DiminishingReturnsOfficer

Seasons Greetings to all at CA. Recently, 2 products; The Rex DAC from BAT, and LessLoss' upgraded C-MARC Super power cable, managed to garner my full attention. I have already taken advantage of LessLoss' upgrade offer to order 3 of the new Super C-MARC's which simple logic dictates should offer a substantial improvement over the original configuration. They replace a single triaxial cable with 3 of them in a flat braid arrangement familiar from the DFPC. Once the conductors have been painstakingly combined at the terminations, the new cable will provide an aggragate of 4.6 mm^2 of the complex fractal Litz conductor. I was impressed with the single-run cables Louis made for my 2 power conditioners, but realized I was cutting it rather close on ampacity for my large unit which is capable of providing 15A at 120V. I'll use one of the new ones on it, one on my Accuphase A50V power amp., and the third on my dCS Debussy DAC. *On the subject of the Debussy and new equipment, I might also mention that the new Rev. 2.30 Firmware should have been made available last month. It will enable native DSD processing as well as 384kHz support for Debussy owners.* I was totally taken back to see BAT release a DAC. I live in DE where the firm has its headquarters, and have been in for upgrades and one minor repair to my VK50SE preamp (now 51SE). Probably 5 years ago, I asked Vlad, the lead technican, if he anticipated them doing a DAC. He said he didn't think so due to troubles with the VK-D55SE CD player. He mentioned mostly issues related to the transport which you, obviously, don't have with a stsnd alone DAC. Vlad also shared that Victor's (BAT's designer and founder) background was in analog, not digial, designs. Imagine my surprise when I paged through the Music Direct catalog and saw a Rex DAC! They enlisted the digital expertise from Andreas Kotch of Playback Designs. I won't pretend to know any more about the Rex than what you can read on Music Direct's website: www.musicdirect.com/dac/BAT-Rex-DAC I love the sound of BAT's gear and was also very impressed with the Playback MPS-5 CD player. This has very high potential, but I haven't read any reviews or had the opportunity to audition it. I thought maybe some of you had...

Great sounding in-ear 'phones, but I never use them. Less than 10 hours total use. Moving armature drivers, superb mid-range. Please note these are the original GR10's; not the newer GR10e. I'm including several unused silicone tips, along with packaging and manual. Paid $500 Asking $300 Buyer pays $10 shipping

Just got this cable about a week ago. I'm very happy with it, but need a longer length due to changes in system configuration > already ordered a 1.2M Curious as replacement Price is $285 + shipping *it cost $12 to have it shipped to me (TX to DE via. USPS) / I prefer dealing with UPS, but I don't try to make a profit on shipping

LessLoss DAC 2004 MkII Features analog volume control, hybrid power supply; batteries for analog stage, and rectified A/C for digital circuitry, configurable as a NOS DAC, word clock output, supports 16 and 24 bit PCM up to 192kHz, dual differential Burr Brown pcm 1704 resistor ladder dacs. See the link below for more info. http://www.lessloss.com/dac-2004-mkii-p-194.html The DAC is in great shape and performs flawlessly. I purchased from Louis at LessLoss in 2014. I have the package it came in, but this is not "original factory packaging". Price: $1600 *Payment via. PayPal (buyer to pay fee) *Buyer pays shipping

Sold to Michael Berg 9/21/17, thanks Mike!

Can't believe we forgot him!

-- These have been sold 9/27 -- Asking $1,995 / 2.5M, 9mm spades on both ends. Clear really needs no introduction. They easily beat out every cable I've owned previously (Audience AU24, Transparent Music Link Ultra, Kaplan GS, and Cardas Golden Reference). I'm selling because my new arrangement calls for longer runs. I bought these as demo cables from my local dealer about 2 years ago. They are in very good shape. PayPal please add 3%, Buyer pay shipping

Asking $275 / made by the late, great Lee Weiland; a true pioneer of computer audio. Lee's top level CynoSure was probably the best USB cable ever made. The Axis shares some of it's most important features: separate shielding for signal and power circuits, vibration damping, high purity conductors. This is a heavy USB cable. Although it's quite flexible, it doesn't like to twist. Retail was $750. There are no cosmetic blemishes whatsoever.

