minzyman

I have heard exactly the same from engineers I work with Mani. Many consider ethernet a huge source of noise and recommend unplugging when the SQL really matters.

Can the i7 be run on a fanless chassis, lubed up with enough thermal grease and adequate heat sinks/ventilation, or will these cpu's overheat?

Bob, I'm at a loss here. Really, am curious how you even got the Phasure dac for your "trial" and subsequent arm-chair warrioring. I certainly never loaned it to you and would not have, given your Mac implementation and strange testing procedure. This would be unfair for Peter, given the hard work he puts into the company. And to all of us who love the sound quite frankly. Are you suggesting/imagining that we actually conversed about this so-called test of yours, or that I had any knowledge of your actions at all? Because we didn't. I loaned the dac to Dan. Regarding your findings, the Phasure dac was designed for a comprehensive approach to digital playback— clearly for use with Windows and XXHighend. This is a software player which makes a unique handshake with the dac, offers infinite customization of playback and computer parameters, and delivers fuller functionality and dramatic variations in sound character as a result. There is even a U/I option/button that says "Phasure Dac" and another for other dacs, along with a switch on the outside of the chassis. Given this obvious design intention, why would anybody test the dac under other improvised conditions, without ever reading the extensive forum or documentation, then generalize so conclusively about it online? This just makes no sense to me... I suggest you start with a brief review of the XXHighend forum, where you will find infinite suggestions for customization, strong recommendations from Peter for use with XXHighend (WIN only), no pre/attenuator, and of course little to no coverage for mac implementation. Yes, there are Mac drivers and I'm sure you can come up with other ways to "make it work". But for serious listening/testing and esp forum posts, why not implement the intended design configuration and at least a few weeks time to explore the new system? Again, I'm just a happy fan of XXHighend and think this dac deserves a deeper look. There seems to be quite a few of us out there. Respectfully, LM

Bob, In all fairness to Peter and users of the Phasure, I think you should conduct your testing under the conditions on which the Phasure was designed-for use with Win7 and XXhighend. XXhighend player makes a comprehensive and unique handshake with the dac that Mac players do not. The dac was designed as a complete system, software + interface and Dac, all in one_even includes attenuator which is the recommended config over preamp use. In my opinion, this handshake delivers more control over the dec and playback process: more flexibility to the user to address playback variables and ultimately change the sound dramatically. Just look at Matan's front end design, or the Pyramix/PMII/Mykerinos solution used by many pros. In my experience, these systems sound much better than buying random "parts" to the digital front end, players and dacs and interfaces that are designed to work with anything. It just makes sense that a holistic design will sound better. Right from your first paragraph, where you talk about brightness and metallic sound, I have to respectfully disagree. In fact, this is exactly why I like the Phasure and exactly the reason why I sold my Berkeley Dac. The Phasure is more musical and natural sounding than any other dac I've heard. And looking at the forums, this is consistently what I am seeing from other users. So I'd just suggest you maybe give another listen, with the front end properly configured with XXhighend. Admittedly, you will have to spend some time learning and tweaking the software and computer. I suggest we hold a BAAS event with the Phasure Dac and a properly configured XXHIGHend machine, perhaps at your place?. You have a few extra hours some weekend? I can set this up. /LM

