[WGH]

After all this is said and done, I have to come to the possibility that the NEC CD Rom I bought on Ebay for $14 is a better transport than my Thinkpad.  And, my laptop as transport implementation using XP, EAC, Foobar is inferior to the CD rom playing those shiny discs. 

If the XP OS is my weakness, I perhaps have to buy Vista.

I am guessing you are using the SPDIF output from your laptop to the Scott Nixon. Right? Then the onboard soundcard would be your weak link. USB bypasses your onboard sound so you are headed in the right direction.

Installing Vista on an old laptop is another can of worms. A USB DAC might solve all your problems. An alternative to buying Vista is a different USB driver. I use the USB ASIO driver from http://www.usb-audio.com/. I compared the free ASIO4ALL driver to USB-AUDIO a year and a half ago and paid my EUR 49 (the price went down since I bought it but the exchange rate went up). There is a trial copy available so you can see if it is worth the EUR 44, and if it works for you it is cheaper than Vista. The site works better with IE than Firefox on my computer.

Of course if you love the Scott Nixon why change? You can always get a HagUSB for $129 and duct tape it to the bottom of your table so you don't see it.    But I understand wanting less wires and the more elegant all-in-one solution.

Wayne

[viggen]

Hi Wayne:

I am using the NEC Multispin external CD rom's SPDIF output at the moment not the Thinkpad's SPDIF output.

Why change?  Cause I always wanted to change.  Way back about 6 years ago I worked at a computer hardware company that specialized in NAS and Raid storage solutions.  I often chatted with the engineers about the importance of uniform impedance and buffered memory in regards to preventing digital transfer loss.  I thought it would be great to adopt this sort of technology for digital audio purposes.  I thought if songs were stored on HDD, the digital transfer from HDD to DAC would be seamless as the data is buffered/sent in packets much like SATA, USB, Firewire and SCSI connections do. 

So, time forwards to present.  I finally have time to upgrade my system, so I thought to give an USB DAC a whirl.  I guess my expectations ran high since I always thought PC audio is the silver bullet for digititis.  Ofcourse, I am well aware of drawbacks.  First of all, PC Audio DACs still do not buffer the received transmission except for Wavelength's DACs.  Also, current media player softwares might not fully take advantage of audio playback for audiophile purposes.  I've read XXHighEnd comes close but only on Vista?  Anyways, it might still be premature to just pick up the first USB DAC and except it to be better sounding than a SPDIF one. 

I always thought of the Nixon and the NEC CD ROM as a hold overs until I get something better although a full 5 year hold over it has been.  I thought most modern designed NOS DACS ought to run circles around it.  Maybe they can and maybe my ears are just tuned to the Nixon sound after 5 years of listening and designing my system around it.  But, I really want to move towards that computer audio solution I imagined possible.  Perhaps too soon.  And, perhaps my audio philosophy has changed a bit since 5 years ago too.  I guess I know where I want to be just not sure how to get there yet.  That's part of the fun?

I guess this is the long way of telling you I want to try something different but so far the grass isn't greener on the other side? 

[viggen]

Someone bitch slap me. 

So I was reading about this cMP and cPlay media players seemingly designed for XP.  I installed both programs and configured my computer here and there as instructed.  When I first used cPlay to play some songs, an error occurred with the description saying I don't have enough RAM.  OK, so I eschew the cPlay software and continue by using Foobar in tandem with cMP.  Another error occurred, and it is telling me something to the effect the hardware is configured for 4 channel but software is configured for 2 channel.  Instantly, I thought my ASIO4ALL configuration in Foobar must be messed up.  I went into Foobar's setup preference and sure enough ASIO's output wasn't configured for USB DAC.  I am sure I configured it when I first set this thing up weeks ago. 

I do remember when I initially set it up, Foobar delayed playing music for about 5 to 10 seconds after I pressed play.  I thought that was a particular idiosyncrasy.  After rebooting, that idiosyncrasy went away.  I thought, good.  I guess after that boot up, Foobar's settings went back to default.

Long story short, I've been listening to my USB DAC without ASIO4ALL set up correctly all this time.

I've been listening to music with it set up correctly for the last few hours.  The twang in the highs are definitely not there anymore.  The thin midbass is replaced with soft resonant kick just the way I like it.  Now, I think the difference between the USB Monica and the SPDIF Nixon is a toss up. 

The best analogy I can give is olive oil.  Nixon is smooth oily olive oil with a dash of balsamic vinegar.  Monica is something more watery and clear.  I do prefer the olive oil, but I don't think most would. 

[DaveC113]

Yup, that would explain it.... I was actually surprised how subtle the differences were between my Audio Alchemy DTI/XDP using a Yamaha burner as transport and the Devilsound DAC playing off my laptop. You need to play music that highlights the differences to really be able to pick out which one is playing. When I first got the Devilsound DAC, I couldn't tell any difference.... it took listening a while to be able to figure out where the differences were.

I am expecting that higher end dacs will be clearly superior, but I'm not so sure anymore...

I will probably try cMP, but only when I get a new laptop and can dedicate this one as a music server.

Dave

[WGH]

The guy that I bought the original DAC from went the gamut trying many DAC’s, all the ones you are toying with and the Bell Canto (I believe) too. In the end he contacted me to see if I wanted to sell the Scott Nixon back to him or he was just going to buy another one from Scott (waiting list). The Nixon is the best but its by far one of most musical.

