[wushuliu]

Thanks for the info.  How do you describe "current day R2R sound"  ?  How does it compare to "not-so current day R2R sound" ?

Regards.

I could go on a whole long attempt to explain how they differ but at the end of the day you're just going to have listen to both types yourself. As much as my wallet may disagree, nothing beats personal experience .

[viggen]

Finally hooked up the AD1865 tube dac. Very smooth, pleasant, warm. I like it. I swapped out the RCAs per usual for some AECOs which opened things up a little. Got a Reflector 6922 and some soviet 6z4s on the way to try out. Maybe replace the caps if I'm in the mood. Gonna leave it at that though.

i don't think the rectifier tube change does much but highly recommend 6sn7 or vt99 in place of 6922.

[wushuliu]

i don't think the rectifier tube change does much but highly recommend 6sn7 or vt99 in place of 6922.

Thanks. I have some 6sn7s and an adapter already I think so I'll give it a try.

[uncola]

finally got interested enough to give one of these dacs a try, this appears the same as the flyinsky nos 1865 tube dac but in a smaller case.. 
looking forward to a change of pace with warm, smoother sound
https://www.ebay.com/itm/325291073373?var=514174860133

[uncola]

lol $4k is a bit high for cheap and cheerful circle.. I think we're supposed to limit it to $350 and below for seperate components and $650 and below for integrateds/all in ones

[Bodhi]

Thanks @uncola. Will remove my post.

[Solarflares]

Can we pause a second to reflect on a different world - where people buy 1Kg of Korean Pine nuts, for the price of an amp!  Lol

https://gemtaste.com/food/top-most-expensive-nuts/

[Solarflares]

DAC I meant….   DAC!

[viggen]

finally got interested enough to give one of these dacs a try, this appears the same as the flyinsky nos 1865 tube dac but in a smaller case.. 
looking forward to a change of pace with warm, smoother sound
https://www.ebay.com/itm/325291073373?var=514174860133

Interested in your feedback especially if you could compare against an Audial you sold previously. 

I recall this because I kicked myself for about a month for missing out on the sale.

[Bodhi]

The Schiit Audio Mimir balanced mesh dac would likely punch above it's weight @$299US. Designed and built in the USA. And it comes with a preamp thrown into the bargain - https://www.schiit.com/products/mimir

[wushuliu]

Just my .02 I've owned a bunch of Schiit products and though a decent value for the money there's not much to say beyond that. Especially their budget dacs I've found to be meh. But for people who are looking for no fuss 'safe' retail options, they can be a good choice. The Mimir is just another ES9028 dac but w/ a custom filter.

[Bodhi]

@wushuliu I don't have any ear time on entry level Schiit dacs, so it's good to get a first hand perspective. That is a tough price point to get good sound. As I don't need the digital inputs of modern dacs in my current situation, personally i'd hunt down a vintage JVC XL-Z1050 cd player which can now be picked up fairly cheap. I owned that player for 16 years and it has excellent build quality and amazing sound for the money. It has a good Victor transport mech, so I later used it as a transport with a Vimak DS-1800Mk2 dac (see pic below).

[wushuliu]

@wushuliu I don't have any ear time on entry level Schiit dacs, so it's good to get a first hand perspective. That is a tough price point to get good sound. As I don't need the digital inputs of modern dacs in my current situation, personally i'd hunt down a vintage JVC XL-Z1050 cd player which can now be picked up fairly cheap. I owned that player for 16 years and it has excellent build quality and amazing sound for the money. It has a good Victor transport mech, so I later used it as a transport with a Vimak DS-1800Mk2 dac (see pic below).

Interesting. I was able to find that JVC on the DutchAudioClassics website DAC catalog. Looks like they used a proprietary DAC w/ 20bit conversion (looks like you know this already). Very cool.

[Bodhi]

Interesting. I was able to find that JVC on the DutchAudioClassics website DAC catalog. Looks like they used a proprietary DAC w/ 20bit conversion (looks like you know this already). Very cool.

Yeah back in the day that was a really nice player for the money. According to the first review below, the player uses proprietary JCE 4501DAC chips (hence the JVC stamp). The second review shows a close up of the chip and internals. And I posted the link to the Stereophile review also as it's a good read.

- https://www.highfidelityreview.com/jvc-xl-z1050tn.html
- http://www.lampizator.eu/lampizator/references/JVC%20XL-Z1050%20K2/Lampizator%20JVC%20K2%20%20XL-Z1050%20CD%20Player%20with%20XRCD%20dac.html
- https://www.stereophile.com/content/jvc-xl-z1050tn-cd-player

[uncola]

Interested in your feedback especially if you could compare against an Audial you sold previously. 

I recall this because I kicked myself for about a month for missing out on the sale.

hey viggen, I think it's been way too long since I sold the audial to remember the exact sound.  But I've tried the ad1865 tube dac with a cheap douk audio u2 pro ddc, and an expensive audiogd di25he ddc that has built in power regeneration and it sounds the same from both.  I'm really blown away how great this dac sounds for $203 shipped after tax.  the bass transient speed might be slightly slower than I'm used with with my audiobyte hydravox or musetec da006 mini but otherwise it's just as good, with a little more relaxed sound in the vocals.  because of this, I'm going to get another ad1865 nos dac with tubes from quanghao with a really nice high end design to experience everything this chip has to offer.. I really like the sound.  lol I'm selling my audiobyte hydravox/zap/hub stack now

[viggen]

hey viggen, I think it's been way too long since I sold the audial to remember the exact sound.  But I've tried the ad1865 tube dac with a cheap douk audio u2 pro ddc, and an expensive audiogd di25he ddc that has built in power regeneration and it sounds the same from both.  I'm really blown away how great this dac sounds for $203 shipped after tax.  the bass transient speed might be slightly slower than I'm used with with my audiobyte hydravox or musetec da006 mini but otherwise it's just as good, with a little more relaxed sound in the vocals.  because of this, I'm going to get another ad1865 nos dac with tubes from quanghao with a really nice high end design to experience everything this chip has to offer.. I really like the sound.  lol I'm selling my audiobyte hydravox/zap/hub stack now

not sure whether the one i got only differs in terms of enclosure compared to the one you got.  but, i highly recommend you try 6sn7 or vt99 in place of the stock tube then compare against your current dacs.  not familiar with the audiobyte but the musetec 04 made a lot of noise (not literally) on audiogon and am kinda shocked this cheap dac compares to the musetec.  i had more expensive dacs in the past but prefer the flyinthesky dac.  but, i wasn't messing around with ddcs back then.  back of my mind, i think maybe one of those dacs i had in the past probably sounds better had they been fed with a good ddc.

i do think the ddc and reclocker i am using now improves on the flyinthesky dac quite a bit.  you're probably the only one on this forum who's heard of the brand or rather it's no brand.  it's the SI384 and the Type C reclocker.  i highly recommend the tandem.