[anthony a.]

okay, since its been running for a few days now, i would like to make some comments on its performance.  first off, its a very minimalist approach which is good (and bad sometimes.)  i wish the iec socket was on the same side of the rca/usb inputs as it sits a little odd in my rack, but no biggie.  anyways, its performace is excellent for its price point.  after changing around some interconnects and pc's in my system, i have come up with a beautiful balance of musicality and detail.  all the things mentioned previously about this dac are true.  as always, i try before i buy but this one will stay.  i have not directly compared it to my paradisea (as it does not have usb only spdif), however when i get my new computer in my rack i will test them out "against" each other.  in any case, i am at a point now where i really enjoy my system and this component is worth every penny and then some.  having debated a lot of whether to go for the isabellina (which i hear is nothing short of spectacular) and the electrocompaniet ecd-1, i was kinda hoping the audio sector would be the one since its price is so great.  happy to say that its gonna stay and i can save a bit of money by not going to the other dacs (at the moment anyways).  upgrade fever hits us all at different times and i may at some point in the future opt for the other 2 dacs i was interested in, but as for now, i am reaching a musicality and detail level that i immensely enjoy.  btw, this dac has thunderous bass.  the paradisea does not have this amount and i am happy i don't need a sub in my setup as that would have been my next purchase.  count me in as a really happy customer.  great work from peter!!!

[anthony a.]

oops, forgot to add.  probably the coolest feature (to me anyways) was the lack of driver needed for windows xp.  it didn't even register as a new device added, it just worked right outside of itunes.  don't ask me how, but peter told me that would be the case and so it was.  i am now looking to develop or have peter make me a half decent case for this unit for looks. nothing fancy, but something to close it up from the real world!!

[viggen]

Hi Anthony:  I hope you are bypassing XP's kmixer.  What does the rest of your system and cables consist of?

You didn't happen to get a chance to listen to Peter's monster speakers with the FAL drivers?

[anthony a.]

Hi Anthony:  I hope you are bypassing XP's kmixer.  What does the rest of your system and cables consist of?

You didn't happen to get a chance to listen to Peter's monster speakers with the FAL drivers?

i actually have my system tuned just perfect right now, and yes i forgot but i guess i am using the kmixer since i did not disable anything.  what should i do to change it (i remember reading some posts here about it being bad, and replacing it with something else) asioii or something?

in regards to cabling, i am using a pair of nordost frey interconnects and kubala emotion pc on the dac and the combo sounds awesome.  i have synthesis monoblock tube amps using a pair of elrod signature eps-2s pc's along with an accustic art preamp and black sand silver reference pc.  i now have a perfect balance of dynamics and gentleness.  i am really happy with its tone.  funny you should remind me of the kmixer, i actually just returned a new mac mini i had purchased for my system because i preferred the sound coming out of my dell inspiron laptop using xp.  can't explain why as most here seem to prefer using the mac due to its superior sound quality, but not the case for me.  i am now looking for a small form factor pc with xp to run itunes. 

[anthony a.]

oh, and no i didn't listen to those speakers (i assume they are the ribbon ones upstairs), although i heard the ones in his basement office and surprisingly they sounded pretty good for just drivers. 

[wilsynet]

Bypassing the Kmixer.

1. Get an ASIO driver for Windows.

There is ASIO4ALL, a freeware driver:

http://www.asio4all.com/

Or here is a commercial product:

http://www.usb-audio.com/faq.html

2. Use an ASIO4ALL compatible player like Foobar

http://www.foobar2000.org/

3. Or follow these instructions for combining Foobar and iTunes:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/itunes-foobar-users-audio-quality-guide-246209/

The last link is a good read even if you don't want to do this.

[wilsynet]

i now have a perfect balance of dynamics and gentleness.  i am really happy with its tone.  funny you should remind me of the kmixer, i actually just returned a new mac mini i had purchased for my system because i preferred the sound coming out of my dell inspiron laptop using xp.  can't explain why as most here seem to prefer using the mac due to its superior sound quality, but not the case for me.  i am now looking for a small form factor pc with xp to run itunes. 

Agreed, the AudioSector does have really great tone.  I'm glad that you like it.  To be honest, considering the very competitively priced Paridisea, I didn't think there would be much of a difference.  But I'm super glad that you consider it a strong, significant step in the right direction.

Regarding the Mac Mini, did you turn off the iTunes equalizer, turn off cross fade and sound check?  I have found that disabling these things makes a big difference.

Also, you may want to try a laptop as I understand laptops are typically have less AC noise than their desktop counterparts.

