Comments on the Berkeley Alpha DAC 2

If it doesn't sound fine after one hour then it won't get any better after a thousand hours! 

I’ve never used the Alpha Dac- can you give a description of the filter settings?

Let the dac and any digital gear have at least 48 hrs before making judgement and never turn it off under normal conditions. Once the dac has settled in then look into the filters. 

I believe the potent upper mids and highs are part of the Berkeley house sound. At one point in time I had the Dac 1 and Ref 3 together in my system. Yes they presented the potent upper mids and highs. I ended up selling both. In hind sight I wish I had kept the Dac 1.

I have spent time with Berkeley DACs. The are outstanding. But, like in all aspects of audio. What is the rest of your equipment and venue. It would be very helpful if you would post your system, components and photos of your venue in your user profile under a virtual system. It can be any component or setup in your venue that creates the impression that it is the DAC. It could be other components. 

Last evening I listened at a old friend's home system 

His entire system a compilation of preferred gear and custom speakers.

It is the best SQ I have ever heard.

His DAC?

A Berkeley. Probably not the latest model either.

Issue solved.

Thanks to all for their valuable input.

The DAC was left on continuously for 72 hours before trying again...and it sounds Mmmmarvoulous :)  The tilted upper mids are gone and the sound is just amazing.

Coincident 300B Franks, Cambridge CD Transport, Audience digital and RCA wiring AU24 SE, Wireworld Equinox 8 speaker cabling, and Spendor 5.2 speakers.

Room treatments - bass traps, first reflection point poly foam, ceiling and floor corners poly foam.

The sum of the parts yields considerably better sound than the incremental parts!