My DAC is a Theta DS Pro basic III. It was upgraded from a Basic II by Theta. To my ears, it still sounds glorious. I play CDs from a Theta Jade, which is a highly-modified Pioneer Elite PD-41. Did Theta retain the Burr-Brown chip? My guess is that they did, but beefed up the power supply and added several additional ones that are all isolated from one another. The preamp is a Parasound PL/D-2000, and the amp is a Bryston 2.5 cubed, driving KEF 105.4 speakers. Bottom-end support is via a stereo pair of Janis W1 subs driven by Kenwood L-O7Ms. I know these components are old, but so am I. Your thoughts?
Maybe it IS all in the DAC chips
I’ve often pushed back against the idea of purchasing any piece of audio gear based on the parts contained, especially DAC’s. While the Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) itself is the key component, so much goes into making a good sounding product, like stream buffers/jittter removal, power supplies and analog output stage that I thought this could lead buyers astray.
Still, having done that, and still thinking that I correctly warned others to avoid buying just on DAC brands alone, I have found myself after many years, returning again to vintage Burr Brown based DACs and home theater processors.
Color me changed with experience.
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- 53 posts total
- 53 posts total