Weiss Engineering Minerva DAC Review

Hi Chris, congrats on finishing this eagerly-awaited review. Your tantalizing hints about this dac's stellar performance sure did work as intended :-).

Did you also try listening with your Grado RS1 to these HRx recordings through the Minerva, as you intended? As an RS1 owner looking for a hi-res DAC I'm very interested in how well the RS1's can reproduce all that hi-res goodness.

Thx, VincentH

How much does it cost? Where can it be purchased? Are those RCA outputs?

Hi Chris and congrats!
I was so sure about the conclusions I read now from you, 'cause I fall in love years ago when I listened to a Medea dac plus a very cheap dvd player (around 100 euro/159 usd) during a hifi show...
Weiss products are pro devices for the people that works with audio like Nagra and Sonosax (if they will made a PC devices for us, I think it will be something up, over the stars :)

I am waiting for the "Vesta" that is the same product you have without the dac for 2500 euro and this review has powered me to the sky dreaming mode...

Ciao.

Luca

P.S. Can you say something more about the firewire cables? Do you have found "differences" from 5 to 500 bucks digital interconnects? (Some people says that a mouse or a keyboard remains the same with all cables you add ;-)

Hey Vincent - Thanks for reminding me to answer this one! After your suggestion I certainly did listen to all of my headphones with the Minerva in my system. I have HD600s, ue11 Pros, and the RS-1s. All three sound different, but equally as nice. The RS-1s do sound absolutely wonderful with high resolution music like the RR HRx 24/176.4 material. There is really something to be said about the detail you can hear with these cans, a good headphone amp, and a DAC like the Minerva. I am a huge fan of rock music and I absolutely love the sound of rock through the RS-1s. Listening to the 24/96 version of Stone Temple Pilots' album Core through the Grados really took it to a different level. The RS-1s just have that sound to them and with the high resolution material that sound is even better. Seriously. If only the RS-1s felt better on my ears after long listening sessions! Note to self: This is justification for the new GS-1s which are much more comfortable :-)

This is sooo tempting. I travel to Zurich regularly and should stop by Daniel's facilities.
Is the Minerva's buffering settings better tailored to Macs than PCs? Any other aspects of the Minerva that would affect the Mac vs. PC laptop choice?

Is performance affected by the length of the firewire cable? I may try a 20 ft. length in my listening room.

Chris: how much were your conclusions affected by the quality of the new HRx tracks? With just the standard rez stuff, how would the tone of your review changed? Is the improvement on 16/44.1 material very substantial? I can't help but think that your overall impression was colored by these amazing new RR releases.

I hadn't thought about DVD-A at all. What are your ripping tips if they will be played back via iTunes?

Hi ggking7 - The Minerva is $4950 US retail. There are a number of retailers around and a distributor in most countries. If you give me your location I can get you in touch with the nearest place to listen to the DAC.

Yes, those are RCA outputs on the back. I use the FireWire inputs and the RCA analog outputs for my review.

It should also be noted that the Minerva outputs AES/EBU to drive any other DAC. It can also be used as a standalone device without connection to a computer if someone is actually interested in the "old school" method of listening to High-End audio :-)

Hi Jim - The Minerva does not care is you use a Mac or PC. It only cares about receiving a good audio stream from a computer. Mac and PC users will be equally thrilled by this one.

FireWire cables do have a length limitation that I can't remember off the top of my head. Someone please jump in with the answer here.

My conclusions were not swayed by the HRx material. In fact I made sure to discuss standard 16/44.1 music in the review and even mentioned that 16/44.1 performance was equally as important. To be considered the Best DAC the Minerva had to perform with 16/44.1 or else I would never have rated it so high. Very good line of questions though Jim. I was equally concerned and had to demonstrate to myself the quality of standard resolution albums before I raved anymore about this DAC. Fortunately the Minerva is just as good with low resolution as it is with high resolution. If it is in the recording, it is coming out through the Minerva.

More on the DVD-A ripping at a later date. There are a couple threads around here where the discussion has already begun. I am a little hesitant to open this topic up too much because I have a feeling the record labels wil be all over us for whatever reason. You know how they are.

