Did anyone in the NY Rave purchase one? Perhaps I could organize a mini-rave at my place and you could bring it over?
Thanks,
Bob
It's on my future buy list Bob....
The Altmann Attraction DAC.....
First impression....hey, where's the beef ?
Last time I saw a board like that, it had a six foot Roast Beef Hero on it....very tasty....
It is small in size....electronic's on a wood board....but after hearing what it does...I was impressed.
The system :
AKSA Lifeforce Amp (SS)
Modwright SWL 9.0 Preamp
Sony 7700 DVD transport- Turbomods by Empirical Audio (2004)
Mirage M-3 speakers
Reality Cables IC's and SC's
Acoustic Zen Silver Bite digital
Black Sand power cords
Other amps used :
Butler 2250 (hybrid)
Red Wine Audio Sig. 30 (digital)
KR Audio ANTARES VA320 (tube)
Other DAC's :
Paradisea DAC
Electrocompaniet ECD-1 - Turbomods by Empirical Audio (2004)
Let's see.....I first heard the Altmann at Occam's Rave, which Gordy had mentioned in his review. Sounded good compared to the other DAC's there. I was a little afraid of this DAC...battery, wires...no case...but it worked out fine...no problems.
Here in my system, I think it sounded even better. As noted by the other reviewers, this DAC does a fine presentation of the music fed to it. A very full sound, strong, not edgy. It seems to pull out all the "bits" on any Cd....and in the right way. It digs deep.....detail was very good....bass excellent- no bloat, a strong foundation for the music. Mids were smooth, as were the highs....a very relaxed sound....but detailed. I played the NY Audio Rave Cd....heard a few things that I hadn't heard before....and I've heard that Cd 100's of times...
Balanced....liquid....tone....wide soundstage....open....many long nights of listening...all very enjoyable.
As mentioned above, I had to try a few other amps in the system....wanted to cover "all the base's". Worked great with them all, SS - Tube - Digital....matter of fact, one night with the KR Audio tube amp, I started pulling out those few lousy sounding Rock cd's I own (I think everyone has a few of those)....just to see if I could get a better sound. They sounded much better....so good...I never got to sleep that nite....
I did compare DAC's.....
The Paradisea....stock....with a Bendix 396 tube. Good DAC...smooth....but does not match the detail or the soundstage of the Altmann. There was a big difference.
The Electrocompaniet ECD-1 - Turbomods by Empirical Audio (2004)....a very good DAC...and my main one since 2004. An interesting comparison...detail very similar, but it did sound leaner than the Altmann....and the Altmann bass was fuller. To me the mids and highs were close....but the presentation of the music was better with the Altmann. The ECD-1 is over 3 years old...and digital has advanced since then. I'm still happy with the ECD-1, but I see an Altmann down the road.
As for the cap that mgalusha installed on the power connection....I preferred it on. As for the JISCO function....didn't seem to hear a difference....but my 7700 is a pretty good transport.
All in all....
I liked it !! And as I stated to BobM above....its on my future buy list....I don't find it expensive for what it does...just have to get past the look.
All apply....IMO as well....
You can be focused to the music.....
Much better than the NOS average with appropriate sharpness and detail retrieval....
Shimmering decays.....
What I heard was wetness....like going from grape juice to wine....
A growling drive....
TONE....balanced sound....
VERY VERY quiet....vocals were richer and the bass was fuller....
Tonally I found the Altmann to be very good, in particular vocals and stringed instruments sounded very good, very rich and full.....
I very much enjoyed my time with it and had no desire to remove it from the system......
I was pretty stunned by the vivid presentation and electric delivery of the Altmann.....
I found it to be a very smooth and natural sounding unit that I sat down and just listened to and cared not to begin dissecting things.....
The sound stage was also deeper and a bit wider, with better separation of individual instruments on large orchestral pieces of music.....
But, and here's the interesting thing, the badly-recorded cds almost never sound, well, _really_ bad in the way they do with many other digital front ends....
You can be focused to the music.....
What really struck me was how much more organic sounding the music was, this thing is a tone monster....
Strong bass, rich midrange, natural sounding top end and a fast, fast attack / leading edge....
Lots of excellent comments guys...and I agree....
A big
THANK YOU to Mike Smith for running this Altmann tour on Audio Circle....and a word of advice. I think when your Altmann returns, it will sound better in your system. I don't think it was a good match with the TACT....but your system has changed now, and I think for the better....thats my opinion.
Plus....we all broke it in further for you.....
Thanks again............
Chris
Guess I should mention....since it had "BYOB" printed on the circuit board...I chose Beck's...its German....