[pardales]

I can't speak for the others but I'm just too busy enjoying the shockingly good audio coming out of this Mac Mini and Tranquility combination.

Ditto. The latest set of system tweaks to the MINI have really made a positive difference. Just enjoying the music....

[chadh]

The Tranquility owners seem to have been a little quiet lately. Anybody care to give an update on how things are sounding?

Well, here's the scoop with me.

To be honest, everything hasn't been perfect in Tranquility DAC land with me.  I've had some lingering problems with getting the DAC working properly in my system. 

At first I thought this was a problem with the DAC itself.  The good news is that the guys who stand behind this product were EXTREMELY happy to do anything they could to ensure that I had a DAC that worked properly, and was set up properly.  In fact, right now I have a second Tranquility DAC sitting at my place that they sent to let me check out.

It turns out that my biggest issue lay in how all of my components worked together.  The Tranquility DAC puts out a much stronger signal than either of the other sources I have on hand, and my pre-amp (equipped with 6SL7 tubes) has pretty serious input sensitivity.  So, it seems that the Tranquility DAC was driving my pre-amp to clipping a great deal of the time.

Well, eventually we hit upon a sensible solution.  My pre-amp can make use of a wide range of tubes, so I swapped out the high-gain 6SL7 tubes for the much lower gain 6SN7 tubes, and now everything is great.

I find it interesting, though, that many of the DACs characteristics were able to shine through even while I had this serious synergy problem.  Now that the clipping issue is in my past, I'm able really to appreciate those elements of the presentation that jumped out at me before.  The whole presentation of the music is just so much richer right now.  Listening is almost a tactile experience.  Depth of the soundstage is greatly increased, and music is truly enveloping. 

Right now I'm listening to Mark Knopfler's The Ragpicker's Dream.  As it happens, I went to hear Knopfler live two nights ago as well.  So many of the things that I really appreciated at the concert (in the layering of the instrumentation, how sounds from various instruments at times would jump out almost violently from the performance, and at other times would sneak in to my consciousness so much more languidly) are present in my living room now.  I guess this has something to do with "dynamics", but the three dimensionality of the presentation is also a big factor.  And all of this is accomplished with improved tone as well.  The other night, Knopfler played about 10 different guitars through the course of a two hour concert, often switching guitars in the middle of songs.  The choice of guitar for the appropriate tone at the appropriate time was obviously a big deal for him.  And right now I'm really hearing those sorts of differences in tone.  I mean, Knopfler's playing always sounded great on my system (I think it would sound great on a bose system) - but to feel like I can tell which of his guitars he's using at any given time without any visual cues is kind of surprising.

Anyway, my humble system has never sounded so good.  I'm very happy.  I don't have a huge universe of alternatives with which to compare this DAC, but it's made a big difference in my system.  Especially now that its playing nicely with the rest of my system.

Chad

[pardales]

Well, here's the scoop with me.

Right now I'm listening to Mark Knopfler's The Ragpicker's Dream.  As it happens, I went to hear Knopfler live two nights ago as well.  So many of the things that I really appreciated at the concert (in the layering of the instrumentation, how sounds from various instruments at times would jump out almost violently from the performance, and at other times would sneak in to my consciousness so much more languidly) are present in my living room now.  I guess this has something to do with "dynamics", but the three dimensionality of the presentation is also a big factor.  And all of this is accomplished with improved tone as well.  The other night, Knopfler played about 10 different guitars through the course of a two hour concert, often switching guitars in the middle of songs.  The choice of guitar for the appropriate tone at the appropriate time was obviously a big deal for him.  And right now I'm really hearing those sorts of differences in tone.  I mean, Knopfler's playing always sounded great on my system (I think it would sound great on a bose system) - but to feel like I can tell which of his guitars he's using at any given time without any visual cues is kind of surprising.

Anyway, my humble system has never sounded so good.  I'm very happy.  I don't have a huge universe of alternatives with which to compare this DAC, but it's made a big difference in my system.  Especially now that its playing nicely with the rest of my system.

Chad

A friend of mine attended the show in Detroit on Tuesday and said it was one of the best live shows he has seen in a long time. It is great that you can hear, and got to see, the differences in guitars!   

