Review: Berkeley Audio Alpha USB
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So to deterimine if a BNC connector is 50 or 75ohm, the only way is to measure? There is no quick visual reference?
That, or the part number. Here is a picture of the Audio Precision Analyzer:
At first glance it looks like the connectors are 50 ohm but the spec sheet says otherwise and impossible to fathom that AP would get this wrong.
At first glance it looks like the connectors are 50 ohm but the spec sheet says otherwise and impossible to fathom that AP would get this wrong.
I am hoping to sell our demo unit at some point and hence, can't open it up. I am sure someone else sooner or later would put up that picture
.
Too bad Audio Precision doesn't make audio equipment... now that's a piece that would measure well!
According to Wikipedia:
BNC connectors exist in 50 and 75 ohm versions, matched for use with cables of the same characteristic impedance. The 75 ohm types can sometimes be recognized by the reduced or absent dielectric in the mating ends. The 50 and 75 ohm connectors are typically specified for use at frequencies up to 4 and 2 GHz respectively.
Happily nuclear electronics uses 50 ohm, otherwise we would run in problems every time someone from the computer department borrowed a BNC cable and returned an "equivalent".
I hear youToo bad Audio Precision doesn't make audio equipment... now that's a piece that would measure well!
. The thing plays the most amazing symphony as soon as you start the PC software. What seems to be an army of relays click in sequence and in parallel as if to be lining up straight ready to shoot! Everything has an incredibly solid feel to it. You can just look at it and assume it is a serious measurement tool.
shockingly indifferent and sloppy review!
...this product is intended to be heard with the Berkeley Alpha DAC, recommended to be heard without a pre-amp, likely without a Windozes OS, and facilitated by someone who would, at least, in some level of courtesy, find the appropriate cabling and playback equipment. (you have this in your shop)
That you now expect to sell this product is amazing...you Microsoft'ees may have made too much money and are now too flabby; this little shop of yours is, I suspect, just a hobby but if entering this market your customers deserve better attention to detail ...former Madrona customer, WDW
...this product is intended to be heard with the Berkeley Alpha DAC, recommended to be heard without a pre-amp, likely without a Windozes OS, and facilitated by someone who would, at least, in some level of courtesy, find the appropriate cabling and playback equipment. (you have this in your shop)
That you now expect to sell this product is amazing...you Microsoft'ees may have made too much money and are now too flabby; this little shop of yours is, I suspect, just a hobby but if entering this market your customers deserve better attention to detail ...former Madrona customer, WDW
WDW, I appreciate your feedback. Please kindly note that what I do for WBF and my company are two separate things. Members here asked me to post as much data as I could as fast as I could. So I brought the box home to put it through its paces quickly and share some information. It is not meant to be an explanation of how we configure and sell the device. Prior to me bringing it home, it ran as you say in the shop. As I mentioned I will post follow ups with the system at work at a later time.
Both our system at work and my home system normally run without a pre-amp. For this test however, I wanted to make sure both signals were full resolution in digital domain. The use of the pre-amp allowed me to keep the volume at 100% that way, but then be able to turn the volume down in analog domain as to not go deaf. I did not feel that a pure subjective review of just this one device without comparison to others would do justice to it.
As to cables, this class device should have no sensitivity to type of USB cable used. Its asynchronous nature means that USB is used purely for data and hence, should not have an impact on the operation of it. The interconnect balanced cables I used came with my $25,000 audio precision analyzer. While they don't have an audiophile sticker on them, they are good quality cables. That leaves the AES/EBU cable and I noted the difference it made as opposed to standard audio cable so clearly that choice was a good one or there would have been no difference.
As to how I run my business, no it is not hobby. It is serious business in which I have invested heavily. At the same, I am not a sales guy intent on promoting things we carry. It would have been easy to say, "I plugged it and I heard night and day difference." It is not in my nature to analyze equipment that way. I am an engineer and apply science and logic to evaluating technology. I know what this device does and I know precisely how much improvement it is supposed to make in a good DAC. Throwing that knowledge out and pretending otherwise would be very dishonest on my part. And I value my reputation and what I stand for a lot more than making a buck selling equipment. I appreciate other retailers would never do this but I don't know how to do it otherwise.
As to laziness, please show me another retailer going through the testing I did for a number of hours and the comparative analysis I did against much cheaper equipment, down to zero, to see if the device has merit. I bet they lack even the experience to know what to do let alone doing it.
