Berkeley Alpha DAC Series 2

ack · Oct 7, 2011

From their web site:

[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS
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[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]• The Alpha DAC Series 2 employs new clocking and isolation technologies that provide enhance[/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]d imaging [/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]precision, timbral purity and resolution.
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[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]•

Unequalled interpolation technology up-samples 44.1kHz CD’s to provide almost 176.4kHz quality and [/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]produces superb fidelity at all sampling rates from 32kHz to 192kHz
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[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]•

IR remote control of all functions including volume and balance allows direct connection to power amplifiers
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[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]•

Advanced input signal jitter rejection[/FONT]

[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]•

BADA encrypted input allows future support of HDMI and other DRM formats
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KeithR · Oct 11, 2011

Interesting, thanks for posting this (i have one as well)

So an updated clocking and "isolation"? Hmm, seems more evolutionary than anything.

Any word on the price?

ack · Oct 11, 2011

KeithR said:
Interesting, thanks for posting this (i have one as well)

So an updated clocking and "isolation"? Hmm, seems more evolutionary than anything.

Any word on the price?

I'll find out this week. I was disappointed that USB is not incorporated now...

Bruce B · Oct 11, 2011

ack said:
I'll find out this week. I was disappointed that USB is not incorporated now...

No... that's an Extra $1500....

amirm · Oct 11, 2011

KeithR said:
Interesting, thanks for posting this (i have one as well)

So an updated clocking and "isolation"? Hmm, seems more evolutionary than anything.

Any word on the price?

It is definitely in the tweak category. The MSRP remains the same even though the manufacturing cost has gone up. The dealers and Berkeley are absorbing the difference to maintain the $4,995 price.

ack · Oct 11, 2011

Bruce B said:
No... that's an Extra $1500....

Well, I can sort of see their [presumed] point - USB is for computer audio only, and how many of their customers are doing or going to do that? Otherwise, why raise the retail price for something some [most?] people won't need... I just wish it were an option, same for other similar products

Orb · Oct 12, 2011

Also a further consideration Ack.
Some may prefer to go with a high quality bridge product such as the one mentioned in the past by Amir or the Halide that connects between the PC and the DAC.

Cheers
Orb

1rsw · Oct 12, 2011

Stuff

From what I gather, the exclusion of USB and subsequent design of the Alpha USB is a philosophical decision by the designers, having the belief that USB should not be inside the chassis of the DAC. Is it the only way to get it done? Doubt it but I trust these guys more than most in the industry and bought both sight unseen which I have rarely done in my 30 years messing with audio stuff. Living with the original Alpha for few years was all the info I needed. I also commend them for keeping msrp at a reasonable spot in an industry where pricing is literally out of control. They could easily sell their DAC for much more or at least have bumped for change to series 2. Similar to related Spectral, they held steady at a fair price for world class design.

amirm · Oct 12, 2011

1rsw said:
From what I gather, the exclusion of USB and subsequent design of the Alpha USB is a philosophical decision by the designers, having the belief that USB should not be inside the chassis of the DAC.

That's almost what they say word for word when I discuss this topic with them

. Ditto when I bring up network connectivity. Fundamentally they believe high-speed computer circuits should be as far away as possible.

That said, I think there is a trade off between doing that and using a S/PDIF and AES link between the two boxes which can have its own set of challenges. Clearly they consider this problem more solvable than the high-speed issue above.

The box is a nice hybrid of pro and audiophile products. For the latter, they go nuts trying to optimize things as much as any high-end company would. And for the former, they keep the price reasonable and don't use exotic cases and such.

KeithR · Oct 13, 2011

Is there an upgrade process Amir? Feel free to PM me if so.