Hey hey Luca - I haven't been able to test different FireWire cables yet. so I will withhold my comments on this one. more to come later though :-)

Chris,

Actually allot of pro developers use Firewire because they use block mode and someone released chips and drivers to make things easy to develop. While without drivers Firewire has ISO Adaptive mode there is little support for the ASYNC mode in Firewire. From what I know Thomas said Microsoft does not support it and I am not sure if Apple does.

A Firewire dac would not require a driver for ISO Adaptive mode. Unless they wanted some sort of control console of some sort. Most of that is also built into USB as you can specify I think 18 options that the OS supports natively (i.e. no driver required).

Paul Miller did some studies of Firewire and did find the jitter on ISO Adaptive stuff was really high. It would be the best bet then to add the PLL/VCXO to recover from that high jitter. I take it they are not using Block mode as that would be ASYNC and would not really require extensive recovery?

Also again USB 1.1 is not limited to 24/96... the spec is open ended and Windows and MAC OSX both support up too 24/210 in the 1.1 specification. Though of course that would require the full 12mbps bandwidth.

Thanks
Gordon

I have been using the Minerva in a Windows Vista implementation. The driver console options are slightly different and I am still unclear about the impact (if any) of Vista audio configurations. Interestingly, two Minerva devices show up in the audio output selector for the player applications. ASIO4ALL must be removed, in my experience.
The sound is superb with standard CD and Linn HiRes files. I run an EMM CDSD SE and DCC2 preDAC. I can use the DCC2 as either an external DAC to the Minerva or as a preamp after the Minerva DAC. I prefer the DCC2 DAC for more "air" to the sound. The Minerva's highs are sharp-edged and complex classical music becomes congested, in my opinion. The Minerva is very good and better than any other USB solution I have tried. It is a keeper in my system until the Linn DS technology settles down so that I can untether from the computer.

Hey PNCD - It's interesting you note the sharp edged highs. I had a similar experience but only with certain recordings. I listened for a very extended period of time and narrowed the issue down to the actual recordings, not the Minerva. When listening to the HRx recordings there was absolutely no sharp edge to the highs and these are full range high resolution recordings.

Do you have experience with the HRx albums on a Windows PC that you can share with us?

Chris
I have the HiRes Linn files at 24/88.1 and 24/96 and I have SACD discs via the EMM kit.
In general, I find the high frequency range difficult with digital. Higher sampling rates create a smoother high frequency (if not simply re-sampled), which is one reason I like SACD. In my experience, EMM does the high frequencies of digital very well, as in the best I have heard. The Minerva is excellent and better than all the USB and S/PDIF computer audio interfaces I have tried (4).
BTW, all my files are dbPowerAmp FLAC, least compressed. My preferences may be different with different sources based on my experiences with other audio formats.
Peter

Hey Peter - Thanks for the followup!

Thanks Chris, this was what I was hoping for... now there's nothing stopping me :-) The Minerva is firmly set somewhere in my audio future. Although I'll have to wait a bit before I can afford it. Thanks again for all the great feedback and speed of response, this site and it's community really is a great help and an interesting place to learn.

I can sympathise with you on the comfort level of the RS1s, although for me the sound justifies just about anything. Just to illustrate, my original (flat) Grado earpads wore out completely, but since they are no longer available here and I find that the new donut shape earpads completely destroy the sound of the RS1s, I now listen to my RS1s -without- earpads. I guess that makes me hardcore Grado ;-)

PS If you really like the Grado sound and you consider moving from RS-1 to GS-1000, this GS1000 review which compares it to the RS-1 is something to consider - especially this bit:

"I can definitely see how someone loving the Prestige or Reference Series may not quite understand the radical departure the GS-1000 represents. For those traditional Grado diehards, I urge to audition the GS-1000 to appreciate the new qualities which John Grado has brought to the table. From there, you can decide whether the GS-1000 is truly an upgrade from the RS-1 or a lateral move.".

Greets, VincentH

You wrote:
......Just to illustrate, my original (flat) Grado earpads wore out completely, but since they are no longer available here and I find that the new donut shape earpads completely destroy the sound of the RS1s, I now listen to my RS1s -without- earpads....

I think here you can get all for your Grado...

http://goodcans.com/HeadphoneStore/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=8

In the headphone forums this about bowl or nor bowl is an "old" question that also Mr. Grado (son) has contribuited to explain: there are 2 way of listening with the RS1...

;-)

L.

