Potential DAQuestion - Tube preamps and Buffers

Thanks, Zd542. I will certainly keep that in mind.

I'm sure there are plenty of other things I could do to improve the sound in lieu of a new DAC.

Thing is, I've read a lot of positive about Async USB DACs, whereas the Opus only accepts 96KHz S/PDIF. Is there a noticeable difference, or is S/PDIF just fine?

Async USB interfaces and DACs vary all over the map. Some are much better than any S/PDIF input and others are not as good. Depends on the design and parts choices.

The opportunity is there to make it a LOT better than other DAC interfaces because the master clock is in this interface.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

Thanks, Steve - That was my understanding of the async.

I'm still looking in that direction, although I appreciate Zd542's nod to the Opus. I would like to try something other at some point.

Looked at the Wavelength tubed DACs. Might be a bit expensive for me, particularly the Crimson. I've noticed a TON of PS Audio DACs on Audiogon, making me wonder why so many are for sale??

Can anybody point to one or two recommendations that I can research for an Async USB DAC?

Thanks,
Rob

Just to clarify, I'm not suggesting that you should definitely keep your dac. My advice is to just make sure its the right move, for you. The only thing that's worse than buying a bad piece of audio component is selling a really good one. I admit, I do know from experience. There's many choices out there and your bound to find something that you like better than your current dac. I just say be careful.

Also, getting back to your original issue, are you aware that brightness is a fairly common problem with Magnepan and they know about this? I know for at least some of their models, they can send you resistors that you put in the binding posts that will roll off the top end a bit to make it more listenable. Its been a while since I had my Magnepan's so I don't remember every detail. Its worth a call. They didn't charge me for anything and its a factory authorized solution. Sometimes making a small change in a problem area can make a big difference.

Hi, Zd542. Thanks again.

Having enjoyed my Opus 21 for a number of years, I would *dream* of getting rid of it until I was convinced of a clear cut difference. Problem is, I live far, far away from any high-end shops, so demo'ing is a bit difficult. Before I buy anything, I have to hear it in my rig, as a basic rule.

This happened on my pre-amp. I had a solid state amp installed which, by virtue of sharing a name with my amp, should have been bitchin'. But we put Joseph Chow's TP2.1 tubed pre-amp in place, and within just a couple of minutes, we knew we had a winner.

One direction I'm heading: Upgrade the TP 2.1. There are many things we can do with that.

I am aware of the Maggie's brightness. That's one of the things we like about them... to a point. But as our ears become more developed, we're looking to take it to the next level, and I'm sure there's a lot we can do with room tuning, pre-amp upgrades, etc. I believe we still have the resistors for the Maggies, but haven't used them in years. Perhaps it's time to revisit that.

The question about DACs or tube DACs is largely because, whereas I've been content to spin CDs, I'm loving the computer-based library as well, and want to squeeze out more performance there, i.e., Mac Mini server, async USB, PureMusic, etc.

I should look at the amp, too. There's a lot of good to say about the Spectron, but all components play a part in this.