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Now that my feet are wet....

I've taken my Centrance DACmini and ran it over to my main rig using my iMac as source, plain old iTunes, via a 16' Belkin USB cable.

The sound is glorious, to say the least. What was lean but tuneful bass now hits like a hammer with micro dynamics to die for. Better balance as well.

Case in point: there is slight pause early on in Elinor Frey's playing of Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major and I can hear the decay (or is it reverb) in the body of her cello! I know it is not a room echo as it's there already. There is just more info. Really clean info.

From what I've read I shouldn't be getting this level of improvement without add ons like Pure Music and expensive USB cables, so can anyone tell me why?
Is it the DACmini all on its own?
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Showing 4 responses by nonoise

nonoise's avatar
nonoise OP
10,544 posts
 
Mezmo,

Thanks for the well thought out reply.

As you noted, I failed to point out a valid comparison. It was compared to my TEAC PDH-600 (its no slouch) as a stand alone or as a transport for the DACmini. As a transport, it acquitted itself quite nicely, allowing a bit more detail and separation. But it couldn't keep up with the CDs I imported into iTunes and played back through the DACmini. Totally different league.

From what you said, I now believe its the DACmini. I honestly feel that no more tweaking is needed; just 20' or so of good ICs so I can keep the DACmini alongside my iMac for the Audioengine A2s and headphone use.

All the best!

Nonoise
nonoise's avatar
nonoise OP
10,544 posts
 
I dunno....

10ppm,<1ps jitter (immeasurable) on the receiving end, after their proprietary buffer and DAC....

Is this really old USB technology? Most of their stats are go over my head but this is one quiet unit with a noise floor that is subterranean which most likely accounts for the dead silent background, dynamics, and presence that I'm now getting. Depending on recording, some instruments are resolving 'out' from my speakers due to the wholeness of the presentation. Its all a bit weird but I'm liking it, old tech or not.

As of now, I really can't see it getting that much better, but thanks for the heads up as I've got a lot to learn.
nonoise's avatar
nonoise OP
10,544 posts
 
I dunno....

10ppm,<1ps jitter (immeasurable) on the receiving end, after their proprietary buffer and DAC....

Is this really old USB technology? Most of their stats go over my head but this is one quiet unit with a noise floor that is subterranean which most likely accounts for the dead silent background, dynamics, and presence that I'm now getting. Depending on recording, some instruments are resolving 'out' from my speakers due to the wholeness of the presentation. Its all a bit weird but I'm liking it, old tech or not.

As of now, I really can't see it getting that much better, but thanks for the heads up as I've got a lot to learn.
nonoise's avatar
nonoise OP
10,544 posts
 
Sorry about the double post as I tried to edit some bad grammar.
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