Eloise, Nice to hear from you. I really enjoy reading your posts. Really I was just speaking of the general nature of digital playback for consumers when I said things had progressed in the last few years, not directing my comments at any dac specifically, but to all of software players, dacs, interfaces, recordings, etc.. And I am encouraged by what I hear from new gear, just want to suggest we pay attention to the small players advancing the technology, as they are often the pioneers in this field. (Sorry Peter, you may have lots of people actually working for you. I wouldn’t know. ) The PMII setup I described earlier, well tested by time as you know, is my personal benchmark for digital playback and one I hope is surpassed soon by consumer-targeted gear. But this is a pro system that is not the least bit consumer friendly nor obtainable or affordable. It achieves great system synergy and sounds the best currently IMO, so I try to use it for comparison when testing today’s consumer setups. But clearly there is a huge price-point challenge replicating this level of sound in the consumer space. My point above was at the consumer market, our market, just to clarify. Do you know of any setup meant for us hifi geeks that sounds as good? Still, I see advances that do approach that sound. XXHighend is a piece of software that is designed to optimize a specific interface and dac, the Phasure NOS1 USB. My ears perked up of course as you don’t often see manufacturers addressing the entire front-end chain. Hey, most consumers have been buying into software players and converters and various dacs, all designed to work with any pc or software/hardware. Is that ideal? Kudos to Peter for this huge undertaking. Which I cannot believe isn't worthy of this forum's test facility... I think his sound is amazing and highly recommend it to anyone scratching their heads about digital sources. I'm just a fan... Hope this clarifies my point above. But please keep in mind, I’m more of a musician than an engineer. My best analysis is done with my ears. Best. /LM

Get the Berkeley Dac. Or buy a series I used for half the price on the 'Gon. /LM

Maybe I should clarify my somewhat lengthy response a bit as well. The Lynx aes16 (interface!) has been around forever and has been one of the best ways to feed many great AES dacs. But there are much better options out there now and I would argue that anyone inquiring about this interface might just be interested in a different perspective entirely. As I said above, the quality of digital is a fast moving target and I believe we are now starting to see real progress toward smooth, transparent, less digital and more analog (for lack of a better word) sound. So, to respond with a quick band-aid response about interface cards is, IMO, helpful but not necessarily complete and I personally like it when someone goes out of their way to offer up solutions that I hadn't considered. I continue to be impressed by the XXhighend/Phasure configuration and see it as short-sighted to not review one of the few systems out there that offers a comprehensive software and hardware solution. Honestly, this is part of the reason why the Pyramix/Mykerinos/PMII configuration sounds so good. /LM

Hey Guys, I'm a big fan of the XXHighend player and Phasure NOS1 dac and run the player on an old Intel dual core chip in a Zalman TNN300 chassis. I added 16GB to the PQ5-EM MB and saw the biggest improvements when I added a usb3 interface. Now I have no issues with playback. Everything is smooth with no dropouts or errors. Sound is awesome. /LM

Forgive me. I just see the LYNX as a bit old at this point, and thought a bit of perspective would be helpful. Must be my enthusiasm. Yes, the Lynx is an interface. Any reason why that Phasure Dac review never happened? Just curious. I was just reading about it in the other topic, from Sept/11.

I see that, but he's asking about a lynx card... I just thought he might be interested in some perspective. Perhaps I should post under a different topic. /LM

Hi SmithDK, I can't help but want to chime in here. People keep pushing the Berkeley dac. But there are other options out there that are just more musical and people should get to hear about these options too. Digital is moving so fast and new options for software and hardware are popping up almost quarterly it seems. I have the Alpha Dac and it is impressive. Great soundstage and detail. But my ears currently prefer the more musical sound from the XXHighend/Phasure dac, via Win7, which you said you have running. Let me explain. I got into audio years ago as a high schooler, listening to vinyl and spinning discs at parties and bars.The sound was fat, ambient and more live sounding, with sound emanating out into the room. Now my records are all sold and I experiment with digital playback, always in pursuit of that natural, live sound I used to get from vinyl. Indeed, most of my audiophile friends still vehemently insist vinyl sounds better. So I consider myself on a quest with digital, experimenting with different configurations until, hopefully one day, it offers the live, analog like smoothness of vinyl, or better. Go to any show these days, everyone is playing vinyl: there's a huge resurgence and for good reason. Digital playback still sounds "digital", etched, metallic, shrill, not live. This is my opinion. To date, my preferred setup consists of a Zalman dual core pc with 16GB RAM and SS drive, running Win7 and XXhighend as a kernel streaming mem player feeding a Phasure Dac via usb3. I love it and have compared it to many systems out there, both Mac and Win based. My personal reference is the Mykerinos/Pyramix software/PMII setup, which is not viable for most of us. But it is the best sonically. I think the XXhighend/Phasure NOS1 usb dac comes a close 2nd. Here's why. It offers amazing resolution, as with other players, but is more musical and analog-sounding than anything else out there, short of the PMII rig I mentioned. The interface is a bit Windows-like, admittedly, and there is a learning curve for sure. But this setup is a tweakers paradise and is about one thing and one thing only: sonics. If you like pretty interfaces, try Sooloos. Their interface is gorgeous and very cool. The sound? XXhighend allows almost limitless tweaking and can upsample those old 80's recordings (U2 anyone?) to the Phasure Dac at 24/768k, for a much smoother experience. For good high rez material it is filterless I am told and bit-perfect. The sound is smooth and very transparent, esp when the player is run in "unattended" or hog mode as some call it. I recommend to anyone seeking sound quality first, UI second. The Lynx card is a solid option if you have an an AES dac like the Berkeley. I still have my Lynx card, lying around here somewhere. Probably next to the Berkeley Dac. I hope Chris can review this equipment some time. The sound is startlingly good. Hope this is helpful. /LM

