[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: SB-3 and external DAC
yc_ Wrote: When connected to my North Star DAC via a Behringer equaliser, I found SB2's performance very close to that of my regular CD transport (Sony XA7ES). Sounded ever so slightly thinner. Of course then you ought to be able to fatten it back up with some minimal tweaks to the DEQ... -Dan -- dwc dwc's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=1892 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=17948 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: SB-3 and external DAC
2005-11-07-00:12:29 dwc: I haven't done careful listening comparisons. I use my external dac and I'm happy with it. :) Yeah, I'm kind of in that boat. I've just always been running SBs into a digital in of my Arcam AVR, because I chose the Arcam for the pleasing quality of its D/A, and because with a digital source it can send some bass off to the sub. I found, though, that the SB2 sounded better to me if its bits went through an Apogee Big Ben (especially after the Big Ben got the one-cap power supply upgrade suggested by Maui Dan months ago on another forum far away). The sound of an un-Big-Benned SB2 with no internal mods to the SB2 only sounded a teensy bit better to me when it was fed by a Bolder linear power supply. My new SB3, though... I believe that the SB3's digital out, when the SB3 is being fed by that selfsame Bolder linear, is noticeably less likely[1] to cause me crankiness of the ears. Maybe in this context (digital out, quiet 5V in), the linear 3.3v regulator we've heard about shines? Is the 3.3V supply particularly intimately involved with the digital path of the SB? Early times yet, more listening to do, but I suspect I may be less likely to bother feeding this puppy through the Big Ben. [1] Noticeably less likely doesn't imply it was ever actually terrible, of course. Straining for subtleties is what we audio-obsessives DO. ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: SB-3 and external DAC
On Wed, 2005-11-09 at 19:39 -0800, highdudgeon wrote: Oh, the thing is this: I actually have a very -- very -- revealing system, based around Harbeth Monitor 40s. Personally, I think SB3 is just terrific for casual listening, and I can see how a change in DAC with lesser components might not make much of the difference. But who knows. Only those who care and try it can know. A lot of being an audiophile is personal taste. I have a new Lavry DAC - which, unlike benchmark, re-clocks incoming signal -- and I'm curious to see what the difference will be. I do know that, with a CD player, the difference is night and day. So let us know. I tend to believe that more revealing systems are more sensitive to all things. Without good speakers driven by good amps in a good room, most of the tweaks can't be tested. Of course, the cost/benefit curve is rather steep... Nothing in the audiophile world has a rational cost/benefit relationship. Going from a $2000 total system to a $4000 is not going to sound twice as good. It might not sound 1% better. I bought my Benchmark DAC-1 with the excuse that I could use it in my recording studio if I didn't want it in my living room with my SB1/G. Hah! It has never gotten within 30 feet of the recording studio. Now if I had a SB2 or 3, maybe the Benchmark would be in the studio, but not this month. The point is to listen to, and enjoy the music. Just IMHO and all that. -- Pat http://www.pfarrell.com/music/slimserver/slimsoftware.html ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
