a term used to describe this. The Tranquility DAC is the first DAC I've heard that allows the splash cymbal to be heard correctly and seperately from the other notes. I now find myself enjoying this 15 second musical crescendo.

I've come to realize that the PC Audio area is so new that thinking I've found my last and final DAC is not reasonable and actually not what I would want. The good news is that you don't have to spend a small fortune anymore as the maturation of the USB DAC market has raised the sound quality and the introduction of more manufacturers has lowered the prices. This may sound counter-intuitive but I can't wait to hear my next DAC as they keep getting better.

[zybar]

Very nice review and write-up Cycles2.   

George

[pardales]

I originally posted this on A'gon and saw there are some interesting posts on Audio Circle re: the Tranquility USB DAC from db Audio Labs.  I hope you find it helpful for those of you into computer audio or thinking of getting into it.

I can only say that as an early adopter of a computer music server setup I've owned more USB DACs than I care to admit. I'm not sure why I chose the USB DAC route vs. other interface options. I was probably influenced years ago by the content on the Wavelength website and have found no reason to change. I use a Mac Mini with an external 500GB drive with music ripped in AIFF format.

My comments that follow are only to compare USB DACs to USB DACs as I have no basis for comparison to vinyl or other PC interface options (i.e. TOSLINK). I also have no affiliation with any manufacturer as over the years I've purchased USB DACs from Wavelength, Bel Canto, UltraFi and db Audio Labs, all at list price. For completeness the specific USB DACs that I've owned or auditioned (in chronological order) include the Wavelength Brick and Cosecant ver 2 (both non-async models), the Bel Canto DAC3 (using the USB interface), the UltraFi iRoc, and I auditoned the USB interface on the AMR CD-77. I currently own the Tranquility USB DAC from db Audio Labs which is the comparison basis for this post.

I don't have any formal training when it comes to understanding tech specs and I don't claim to have a trained set of ears. My evaluation is mainly based on what sounds good on my system. During my USB DAC journey over the past 2.5 years my system equipment has remained the same with some skr and i/f cable upgrades.

With some of the DACs that I've owned I would typically try to find songs that sounded good on my system rather than listen to the songs that I enjoy. What I experienced was that some DACs made the music sound lifeless as the music lacked dynamics. I also had a challenging time getting a low noise floor with some of the DACs even after following the 'best practice tips'.

With the Tranqulity USB DAC I now find that I've forgotten about the equipment in my system and can enjoy listening to songs that I like. The Tranqulity DAC is dead quiet but as soon as a musical source is applied is when the enjoyment begins.

The Tranquility possesses the dynamic range that we've all come to expect from any gear that we allow to part of our systems. Bass presentation from the Tranqulity is terrific. By comparison bass was totally void with the Wavelength DACs. The Bel Canto DAC3 reintroduces bass but it tends to be a bit muddy and at times gets in the way of the music. Improved bass with the iRoc and the AMR-77 but none of them compare to the Tranquility as you swear it's coming from a source different than your loudspeakers as the seperation from the other instruments is uncanny. Same high praise for mids and highs from the Tranqulity.

Enough about bass, mids and highs. Here's what's really interesting. I'm hearing new artifacts in songs that I've listend to hundreds of times. I think it's due to the sense of having much more space around the instruments creates a huge soundstage that provides width, depth and height.

I'm particually critical to the sound that should be produced when a drumstrick strikes a cymbal. This is the first DAC that gets that sound correct as well as the natural decay of the cymbal. If any of you have the Al Dimeola song 'Flesh on Flesh' listen to the splash cymbal from the 3:45 to 4:00 point in the song. With my previous DACs, this was a bit painful to listen to as the splash cymbal seemed to collide with other musical notes of the song. Digital harshness may be a term used to describe this. The Tranquility DAC is the first DAC I've heard that allows the splash cymbal to be heard correctly and seperately from the other notes. I now find myself enjoying this 15 second musical crescendo.

I've come to realize that the PC Audio area is so new that thinking I've found my last and final DAC is not reasonable and actually not what I would want. The good news is that you don't have to spend a small fortune anymore as the maturation of the USB DAC market has raised the sound quality and the introduction of more manufacturers has lowered the prices. This may sound counter-intuitive but I can't wait to hear my next DAC as they keep getting better.

Thoughtfully written. Thank you,
 

[Telstar]

I appreciate the attention to detail. It matters to the sound.