Correction:  Ann Arbor not Detroit

[chadh]

I friend of mine attended the show in Detroit on Tuesday and said it was one of the best live shows he has seen in a long time. It is great that you can hear, and got to see, the differences in guitars!   

Tuesday night the show was in Ann Arbor - that's the show I saw.  And it really was fantastic.  Of course, I'm biased.  But I love Knopfler's music so much, I was a little afraid the show couldn't live up to my expectations.  Instead, it far exceeded them.

It was really wild to hear him wailing away on a song like Telegraph Road, while backed by guys playing mandolin and wooden flute.  But it was just so RIGHT!

Now I get to relive the experience listening to his catalog through my Tranquility DAC-powered system.

Chad

[coverto]

Thanks to all for the comments thus far! Are there any owners with solid-state amps who could comment on the the sound of the Tranquility as relates to "musicality" - whether the sound is "involving" and tube-like to any degree (could you mistake the sound for a tube component?), and how it performs on timing, basically its overall ability to groove and rock, draw the listener in, convey emotion, etc?

[TRADERXFAN]

Well, Coverto...

I can only tell you that this unit makes my music "engaging".  Sometimes I just go to put something on in the background, and most of the time I can't make myself get up to go to bed. It's an amazing piece of gear. I don't relate to the other terms you used.

-Tony

[coverto]

Thanks Tony - that is essentially the information I was looking for. With all those other terms, I'm asking: will it force me to put down my book, jump up on the sofa and start playing air guitar? Sounds like the answer is probably yes.

[jrebman]

Coverto,

You left out a step... stripping down to your skibbies.

-- Jim

[cfcmick]

Thanks Tony - that is essentially the information I was looking for. With all those other terms, I'm asking: will it force me to put down my book, jump up on the sofa and start playing air guitar? Sounds like the answer is probably yes.

Coverto,

Here's a reply from Ridge Street Audio in response to someone who asked a similar type of question:
     
Quote from: gprro on Yesterday at 12:22 AM

...The only slight shortcoming I've read or heard about the Nico is slight dynamic compression or restiction. I'm really curious if the tranquility is better in that area, or if it also gives up a little dynamic pop to the best digital sources. Dynamics are high on my list, as well as tone, weight, detail, air, staging... haha, kind of want it all.

Hey gprro.

I've not had any experience with the Nico but, still, maybe I can help here.

To my ears the Tranquility is, regardless of cost, one of the most dynamic DACs I've heard. Honestly, I've heard equal but I don't believe I've heard better. IMO that's saying a lot for any digital.

I judge dynamics by two criteria: Ability to startle (with large transients) and how deep I can hear into the recording (small, low level transients)

Couple of pieces of music come to mind that I use as a reference to judge this....

Having become familiar with the music and even though I know it's coming, it still startles or surprises me:

Gregorio Paniagua's "La Folia" on the Harmonia Mundi label, track 7 "Nordica et desolata / Aurea mediocritas" @ 3:59. The slap here should absolutely POP! It's subtle but there should be plenty of low end content here too.

"Further Attempts" on the MA Recordings label, track 4 "Before... After". The whole song. This is an acoustic recording and there's things happening between the musicians that are way down in the mix. Some of these things are so subtle that they almost seem like a "suggestion" while other parts of the song set up a sense of anticipation. This is a great example of low level dynamics. Lesser front ends simply miss the nuances that happen here.

Dom Um Romao's "Saudades" on the Water Lilly Acoustics label, track 4 "Lynces B". The whole song. Another acoustic recording with lots of ear candy. Dynamics play a big part in portraying the acoustic venue and the perspective of how everything relates properly. Hard to get right - the Tranquility is exceptional here.

For reference, here's RSAD's System description: RSAD Reference System

Bottom line I suppose: Within up to around $6000.00, RSAD could use any DAC I want for product development or just enjoying music with in the reference system here. I'm very content with the Tranquility.

So, hope that points in a good direction for you gprro.

Cheers,
Roger.

Ridge Street Audio.

[coverto]

Thanks Mick - that is, indeed, very interesting testimony. And Jim - you just might be right about the skibbies!

I was also wondering if anybody could comment on how the Tranquility performs with older recordings - old, scratchy transfers of jazz and blues from the 30s and 40s, for instance? I find that some DACs tend to emphasize the annoying pops and surface noise, while others get past it.

