DAC progress

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Offline Jim R.

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Reply #15 on: February 23, 2010, 07:57:44 AM
That sounds like a very intelligent way to go about this.  I know there are a few things in the pipeline for some of the trailblazers in this area, and things for USB options could be getting even better in the future.

Glad to see things won't be rushed.

-- Jim

Jim Rebman -- recovering audiophile

Equitech balanced power; uRendu, USB processor -> Musette DAC -> 5670 tube buffer -> Finale Audio F138 FFX -> Cain and Cain Abbys near-field).

s.e.x. 2.1 under construction.  Want list: Stereomour II

All ICs homemade (speaker and power next)

Offline paba

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Reply #16 on: February 23, 2010, 08:15:32 AM
Thanks for the update,

precisely because I see the USB input landscape moving is why I asked. So far the best USB inputs Ive heard were transformer isolated. Maybe this one is moving too fast right now and releasing the DAC with SPDIF can get you to some revenue to finance the USB input module R&D which you can sell as add-on when it's ready. I don't want to be a back seat product manager.. we'll be patient.

cheers
paba


Offline 2wo

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Reply #17 on: April 05, 2010, 04:11:06 AM
Any update?

My DAC is on the fritz, I

John S.

Offline paba

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Reply #18 on: April 06, 2010, 03:53:49 PM
I noticed some new DACs appearing on the market place lately from folks that are in the same space as Bottlehead. It is getting crowded fast....in the DAC and computer to DAC interface spaces.

I like choice but I find that too many choices means some will loose money unfortunately.

cheers
paba


Offline Chris

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Reply #19 on: April 16, 2010, 01:10:17 AM
I HOPE that the dac is made with the new ESS Sabre chip..... seems alot of people think is hands down the best sounding chip ever.........


Offline Chris

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Reply #20 on: April 16, 2010, 01:15:25 AM
Back in college , I bought some new gear that , at the time, was the best i ever had... i was so excited that I , for awhile, just HAD to come home for lunch JUST to fire it up and listen... SO, if this DAC is going to be awesome...... How about calling it  "THE NOONER".......... SO good, you just HAVE to come home for lunch to "fire her up"............ :)


Offline Grainger49

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Reply #21 on: April 23, 2010, 03:35:31 AM
Quote from: Chris on April 16, 2010, 01:10:17 AM
I HOPE that the dac is made with the new ESS Sabre chip..... seems alot of people think is hands down the best sounding chip ever.........

Probably not.  The DAC has been under development for quite some time.  The resulting sound has a lot more to do with the associated circuitry and power supply than just the chip.


Offline Doc B.

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Reply #22 on: April 23, 2010, 10:39:45 AM
Our DAC prototype uses the PCM 1704 R2R type DAC chip. This project was inspired a few years ago when some friends were starting to work with high res music servers, and at that time the consensus was that carefully implemented R2R DACs sounded better than sigma delta DACs. So far that seems to be holding true for us. The project is moving slowly, as I promised. ;^)> I'm trying to get hold of an M2Tech USB:SPDIF interface to work with on the next phase of development, but they seem to still be backordered when I check the distributor's website.

Dan "Doc B." Schmalle
President For Life
Bottlehead Corp.

Offline Dr. Toobz

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Reply #23 on: April 23, 2010, 10:45:00 AM
You know there will be lots of us waiting to "pop out of the woodwork" and pounce on the DAC when it does come out! I would imagine that the response will be very good, esp. if you can manage to keep the initial price around that of commonly-available up-sampling SS DAC's (i.e., in the $400-$900 range).


Offline paba

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Reply #24 on: April 23, 2010, 05:51:55 PM
Quote from: Doc B. on April 23, 2010, 10:39:45 AM
Our DAC prototype uses the PCM 1704 R2R type DAC chip.

as expected this will not be a "me too" DAC.. are you using one chip or one for each channel?

/paba





Offline Chris

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Reply #25 on: April 23, 2010, 09:54:48 PM
OK Guys, thank you for the response, and disregard my question on headphone cable in another post I cant remember where..... I finally found it on your site and got my question answered by doin' a little readin'............    thanks again


Offline vuntruong

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Reply #26 on: May 16, 2010, 09:49:41 AM
Oh Bottlehead,  I have been waiting patiently for the dac kit, checking in once in a while to see if the kit is for sale.  I have been putting off the foreplay III purchase until i get the dac kit, still,...Nada.  Will or can you guys send out an email to us when the kit becomes available?  Any Estimated Time of Arrival? Thanks Doc.


Offline Doc B.

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Reply #27 on: May 24, 2010, 02:08:45 PM
We did a bit of listening to some 24/96K stuff in Winston Ma's beautiful room last week with the new DAC and my EMU0404usb sound card with an external power supply. Unfortunately my netbook got badly fragmented loading some high res files and we could only play 2 to 3 minute long segments of music until I sorted out the problem the next day. But that was enough to convince me that the DAC will stand well with what is out there. Mr. Swenson is working on the SPDIF interface, and once that is finished up he will be testing the DAC with a couple of reasonably priced sound cards that should work well. From there we will begin to work on the final packaging of the electronics.

Dan "Doc B." Schmalle
President For Life
Bottlehead Corp.

Offline paba

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Reply #28 on: May 25, 2010, 02:35:42 AM
sound sexciting,

my target platform with be my mac laptop so maybe I need a little box between the mac and the DAC...

PS. Speaking of Winston... check out his K2HD remaster of the Getz/Gilberto classic...LIM K2HD 036....  I have the CD but it is also avaliable in the premium Ultimate Disk category...
that is if you don't have the Mofi out of production CD. I have both and enjoy the differences in the two masterings.

« Last Edit: May 25, 2010, 03:09:04 AM by paba »


Offline Jim R.

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Reply #29 on: May 25, 2010, 03:34:53 AM
Doc,

So are you still planning on a synced spdif connection, or will things like the hiface work with this dac?

BTW, you can also get the Getz Gilberto classic from HDTracks as a 24/96 download.

-- Jim

Jim Rebman -- recovering audiophile

Equitech balanced power; uRendu, USB processor -> Musette DAC -> 5670 tube buffer -> Finale Audio F138 FFX -> Cain and Cain Abbys near-field).

s.e.x. 2.1 under construction.  Want list: Stereomour II

All ICs homemade (speaker and power next)

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