Young Skywalker

Hi Chris,<br /> <br /> Thanks for the review although I didn't really learn anything I didn't already know from my own audition, albeit brief, of the Alpha DAC in a friend's system.<br /> <br /> I wonder if you compared the Minerva and Alpha DACs using a digital interface that is common to both, i.e, the AES output from the Lynx AES16 PCI card in your PC (or Lynx AES16e in the case of your Mac)? If not how do you know that the sonic differences you noted were not, at least in part, attributed to the Lynx AES versus Firewire interfaces rather than the DAC chip, filtering or analog output stage?<br /> <br /> Best Regards,<br /> Aaron

Hi Chris,<br /> <br /> Would it be possible to use the Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC/Apple Mac Pro/Lynx AES16 combo with the Sonic Studio Amarra software solution?<br /> <br /> This seems to have the greatest performance potential coupled with ergonomic flexibility.<br /> <br /> I look forward to your comparison between the full Sonic Studio software/hardware suite with your current reference Berkeley setup.<br /> <br /> P.S. Have you considered using a touchscreen (like those from ELO) with your Mac Pro music server as an elegant "all-in-one" interactive display interface that elimates the need to keep a keyboard and mouse in the listening room? Presumably you could still use the little Apple remote control (or an iPhone) to skip between tracks in iTunes/Amarra?<br /> <br /> Best Regards,<br /> Aaron

Thanks Chris, email sent regarding this custom cable.<br /> <br /> On another note you seemed to have great success with an NAS which was part of my own plans. Does your music server have a wireless network card/capability built in and if so do you feel that this has the potential to introduce noise? The alternative is a hardwired ethernet cable but this could also act like an antenna for noise.<br /> <br /> I am a PC user at present looking to build around a totally fanless A-Tech Fabrication Heatsync 7000 Case and an Asus P5Q-EM motherboard (new Intel G45 chipset) with onboard graphics capability. I will probably employ some sort of touchscreen (ELO) or remote desktop on an Asus EeePC for system control.<br /> <br /> Thanks again for the great article.<br /> <br /> Aaron

Hi Chris,<br /> <br /> In your article you mentioned....<br /> <br /> "My preference is a specially made HD26 pin to a single AES (XLR) termination cable."<br /> <br /> Where does one obtain such a thing? Is it a DIY effort? Some details would be very much appreciated.<br /> <br /> Aaron