[arthurs]

Haven't heard of the GW before, looks interesting!  Yeah Charlie, I had the Monarchy in for a trial and it didn't do much for me, but the Genesis took everything a step further with the DAC, clean signal in really made a big difference.  I'd highly recommend trying one of these types and seeing what you think....

[hum4god]

hi arthurs
which dip did you use , the upsampler?
and did you use it with the dac-60?
i have a gw labs on order and am very curious if the dip upsampler works with the dac 60 as i have read that the dip and the gw labs are very much alike.
malcolm

[arthurs]

It was the upsampler and I did use it with the DAC.  Narrowed things down and seemed more shrill somehow.  The tubes and the Genesis both took a great product further....

[GHM]

Hey Arthur ..I guess it's system depended which unit will fit best. I've seen guys pick the Monarchy over the Lens and vice or versa. Also the same thing with the GW Labs unit. All I can say is experiment and see what fits.
I'm sure one will give your system a boost. The Monarchy did in my system what you describe from the Lens..crazy huh?

I'm curious is the Dac 60 an oversampler or upsampler type Dac? My Dac is neither..maybe that's why it sounds different?
If it were shrill I would have sent it back.LOL

Good listening

[arthurs]

Oh absolutely, I should have added YMMV, because it almost always does when it comes to systems and ears!  Thanks for pointing that out

[audioengr]

I have had my DAC-60 with Sonicraft mods for about 1 week now.  It is wonderful sounding.  I have been rolling tubes, including the Amperex 7308 PQ white label, Siemens CCa and even Telefunken CCa.  The more expensive tubes sound better. They should given the cost.

I am driving mine from the computer with an Off-Ramp Turbo 2 with S/PDIF captive cable.  Very close to my Benchmark DAC-1 with mods, but not quite the level of clarity.  Dynamics are superb with the Siemens tubes.  It is not really a "tube" sound.  more like really good SS IMO.

I plan to do a number of my own mods to the board next and then roll some different coupling caps, including V-caps, Sonicap Platinum, and Penta-caps.  All Teflon caps.  Then I will be installing an I2S interface and USB interface.  This should bring the jitter way down.  Dont know if it will pass-up the modded Benchmark DAC-1 with I2S interface, but it is showing a lot of potential.

BTW - I'm also using Herbie's Halo-9 with PEEK dampeners for the tubes.

I've also modded some of the DIP's.  They do make a difference, but if you think this is low jitter, you haven't heard low jitter yet....The Big Ben is much better.  I dont need any of these jitter "removers" because I dont have the jitter in the first place.

[Charles Calkins]

Some day I hope to hear this jitter thing guys are talking about. Me! I haven't a clue as to what it makes things sound like. Nothing new. I haven't a clue as to a lot of things.

                                          Cheers
                                           Charlie

[GHM]

Some day I hope to hear this jitter thing guys are talking about. Me! I haven't a clue as to what it makes things sound like. Nothing new. I haven't a clue as to a lot of things.

                                          Cheers
                                           Charlie

  Hey Charles you've probably heard it. You may not have identified it though.
Maybe we can talk Steve into sending us a demo unit or something. 
I've heard his modified ECD-1..terrific Dac. It seems once you hit a certain level..you can get a different sound, but it might not be always better for your taste in sound.

I wonder if it's possible to use transistors in the output of the Dac 60 instead of the caps? Anyone know of this? I had an audiophile buddy tell me he's getting his DAC AH or Audio Mirror done this way by TRL if I'm not mistaken.

Good listening

[audioengr]

Some day I hope to hear this jitter thing guys are talking about. Me! I haven't a clue as to what it makes things sound like. Nothing new. I haven't a clue as to a lot of things.

                                          Cheers
                                           Charlie

Charlie - the only way to hear it is to remove it.  Then you will never go back...  I've had lots of listeners at CES shocked that they were listening to this grunge all these years and didn't even know it.  It's sort of like fuzz, echoes or haze riding on top of the music, mostly at high-frequencies.

Steve N.