P.S. I am thinking, thanks to this thread, about the sacd (Emm Labs.) and the highs from the computer/dac sys:
you are talking about one of the best digital machine "old school" and this firewire dac+pc.
Maybe (maybe) what is "superior" is the dac of the Emm; the transport (pc vs policarbonate) maybe (maybe) does not make still the difference.
I am so curious to try (it means to read...sob...) a very alternative to the Emm like the Naim CDX (hard disc + good dac).
I repeat myself saying that that you find in the high range probably is the Weiss typical sound: when compared to the best of ALL (Prism Sound!) digital world and...whole world ;-) this you have noted is what engeneers said often...

Chris- Here's some hirez files to try on the Minerva. ;-) Dan

"I thought some folks here might find this of interest.
In an effort to see if I could hear a difference in the "engines" of four different editing/mastering apps I have, I created four files.

The original recording (an outtake from a recent session) was created by some software/hardware I'm beta testing. To my ears, it is the best sounding "recorder" I've heard to date. The original files are mono (separate left and right files), 24-bit, 96k in AIF format. (The tools do 192k too but for this project, I chose 96k.)

The original recording is unedited. This is the output of the recorder, from the moment I pressed the red button until I pressed "stop".
The peak level of the original was around -12.3 dBFS. (I leave lots of headroom when recording.)

I imported the original into each of the four programs. No edits were performed. Then, within each program, I did a gain adjustment of +12 dB and saved the result.

I'll say more later in this thread.
For now, anyone that wants to download and listen can do at:
Here are the links:
http://www.soundkeeperrecordings.com/zdaw1.aif
http://www.soundkeeperrecordings.com/zdaw2.aif
http://www.soundkeeperrecordings.com/zdaw3.aif
http://www.soundkeeperrecordings.com/zdaw4.aif

If you right-click on the links, you should have an option to download
the files to your hard drive.
(This link is temporary. I will be removing it from the site at some point in the future.)

Listen to the files, hopefully with a system that will not change the sample rate or word length - so you know you're listening to the files and not to any artifacts introduced by the playback.

Do you hear any differences? If so, please describe them as best you can.

Invariably, some are going to "measure" the files. I already know what you're going to tell me about one of them. It is a bug I discovered while doing this test and I've already spoken with the developer about it. It should not be audible so I wouldn't worry about it at this time. I will create another test as soon as the developer fixes the issue and sends me the new version of the software (which I am also beta testing - in fact, I beta all of these).

The purpose here is just for fun. (Measurers, please keep this in mind.)
There isn't any "right" and "wrong" in this test, only what you (do or don't) hear.

And hopefully, you'll enjoy the music along the way.

Have fun!

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com"

Posted on:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/The-Crooked-Path/?yguid=332166746

Hi Chris:

I reside in Eastern Pennsylvania. Is there anyone around my vicinity to demo the Minerva?

There is such a limited number of distributors right now. Check out this page for the list. You may get one of them to ship you a floor unit or something to checkout for an extended weekend or something.

http://www.weiss-highend.ch/distributors_northamerica.html

Mike Slaminski, our US distributor is currently out of country, he'll be back by 6th of July.
Mike became only recently our distributor and is working on a dealer network.
Daniel
www.weiss.ch

Nice Review. What is the cost of this unit?

Hey Liz thanks. The cost in the US is $4950.

Too much $

If you're looking for something a little cheaper you may want to check out the Weiss Vesta. This will allow you to pull 24/192 from your compute and into the DAC of your choice. It is about half the price.

I've still got my eye on the Wavelength Proton. Should be out next month at $900. 24/96 though.

Where in the US can this be purchased? Direct from the importer?

Hey skates - This shop should have the Minerva available here in the US http://www.audiolimits.com/

Can somebody tell me how to transfer a 24bit.wma file to MINERVA through firewire?

I'm guessing you're on a PC? If your PC has a firewire port available you just need to connect the Minerva, install the drivers and you're all set. There are many other things to get bit perfect output, but these are the basics to get going.

Chris,

During your time reviewing the Minerva did you ever try the digital output from to feed another DAC.
Were you able to determine if the Minerva's firewire to aes/ebu interface or SPDIF is something special or is the excellent performance of the Minerva more a result of the quality of the DAC ?
I m looking for a good digital converter to go from a Mac to a DEQX (the DEQX is an active crossover/ speaker correction that works in the digital domain). The available digital inputs for the DEQX are aes/ebu or coax SPDIF.
The Vesta looks like it could be a good option.
Of course if anyone has other good options feel free to advise.
My preferences are firewire or USB input and capable of 96/24 output to aes/abu.

