vmps, art d/io, & boldercables.com

Hi Doug,
I can no longer resist all of the publicity that the Art Dio has received and just ordered one today. I think I have an upgraded power supply somewhere in my attic that I can use or can order one from Radio Shack. Beyond the power supply upgrade, what else do you suggest be done and what are the sonic benefits of what you would suggest? I know Bolder has special cables for the DIO, but the Belden based cables I have tried (not Bolders) I did not like, so I bought adaptors and voltage reducers so I can use my Harmonic Tech cables for now. I hope this thing sounds good.

Thanks, Doug. Your right. For $134, shipped, plus $12 for the connectors and adaptors, I figure if it stinks, I can sell it or throw it in my video sys for music. I know the separate voltage attenuator is not an optimum solution, but it will get me started and allows me to only change one variable at a time.
After it burns in and if it seems to have potential, I will either contact Bolder or see if Stan Warren is doing anything with these things. I am not very good with a soldering iron and it this modification stuff is beyond my limited knowledge of electronics.

I did notice that the CTC Blowtorch was part of the award winning system and previously have read a rave review of it. Next time I have $18K that I don't know what do with, I'll be in touch. However, if you should decide to sell them for $123 plus shipping, I might call a little sooner.

Bob Crump,
Thank you for having a sense of humor.
I hope you sell more preamps than you expect and maybe even can license your technology to a larger producer so it will eventually "trickle down" to more of us. The hi end industry needs people like you as well as those few who can afford to buy your products at list price in order for the rest of us to enjoy the level of sound reproduction we do.

Anyone have any RFI problems with their Art DI/O's? If yes, have you been able to solve them and how?

Hi Doug,
It is generating interference with my radio reception. Not unusual for digital products to do this (I've tried expensive ones that were worse in this regard), but it is annoying. Have to disconnect interconnects to it in order to listen to tuner w/o static. Was hoping that maybe the modifications do away with this and will investigate as you suggest. Still burning it in (it does improve each day) and waiting for the upgraded power supply (Stancor 3400mv) to arrive. Other things I've noticed is that it sounds best in the x2 mode; can't get any sound in ext sinc mode. Also, mine sounds a little better with the tube installed. I know the tube supposedly has nothing to do with the d/a circuit, but I notice the led's next to the tube warmth adjustment don't work unless the tube is installed and the sound is slightly smoother and there is less of the RFI mentioned above when the tube is installed. I won't comment on the sound until I have gotten the upgraded ps and it has run for a couple of hundred hours.

Thanks for all of your advice, Doug.
I think you're right about the tube. The sound became subtly more refined and relaxed with the tube in vs without so I am leaving it in for now. I just got the Stancor ps tonite and that makes a much more noticeable improvement.
I have ferrite RFI blockers on my Ic's but will get some more for the rest of the system.
I tried going w/o the line attenuators and it did not work out. Some aspects of the sound improved, like the size of the soundstage, but the sound got a bit ragged as I could hear my input stage starting to overload on dynanmic passages-not pleasant to hear. The Stancor power supply plus burn in time has improved the soundstaging.
I have tried the Radio Shack digital cable years ago and found it was very simiar to Canare Digiflex cable; not bad, certainly worth $10.
The Apogee is only a little better. I have owned both the old and newer version of the Apogee Wyde-eye. I am currently using Harmonic Tech Copper link, which I prefer to the Apogee. I have tried Monster data link and Ensemble Digiflux with the Art DI/O and I also have a Madrigal MDC on hand (which costs more than the DIO), but until the unit burns in, I think I will go with the Harmonic Tech for now. The Stancor ps has warmed everything up a bit, so I will try all of the above mentioned cables again in a few days and will see what I can do to get rid of the RFI.

I pulled the tube out when I first got the dac and out of curiousity, put it back in after a few days. I didn't notice any degradation of the sound putting the tube in, and it "seemed" a tiny bit better, nothing significant, so I have left it in for now. Could also have been my imagination, cycle of the moon, too much wine, etc. I want to try the A/D section soon, also so I will need the tube for that. The Stancor power supply made a noticeable difference, for the better. Ordered some 75 ohm video shorting plugs for it today to see if they help the RFI situation. FYI, if anyone is planning on ordering the Stancor from Allied, they have a $25 min order.