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Jon Derda

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  1. When we launched the original DACiT 24/96 USB was kind of the standard. The newest version called DACiTX has an X1 built in that handles 24/192.
  2. Unfortunately the Airport Express, at least the latest version, doesn't play nice with a lot of DACs especially ones that use ESS Sabre chips. There are multi page threads on Apple Support about the AE "skipping" with external DACs. It's actually better as an analog out device. We recommend using an AppleTV if you plan on connecting to a DAC.
  3. I'm surprised the AppleTV sounds that bad. That hasn't been my experience. I'm wondering if what you are hearing is network or cable related. Maybe try a different optical cable? There are some pretty bad ones out there. To connect your iPad to the DACiT with the CCK you'll need a external powered USB hub. Apple limits the current output on the dock connector to prevent third party devices from draining the battery faster than they'd like. I've tested the Plugable USB2-HUB4BC and it works great. Amazon.com : Plugable USB 2.0 4 Port Hub and BC 1.1 Fast Charger with 2.5 Amp Power Adapter, charges Samsung Galaxy S4, iPhone 5, iPad 4, iPad Mini, Nexus 7 : Network Hubs : Computers & Accessories When you need to go that kind of distance between rooms a well shielded 75Ω coax SPDIF cable is the best option. You can run into problems with really long USB and optical cables. An X1, VLink192, or Bel Canto mLink will all allow you to run a short USB and long coax and would also be an upgrade over the DACiT's built-in USB input. Hope this helps.
  4. We did make some changes between models. The original decco used a non-oversampling DAC, I forget what chip it used. The musicBox used a Crystal Semiconductor 4398. The original nova was our first to use ESS Sabre, the 9006, which we also used in the decco2 and iDecco. The iNova used the ESS 9016. When our product development manager and co-founder Jim Spainhour heard the first ESS 9023 (then a 9022) he was so impressed we decided to use it in all of our next generation models including the DACiT, nova125, decco65, and novaPre. The Grand Pre and Grand Integrated use the ESS 9018.
  5. The product available in Europe is an OEM generic version (the OEM is out of business) that shares many similarities with deepblue but doesn't sound nearly as good. I have the generic at my house and it is very bright and shrill sounding. That is a good price though.
  6. deepblue's sudden disappearance makes for a less interesting story that you'd hope for. Late last year our OEM factory for deepblue unexpectedly went out of business, which left us unable to build more units until we retooled at a new factory. Instead of simply retooling we decided to use this "opportunity" to design an even better version of deepblue. We are currently working with the original development team on a new model that we hope to have in production by fall this year. We're nearly finished with the new industrial design and expect to start building some prototypes very soon. I'll post updated info as it's available.
  7. You can pair a Bluetooth source, like an iPhone, to multiple Bluetooth devices, but you can only actively stream to one speaker at a time. That said, a single deepblue fills a backyard.
  8. No proprietary software is needed. You can stream JRiver wirelessly from your Bluetooth enabled PC or Mac to deepblue. 24-bit high-res files need to be output as 16/48 or 16/44.1 which can be changed in JRiver >> Player >> DSP Studio.