Hi Twist222 - I'm glad you asked this question. I actually spent a good amount of time using the firewire input to the AES digital output on the Minerva and the results were equally impressive. I fed another piece of equipment that was able to confirm the Minerva's bit perfect digital output.

The Vesta may be a good option as well, but I don't have direct experience with the component. I don't think the Vesta will be available for a little while. You'll have a better chance of picking up a Minerva if your in a hurry to get some really great sound.

Thanks for sharing your findings on the digital output from the Minerva. I have been looking for some time for something that will take a firewire output from a Mac at 24/96 and convert it to AES/EBU digital.
There seems very little available that works at 24/96 apart from pro gear that is designed for multiple channels and usually includes adc's and dac's for all channels.
I have nothing against pro gear but I would rather spend my money on the functions I can use rather than spreading it across a whole heap of additional functions that I can not use.
That was one of the reasons I was particularly interested in the Vesta. I does just what I need.
I have sent an email to Weiss asking if the Vesta is available yet. I will let you know if I find out when they will be available.
If anyone on the site is aware of any other firewire (or USB at a pinch) to AES digital converters that do a good job of reducing jitter and handle at least 24/96 please let me know.
The only other feature that might be worth having is a word clock input on the digital converter so that I can slave the converter and the 6 dac's in the DEQX to the same word clock. But I think that may open a whole new can of worms if it is not implemented well ?

The Vesta will be available early October. The Vesta can be externally synced via its AES/EBU inputs (on XLR, RCA, Toslink). Wordclock sync is not supported.

In our pro audio division we have the AFI1 product which is a 8 channel AES/EBU to/from Firewire interface (plus 16 channels of ADAT). The AFI1 can be synced via wordclock.
See http://www.weiss.ch/afi1/afi1.htm

Daniel Weiss

Daniel, thanks for the update on the date the Vesta will be available.
The AFI1 was certainly the other option I was considering.
My main requirement is converting a firewire input into a high quality/ low jitter AES/EBU digital output to feed the digital input on a DEQX HDP3.
Both the Vesta and the AFI1 will provide this function. The AFI1 can also be synced to a word clock.
The DEQX has an optional digital output card with wordclock in and out that allows the DEQX to slave to an external word clock. The DEQX is basically an active crossover with the ability to apply speaker and room correction. Both the speaker/room correction and the electronic crossover are done in the digital domain. It has six internal dacs to feed L@R for a 3 way system. The digital output card allows you to use external dacs but at this stage I will be using the internals dacs.
My current problem is deciding between the Vesta and the AFI1.
I understand it may be hard for you to comment because you are unlikely to have knowledge of the DEQX but could you give me some guidance between the Vesta and the AFI1 for my situation were I can use a word clock to sync both the AFI1 and DEQX to. But there is nothing else in the chain so perhaps just allowing the DEQX to lock onto the timing signal on the output of the Vesta might be as good or better. Oh how I wish I knew more about all this!
My primary goal is trying to get the best sound quality using a computer as a source via the Weiss to the DEQX. Price, complexity and appearance are all secondary to this.
Any guidance on the choice between your 2 products would be appreciated.

Regards

Mark

Sorry one last question. Am I right in assuming that the Vesta will be identical to the digital side of the Minerva ?

Regards

Mark

Hello Mark

It very much depends on the jitter performance of the DEQX unit. And that I don't know.
I suggest you maybe try both options (AFI1 and Vesta) and see what you prefer. If the DEQX is properly design in terms of Jitter performance, you should not notice any difference between AFI1 (w/ wordclock) and Vesta.

Daniel

Yes, they are the same, the Vesta is missing the analog part which the Minerva has.

Daniel

Arrr the joys of audio. Yes you are right the best way is to try them both. It may be a little hard to organize in Australia, particularly with the AFI1 coming from the pro audio distributer and the Vesta coming from the high end distributer (who also happens to be 1,100km to the south). But I can only try.

I expect I will have to take a guess by one and try and borrow the other one at a latter date to compare.

