Taking orders :)

xcortes · 190971

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Offline Doc B.

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Reply #330 on: April 08, 2014, 02:36:09 PM
Just a brief update - TOSLINK has been tested today and passed with flying colors.

How does it sound, by comparison?

I was using two different sources to test how well switching between USB, TOSLINK and coax SPDIF worked. Switching was perfect. The USB source is a Mac Mini running Amarra and the other two sources were both coming out of a Panasonic Blu ray player playing a CD.  So they sounded different, but I don't think it's the DAC inputs that made it sound different. I will be comparing USB and TOSLINK both coming from the Mini tomorrow, as that is a much more useful comparison. But for now it's time to rest my brain, been listening deep for several hours.

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


Offline gh0st

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Reply #331 on: April 09, 2014, 11:30:16 AM
I wonder if JohnS tested the USB input with a squeezebox touch and Triode's EDO mod, would be interesting

Dom V


Offline Doc B.

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Reply #332 on: April 09, 2014, 01:29:07 PM
There are too many factors upstream to be able to make a sweeping generalization about whether USB or TOSLINK or coax sounds better. USB and TOSLINK from one of our Minis playing off a hard drive via Amarra sounded great and slightly different. I would have a hard time putting one ahead of the other. TOSLINK from a blu ray player playing a CD sounded slightly worse than either. That correlates with my general findings of disc playback vs hard drive playback and also my findings of Amarra vs. CD player playback firmware, so it could have nothing to do with the inputs of the DAC. Coax from the blu ray player was worse than TOSLINK from the blu ray player. Who knows why, could be a cable issue, impedance mismatch or something else.

What I can say is that all three DAC inputs are very responsive to the sources, no problems handshaking. In fact the DAC helped us find that the TOSLINK output of one of our Minis was not working properly.

I can also say that the new digital filter seems to have cleaned up the sound from a temporal standpoint. Transients are cleaner and more dynamic and the decay of notes seems to follow the recording more closely, revealing more of the harmonic structure of instruments and really locking in the image.


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


Offline denti alligator

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Reply #333 on: April 09, 2014, 01:31:42 PM
Awesome! Can't wait to hear more and eventually see the prototype.

- Sam

Rega P3-24 (w/AT 150MLX) w/Groovetracer upgrades / Eros II / FLAC >J.River >DSD256 >Gustard X20 / Moreplay > Stereomour II / Klipsch Forte II w/Crites upgrades / C4S S.E.X. 2.0 +Nickel MQ Iron / Speedball Crack / Sennheiser HD600 w/Cardas cable


Offline sten

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Reply #334 on: April 09, 2014, 06:59:47 PM
I'm super excited about the DAC and it sounds like its coming together very nicely.

Will it be possible to listen while the unit is charging?  My Virtue amp is battery powered and I can't perceive any difference whether the trickle charger is connected or not.

I sure hope its not strictly off-grid as I'll likely want to listen for more than 5 hours at some point.




Offline physicsmajor

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Reply #335 on: April 09, 2014, 08:21:12 PM
...
Will it be possible to listen while the unit is charging?  My Virtue amp is battery powered and I can't perceive any difference whether the trickle charger is connected or not.
...

Yes, this was previously discussed in this (lengthy!) thread.

There will be a switch to select between "charge+play", "full off", and "just battery."



Offline sten

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Reply #336 on: April 10, 2014, 04:25:19 AM
Ahhh.  That's great news. 

Thank you for confirming the behavior.



Offline Paul Birkeland

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Reply #337 on: April 10, 2014, 04:44:13 AM
"Full off" will probably end up being a charge-only setting that keeps the battery tended.

-PB

Paul "PB" Birkeland

Bottlehead Grunt & The Repro Man


Offline Doc B.

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Reply #338 on: April 10, 2014, 05:28:27 AM
We're also going to a bigger battery that should last longer.

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


Offline RPMac

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Reply #339 on: April 10, 2014, 08:37:05 AM
Is it time to take a head count for the beta run?
I'm in!



Offline 2wo

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Reply #340 on: April 10, 2014, 12:46:02 PM
Me too...John

John S.


Offline tyj

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Reply #341 on: April 11, 2014, 01:36:18 PM
Do you have a ball park price at this stage id like start to budget for the dac ;)



Offline Doc B.

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Reply #342 on: April 11, 2014, 01:46:28 PM
This is very ball park and I won't accept any complaints if it turns out to be different, but the price will probably be in the $1000-$1200 range. The DAC boards are very expensive to have manufactured.

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


Offline denti alligator

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Reply #343 on: April 11, 2014, 04:06:37 PM
Do you expect it to be available to ship by the end of the summer?

- Sam

Rega P3-24 (w/AT 150MLX) w/Groovetracer upgrades / Eros II / FLAC >J.River >DSD256 >Gustard X20 / Moreplay > Stereomour II / Klipsch Forte II w/Crites upgrades / C4S S.E.X. 2.0 +Nickel MQ Iron / Speedball Crack / Sennheiser HD600 w/Cardas cable


Offline Doc B.

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Reply #344 on: April 11, 2014, 04:28:38 PM
I would hope so.

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