[SFDude]

Well, got my USB Select in the mail yesterday with the larger case and battery upgrade. Plugged everything in and installed the drivers on the Mac Mini but I should have just downloaded them from the M-Audio website (the USB Select is based on the M-Audio Transit) since I had an Intel-based Mac Mini and the latest drivers works well with OS/X 10.4.6.

After a few snafus, got it up and running and didn't really do any critical listening. First thing was just to play a DVD in it (gotta keep the Blockbuster Online rotation of movies flowing!). With movies, I'm not really listening at audio quality for some reason. Will likely burn in it further by playing more movies and playing background music thru iTunes prior to actually doing a critical listening session.

Not having used a Mac in my life before and this being my first foray into a Server-based music transport, are there any tips or hints to get the optimal setup configuration? I think I remember reading about plugging the USB Select into a specific USB port on the Mac Mini (I have 4 USB ports). Or is there any settings within the OS/software I need to be aware of rather than just blindly setting things like the volume to max output through the System Preferences?

Thanks and I'll post my impressions after a few weeks of hunkering down with this thing.

BTW, Thanks Vinnie for getting this out in less time that you estimated. I think it was 2 weeks total. Great job since I know you got a handful on those Sig 30 orders.

[kfr01]

Empirical audio has some good tips under his computer audio section.

http://www.empiricalaudio.com/

Sorry I can't help more, I'm not a Mac guy.

[Vinnie R.]

Thanks and I'll post my impressions after a few weeks of hunkering down with this thing.

BTW, Thanks Vinnie for getting this out in less time that you estimated. I think it was 2 weeks total. Great job since I know you got a handful on those Sig 30 orders.

Hi SFDude,

Thanks for posting here and please let us know your impressions after you get familiar with the sonics of the USB Select. 

Regarding having my hands full with Sig 30 orders, YOU AIN'T KIDDING!     If I didn't switch over to build your USB Select, it wouldn't have gotten done for a long time 

Cheers!

[SFDude]

Vinnie, do you have any thoughts on this? If the USB select or any other battery powered device is powered down, then powered on by flipping the switch for the battery, does it require a warm-up period as most gear do when you first turn them on?

Don't know if it's been discussed before but if I need to warm up the USB Select, what's the period of time it needs to be on before I really listen to it? Thanks.

[Vinnie R.]

Vinnie, do you have any thoughts on this? If the USB select or any other battery powered device is powered down, then powered on by flipping the switch for the battery, does it require a warm-up period as most gear do when you first turn them on?

Don't know if it's been discussed before but if I need to warm up the USB Select, what's the period of time it needs to be on before I really listen to it? Thanks.

Hi SFDude,

"Warm-up" is generally associated with tubed gear, but I've received feedback from a few Clari-T customers in the past who swear that after 15 to 30 minutes of use, it sounds even better. 

I'm my experience with the USB Select, once it is turned on it is ready to go.  All it really needs are the initial break-in hours (around 100 to 200 hours of total use) to break-in the caps. 

Best regards,

Vinnie

[SFDude]

Well.. I think I've put around 100 hours or so on the USB Select and I must say, I'm starting to really enjoy this thing for what it is. It's got a nice crisp clean sound to it, not overly etched but fairly detailed. There is an even-handed balance throughout the frequency range on this and it's not adding or subtracting from any particular area. It's not going to put a ton of air around the layers of the music like DACs much more expensive than it is. But it's definitely no slouch in separation of instruments, fairly neutral midrange and pretty tight bass.

What i'm fairly impressed with is that it's fairly a smooth sounding unit and I've been using it solely as a USB DAC. I haven't yet tried to pair it with another outboard DAC on it so it'll be interesting when I start to do that one day.

In the meantime, just kicking back with a CD from NPR called "All Songs Considered 2" which I'm enjoying in the background while typing this. It's just very easy to listen to.

Thanks Vinnie!

[Vinnie R.]

Hi SFDude,

Thanks for your post!  Glad to hear that you are enjoying your USB Select 

Best regards,

Vinnie