s1rrah

Funny thing.

I just found out that the first experimental versions of the Paradisea were dubbed "The Digital Password," by it's creators.

They called it this because it was their custom crafted solution to the problem of digital sounding, digital music.

They considered it a password back to listenable and musical content.

Also cool: The engineers of the Paradisea DAC go by the aliases of "Mouse, Horse, Dog, and Tiger."

(Funny).

Anyway ...

I got that last bit from a fairly recent new review of the Paradisea DAC at positive-reviews.com:

Here's the New Review

It's a good read.

Fairly accurate.

__________________
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ReV1eWs:
ND-1 VGA Cooler | Mod'd Scythe Infinity | Iceberq 6 VGA Cooler | Spirit RS RAM cooler | Zalman 9500 on NOS | MagicTune
...
Aumotocnic: "An unfortunate member of the overclock.net insomnia club"
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OSAMT: "Member of OCN Songwriter and Musician Thread"
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Namrac

Tonight's the last night with the Headfive before it ships out to its new owner... I'm gonna miss it.

Thinking about my audio future... flirting with the idea of the soon-to-be-released Little Dot MKVI balanced tube amp, which is set to come out in a couple weeks at the incredibly attractive price of $700... pair that with an ESI Juli@ and proper cabling and I'd have a balanced setup for not much more than $1000. D:

Or I could just keep the E-Mu and get a kickass single ended amp. I dunno anymore. Amps are easily the most difficult choice...

__________________

Audio Setup:
PC > TCA Gizmo > Ultralink Matrix 2s > AV123 ELT525Ms
OCN Headphone Club. Because computers don't suck up enough of my money.

pow3rtr1p

Sean, just do the right thing, and get a MKIII. At your age, there's no need to delve into balanced set ups, or single components well over $500. Just get a good single-ended set up for those 580s, including a recable, and then maybe get a balanced set up on some HD650s some day down the road.

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Namrac

Don't lecture me about delving, Mr. Giant-ass-tv-for-my-new-PS3

MKIII is on the very low end of what I'd be looking at if I go single ended. MKIVse would be much more likely.

__________________

Audio Setup:
PC > TCA Gizmo > Ultralink Matrix 2s > AV123 ELT525Ms
OCN Headphone Club. Because computers don't suck up enough of my money.

pow3rtr1p

Fine, just don't be silly. Just remember, something very nice is probably going to be broken by drunk roommates next year.

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s1rrah

One of the best things I've ever read regarding headphone amps was from a review of the Headamp GS1 (I think) ...

The reviewer was very careful to explain how he expected any given amp to 'disappear' in regards to the delivery of the music.

That it should not 'color' or affect the music in any way, that it should accurately amplify/transmit the signal and otherwise give no indication of it's presence in the transmission chain.

In other words, it should be genuinely neutral, merely conveying the signal/music/sound as faithfully (to the original recording) as possible while adding no other secondary qualities to the mix.

Said reviewer lauded the reviewed amp with praise for being able to do just that (it was either the GS1 or the Stello, can't remember).

Anyway ...

That's exactly how I'd like my amp to behave.

...

In regards to digital music in general (IMHO):

...

I count the DAC as the most important component in forming a sonic image.

Secondly, I count the amplifier as that which needs to simply communicate the image faithfully and accurately (and then? Disappear. ).

...

Good luck with your quest, friend.

Be sure to post a nice bit of commentary if you pick up the Little Dot!

__________________
...
ReV1eWs:
ND-1 VGA Cooler | Mod'd Scythe Infinity | Iceberq 6 VGA Cooler | Spirit RS RAM cooler | Zalman 9500 on NOS | MagicTune
...
Aumotocnic: "An unfortunate member of the overclock.net insomnia club"
...
OSAMT: "Member of OCN Songwriter and Musician Thread"
...

Aura

I beg to differ. He's going 4-channel at some point, so he might as well save now and get it over with. I'm a big believer in stretching for what you really want (my D2 was an exception I guess) rather than trying to delay the inevitable. As for single components costing over 5 bills - there's a reason and plenty of justification to go with it.

On the topic of plans:

I did a lot of thinking and I got my mind made up as much as it ever will be.

Goodbye E-MU, hello CD5001. I suck it up and stick with the cdp rig for the rest of the year (because the Marantz is going to sound so terrible ) and save up for my heart's desire, which is VDA2 + VAC1.

The flexibility that the VDA will give me is really going to be something. It will allow me to use the Marantz simply as a transport (which it can more than handle) and run optical to the VDA and let it do all the dirty work instead. I can also use it in the *normal* way and let my pc have a role in the rig when I want it to.

I probably wouldn't have switched up my plans if I didn't find a CD5001 for < $200 last night. Certified refurb w/ 1 year warranty is plenty assurance for me.

Fun times lay ahead.

...Well, for me. Not so much for the wallet.

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Namrac

As much as Justin's amps impress me (the AE-2 through GS-X, all of them, beautiful and apparently nothing short of fantastic sounding), his habit of forcing customers to wait months and months and months for their hyper-expensive amps does not. If I ever buy a headamp product, it will be used.

And I agree that source is certainly more important in the grand scheme of things than the amp, but "faithful" reproduction of a recording has never really been my goal. Fun sounding, liquid, warm, smooth music that lifts me up and takes me away? Yes please.

__________________

Audio Setup:
PC > TCA Gizmo > Ultralink Matrix 2s > AV123 ELT525Ms
OCN Headphone Club. Because computers don't suck up enough of my money.

Aura

TUBES

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Namrac

After some scheming, and some assistance from Bryan, I figured out what I'm doing =D

Step 1) Buy Little Dot MKII
Step 2) Sell E-MU/Trade for ESI Juli@
Step 3) Get a balanced, 1/4" terminated cable
Step 4) Buy ANOTHER MKII, and run a super-sexy, low-price balanced setup. =D

It's a bit gutsy, given the whole two-identical-amp thing, but it's cheap and it's awesome and I want it.

__________________

Audio Setup:
PC > TCA Gizmo > Ultralink Matrix 2s > AV123 ELT525Ms
OCN Headphone Club. Because computers don't suck up enough of my money.