I have the original TubeDAC I will sell. This is not the "+" version with the upgraded caps but it does come with the 3Xac upgraded power supply. Input is the standard s/pdif.

Included are 4 tubes to roll:
1 - RAM 6DJ8
2 - National 6DJ8/ECC88
1 - Tungsram PCC88

$335 includes free shipping.

Wayne

[mcullinan]

Yup, that would explain it.... I was actually surprised how subtle the differences were between my Audio Alchemy DTI/XDP using a Yamaha burner as transport and the Devilsound DAC playing off my laptop. You need to play music that highlights the differences to really be able to pick out which one is playing. When I first got the Devilsound DAC, I couldn't tell any difference.... it took listening a while to be able to figure out where the differences were.

I am expecting that higher end dacs will be clearly superior, but I'm not so sure anymore...

I will probably try cMP, but only when I get a new laptop and can dedicate this one as a music server.

Dave

Unless you have a highly revealing system, you probably wont notice a difference, or minimal differences. As Bob says everything is in shades... did he say that idk...
If you are dead set on NOS, the Lavry DAC is a winner. Smooth silky, and ubeer musical.
Mike

[viggen]

Dave:  I think the Devilsound DAC is a very smart gadget.  I do think they made a lot of compromises trying to stuff everything within such a small enclosure tho such as it depending on USB bus power.  In my experience, how the power portion is implemented is probably the most important factor in determining the quality of the digital source. When I had bonafide transport and dacs, I always had the best sound when I put the best powercords on them as well as plugging them into my best AC filters.  Initially, I bought my Nixon without the PSU.  The sound was OK.  After I upgraded to the external PSU, the DAC received the biggest boost of all the tweaks I gave it.  So, as you can tell, I am a big proponent of a well design PSU which I think Devilsound DAC lacks.  I don't know if this is the reason why you don't hear too much difference between your Devilsound and Audio Alchemy, but it stands to reason that higher end dacs will probably sound better in your system.

What really reinforced my PSU is a big deal theory is when I delved into turntables a few years ago.  I purchased an Origin Live Aurora table which sounds more than decent.  After I upgraded the PSU to the motor, the sound became amazing.  I still don't understand how upgrading the PSU to the motor of all things would warrant such an upgrade in sound quality.  The motor, I thought, is already isolated from the table as it uses a pulley system to spin the table and is not in any way connected to the table except for a string.  Next, I upgraded the PSU for my phono pre, a Trichord Dino.  The sound, again, improved leaps and bounds.  Anyways, you can see why I am such a proponent of good PSU.  External/Upgrade PSU is also a good marketing gimmick in separating you from more money.  They charge you 60% to get their product into your system, then they charge you another 40% to allow that product to fulfill its potential.

I do very much like the Devilsound DAC's idea though.  Its minimalistic topology warrants it to be a very good sounding DAC.  It just probably isn't using the best parts selection to keep cost down.  I like how the wires are hardwired thus eschewing the need for RCA connectors which I think do more harm than good.  And, using silver Eichmann Bullets is a nice touch as I think those are the best connectors next to no connectors. And, ofcourse, I like NOS DAC.

Anyways, like Mcullinan says, as long as your system is revealing, you will hear the higher end (not necessarily higher price) dac difference.

[DaveC113]

I'm still getting used to a new amp and it doesn't seem to be as sensitive to upstream changes as other equipment I've had. Its a Simple SE SET amp, which is very linear and has fairly low distortion, at least relative to SETs in general. It uses a ccs loaded JJ ecc99 driver tube and new Tung Sol 6550 power tubes. I used a Trends amp before with my Omega XRS speakers, and that system was exceptionally sensitive to changes in the amp's power supply, resistors, and caps. Also, cabling, and source components made big differences. The SET transformed my system into one I'm actually happy with... However, I believe that it has made my system a lot less sensitive to source, cabling, and possibly other changes. I couldn't say why, but it seems to be the case. 

I agree the Devilsound probably made compromises to fit the form they were looking for, but I think they did a great job given the constraints they had. While it wasn't as good as my AA, there is nothing conspicuously wrong with it, nothing that irritates you or makes you want to turn the volume down (or off).. it sounds very good...

Dave

[viggen]

I had an Audio Research amp that used 6550 tubes too.  I didn't hear too much difference when swapping upstream sources either in terms of the sources having their own sound signatures.  I don't know if this has anything to do with why you don't hear too much of a sound difference between the AA and the Devilsound.  In my case, the Audio Research probably overpowered the upstream components, the speakers and the room.  It's built like a tank and has a tonal presence of a tank.  Basically, it had a very "big stone" sound quality to it.  The amp actually came with a set up El34s when I bought it, and I liked the sound much better.  The soundstage is small, but the midrange was to die for.  Too bad a resistor blew very soon, and I had to get it repaired and get a new set of Svetlana 6550s which completely transformed the amp's sound.  So yeah I concur that it might be your amp that isn't very sensitive to changes in sources.

Not that I am a tube amp expert or anything, but I didn't know there were 6550 power amps that weren't PP.

[viggen]

This post is about synergy. 

After getting the ASIO4ALL fiasco done with, I really enjoyed listening to my system through the Monica and muVac combo.  Well, I thought to give the Monica and Accuphase combo a spin this evening.  It is jaw dropping.  I cannot express how much of an improvement this combo sounds over the previous.  I feel finally my system is running on all cylinders since I got the new speakers and DAC.  Yes, all cylinders like right after a lube job with synthetic oil and new spark plugs, wires, distributors the works.