[Mass. Wine Guy]

Was the upgraded opamp (I think that was the upgrade) included in the Ultra DACs made in 2007? Also, what are the significant sonic differences between the Ultra DAC and Insight Plus DAC?

Thanks very much.

[avahifi]

The upgraded op-amp (Burr Brown OPA627) did not go into use here until early winter, 2009.  Thus that 2007 production unit would not have them as original equipment.  Of course it could have been upgraded later by the owner.

The Ultra DAC is a hybrid tube unit, the Insight Plus DAC was all solid state.  Both are now replaced by newer and better models, The Vision DAC (solid state using the newest Wolfson chip set) and the Vision Hybird DAC (hybrid tube DAC using the same Wolfson chip set).

Regarding the older models you asked about, the Ultra hybrid DAC was the most musical of those two.  The Insight Plus solid state DAC is really nice and transparent and free of any grain or glare, but the tube hybrid models seem always to be best in presenting all of the musical emotional content of the midrange while still retaining all of the dynamics, range, and transparency we all strive for.

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine

[Mass. Wine Guy]

Thank you so much, Frank. you have a really nice way of describing differences in gear. I recently bought a fairly new to the market higher end CD player. Grerat, great reviews, feedback, etc. from all quarters. After hours of comparing its DAC to the Omega Star I have, I've got to stick with the Omega Star. Just plain more natural sounding and musical.

[pardales]

Can the old ultra be upgraded to the new Vision ultra?

[Wayner]

Yeah!!!!

[rlee8394]

Frank,
"Both are not replaced by newer and better models,..."

You mean "Both are now replaced by newer and better models, ...", correct?

Ron

[Lefty052347]

As to the upgrade from Ultra with Philips chip and the new Hybrid Vision DAC:

     If the older DAC is in the small chasis (11" wide), the answer is no.  The new analog board won't fit.

     It might not be cost effective, since the only things we can re-use are the large chassis (17") and the power transformer.  We usually suggest that you sell it and use the proceeds to buy a new DAC.

     We only offer the Hybrid DAC in the EC version.  The EC DACs require a different chassis to accommodate the optical circuit board (toslink) and a new faceplate to accommodate the selector switch.  So, we could only re-build a older DAC with a single coax in.

Regards,
Dean

[rcag_ils]

I must have missed the anouncement. I haven't been aware of the Vision Hybrid until now. How does it differ from the Ultra DAC? I thought AVA went solid state on their phono and DAC.

[srb]

I must have missed the anouncement. I haven't been aware of the Vision Hybrid until now. How does it differ from the Ultra DAC? I thought AVA went solid state on their phono and DAC.

I had missed it too, it is now on the AVA website

Vision Hybrid DAC
 
and was apparently "announced" in the Soldering/Toothpicks topic.
 
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=90319.msg892012#msg892012

Steve

[Lefty052347]

The Ultra DAC used the Philips chip set which is limited 16bit 44.1 k hertz.

The Vision Hybrid EC DAC uses the new Wolfson 8742 chip which is capable of up to 32 bit 192 k hertz.  The DAC has 4 switched inputs.  2 coax and 2 optical.

The Hybrid analog board is derived from the Ultra II pre line stage.

The new DAC was introduced at last year's RMAF.

There was no intention to keep it a secret.

Regards,
Dean

[rcag_ils]

Thanks srb for the clarification, so it was barely anounced.

Thanks Lefty for the update. Being mostly an analog guy, I am really not up on the sampling rate stuff, or what's on the market nowaday. I am not kidding, I listen to lps 95% of the time.

So is it true that any CD/DVD that I buy today are at 32 bit 192khz? Higher the number, the better it sounds?

[srb]

Higher bit depth and sampling rates can be better sounding, but that's not always the case.  A lot has to do with the recording, mixing and mastering.  There are some 16/44.1 recordings that sound better than some 24/192 recordings.
 
CDs are 16/44.1, DVDs can be up to 24/48 and DVD-A, SACD and Blu-ray discs have higher resolutions.  Much of the high resolution music being played today are downloaded files from sites like HDTracks and are usually in resolutions up to 24/192.
 
Steve

[rcag_ils]

CDs are 16/44.1, DVDs can be up to 24/48 and DVD-A, SACD and Blu-ray discs have higher resolutions.

Don't most people use DVD players to play their CDs, so what would the bit rate for that be? DVD-A usually come with some cool music video footages, and that I like, but it doesn't need a new DAC for that. Since SACD and blu-ray require a different player, therefore not a good justification to purchase a Vision Hybrid DAC.

[srb]

Don't most people use DVD players to play their CDs, so what would the bit rate for that be?

CDs are mastered in Red Book Audio CD format (2-channel linear PCM 16-bit/44.1KHz), so that's what you get whether played on a CD player, DVD player, Universal player or Blu-ray player.
 
I would imagine that a number of people will buy the Vision or Vision Hybrid DAC for the quality of 16/44.1 playback, even if they have no intention of acquiring higher resolution music.  But of course, once you have the capability most will probably acquire at least some higher resolution recordings.
 
Steve

[Tone Depth]

Here's another link from a few months ago that I just happen to be familar with:  http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=91929.0  Check out some of the included links, and also some of the past posters in those links.

I must have missed the anouncement. I haven't been aware of the Vision Hybrid until now. How does it differ from the Ultra DAC? I thought AVA went solid state on their phono and DAC.

[rcag_ils]

Wow, I have the Ultra DAC and I thought it was the best.

The immediately previous generation of AVA DACs included the Insight+ solid state DAC, and the Ultra+/Ultra II hybrid DACs.

I replaced the chips and the tubes in my Ultra, does it make it a + or a II? Simply can not keep up

[Tone Depth]

The tube replacement didn't warrant any sort of upgrade designation by AVA.

The + upgrade consisted of the op-amps replacement (chips) for Insight, Transcendance and Ultra units:  http://avahifi.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=128

The Ultra II upgrade consists of some circuitry changes, and for DACs further improves the sound reportedly approaching performance of the Vision DACs on Redbook 16/44.1 CDs:  http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=85643.0

The descriptions of past upgrades seem to be disappearing from the AVA website.

Wow, I have the Ultra DAC and I thought it was the best.

I replaced the chips and the tubes in my Ultra, does it make it a + or a II? Simply can not keep up