DAC crowdfunding now in progress

Doc B. · 42493

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Offline Doc B.

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on: October 16, 2014, 11:28:05 AM
Our Bottlehead DAC crowdfund page is live! We need just twenty commitments by November 13th to put this amazing John Swenson designed DAC into production. Early opters-in who place their order in the first week of the funding period will receive a marvelous sounding Supra USB cable with their DAC as a demonstration of our gratitude. And anyone who orders more than one DAC will receive a 1 meter Bottlenect interconnect kit for each DAC.

Here's how we are going about this crowdfunding:

Because of the high PC board production costs, and high volume parts purchases we must make to qualify for some necessary software licenses, we find it necessary to have twenty people commit to the first production run of these DACs.

The buyer will commit to a $1550 order (plus $15 for shipping in the US, $25 outside the US). The nature of our security system requires that the payment be processed the day you make your commitment. This is because we do not keep any of your credit card information on our server or in our facility. Thus we cannot hold the credit card information from a “pledge” in order to process it at a future date.  The funding period will be from October 16th thru November 12th 2014 and the funds will be held in a dedicated account. If at the end of that period we have achieved at least 20 commitments the funds will be used to get the components into production with an estimated ship date about eight weeks from November 13th. If we have not received 20 commitments by November 13th, all of your money will be refunded.

We will track the number of commitments in this thread on the Bottlehead Forum so everyone can follow the progress. As a thank you for early commitments, those who commit their order by October 23rd will receive a Supra USB 2.0 cable (a $50 value) with their DAC. We discovered the Supra cable during the development of the Bottlehead DAC and the improvement in sound over a run of the mill USB cable was not subtle. Anyone who commits to more than one DAC will receive a 1 meter Bottlenect interconnect kit.


Here's a link to the hot scoop. There's a pretty detailed description available by clicking on the More tab, so settle down with your favorite beverage and geek out -

http://bottlehead.com/product/bottlehead-dac/
« Last Edit: October 16, 2014, 11:30:50 AM by Doc B. »

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


Offline Doc B.

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Reply #1 on: October 16, 2014, 11:35:02 AM
Wow, we are barely out of the gate and we already have two commitments. Thank you Dave and Taran! That leaves just 18 needed to make this project happen. Remember that your commitment made by October 23rd gets you a Supra USB cable included along with your DAC, a $50 value. John Swenson told me about this cable and I bought one to try out. He was right on that it makes a great sounding DAC sound even better.

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


Offline Doc B.

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Reply #2 on: October 16, 2014, 11:47:25 AM
Two more commitments! Thank you Mark and Bernie! Just 16 to go to make this project happen.

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


Offline Loquah

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Reply #3 on: October 16, 2014, 01:21:01 PM
That's brilliant!

I wish I could help the process, but alas not right now, so thank you to the early buyers for helping make this DAC a reality so that those like me who want to buy it, but need to wait for later batches will have their chance.  :)

Check out my reviews on YouTube - https://youtube.com/c/passionforsound


Offline Doc B.

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Reply #4 on: October 16, 2014, 03:03:18 PM
And we are now up to 5 (thanks Bryce!), and thus already 25% of the way to our goal in the first few hours of this crowdfund.

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


Offline Hank Murrow

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Reply #5 on: October 16, 2014, 04:30:17 PM
Doc; I have an OPPO BDP-95 player which I use mostly for CD listening into my all-BH system. I checked the OPPO user manual to see if an outboard DAC can be used with this machine. Alas, nothing in the manual talks about an outboard DAC. Since you are running an OPPO BDP-103, I wonder what sort of outputs does one look for in seeking a connection for the BH DAC? I am ready to join the funding, but not sure if it will mate with my player. Any counsel will be greatly appreciated......

Cheers, Hank in Eugene



Offline Doc B.

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Reply #6 on: October 16, 2014, 04:41:40 PM
My 103 has optical (TOSLINK) and coax digital outputs. If your 95 has those that is what you would use.

Edit - look at the rear panel connectors in your manual. It's #11, Coax and optical digital output
« Last Edit: October 16, 2014, 04:46:32 PM by Doc B. »

Dan "Doc B." Schmalle
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Bottlehead Corp.


Offline Doc B.

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Reply #7 on: October 16, 2014, 04:50:58 PM
We now have six commitments. Thanks Mike! Just fourteen to go.

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


Offline JC

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Reply #8 on: October 16, 2014, 05:09:16 PM
Doc B., just curious: I am under the impression that the BDP-95 also has a USB port.  If that is so, which of the three possible connections do you think might be the better one to try? Or, would USB connection on BDP-95 be better used for a different purpose?

I am the first to admit that the variety of digital audio connections out there is a bit baffling to me...

Thanks!

Jim C.


Offline Doc B.

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Reply #9 on: October 16, 2014, 05:14:31 PM
AFAIK the USB port on an OPPO is for connecting an external drive in order to play files stored on that drive. I don't think it is possible to use it as a digital output.

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


Offline JC

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Reply #10 on: October 16, 2014, 05:22:37 PM
Ah, thanks.  That would certainly seem plausible.  Best luck!

Jim C.


Offline Doc B.

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Reply #11 on: October 16, 2014, 05:55:06 PM
I must amend my thanks to say thanks guys and gals! Thanks Deb! We are now at 7 commitments, 1/3 of the way to our goal.

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


Offline 2wo

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Reply #12 on: October 16, 2014, 06:33:58 PM
When I got to the part to enter my CC info, the fields were there and I could select them but could not enter any info. I switched to PayPal and was able to continue. will that work?...John

John Scanlon


Offline mcandmar

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Reply #13 on: October 16, 2014, 07:15:49 PM
I forgot to mention that screen was bugged for me too, all the text in the fields looked like it was size 2 text and unreadable but it did accept the information. (Using Firefox on Windows8.1)

M.McCandless


Offline Doc B.

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Reply #14 on: October 16, 2014, 08:05:49 PM
Hi John, yes Paypal is just fine. Thanks for your support! That brings us to eight commitments, just 12 to go. I will ask our IT man to look into the checkout page

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