Given the release of the Vesta is still 2 months away could I use the digital out from the Minerva for trial purposes ? I have always assumed the Vesta is the same as the Minerva but without the dac in it ?

If it is not practical to try them both would you be willing to take a guess on my behalf. I expect your experienced guess would be better than my guess.
If I am allowed to suggest it on a forumn ? given that my setup would not be common perhaps you could email me direct at morrells@tpg.com.au with any suggestions ?

I appreciate your responses

Mark

I can say with certainty that the Minerva used as a complete DAC solution or just used via FireWire and the digital output is a really great solution. I've tried both configurations and was very pleased to say the least.

Yes, you can try the digital output of the Minerva, it is the same as the Vesta will be.
I can't even guess - not experienced well enough with your particular setup.

Daniel

Looks like I will have to stop lossing sleep over which is the best option and take a punt on one of them. At the end of the day I need to remember we are doing this to listen to music for enjoyment.
The silly part about it is that if either the Vesta or the AFI1 did not exist I would be quite happy to go with the other.
So Daniel its all your fault for giving us too many options.
The real good news is it looks like either option should give great results so I should not go too far wrong.
Thanks to Chris and Daniel for your comments.

Hi, I live in Prague, Czech Republic, just joined this useful forum.
I have been hunting for a good dac for a PC for years, now using Lavry, and satisfied particularly with regard to price quality ratio.
I also like the lavry black da10 has a volume control so no need for a preamp... I am very sorry weiss dont have a model with volume control.
- however, the Lavry, even though good, is entry level and I am considering an upgrade. two questions<

1 I have seen weiss make a pro dac that might be similar..the Dac2 it is called. Anybody has any experience with it?
2. I have come to believe that the PC is no inferor sound source... In your article, you write "best DAC with computer based system"...do I read between the lines correctly that the first place only applies to the pc audio segment? no reason why this thing should not be great with any transport.
anyway apart from the firewire there is nothing specifically PC oriented in this gear, as far as I can tell
- any idea, what is at the heart of this dac? I am no expert, but I know some dacs are built around a chip made by one of a few manufacturers. Others use their own maths inside...thanks for any comments and for the great effort that went to this site
alex

Hello Alex

Let me chime in here at least to answer some of your questions. The DAC2 is similar to the Minerva. We do more extensive channel matching and circuit optimization during the QC phase with the Minerva.

DAC2 and Minerva can be used standalone, w/o any computer connected.
We use a standard DAC chip, but at least as important as the DAC chip is the surrounding analog and digital electronics.

Daniel

Thanks for the answer

Hi Alex - I was very specific when I said the best DAC with a computer based system because there are some extremely expensive DACs (dCS) that are better but I haven't listened to them with a computer transport. You are also 100% correct that this DAC is not only for computer based transports. It's stellar for any audio system.

Hi, Minerva is very intriguing, but do you think that the Minerva+Firewire+Mac bests the Medea if the Medea would be connected to a mac with say the Lynx AES16e and 26pin-to-XLR? Is the Minerva really that good?
/Pär

Unfortunately I have no experience with the Medea so I can't honestly answer your question. I can say that the Minerva is really a great DAC.

Ok, but you still prefer the Berkeley Alpha Dac? May I ask what speakers, amps other gear you use?

Yeah, I still prefer the Alpha DAC for all the reasons mentioned in my article on reference music servers. I use Avalon Acoustics speakers and McIntosh tube amp as my main components. I have a dedicated power subpanel with separate circuits for components etc... I usually have many DACs in here to compare as well.

Thanks Chris,

Ill probably take the plunge on the Alpha since I own a PowerMac G5 and can fit that with a Lynx AES16e. What cable do you use to connect the Lynx and the Alpha?

For now the only cable available to the public is the cable offered by Lynx. I use a special HD26 pin to XLR cable that's is not available yet. Hopefully soon :-)

***We do more extensive channel matching and circuit optimization during the QC phase with the Minerva. ***

...to complete that sentence you wrote, can you explain it better and add some info about the difference between "Vesta" and AFI1?

Thank you again, Luca.

PS I am ready to buy it FOR MY 2 CHANNEL SYS, but...

