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In Reply to: RE: FInd me a DAC for the Masterlink. posted by Harmonia on February 21, 2017 at 18:52:11
Grace Design sells their m920 DAC/LS/HPA at $1895. Link attached. At the moment, they have no factory refurbished ones to sell. (Note, I have been paid to give advice to Grace Design on exhibiting at RMAF and picking out demo tracks.)http://gracedesign.com/products/m920/m920.htm
If you can be patient, the affordable ($499) m9XX that Grace Design makes for Massdrop should come up for a new offering sometime soon--at this writing, 212 people have expressed interest. (Link below.)
If you cannot be patient, Parasound's Zdac v.2 at $549 is a good choice.
http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PAZDACV2
If $549 is too much, you can roll the dice on an Enlightened Audio Designs DAC on eBay, but, at this date, most of them will have some known-to-fail parts that have fallen out of spec, and a rebuild that replaces all diodes, all capacitors, and some resistors will end up costing you total as much as the Grace m920, which I call "the poor person's Bricasti" in that it has a Minimum Phase PCM filter (as well as multiple DSD filters).
Best of luck
the once and future JM
Edits: 02/22/17Follow Ups:
What are the real differences between the Massdrop m9xx and the full priced m920?
Thanks, I'm on the list.
Thank you, John - perfect!
I'm drooling over the M920 but anything over $700 is "expensive" for us right now. Something in the $400-$600 range is ideal. Used or refurbished is fine, and another upgrade down the line is probable. I will definitely check out the Grace Design and Parasound dacs - I believe our local dealer has the Zdac. I'm an enthusiastic shopper on A-gon but will pass on the EAD. I'm surrounded by ancient audio kit that sorta but doesn't actually work.
We're replacing/blending the spousal unit's set-up - Masterlink, sound mixing board, Genelecs) for a modest conventional rig in the living room. Coming from a Cary 303, I find the Masterlink just "OK", a bit hard and glassy on massed strings among other shortcomings. My SO (hereafter referred to as "Opera Beau") loves his Masterlink and uses it frequently - he will keep it forever. And that's fine, as long as it's a decent transport and I can find a nice dac for not too much $$.
We are acquiring speakers (B&W CM6 S2) and found an insane deal on an integrated amp with phono stage (Marantz PM8004). But we haven't even started down the cables path yet. Opera Beau, a musician who uses xlr terminated pro wires for interconects and lamp cord/bare wire for speaker cables, is completely innocent of high end cabling. He nearly expired at the speaker audition when told the price of the Nordost Tyr2 that was feeding the B&Ws. He's handy with a sodering iron (built Dynaco amps back in the day) so I may steer him toward some DIY recipes on the Cable Asylum. Meanwhile, with some major medical and dental bills coming up, we're playing it very conservative on budget.
Hi-
Well, I'd suggest registering with Massdrop and adding your name to those who want a new batch of Grace x Massdrop m9xx, and wait for them to announce it.
Opera--hah. I just posted last week on Music about my recent blog post about how Abraham Lincoln's love for opera caused his detractors to chide his frivolity during the Civil War--with two embedded sound examples from Lincoln's favorite opera, von Flotow's "Martha," if you can believe that.
Please click over, and leave a comment if you feel that is the thing to do.
ATB,
John
I'm on the list at Massdrop. How did I miss your thread on Music? Good to know you have the blog going (love the name), plus I give you two gold stars for the vids of Wunderlich and Kaufmann.
Opera Beau and I met at the local MET HD of Meistersinger. We struck up a conversation during first intermission and we've now been together two years. He couldn't believe there was a female in town that loved Wagner, Hindemith and the Reiner era Chicago Symphony.
Most couples do the dinner, candy and flowers thing on Valentine's day. We did a Greek food lunch and spent the afternoon auditioning speakers. Match made in heaven.
JM
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