On your Windows comment, I don't follow that logic. The application for this device is to bridge a PC to digital audio. Surely we don't want to rule out people using Windows machines. If your criticism is that Windows screws up audio somehow, my team developed the audio pipeline in Windows and I explained why and how I got around its limitations for this testing.
All of this said, I appreciate your past business with us and hope your signature doesn't mean that you no longer want to shop at our place because of what I post here.
Both our system at work and my home system normally run without a pre-amp. For this test however, I wanted to make sure both signals were full resolution in digital domain. The use of the pre-amp allowed me to keep the volume at 100% that way, but then be able to turn the volume down in analog domain as to not go deaf
. I did not feel that a pure subjective review of just this one device without comparison to others would do justice to it.As to cables, this class device should have no sensitivity to type of USB cable used. Its asynchronous nature means that USB is used purely for data and hence, should not have an impact on the operation of it. The interconnect balanced cables I used came with my $25,000 audio precision analyzer. While they don't have an audiophile sticker on them, they are good quality cables. That leaves the AES/EBU cable and I noted the difference it made as opposed to standard audio cable so clearly that choice was a good one or there would have been no difference.
As to how I run my business, no it is not hobby. It is serious business in which I have invested heavily. At the same, I am not a sales guy intent on promoting things we carry. It would have been easy to say, "I plugged it and I heard night and day difference." It is not in my nature to analyze equipment that way. I am an engineer and apply science and logic to evaluating technology. I know what this device does and I know precisely how much improvement it is supposed to make in a good DAC. Throwing that knowledge out and pretending otherwise would be very dishonest on my part. And I value my reputation and what I stand for a lot more than making a buck selling equipment. I appreciate other retailers would never do this but I don't know how to do it otherwise.
As to laziness, please show me another retailer going through the testing I did for a number of hours and the comparative analysis I did against much cheaper equipment, down to zero, to see if the device has merit. I bet they lack even the experience to know what to do let alone doing it
. On your Windows comment, I don't follow that logic. The application for this device is to bridge a PC to digital audio. Surely we don't want to rule out people using Windows machines. If your criticism is that Windows screws up audio somehow, my team developed the audio pipeline in Windows and I explained why and how I got around its limitations for this testing.
All of this said, I appreciate your past business with us and hope your signature doesn't mean that you no longer want to shop at our place because of what I post here
.The one thing I enjoy about this forum and less so about most others is that the comments that are shared are candid and honest and when people hew to a negative line that invites unsubstantiated speculation, they are normally willing to reveal their identity. It is easy to do a hatchet job anonymously and while it is just as easy to extoll to the skies, one's reputation is generally not enhanced by fawning comments to the extent that it is diminished by excoriation.
I'm eagerly waiting for mine to come. The original BADA DAC driven by the Weiss INT202 was one of the best DACs I've had in my room - after it has been on for at least 10 days continuously. But turn it off, and it takes 4 days to warm up again. Not a deal breaker for most, but I can't use it for demos as we have at most 2 days for set-up.
I was told by the Berkeley folks that that shouldn't be the case, and it should warm up immediately (even that it takes only 2 days to break in from new) and that I probably had a bad one. So, they are sending me the new version to try out, and the Alpha USB as well. Woo hoo!! Can't wait.
I was told by the Berkeley folks that that shouldn't be the case, and it should warm up immediately (even that it takes only 2 days to break in from new) and that I probably had a bad one. So, they are sending me the new version to try out, and the Alpha USB as well. Woo hoo!! Can't wait.
That's great. If you are coming to the user group meeting tonight, you can see the Berkeley in operation (DAC and USB Bridge). We leave ours on all the time so I have no data on warm up time.
Only on this forum could a bunch of bnc plugs qualify as great pics
Jaja, a good one!
With regard to warm up time, especially on the latest offerings from manufacturers, do you or Gary find it makes a significant difference if you exercise the DAC heavily prior to serious listening, irrespectively of how long it has been left running?
Frank
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If I exercise heavily before serious listening, I'm sweaty, and my heart is pounding so my listening experience is usually slightly worse.
I tend to exercise heavily on the inside, when I put on the "wrong" music at higher volume, i.e., driving R&R. I'm pretty much wasted by the end of the album with such a session. Aaah, but it's a good feeling ...
Frank
Frank
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