  9. Hi Alex, Apple is the best example of a successful vertically integrated company in the world. Vertical integration can slow innovation but it ultimately lets them control the end-user experience, which obviously has worked really well for Apple. It is definitely a balancing act with Airplay. It would be easy for a lot to go wrong, user-experience wise, if they let go of the reigns. ATB, Jon
  10. Hi Bob, These are exactly the people that we're trying to expose to higher quality sound with deepblue. There are an incredible amount of Bluetooth speakers being sold, so yeah in that respect, we're "riding the wave" because millions of consumers have chosen Bluetooth as their wireless connection. You are right, most of these people have no idea what high quality sound is or that it even exists or that they aren't buying it when they purchase a $199 Bluetooth speaker. For years our specialty industry has talked about the lack of a new generation of audiophiles or just new people period interested in high performance audio. When we started the deepblue project we set out to offer an accessible step-up alternative to the mass market dominated tabletop speakers while retaining the high performance to price ratio that we have built our company on. deepblue has the most broad appeal of any product we make. For "civilians" who have no idea what an ESS Sabre DAC is and who will never for one reason or another have a stack of equipment - they will freak out the first time they hear deepblue. It is good enough to be their main system. Check out the five consumer 5 star reviews on Amazon. Hopefully we have given these civilians enough of a taste to become interested in audio and will visit their local Peachtree dealer to find out what the next step up the chain is and get into separate speakers, amps, DACs, etc. This might sound idealistic but I know for a fact it has happened more than a few times already. The plan is working! <insert Mr.Burns laugh here> For "audiophiles" deepblue isn't going to compete with Chris' TAD Compact Reference speakers and DCS stack and it isn't meant to and it won't be measured like one. Specs like THD matter very little in a design that is all-in-one with components designed to work specifically with each other. I do agree that a frequency response window would be nice and I'll see about adding that information to our site. At the end of the day deepblue will do exactly what Chris said - produce impressive sound in a small footprint, makes a great 2nd or third system where space is a premium, and it'll make your daughter dance. The feedback from the audiophile community (critics, dealers, customers) has been overwhelmingly positive. I hope you have a dealer where you can listen to one and make a call based on real experience with it, not just on the specs (or lack there of) that don't tell you a thing about how it sounds. Specs help verify choices but they don't make them for us. We've got to like what we hear. Maybe you'll like our brand of chocolate, maybe you won't because you like vanilla and that's OK, but you won't know until you taste it. I'd like to take this chance to address the questions on why deepblue doesn't have Airplay and digital inputs. The short answer is that a product with this kind of performance, especially from a company our size, will usually cost a lot more than $399. Every feature costs money, not just for parts, but for R&D, testing, licensing, etc. To hit our performance goal and a sub $500 price point we had to cross out features that we too wanted. We weren't willing to sacrifice performance or come in at a higher price. We also wanted to keep deepblue simple to use and with Bluetooth the pairing process is very quick and easy. No network, no WPA, just a straight A to B connection. Our team has talked about everything that has been brought up in this thread and a lot of these ideas will end up in future higher-end deepblue models. Thanks to everyone for all of the feedback.
  11. Sorry I don't have a definitive answer on this. My guess is that it has to do with Core Audio and the routing of Bluetooth audio. I'd be curious to know what Audirvana says.
  12. Hi Mark, Thanks for the kind words and love for the company. I believe you are the very first customer to receive their deepblue! I'm glad you are satisfied with the performance of the product and found a way to make it work for you with the Airport Express. Maybe you could mount it to the back of deepblue with this? Amazon.com: Scotch® All-Weather Fasteners, 2 Sets of 1 Inch x 3 Inches, Strips, Clear (RFD7090): Office Products Bluetooth has a standard range of 10M open air. It can be affected by walls and other wireless networks such as WiFi and a 2.4GHz wireless phone system, even your microwave oven can affect it. Results will vary with environment and hardware. For instance, I have an iPhone 4S running 6.0.1 with a battery case and can stream 33 feet with no dropouts in another room of a plaster and lathe house while checking email, browsing, etc. Like you, my MacBook Pro running 10.8.3 has less distance, only 24 feet and drops out as soon as I put a wall between the computer and deepblue. The 3-5 feet you are getting is out of the ordinary and should be a lot better unless you live next to a transmitter of some kind! It looks like you've gone through some troubleshooting already but I'd like to talk to you about it some more when you have time. You can see what your Bluetooth signal strength looks like on your MBP by opening Bluetooth Preferences and holding down the option-key while highlighting the name of the connected device. Anything above -75 should work OK. The MBP is very sensitive and works best with line of sight and nothing blocking it. There are a few iPhone resets and settings adjustments you can try too. We can talk about those directly to make sure they work before posting them in an open forum. PM me and we can set up a time to talk. ATB, Jon
  13. Non XMOS Grands can be sent to our Bellevue, WA HQ for modification. The "X1 mod" is $250.
  14. The two & companies - B&O and B&W - would be close. The latter more so now with the success of the Zeppelin and P5 headphones. I appreciate any comparison of Peachtree to Apple, having their 500+ billion $ market cap would give us just the right amount of money to put into some of these design updates you guys are mentioning. In reality we're still a small company of less than 10 people. We couldn't even staff an Apple retail store.
  15. The small group of guys that started the company spent hours and hours debating what to call it. Half-jokingly and half out of frustration one of them said "*expletive* let's just call it Peachtree Audio!" They all kind of laughed at this idea since two of them are from Atlanta and Atlanta has something like 50 roads named Peachtree Blvd / Lane / St / etc. Then one of them said, "You know what...that's not half-bad." So there you go.
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