audiojunky

Hello fellow audiophiles - I'm seriously considering purchasing an Auraliti PK100 to feed a Burson HA160D (DAC with SPDF and USB inputs). The USB on the Burson is limited to 24/96 and so it makes more sense to go for the SPDF Auraliti unit (as opposed to the new USB unit; PK90). Has anyone tried these units together? Just pinging round a few sites to see if there is any reason not to go this route. A unix-based server is more appealing to me that either a Windows or Apple computer. Perhaps some of you chaps down south, where the Burson gear originates from, have had the opportunity to hear this combo? Many thanks, AJ

Hi All - I recently purchased a Burson HA160D headphone amp and DAC. I hooked it up to my mac mini and followed the instructions on the Ayre web site for setting up a mac (I believe Chris wrote these instructions): http://www.ayre.com/usb-apple.htm I noticed when opening the Audio Midi to set things up, the Burson DAC is different in two respects: (i) it is listed as having 2 inputs and 2 outputs and it is necessary to adjust the volume for each channel to hear music (for the Ayre DAC, the volume control is not active). The first seems weird as it is only an output device and the second makes me a little concerned that the signal is being fed through the mac's sound processing before being sent to the Burson (which would degrade the sound quality). It is this second issue I'm more concerned about. Should I be? Thanks, AJ

I recently acquired a Burson HA160D (amp and DAC in one box) and a pair of Shure SRH840 cans. So far I have only fed this set up with music ripped from CDs (XLD --> AIFF) played through iTunes but I have to say that it sounds wonderful to my ears (warm, detailed, tight and tuneful bass, nice decay on cymbals). When I get the time, I'll try through another player (PM or AyreWave). AJ

Hi Chris - glad to hear there are plans for similar events in other locations. I hope these plans work out and look forward to hearing more in due course.<br /> <br /> AJ

Sounds great - any plans to schedule a similar event in other parts of North America?<br /> Thanks,<br /> AJ

The title for your thread is badly chosen and is the reason your post has not been taken as seriously as it could have. It has nothing to do with the Computer Audiophile Pocket Server.

Hi Corey - thanks for that info. Ideally, I would do what you did and compare the two products but<br /> this is not an option where I live (Ottawa). Do you know if the two units you compared had been<br /> burned in? From what I have read, this is more important for the proton.<br /> <br /> Thanks again.<br /> <br /> AJ

<br /> Thanks for filling out the review Chris - lots of useful info there. Your comparison between<br /> the DAC of the Nova and the Wavelength Proton is especially useful for me. Perhaps I'm<br /> being cheeky asking this - but did you try comparing the Nova and Proton in terms of<br /> their headphone amp/dac capabilities? Headphone listening will be my main method of<br /> listening. From your review, the Proton is stronger as a DAC but I suspect that the<br /> Nova has a better headphone amp circuit.<br /> <br /> AJ

Chris - thanks for your take on the Nova. I'm looking to purchase a DAC around the $1000 mark and am considering both the Nova and the Wavelength Proton. Most of my listening will be via headphones. Would you say that these components are comparable in sound quality (i.e. same league)? Just want to know if I should try and hear both before making a final decision.<br /> <br /> Thanks.

I'm also very interested in the Proton, especially given Gordon Rankin's reputation and the review from Chris. I'm about to jump into the world of computer audio by purchasing a macbook pro and a pair of headphones (around the $200-300 mark). The Proton is very appealing given that it has a bulit in headphone amp and so would mean buying less boxes. Given how difficult it is to go out and listen to a lot of the equipment discussed on these pages I'd be very grateful to know if people think there is a significant improvement in going from the highly rated DACs around the $200-300 mark (e.g. Devilsound, HRT Streamer) to those around the $1000 mark (e.g. Proton and Peachtree Nova). I'm considering the Nova given the good reviews of its DAC plus the fact that you get a decent integrated amp in the same box. Thanks in anticipation! Glenn