Hi
I’m using ad1862 dac (miro’s from diyaudio). I recently got power supply(PS) upgrade to salas ultrabib & the results are impressive. Never thought PS will matter so much.
I’m using tom nihitila’s coax board after trying a bunch from AliE.
Here are few pics
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Hi
I’m using ad1862 dac (miro’s from diyaudio). I recently got power supply(PS) upgrade to salas ultrabib & the results are impressive. Never thought PS will matter so much.
I’m using tom nihitila’s coax board after trying a bunch from AliE.
Here are few pics
V6 classic mono used in output stage
Sparkos 3601 used in output stage
5 Likes
That’s really cool. But yep, I was informed that the power supply can really affect the sound of the DAC, but I really don’t know anything about DAC. So it’s probably best if someone here could confirm what I heard is true.
Deleted.
Read some stuff and decided it isn’t worth worth it if I can’t do it without selling any of my gear at this time. Plus, the future is always greener.
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This looks interesting.
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This was good. Now he’s got me thinking, which isn’t good.
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The build is pretty awesome (similar on all of their lineup).
The oven controlled clocks for the price is pretty wild (thermal are supposedly better than voltage).
Let us know if you get one.
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This is pretty cool
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Oooffff… I want one… my birthday is coming soon if anyone wants to get me one 
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Haha. I want one too, and I don’t use a dedicated streamer. 
But who doesn’t want clean, jitter free interwebs??
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Has anyone on this forum used any of the following?
- Xduoo ta-26s
- Xduoo ta-20 plus
- NDH 30
Plan to use the tubes/tube hybrid with Utopia. I’m not ready to commit and buy a big boy tube amp… yet…
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I had one for short while and couldn’t get rid of its humming on my desk no matter where I placed it. YMMV of course.
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I had some earlier version and model of xduoo and wasn’t a fan. I’d recommend just saving up for something better
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I had a TA 20 back in the day, great little ampn inexpensive and played well with the Audeze planars I had. However it’s a hybrid not big boy tube amp like you describe so things are more subtle. Maybe with these newer ones they’re using the rectifier to amp up the tubiness which is not really what a good big boy amp does as not all tubiness is desireable and can be a bit much in certain senarios.
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I tried my friends xduuo ta 26 and xduoo mt604 tube hybrid
Both were good products with a very clear problem which made them not great: they tried way too hard to sound like a warm tube amp to their detriment.
Sound was too warm for someone who had a real tube amp that is warm in the darkvoice and bottlehead crack. Xduoos I tried were warm to a fault, which my friend liked actually but to me it sounded fake. Some people may like their bassy nature but it rolled off and veiled the treble a bit which annoyed me.
The ta26 was not as bad as the mt604 and I would actually recommend it to some people who want that sound but I dont think theyll match the utopia.
Tube rolling is also basically pointless as the tubes barely change their sound.
I owned the NDH20 which was a fantastic closed back from sennheiser pro division.
Very good sound, very good mids, good bass shelf, treble just a bit rolled off, way less than other sennheiser.
Extremely good build quality.
Also very good with tube amps. Soundstage was too small on my soloist 3xp at that time.
Small pads warning for big ears.
However the ndh30 may sound different, idk. What I dont like is how it costs 650 while the ndh20 can be gotten for around 400-500 dlls. However I believe it will be a great headphone based on the closed back.
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Not sure if this even makes sense but do tubes in the chain have the same effect when they are in different components?
You can get DACs with tubes, preamps or amps… there are even sources with tubes now!
Obviously it really depends on the chosen gear but what’s people’s experience here?
Can you add some tube goodness to a solid state amp with a tube DAC? Or does it make a lot more sense in the preamp?
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The output section of a DAC is just an amplifier, with somewhat different goals.
If I were doing 2Ch again I’d seriously consider SS Power Amps, and a tube pre. Well that or just go with very efficient speakers and tubes everywhere.
But what makes tubes “special” is really they are just better voltage amplifiers than transistors, so even if you want that crisp clean sound, tubes will often just do it better.
The problem with a lot of tubes in everything mindsets is what are the designers setting out to do, some people do want the ooey gooey tube sound, and some of those people are designers. You’re better judging a device by how it sounds rather than how it was constructed.
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Hey guys, so its been a while since i changed anything in my chain, i think its time!
Question though, what is the weak link in my setup? I honestly don’t know but i am guessing the DAC? Here is what i have currently:
- PI2AES
- Schiit Gungnir Multibit
- Ferrum OOR + HYPSOS
- Quicksilver
For the headphones i am driving:
- Abyss 1266
- Hifiman HE6se v2
- Audeze LCD-4
- Meze 109 Pro
- Kennerton Gjallarhorn
- Focal Clear OG
- Focal Radiance
I think they all play really well in both my amps, but of course i want to do what i should not and see what i can improve, hahaha.
Oh, for cables i have a Lavricable Grand for the LCD-4 and Forza Noir for all the rest.
Cheers
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I’m reading this, you got a solid set up man. What are you not getting out of it, that you feel is missing?
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There’s a lot of up on the tube amp front.
And it’ll run you about the same or a bit more than a worthwhile DAC upgrade.
The issue being finding something that will drive the 1266 and HE6 well is going to be challenging. And short of mega buck tube amps your probably off with upgrading the Ferrum if they are frequently used. And while there is certainly up there, it’s also expensive.
DAC would probably be the next thing, but again you’d want to be spending probably 3K+ for a significant upgrade (maybe an OG Yggy as a stepping stone).
Once you upgrade the DAC, the Pi2AES is probably next to go.
What I tend to do when I don’t really feel the need to replace things is just keep an eye out on the used market and buy things that interest me
That is of course the key question.
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