Berkeley vs. Simaudio

Camb,

I remember Robert Harley's review of the Berkeley 1. I believe it is still online. This reminds me of Ted Denney (Synergistic Research) when he wrote about the famous Master Coupler -- and a lot of other products. Superlatives are the norm with manufacturers and with the reviewers who do their bidding. Let your ears tell your mind what you are hearing -- not a manufacturer or a seasoned reviewer with an agenda. Can you count the times you were let down by an audio product -- and were left scratching your head about the manufacturer's copywriting or the reviewer's applause?

Camb,

It does not appear that the Berkeley Audio Reference DAC can do what the PS Audio DirectStream DAC does -- making PCM sound like DSD -- at less than half the price of the Berkeley. The PS Audio DirectStream DAC allows you to listen to ordinary CDs as though they were DSD. After all, most of us listen to CDs.

How many of us could afford to buy more than a handful of hirez recordings? If hirez were available for an entire CD collection, how many of us would be able to afford to replace our collection with hirez files? Let's see 3000 CDs x $40 each -- why that's only $120,000. Count me in.

Hifimaniac,

I have also had the "Component Blues" a number of times after reading and researching. Berkeley 1 and AMR DP-77 and several Synergistic Research cables come to mind.

Camb,

Only in my mind's ear. It is arriving soon.

Camb,

I'll be glad to post my impressions. This will be around the end of October.