Hi Luca

With the Minerva we do e.g. interchannel level and phase response matching to tighter tolerances.
The Vesta and AFI1 units are based on the same basic hardware. The Vesta is 2 channels AES/EBU I/O and the AFI1 is 8 channels AES/EBU I/O and 16 channels ADAT I/O. I.e. the AFI1 is aimed at the pro audio market. Both units can be switched to so called dual wire mode (at 176.4 or 192), where one AES/EBU connection transfers a single channel. Some converters can use that mode. Of course with the AFI1 only 2 channels can be used and the rest "discarded".

Daniel

Thanks, Daniel.
All it is more clear for me now...

PS (last Qstionz):
do you thinK that there will be difference in term of sound under MAC OS with iTunes AND windows Vista with MediaMonkey (or Foobar) ???
Any suggestions for best results compatible to the firmware of the AFI1?
Firewire cables: ??? (5 meters is toto much?)

L.

The question is whether the player at hand is capable of feeding the audio files unaltered to the D/A Converter. Unaltered means no EQ, no sampling rate conversion, no volume control, no nothing. In pro audio circles we use the term "bit transparent" if the bits are unchanged. If that is the case then there are no sonic differences between players. (Provided the D/A Converter is handling jitter issues in a decent manner).
Our Firewire devices support ASIO drivers which make it simpler to have bit transparent transfers. Both Foobar and MediaMonkey have ASIO drivers. iTunes I am not sure. But wait for the iTunes bases Amarra application, this will give decent playback for Apple computers ( see http://www.computeraudiophile.com/sonic_studio_unveils_amarra )
We plan to add a feature to our Firewire devices which lets the user determine whether the player is doing bit transparent playback. And this at any standard sampling rate between 44.1 and 192.

For the AFI1 you can use any decent player. It seems that the players of choice are the ones you mention, plus Amarra in not too distant time....

The Firewire (IEEE1394) standard mentions a maximum length of 4 meters for the cables. I guess 5 meters should still work. There are also small repeater boxes available, which are powerd via the Firewire cable (bus power) and which allow to make much longer Firewire links.
Daniel

Exaustive! (danke).

So, you say that the output of the AFI1 with ONE cable XLR (no dual link) at 96/192Khz to devices with input AES/XLR is full hisampling compatible? (2 channels stereo, of course).

L.

Yes, right.
Daniel

Hello to all,

I'm fairly new to digital audio after a lifetime of collecting LPs. I've just purchased a Weiss Dac2, and the sound is fabulous. My only high resolution files are ones that I digitized from LPs at 24/96 (using an Apogee Duet and a MacBook Pro), and they sound good enough so that I have no desire to ever pull out those LPs again.

My question is whether each time I change the sample rate in the Weiss Firewire Control Panel it is necessary to restart iTunes. I recall reading that this was true when using Audio-Midi Setup. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Ron

Hi Ron - Welcome to Computer Audiophile. Unfortunately you still have to close iTunes and reopen it. iTunes lock in the sample rate that is set at the time the application is opened. Even if you change the rate somewhere else on the Mac it doesn't matter :-(

I wish Apple would fox this.

Thanks for your answer, Chris. I was afraid that this was the case.

Also -- thank you for running this site. I was very fortunate to have found it. It's now my favorite audio site.

Ron

Great to hear those high-res needledrops are coming out so well through your DAC. Have you compared a ripped CD to the same album ripped at high-res from vinyl? I've been wondering for awhile if needledrops are a feasible source of high-res material. How much work goes into ripping one of those LPs?

Hi,

Perhaps we should start a separate discussion for this, but here's what I've done. I record out from my preamp (CAT Ultimate) to an Apogee Duet to my computer. I've been using SoundStudio for recording. I also have Amadeus Pro, but I've stuck with SoundStudio so far just for convenience. To clean up the recording, I use ClickRepair and DeNoise. These are fantastic programs and quite reasonably priced. I try to keep the settings low, and this seems to clean up recordings without giving up very much. The key to ClickRepair is that it is not a filter. It searches locally for approximations to delta functions and truncates them. The number of minor changes it makes to a file can be astounding, and the result is virtually always a dramatic improvement. The final step is to go back to SoundStudio to normalize and split into separate tracks. Usually I save in Apple Lossless via Max. (SoundStudio yields an .aiff file.) The time it takes to do this (post the initial recording process) is usually between 15 and 30 minutes per LP.

