DAC crowdfunding now in progress

[Natural Sound]

Sweet! I just got a UPS tracking e-mail.

BTW Doc. I'll be pairing the Bottlehead DAC with the ALIX computer you sold me a few years ago.

[Doc B.]

I'm a little jealous, as I never did get the Alix box running. I bet it will work nicely. Thanks for putting them together!

[Johnnycopy]

Doc,  are you shipping the canada items vias usps or ups?

[Doc B.]

We always ship USPS to Canada.

[Johnnycopy]

Thanks, ups has some extra fees i would rather not incur.

[2wo]

My DAC has arrived, I don't have time to play with it now, have to that pesky work thing...John

[debk]

I recieved mine today and it is playing now.

My first imressions are very positve.  I am hearing detail in the music I did not hear with my previous DAC, especially in the high end.  I don't know how to describe it but ,music sounds more "real" than it did with my old DAC.

Thanks Bottlehead!

Debra

[2wo]

Well I got home, Plugged it in to my Linux based music server via USB and it synced up right away, no need to load any drivers.

I tried a few different sample rate files and it has no problem recognizing them and displays them correctly.

It has plenty of output compared to the mostly DIY DACs in my collection. As a matter of fact in the temp setup I need to use the digital volume control lower than I like, I can live with it as long as a don't go below 90%. It is connected directly to my 300B amps at the moment. I will work on that.

It sounds great, I will let it burn in and get the gains where they need to be before I give my  revue. But first impression, it sounds like vinyl, without the clicks and pops...John         

[debk]

John

I have to agree with you the more I listened  the more I thought that this sounds like vinyl!

Debra

[Doc B.]

Thanks for the kind words kids! It's been a very, very long haul and it is very, very nice to hear the positive impressions.

[mcandmar]

I'm still trying to rescue mine from Irish customs, after two days of playing pass the parcel with fantastically unhelpful civil servants i have employed a Customs Clearance Agency to deal with them.  Fingers crossed i will have it by the weekend..

[pdxgrampa]

Hi Doc,
I received my DAC today and I have a question about DAC power up.
The manual indicates that the wall wart should be powered up first.
My system is behind a power conditioner and all of the outlets are switched.
Is this ok or do I need to power up and then plug in the DAC?

Thanks

[Doc B.]

What you really want to do is power up the DAC and just leave it on - no switched outlet. It sounds best when warmed up and it only draws about 3 watts. I believe the directions are to plug the line lump into the wall first and then into the DAC simply because it makes it easy to hook up all the connections on the back of the DAC in one fell swoop. We typically leave a power supply plugged into the wall outlet in the listening room and that allows me to easily change from one DAC to the next as I give them the final check. The only thing that has to be done when changing DACs is plug it all in - I generally plug in the interconnects, then the power cable, then the USB cable - and then restart Amarra, as it gets confused when one DAC is removed and a different DAC is plugged in.

There might also be a reasonable argument to having the safety ground of the line lump plugged into the wall before you connect the DAC to the power cable.

[pdxgrampa]

Thanks Doc,
I will leave it powered up.

[Doc B.]

As of this afternoon about 2/3 of the DACs will have been shipped.