Sure hope you get a chance to hear this Dac. I am really impressed and also have the Berkeley as you may remember. The Phasure to me has a more natural, musical sound and I feel, while the Alpha has incredible depth of soundstage and very detailed sound, the Phasure has infinite transparency and a smoothness that is about the most natural sounding I have heard yet from a digital rig. And it's a tweaker's paradise. The software player (XXHighend) has great synergy with this dac, offers an infinite number of settings for memory, latency and other variables and literally takes over and shuts down Win 7 during playback (always a good thing IMO). I really like it with the kernel streaming driver (KS mode). To me this is a system to watch, er listen to... See you soon at CAL Audio? /LM

Chris, Great article on the Dac2. Wish I could afford one. Just wondering if you've ever considered reviewing the Phasure NOS1 USB dac. I am pretty amazed at the sound and have compared it directly to several setups, both Mac and PC, and including Tim's amazing Mykerinos/PMII rig, which is my ear's reference. The Phasure is really impressive sounding and I think any tweakers out there would be really impressed. Just wondering if it is on your radar. Thanks. /LM

I am using XXHighend and the Phasure NOS1 usb dac and am really liking the sound. Very resolving, eerily transparent sound but with more musicality IMO. Digital playback is so easily sterile and unemotional. It can take some experimenting to make it right. I also have a Mac G5 playing music thru a Lynx aes16 card to an Alpha dac and, right now, I am preferring the musicality and versatility of XXhighend player with the Phasure dac. I also played with the Alpha usb converter-->Alpha Dac. Still prefer the XXhighend setup at this point. Yes, you need a powerful cpu with 2 cores or more for XXhighend, ideally 4 or more. And yes, there is some learning and experimenting to do (all fun!). That said, I am using an older 2 core Intel E8600 cpu and Asus PQ5-EM Motherboard with 16 GB RAM and the sound is quite amazing. But A recent addition of a usb3 interface card also improved things. The Phasure forum suggests RAM and multi-core CPU. I think there are synergies when using the XXHighend player with the dac and I also really like how the player minimizes the system, suspends running services, and thus lowers demands on the cpu and power supply. There are also many settings for page sizing (memory), Q settings and latency, which also affect SQ but can be confusing for novices. You can use kernal streaming or wasapi, I prefer the former. XXHighend is a pure memory player and loads all tracks in the playlist into memory, before shutting down the OS (screen turns off, etc.) and starting playback. What results is an eerily transparent sound that comes from between the speakers. I haven't heard this from any setup on my system (mac or PC) until now, except of course from the Mykerinos/Pyramix-->Pacific Microsonics II setup, which is basically unobtainable and not friendly. If you have a decent windows machine sitting around, I highly recommend demoing the XXhighend setup with the Phasure dac. Produces a very musical yet highly resolving sound, great soundstage and top notch transparency. I have yet to try the Phasure dac with the G5 via usb, but I understand there are drivers. Just need more time to experiment. /LM

Hi Chris, I'm using a Series I that was updated a few months ago at the factory with new transformers, amongst other things. Not entirely a series II. /Lee