Thanks,

KeithR

fjmcsu · Oct 13, 2011

upgrade

I asked about an upgrade to my unit from the dealer and my unit is not up-gradable at present. If I remember from another forum, units above 1503 serial number are eligible. Cost was quoted in the 350$ range.

rockitman · Oct 21, 2011

amirm said:
It is definitely in the tweak category. The MSRP remains the same even though the manufacturing cost has gone up. The dealers and Berkeley are absorbing the difference to maintain the $4,995 price.

Does this dac allow user selectable sampling rates (ie: sampling at native and bypassing the upsample circuit) or is all source data upsampled to 176 or 196 depending on source native sampling of 44.1 and 48 ?

amirm · Oct 21, 2011

It has internal resampling that is not programmable or documented

. It has selectable output filters although they only recommend one. It has a Sharp DSP that does what they think it should do to produce good sound.

rockitman · Oct 21, 2011

amirm said:
It has internal resampling that is not programmable or documented . It has selectable output filters although they only recommend one. It has a Sharp DSP that does what they think it should do to produce good sound.

Thanks Amir,

So if I understand you correctly, if I play a redbook CD 16/44 through the Berkeley, it will automatically dither and upsample to 24/176 ? In other words, there is no option to play the cd at it's native resolution (16/44) ?

amirm · Oct 21, 2011

That's correct. Based on tidbits on their site, and lack of UI to change anything, it appears to upsample to 176 KHz. They say they have special sauce on the interpolation filter there. On dither since the DAC is 24-bit, any noise added there would be below the noise floor of the 16 bit CD audio samples.

rockitman · Oct 21, 2011

amirm said:
That's correct. Based on tidbits on their site, and lack of UI to change anything, it appears to upsample to 176 KHz. They say they have special sauce on the interpolation filter there. On dither since the DAC is 24-bit, any noise added there would be below the noise floor of the 16 bit CD audio samples.

That's interesting. My current rig is the PS Audio Perfect Wave trans/dac and it allows upsampling/dither or just native playback. For some reason native sounds best (more natural/right) for all frequencies/bit depth's on the PW. Perhaps the I2S (HDMI) that holds the clocks and the channles on respective wires, eliminatiing the need to decode those on the DAC end helps..

amirm · Oct 21, 2011

It is really hard to compare one approach to another. The Berkeley overrides the default anti-aliasing filter in the DAC and provides its own. That filter is optimized for this sampling rate. In addition, there are many variations in interpolation algorithms. The shape of that filter determines slight variations in high frequency response. Given all of this, it is impossible to say that if they had not upsampled, the sound would be better.

That said, as you, in other products I have had, I have always liked the pass through better. One of these days I will compare the Berkeley against my Mark Levinson to see how they differ. Just been too busy

.

microstrip · Nov 22, 2011

You can enjoy the review by Robert Harley of the Berkeley Alpha DAC Series 2 for TAS at the avguide site:

http://www.avguide.com/review/berkeley-audio-alpha-dac-series-2-tas

Would love to get my hands on this DAC, as my bias expectation is high!

Orb · Nov 23, 2011

amirm said:
It is really hard to compare one approach to another. The Berkeley overrides the default anti-aliasing filter in the DAC and provides its own. That filter is optimized for this sampling rate. In addition, there are many variations in interpolation algorithms. The shape of that filter determines slight variations in high frequency response. Given all of this, it is impossible to say that if they had not upsampled, the sound would be better.

That said, as you, in other products I have had, I have always liked the pass through better. One of these days I will compare the Berkeley against my Mark Levinson to see how they differ. Just been too busy .

Totally agree with you Amir that comparing the internal upsampling to pass through is very interesting and how it may affect our preferences (as you mention tricky to test but in general I enjoy it not being upsampled and would love to see more of others anecdotal experience but it is marginal IMO).
This is one aspect of digital both Paul Miller and Keith Howard tend to become a bit enthused about when the option is available in audio products, especiialy when considering hi-rez music playback that in theory should be perfect for pass through - their thoughts on this came out with the AMR CD player that enables many options.
Cheers
Orb

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