The review in Stereophile, or The Absolute Sound, said each Reference DAC was hand tuned to achieve its sound.
I wasn't talking about regular BADAs, but about the Reference DAC.
Mike had the Reference, and Joeinid had also ordered the reference? Also the friend of Mike's who first loaned him the Lampi, Jerry, had the Berkeley Reference. Only Brucelet had the non-reference
Alright, and I will now listen to some Mozart and Beethoven string quartets on my regular Berkeley Alpha DAC 2, which performs wonderfully.
Mike had the Reference, and Joeinid had also ordered the reference? Also the friend of Mike's who first loaned him the Lampi, Jerry, had the Berkeley Reference. Only Brucelet had the non-reference
Yes, going on almost 7 months wait for the Berkeley Ref dac myself, with still no idea in sight when it will ship. Several more customers that I know of both before and after my order are still waiting. One guy from Oct/Nov last year is still waiting for his. This is BS.
I assume you heard it before ordering it?
Why would I do that? Can't change my behavior now
Never heard it.
Didn't mean to nag on Al. You are ole of the nice sensible guys on the forum that Peter B didn't like
No idea, Geardaddy. I'm a bit sad I didn't get to try the Golden Gate, not just because of the upgraded parts but because it would have had the tubes (101d replicas) that might made the difference, but the deal I was offered didn't include any audition - it was a final sale and based on my experience with the Big 7 I couldn't be that optimistic.
So I'm back to using my Playback Designs which is smack in between the Big 7 and the MSB Analog. I would audition the Berkely Alpha Reference if there wasn't a manufacturing backlog (I hear 7 months and counting for some people).
I have heard CAD a few times. No comparison. Anthony, why don't you try the Aurender or a Caps Zuma like HQP and let us know differences with your Aries.
Anthony? The CAD and Totaldac appear to be serious attempts at engineering and would be worth hearing in one's home.
I have audio buddies who have had either Caps or highly modded minis who converted to the Aries. The Aurender I would still like to hear (and or the totaldac server).
I keep reading about the need to demo things in one's system. I think that if you expect an in home demo (with a good possibility of return) you should not be asking for any significant discount. Same goes for hand holding and endless tech support.
There are many DACs Ian can try like Trinity, CH Precision especially Trinity as it almost has the amount of loyalty as Lampizator.
I have never engaged in tube rolling.
As far as the output quality of tubes is concerned, a great power supply is much more important than premium tubes. What use is a premium tube if it doesn't operate under the optimal conditions that it's designed for?
If, as you say, the Lampi was a bit soft on transients, I am starting to wonder if the Lampi features as competent a high-voltage-DC power delivery to the tubes as is supplied by the BorderPatrol external power supplies for my amps.
Depends on if he wants to play back native DSD, or only a PCM conversion. Neither Trinity nor CH plays back DSD in native form, as they have to convert to PCM to play via the BB1704 chipset.
I have heard both Dacs BTW.
Steve Williams Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator | Ron Resnick Site Co-Owner | Administrator | Julian (The Fixer) Website Build | Marketing Managersing |