- The output Mundorf Supreme capacitors were selected after hundreds of hours listening and evaluating over 60 capacitors of all types and prices in double blind scenarios on many systems with many ears and types of music.

Did you choose the silver/gold/oil or another version of the line? (you can answer me privately if you prefer to not disclose this information)

- The direct plated over copper output jacks are considered one of the most transparent sounding jacks ever made (This is actually rare! Just another one of the MANY components where other "high end audio" companies "cheap you guys out" for their own bottom line profits!).

I think this is actually the best and most overlooked feature of your dac
The one that made me raise an eybrow. I know only 3 brands/models of gold plated all-copper rca jacks.
If you tested those (vampire, wbt and eichmann -yup no cardas, they dont gold plate the full copper jacks) sonically. It would be nice to know. For the others, they cost between 50 and 100$.

- We actually built a high tech Sabre chip dac to sonically compare the Tranquility against to demonstrate to ourselves that we were not missing anything sonically with our NOS design, actually sounding superior to the Sabre dac verifying the Tranquility's design and it's overall sonic integrity.

I have absolutely no reason to doubt this statement, having done a similar comparison myself.

[Telstar]

For people who likes numbers (like me sometimes). the best spdif receiver on the market has an in intrinsic jitter of 50ps. The best USB or firewire dacs can have overall around 70ps of total jitter (so has the wavelength measured). Still too few to play highres flawlessly.
To go lower than that, you need a different interface altogether, with a more direct connection to the transport.

A (expensive) workaround is to slave a souncard such as Lynx or RME, and using AES (the least compromised spdif implementation).
The BADA strangely fails to do so, and take the clock from the soundcard.

An integrated cd player with philips transport would be able to besten the jitter performance of such computer+dac.

(edit: fixed spelling)

[Telstar]

One of the major players was the Tranquility DAC.  I've lived with a Cary 306-200 as my source since they first came out.  It sounds fabulous.  I have to admit that the Tranquility DAC is better in the HF presentation than the Cary.  It NEVER sounded hard or etched in the system.

It cant -- a NOS DAC rolls off pretty early.
 

[dBe]

It cant -- a NOS DAC rolls off pretty early.
 

It can.  The Cary in 96 or 192 always sounded a bit hard and etched, so I listened @ 44.1.  The Tranquility sounded more natural to my ears.  YMMV of course.

Dave

[pardales]

It can.  The Cary in 96 or 192 always sounded a bit hard and etched, so I listened @ 44.1.  The Tranquility sounded more natural to my ears.  YMMV of course.

Dave

First NOS DAC I heard was the Altmann Attraction DAC over 3 years ago. Blew me away at the time. NOS has a certain character of its own and people who like it tend not to think of it as compromised. Every design has its limitations I suppose. In my audition of the dB I do not find the highs compromised at all.

[truant]

My Ridge Street Alethias usb cable arrived this afternoon.  I'm only into the second track but, man, is this an entirely different listening experience!  Usually with a new piece of gear I want to jump around and listen to a variety of my favorite songs but I'm transfixed. I just want to sit here and not move.  The Alethias replaces my Locus Design Polestar.  I thought that since the dB folks had put so much attention into the usb connection that it deserved the highest quality cable.  No regrets spending extra on this cable (and it's on sale right now.)  I only wish I had ordered a 1M instead of .5M length.  The cable is fairly stiff making the logistics of laying out the cable in my cabinet challenging. My very first impression is that the nuances in the music are so much more thoroughly conveyed that I feel as if I'm listening with a new set of ears. 

[Danny Richie]

I have one of those cables too, and it definitely took it up a notch.

[newzooreview]

Funny. I just got my Alethias USB cable today, and I was just about to write something similar. I hooked it up to my Tranquility DAC, and the difference was immediately obvious and a significant improvement from my Virtue Audio USB cable (which was only $50 but did improve on the standard USB cable that I had).

The Alethias should simply be supplied with the Tranquility. As good as the DAC was sounding, it's now obvious that I was not hearing what it was really capable of. Bass presentation has moved to a whole new level: more clear, better defined, and with amazing tone. In fact, across the spectrum tone is much better. The depth of the soundstage is now better than my previous DAC (yeah, I think the PS Audio stands no chance at this point), and the effortless detail and space between instruments is wonderful.

Since I got the Tranquility while it was on introductory sale, I ended up with the DAC and the Alethias at the current price of the DAC. It was a great deal, and I'm very pleased.

[truant]

I couldn't agree more.