I'm likewise interested whether any folks could talk about what kind of vinyl rig they're using and how it compares to the Tranquility.

[mamba315]

I'm likewise interested whether any folks could talk about what kind of vinyl rig they're using and how it compares to the Tranquility.

x2

[Bigfish]

Guys:

Have any owners of the Tranquility DAC downloaded any hirez music and played it back through the DAC?  I am interested to know if you could hear the improvement in sound from the hirez files that you normally experience when played back through a DAC designed to handle the higher bit rates?

I have not read through all of the pages of this thread and apologize if this has previously been covered.  I would also be interested to know if the Tranquility is your first stand alone DAC or what DAC you replaced or compared it to when you decided to keep it?

Thanks,

Ken

[truant]

I've recently started to download some Hi-Res files from both the Linn and HDTracks sites.  The first track I listened to was from Diana Krall's QUIET NIGHTS and I was struck with how holographic it sounded.  All of her recordings sound great yet this was the best I've heard her sound in my system, however, I confess I have not heard this recording in any other format so no direct comparison.  I've downloaded a few Hi-Res files that I already have burned from cds (Peter Bernstein's MONK, Ian Shaw's DRAWN TO ALL THINGS to name two) so will be making those comparisons in the coming days. 

[highfilter]

Is the Tranquility DAC able to hook up to say a Squeezebox Touch via USB or does it have to be connected directly to a computer?

[Bigfish]

The Touch does not have a USB output. 

Ken

[krikor]

The Touch does not have a USB output. 

Actually, it is possible to use the USB port on the Touch as an output to a DAC, but it is not yet an official part of the firmware.  I've been anxiously following these developments at the slimdevices forum:

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=78469

Now that would be an interesting experiment... Touch > Tranquility.  It would certainly solve some of my system configuration issues.

[highfilter]

Actually, it is possible to use the USB port on the Touch as an output to a DAC, but it is not yet an official part of the firmware.  I've been anxiously following these developments at the slimdevices forum:

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=78469

Now that would be an interesting experiment... Touch > Tranquility.  It would certainly solve some of my system configuration issues.

Very interesting. Thanks for the link! Having the Tranquility hooked directly up to the Touch would be amazing and cut down the connectivity circus of having a dedicated computer.

[Bigfish]

Guys:

I want to say a very special thanks to Eric Hider of db Audio Labs for taking an hour of his time yesterday, on the telephone, to help me optimize my new Mac Mini with the Tranquility DAC.  Talk about excellent customer service!  I would also like to thank TimzTunz for calling me this afternoon and helping me chose the optimum settings in Pure Music. 

Prior to setting up the Mac Mini I transferred all of my .flac files to a W.D. Fire Wire External Drive and saved them in .aiff format.  I also removed the stock internal hard drive in the mini (which contains 4 gb of ram) with a solid state drive.  With help from guys on Computer Audiophile I was able to connect everything properly and obtain music from my speakers, prior to talking with Eric later in the day.  How do you spell relief?

My experience with gear is that it improves over the first couple hundred of hours of use but it had better sound good when initially played.  The only comment I will make is that I am very happy with the music this system is making today and I will not be sending the Tranquility back! 

Ken

[timztunz]

Guys:

I want to say a very special thanks to Eric Hider of db Audio Labs for taking an hour of his time yesterday, on the telephone, to help me optimize my new Mac Mini with the Tranquility DAC.  Talk about excellent customer service!  I would also like to thank TimzTunz for calling me this afternoon and helping me chose the optimum settings in Pure Music. 

Prior to setting up the Mac Mini I transferred all of my .flac files to a W.D. Fire Wire External Drive and saved them in .aiff format.  I also removed the stock internal hard drive in the mini (which contains 4 gb of ram) with a solid state drive.  With help from guys on Computer Audiophile I was able to connect everything properly and obtain music from my speakers.  How do you spell relief?

My experience with gear is that it improves over the first couple hundred of hours of use but it had better sound good when initially played.  The only comment I will make is that I am very happy with the music this system is making today and I will not be sending the Tranquility back! 

Ken

Congratulations!  It only gets better from here on out.

[Audioclyde]

Ken,

Any comparisons to the MW Transporter that you can give?


Pm me if you like.

Thanks

Randy