[anthony a.]

yeah, i did that to the mac.  the only difference i could explain would be the use of my dell laptop running off battery, but then i plugged in the wallwart to the laptop and still slightly better.  since i don't want to get a laptop for this setup, im now looking at an asus eee box pc tha i think should be perfect for this.  hopefully it will sound good and it has an optical output so i can also use my paradisea if i so choose.  i can see why though, red wine audio sounds so good.  battery power definitely yields much better sonic performance.  its a bit of a hassle for me though to go this route, but those who do choose are rewarded with excellent sonics.  btw, thanks very much wilsynet, you have helped me tremendously in this topic and your advice has been spot on.  i will try the asio4all with foobar just out of curiosity to see how it compares.  thanks again.

[anthony a.]

hey all im looking for ways to make a nice looking enclosure for this awesome dac.  i emailed peter for his oem stuff, but almost the same price as the dac itself so looking for ideas.  thanks.

[wilsynet]

No suggestion for an enclosure, but I was recently turned onto J River Media Center.  Looks like a very promising media player with support for ASIO4ALL.  It rips, it plays, it organizes.  I don't use a PC on a day to day basis, so this never came up before.

Gordon Rankin has a nice write-up on the Wavelength site on how to best set up Windows, ASIO4ALL, and the J River Media Center:

http://www.usbdacs.com/Windows/Windows.html

If you have an iPod Touch or iPhone, there is also a remote application for J River called RiverMote:

http://melloware.com/products/rivermote/

To me this really seems like a deluxe set up for Windows.

[jrebman]

Just checking in here as the newest member of the audio sector NOS dac fan club.  I bought a used spdif version from an AC member recently and after two days, liked it so much I ordered a USB version from Peter, which he said would ship today.  The spdif version is the basic, built on a board piece, but I did have a plexiglass cover added to the USB version.

These will most likely be paired with the Wright Sound WLA12A preamp and Wright Sound Mono7 300b monoblocks as the Havana just sounds so good with the Carina -- that extra .6 volts of output seems to make a difference that the Carina appreciates.

One of these days when all is broken in and I've had a chance to listen to the various dacs for a good while, then I'll share my thoughts on the AS vs. the Havana, but suffice it to say, they are both excellent dacs and it really it will come down to personal preference and system synergy -- and of course budget -- seeing that the two AS dacs cost less than the one Havana, not to mention the relatively expensive tube that really made the Havana something very special.

Of course I really miss my Isabellina, but I still have two fine dacs that I can live with for the long haul.

-- Jim

[pardales]

Congrats, Jim. A great DAC indeed. I found small difference between the USB version and the SPDIF version of the AS DAC. In retrospect, I may have slightly preferred the SPDIF version....but this is memory talking.

This is the DAC that initially lead me to the opinion that one need not spend a bundle on digital these days. 

Enjoy!

[joschmo]

I just got one these dacs and am really enjoying it.  Mine is just attached to a board and am wondering about cases, I have seen some nice ones in this thread and wondering if someone would be interested in making one for me (paid) or pointing in direction of finding one myself.  I was also wondering if anyone had anymore knowledge of the audial dacs?  Thanks

[satfrat]

Congrats, Jim. A great DAC indeed. I found small difference between the USB version and the SPDIF version of the AS DAC. In retrospect, I may have slightly preferred the SPDIF version....but this is memory talking.

This is the DAC that initially lead me to the opinion that one need not spend a bundle on digital these days. 

Enjoy!

If you would like that perception changed, try changing that Belkin USB cable with something more high end,,, I know of what I speak as the change can be mind blowing depending on what you're willing to spend.

Cheers,
Robin

[adamaley]

Jim, I'm a very interested party and still waiting to hear your comparisons of the two DACs.

[pardales]

Congrats, Jim. A great DAC indeed. I found small difference between the USB version and the SPDIF version of the AS DAC. In retrospect, I may have slightly preferred the SPDIF version....but this is memory talking.

This is the DAC that initially lead me to the opinion that one need not spend a bundle on digital these days. 

Enjoy!

If you would like that perception changed, try changing that Belkin USB cable with something more high end,,, I know of what I speak as the change can be mind blowing depending on what you're willing to spend.

Cheers,
Robin

While I don't have this DAC anymore I recently purchased the Locus Design Polestar USB cable am giving it a try. I've only had it for a few days thus far. 

[jrebman]

Adamaley,

Had a little problem with a dead/defective battery for my Acer laptop and am waiting for a replacement before I do anymore USB dac comparisons, but I'm expecting that early next week.  So far though, the Havana is a bit more harmonically rich, but that's a silly thing to say as the Havana has a couple hundred hours on it and the Audio Sector, not even an hour at this point.  I'v also been without my amp for the system the havana is in, and that too should be here early next week.

I haven't forgot about this, just that these things take time.  If you want a quick answer, I like listening to the Havana a bit better as it seems to do everything the AS dac does, but a bit better at a few things, and it has that tube flavoring that I like.  Both are very, very good and it will really be a matter of taste and system synergy, but right now I think the Havana has a bit more bottome end control, a slightly more airy top end, and has more of that "analog ease" to it's presentation where the AS is slightly harder.

Thanks,

Jim