About comparison to CD, I've only done this a couple of times. I always preferred the digitized vinyl -- but the comparison isn't fair, I've always favored the sound of vinyl over CD.

If anyone knows of ways that I can improve on the process i've been using, I'd like to hear from you.

Ron

Is there any advantage in using a Lynx AES card with the Weiss Engineering Minerva DAC? It would seem that with a firewire capable computer such as a Mac Pro or a Windows PC with a firewire port, the Lynx card is unnecessary. But would the Lynx/Minerva AES/EBU combination provide superior sonics or would the Lynx/ Minerva combination result in diminished sound quality compared to a straight firewire connection from the computer to the Minerva DAC?

One of the goals when we designed the Minerva was that the interface used should not matter in terms of sonic quality. A good DAC design does not depend on the jitter signature of the incoming signal. So the Minerva is pretty insensitive to the interface used, even Toslink is fine.

Daniel

Hi, Daniel. I have been watching this site and thread for quite a period of time and I'm interested in this DAC. But is it possible to have a chance to have a listen in Mainland China just to make my decision? I inquired a guy who is very famous in HIFi circle and he simply told me to wait! Why don't you try to find someone to be your agent in China so we can soon enjoy your master work in the far east! My home is just near Shanghai.
I recommended one of my friends to install his computer-based HiFi music centre using Apogee Rosetta 200 and Big Ben simply because there is no other DACs available to chosse from. We are all sure the future belongs to Computer-based audio equipments. Hope this time I can catch up with the Zeitgeist!

Hello Jesse

We have distributors in HongKong and Guangzhou. See:
http://www.weiss-highend.ch/distributors_asia.html

Daniel

Daniel,

I want to build a multi-channel music server using an HP touchscreen computer with Firewire interface to an AFI1, serving as a multichannel digital source (3 pairs of channels) for my Meridian 861 processor. The 861 only accepts SPDIF. If I use Neutrik adapter cables or transformers to convert to SPDIF impedance, will this significantly impact the jitter of the delivered signal?

Also, do the AFI1 drivers work correctly under Windows Vista?

Thanks much for your answers, and your participation on this board!

Hi MahlerFreak

Neutrik adapters are perfectly fine for that task. No problem.

The Vista drivers for the AFI1 are in the following stages
Original release: 32-bit is supported, 64-bit is in beta test
SP1: 32-bit and 64-bit are in beta test

Regards,
Daniel

Thanks Daniel, I just ordered myself an AFI1! I'll keep people here posted when I find out how well it works ...

Hi,

Following this thread with interest; Weiss seem to make some excellent DACs!

Something I think it worth picking up on; this has been mentioned but I am surprised that there has not been more discussion on the matter - the difference between the Weiss DAC2 and the Weiss Minerva. Especially considering that the DAC2 costs £1995 here in the UK (US $3300) whereas the Minerva costs £3295 (US $5449). That's a difference of £1300 or $2149!

From what I have picked up on this thread, it seems that these two Weiss DACs are extremely similar, though "we do more extensive channel matching and circuit optimization during the QC [?quality control] phase with the Minerva" e.g. "interchannel level and phase response matching to tighter tolerances". In an email to me Daniel pointed out that "The DAC2 and Minerva use the same electronics. Frontpanel and feet are different."

Considering this huge cost difference, is it worth buying the Minerva over the DAC2? Is there any real difference in sound quality using the Minerva over the DAC2? It does not seem that this is the case from what I have been reading.

Hmm, any thoughts on this one folks?

I commented on that elsewhere on this site, here it is again:

The DAC2 and Minerva use the same electronics, same performance. The difference is in the frontpanel and feet. The price difference comes from the different distribution channels. The DAC2 is in our pro audio line of products, i.e. there is only one intermediate dealer (the distributor who sells directly to the end user, i.e. the studio). The Minerva is in the High-End Hi-Fi line of products, i.e. there are two intermediate dealers, i.e. the distributor and the retailer.
Usually the HiFi customers expect a high level of customer care, including demo units, help in setting up the computer, help in solving problems etc. which the retailer is expected to provide. In pro audio the studio people are very knowledgeable so they are ok to get equipment from the distributor without any further need for help. That is how it works.

Regards,
Daniel

Thanks for your reply Daniel and apologies if you had already discussed this elsewhere. I had not been able to find the information to answer my question.
Best regards,

Dan