The real question is, what does it sound like ? I am glad my stereo life isn't a slave to measurmemts that in many cases fail to define what sounds good and what doesn't.
NOS deigns exhibit far more distortion and characteristically have bass and treble roll off , which some listeners prefer!
Keith.
At the recent Hong Kong AE show, the Trinity dac was in use and when the room switched back to vinyl several people, including manufacturers involved with the room, exclaimed that the "music" had returned... What does that tell us?
What we analog only guys already know.
I am sure this will prove to be much to do about nothing. Allnic appears to be a quality company and will rectify any "issues." The true test is listening and duration of ownership. Audio Note dacs measure poorly but somehow seem to inhabit systems for longer than most.
Furthermore, vinyl and tape still sounds better than digital IMO (and for better and for worse I am child of the digital generation and a prisoner of that format). At the recent Hong Kong AE show, the Trinity dac was in use and when the room switched back to vinyl several people, including manufacturers involved with the room, exclaimed that the "music" had returned. The Trinity dac is considered one of the top digital dogs on the planet at present. What does that tell us?
That "we want our women with lipstick" as Ki once told me as he explained why a tape copy of SACD sounded so good.At the recent Hong Kong AE show, the Trinity dac was in use and when the room switched back to vinyl several people, including manufacturers involved with the room, exclaimed that the "music" had returned. The Trinity dac is considered one of the top digital dogs on the planet at present. What does that tell us?
Ha! I hate you and your kind.
Notice how the digital world still pays subconscious homage to your blessed medium of choice with their description of SOTA sound as "analog..."
No one who is posting in this thread has experience with this DAC, we are not debating anything solid, as the possibility that the measurements were carried in a defective unit and the listening was carried in the unit working properly. While they wait for the needed Stereophile followup's that will take a few months , those seriously interested in this DAC matters can turn to the thread at Audiogon on Albert Porter system.
This tells me mostly that the system to demo the Trinity was not properly assembled. Any competent demonstrator should have been able to tune the system and choose recordings to avoid such ridicule situation. Just MHO.
Ha! I hate you and your kind.
Notice how the digital world still pays subconscious homage to your blessed medium of choice with their description of SOTA sound as "analog..."
NOS DACs do have rolled off HF. However, LF issues aren't related to whether the DAC has an OS filter. Aliasing is a strictly HF issue. It's likely a poor output stage which is responsible for poor LF performance.
Stereophile doesn't base their recommendations and awards on measurements. The PS Audio Directstream would never be recommended based on its poor measurements as well. The Playback Designs MPS-5 is also recommended and didn't exhibit DR to brag about.
It's funny how the "purist" recites the refrain "it's all about the music", yet selects gear which doesn't give the listener a chance to hear the music in the first place.
I've never enjoyed listening to music from a room/system which didn't measure well. However, good measurements are only a prerequisite for musical enjoyment. Not all gear which measures well sounds good.
Actually we do know something. Ketcham on another forum sent out his Allnic Dac to be tested locally and got essentially the same result as Stereophile. Still, he says his Dac soiunds good to him.No one who is posting in this thread has experience with this DAC, we are not debating anything solid, as the possibility that the measurements were carried in a defective unit and the listening was carried in the unit working properly. While they wait for the needed Stereophile followup's that will take a few months , those seriously interested in this DAC matters can turn to the thread at Audiogon on Albert Porter system.
This tells me mostly that the system to demo the Trinity was not properly assembled. Any competent demonstrator should have been able to tune the system and choose recordings to avoid such ridicule situation. Just MHO.
Its a tiny DHT and they likely used it because they were afraid of the big bottle DHTs which are MUCH harder to tame. However, they now dont have the big bottle magic and users are denied the fun of tube rolling (which has a big impact on the sound presentation).I fully realize that a product from even the best of manufacturers can have problems. However, the fact that this manufacturer claimed that the poor measurements were due to bad tubes and then just sells the thing without sending it back to Stereophile for a follow-up tells me all I need to know about the company. They probably didn't send it back because they all measure that way. They knew it and knew Stereophile wouldn't want any one other than the review sample returned. From their end, problem solved. I am not a tube guy but why use such an esoteric tube? One goes bad and you need to have a replacement sent from South Korea? What if they run out of tubes?
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