1)$425 / 1.5M Cardas Hexlink Golden 5C XLR: This was Cardas' top of the line cable before Golden Reference. They're actually a bit more neutral than Golden Ref. They came with Neutrik XLR's and gray shrink, but I had them factory re-terminated ($300) with the newest Cardas CG plugs. That was a big sonic improvement! These are very thick cables with 100% coverage foil shield, Teflon air tube suspension, and a larger cross sectional aggragate than you'll find in any other Cardas interconnect. They're very well balanced, with better dynamics than I've heard (except Clear Beyond). 2)$350 / 1.5M DH Labs Revelation XLR; Solid silver, Teflon dielectric, Vampire Wire XLR's. This is a very impressive interconnect; not the least bit "bright" (which I was warned of switching to silver) or fatiguing. The cables are in excellent condition. Payment via. PayPal, please add 3%. Buyer pays shipping

The previous configuration for my computer based system called for long runs of SPDIF cable between the converter and DAC. Cables are between 45' and 50', all in very good to excellent condition with no kinks, cuts, or abrasions. I never had issues with pops, clicks, stuttering, or drop outs due to length. As they are all shielded, RFI was not a problem. Reflections are basically non existent at 50'. You could use one of these to make several shorter digital cables; ex. (14) 1m cables. 1)$500 / Neotech NEVD solid silver center conductor, Teflon dielectric, quad shield 75 Ohm coax. Connectors: Furutech CF-BNC on source end and WBT NexGen 0152Ag on receive (DAC) end This cable currently sells for $19.51/ft (SoniCraft) 2)$350 / DH Labs D-75 coax Connectors: Analysis Plus 75 Ohm BNC, and DH Labs Ultimate RCA D-75 has been replaced with the D750 which sells for $25/ft. (PCX) 3)$250 / DH Labs D-110 AES/EBU cable silver plated, Teflon insulation, 100% shield Connectors: Vampire Wire XLR's 4)$75 / Blue Jeans Cable HDMI This is a large diameter, fully shielded Belden cable designed especially for long runs. It was made before the revisions to the HDMI protocol (4K video). Payment will have to be via. PayPal unless you're close to Newark, DE. Please add 3%. Buyer pays shipping.

DRO, I totally agree with barrows. I wish you a lot of luck but I must tell you to be prepared to spend a lot of money and expect to fail. Well, there's 2 things I don't like to see combined in a sentence; spending a lot of money and failure. Of course, "failure" could take many forms ranging from a less than great sounding amp to fried Ncore modules. I don't have much experience designing gear nor do I have any specific strategy for dealing with supply pumping or the PWM frequency. Basically, I was conpemplating using the "Big and Dumb" approach; oversized transformer with plenty of filter capacitance (or perhaps a multiplier). I like what choke filters accomplish in tube gear, but I'm not at all sure how it would play out with Class D. It sounds like the SMPS-600 would be almost a "sure bet". I really like Barrows' idea about having a pair on hand for comparison, but I can't afford that right now. I've read parts of the DIY Audio forum and looked through the "Show Us Your Ncore" thread. There are some really beautiful projects on there! They do, however, sppear quite similar. Apparently, the design doesn't lend itself to much in the way of creativity. There is a very specific arrangment where the modules, connectors, and associated wiring have been found to work best. Of course, the reward for following this recipe is a great sounding pair of mono amps! @barrows: I have a Pass X150 (model before your 150.5). I think I remember you saying that the Ncores beat out the Pass quite handily, is this correct? How noticable is the difference? Is it an across the board superiority, or do the Ncores just give you more of what you like?

I plan to build an Ncore 400 based stereo amp with a linear power supply instead of the Hypex switchmode supply. I've heard good things about the 600W power supply and I do understand that there are large differences between well designed SMPS and cheaply made, not so well designed units. Primarily, I'd like to put more of myself into a DIY project than simply packaging modules. Reading the comments on the sensitivity of the Ncores to power cables / conditioning, I feel that a good linear supply could make for a truly exceptional amplifier. Spectron uses linear power supplies for their amps if I'm not mistaken. This project is still in the "design phase" so to speak. Ideally, I'd like to build mono amps. It seems like this is how most folks (commercial and DIY) go about it. This would mean building 2 600W power supplies which will be expensive. Currently, I'm thinking about doing a stereo unit with plenty of shielding and physical separation between modules. I'm certainly open to and appreciative of advise from CA members...

