[Levi]

Update:  They sounded pretty good!     Now I am playing around with a set of modified LME49990.


Audio GD-EARTH


Modified pair of LME49990


These buggers are truly small!   

[James Romeyn]

The modded EE DAC I heard at the Clarity Audio Cable room, 2011 THE Show, was the first affordable digital I consider a potential upgrade form my CDP (we got to A-B the two in their room...I've had my CDP for about ten years).  The overall sound in their room was superb, great gear throughout.   

Does anyone know the exact or approximate mod performed by Clarity Audio?  My apology if this was addressed already.  I wrote them about it and received a reply but it was more or less a referral to a third party, no specific info.  They are great people.  My best info is their mod is not proprietary in any way.

     

[Levi]

The best EE Dac upgrade that I heard was done by Wayne. I havent heard the Clarity. No info about it.

[bunky]

Chrs Owen from Clarity Cable after trying many op amps uses the LME49990 and a Siemens 12AU7 Nickel plate with the stock EE minimax Power supply in place.i spent some time with him on the phone and he is a very nice guy who also happens to be a electrical engineer. Chris directed me to www.cimarrontechnology.com so i could purchase the LME49990 premounted on Browndog adaptors that plug into the DAC.i have been running mine with these opamps for over a month and i really enjoy it .thanks.....WCW III

[Levi]

Until you heard one of those discrete OPA in EE DAC.  Then you come back and to tell the story. 

[James Romeyn]

Until you heard one of those discrete OPA in EE DAC.  Then you come back and to tell the story. 

You guys are making me nuts to hear one of these in my system at home.  I've got at least two interesting pieces:

The owner of an $18k Meitner 2-box CDP preferred my TRL-modded Sony SACD-DVD player in direct A-B.

My 2011 Linn Majik 3100 (3x 56/100W 8/4-Ohm, stable into any loudspeaker load) employs pure analog monolithic chips with current on-demand supplied by a bank of bipolar transistors, among the best amps I've heard.

If anyone has one of these killer EE DAC mods and is interested in a one-day swap to AB (my gear at your home, your EE DAC at my home) please let me know...preferably yesterday! 

Also have a pure analog Trinaural Processor, a revelation that completely obsoletes stereo, but limited application because it requires three matched or very similar front speakers.

 

[Levi]

Hi James. It would be interesting to hear your impressions considering you have excellent gears. I would surely recommend Wayne's modified EE Dac at the minimum. Some liked the Clarity mods but so far, I have not heard it.

[JohnR]

Hi Levi, why did you choose the earth instead of the sun or moon?

[Levi]

Hi John. The Reason I have chosen the EARTH is because I am not sure if the voltage rails in the I/V circuit will be sufficient. It turns out that with the EARTH installed, the current on the EE DACs secondary windings were on their limit.  The discrete OPA loves current!  The Discrete EARTH sounds "Earthy" but can benefit on more current. I would assume the Sun V2 and Moon requires more current than the EARTH based on Audio-GD specs.

Once Wayne has finished experimenting on multiple power supply for the EE DAC, I can play around with the discrete OPA. For now, I will stick with the more efficient OPA chips.

BTW, the description on Audio-GD EARTH, Moon and Sun V2 sound is spot on!

[James Romeyn]

Chrs Owen from Clarity Cable after trying many op amps uses the LME49990 and a Siemens 12AU7 Nickel plate with the stock EE minimax Power supply in place.i spent some time with him on the phone and he is a very nice guy who also happens to be a electrical engineer. Chris directed me to www.cimarrontechnology.com so i could purchase the LME49990 premounted on Browndog adaptors that plug into the DAC.i have been running mine with these opamps for over a month and i really enjoy it .thanks.....WCW III

Chris and his lovely wife at 2011 THE Show were some of the nicest people I've met. 

My Marine Aviator friend George and I brought my CDP up to A-B with their modded EE DAC after closing one night.  Chris felt the A-B would be false unless the EE was warm, so he kindly insisted we warm it up for about 20-30 minutes (it was stone cold because they exhibited with a $15k DAC). Considering how good the EE sounded I'm glad Chris insisted it be warmed up.

IIRC I preferred the SS output by significant margin.