Thanks TJ, that sounds like a great idea and I'm sure it will generate quite a follwing. Since I already have the full version of Windows 8 loaded and ready, I'm going to focus my efforts on getting the 3rd SATA port running. I contacted Star Tech and they feel that their chipset, Sil3132, might prove compatible with the Intel 2800MT mobo. Certainly, if I can't make this work the way I want it to, I'm open to suggestions and this one sounds as good as any. You mention that, by using the 2 motherboard ports, this option would still give me great sound. Does using a PCIe adaptor have a deleterious effect on sound quality? I did read that the interace is similar to USB in some ways. Does anyone know if PCIe slots cause problems with the USB bus? Chris includes an mSATA drive in the Topanga and an Express Card in the Carbon build. Both of these devices use the ND2800MT's PCIe full length slot.

Hello CA Members; I've been trying for some time now to finish my CAPS Carbon. My version deviates from the "blueprint" in that I decided to go with internal SSD's for storage rather than a NAS. I don't want another box (especially not one with a fan) to fool with and outfit with cables, and I'm not particularly knowledgeable about Networking. My intention was to use the 64 GB SSD for Windows 8 and JRMC, a 240 GB OCZ Vertex 2 that I have all my HiRes downloads on, and an additional 520 GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD for the remainder of my music collection (allowing for 100% expansion). This means that I'd need 3 SATA ports and the Intel DN2800MT only comes with 2. My answer for that was a PCIe Mini to SATA adaptor card. I bought a PM 362 from a company called B+ Technology. According to the product description and name, it should allow me to take a PCIe Mini (full or half length) slot and derive from it 2 SATA data ports. Well, the Intel board fails to recognize it. It also fails to reconginze the Express Card adaptor that I have in the full length PCIe slot. BIOS tells me that the PCIe slots are "not populated". I've definitely asked around about this and I seem to be getting mixed and conflicting responses. The gentleman who I bought the computer from said that the half mini slot is for mSATA SSD's only. The manual discusses using this slot for wireless cards, and goes on to say that installing an mSATA drive here will disable the gray SATA port (Port 1). I spoke with Intel Tech Support, and the rep. said that he's doubtful that this adaptor card will work; citing 3rd party manufacturing practices. He advised me to flash the BIOS which seems to be SOP at Intel. My board has the current BIOS and there's no changes related to the PCI slots on any of the revisions (that I can see). The guy from B+ Tech. seems more interested in condemning the motherboard then getting the product to work. I really don't want to have to reconfigure my CAPS at this point. If I could just get this last SSD working, I'd be in business! I would consider returning the B+ card and getting another. I see that Star Tech makes a similar card (MPEXSATA221). Or, I could throw it against the wall at high velocity... Before I do anything drastic, I thought I'd staff this with the experts at CA. Even if you don't support my choice of using internal storage (and I'm already fairly certain that many of you do not), surely someone knows more about PCI interfaces than I do. Hopefully one of you will know more than the Tech Support Rep.s as well. I'd surely appreciate any insight...

Hi Vandy Man, I have a REFLink with all 3 outputs in place for comparison (75 Ohm Coax BNC, AES/EBU, and ST Fibre). So far, I've owned the first Bel Canto USB Link (24/96), A first gen. Sonciweld Diverter, and now the REFLink. I prefer the AES connection on the REFLink over any previous connection. My cable runs are 45' long which is way too long for USB, but not really much of a problem for a SPDIF protocol. I agree with Chris' observation that the optical connection can soften transients and round out the edges somewhat. Another way of saying it would be that its a very smooth sound. I tend to prefer the optical connection for (bowed) string instruments and woodwinds. In my opinion, the differences in connections are more audible with higher resolution material. The REFLink works very well with Bel Canto DAC's.