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I'm looking for some damping weight to be put on top of a Apogee Mini DAC, which is sitting on some Vibrapods and cones. The uneven bottom of the DAC mandates using the cones pointing up. While there are no original footers to place the tips of the cones, it also means the less-than-2-pound DAC is not exactly stable with this set up. I'm using PNF balanced ICON interconnects which is not particularly thick. Still I can see the DAC sliding here and there.
I've looked at Harmonic Resolution Systems Damping plates, they only weigh 1.5 lbs each and they are expensive. The NotePads from Gutwire look promising but I suspect that they don't weigh much more.
Any suggestions please?
Follow Ups:
Just get some sand (or kitty litter if no sand available), fill some small baggies with maybe 4 cubic inches or so of sand each. If you're skittish, you can put each of these in a ziplock bag to ensure that none spills. Add and subtract these bags while listening. You'll quickly determine the optimum weight/mass for your purposes and they do damp the casing without the ringing qualities/problems of granite, etc. YOu can disguise these with a wooden box or plastic box on top or whatever makes you feel good...
i have a minidac too...i am curious, do DACs need to be damped? i don't think they have moving parts like players...
All circuit parts are prone to ringing harmonics. Vibrapods are used to lower the ringing frequencies of the chassis, shelf, etc. Weight can be used to alter the frequency of the chassis. Material used for the weight can also be used to alter the ringing character of the weight and chassis. In the case of the Mini-Dac I would not add a lot of weight to the case. It's not very large and the ringing character will shift too much in the top end. I suggest a Vibrapod sandwich for frequency isolation and a non-resonate 2lbs. to 5lbs. weight. A Shakti Stone is good in the audiophile market....I have also seen small granite slabs with a rubber bottom which are used to lower chassis vibration via mass that would be a good suggestion. I would not use the Vibrapod cone with the Mini-Dac. Standard stick on rubber pads that can be purchased at your local hardware store make a good foot for the Mini-Dac. Used with the Vibrapod sandwich abd the weight will provide good sound quality.Alan
Thanks Alan, much appreciated.
Removed all the cones and made a Vibrapod sandwich for the MiniDAC. Got a paperback under the DAC to avoid direct with the glass. It already sounds much better. Will get the Skakti Stone soon.
I'm of making another Vibrapod sandwich for a Bryston 4B SST power amp, probably with yet another four Vibrapods and cones on the top glass, facing up, tips into amp's footers. What do you think?
It's funny you asked :) I just had my Innersound ESL amp set up with a Vibrapod sandwich (granite cutting board) and a second set of pods and cones to couple the amplifier (tips up). In a word....WOW!!! The sound quality was fantastic. Now I'm getting ready to try the same set up with my Crown Studio Ref II (whenever that arrives in the mail). I purchased the amp from Parts Express a couple weeks ago and it came in last week DOA. So I had to send it back to Crown for a fix because it is no longer in production. Hopefully I'll be able to report on the tweak in a couple of weeks.A great tweak for the Mini-Dac is the DIY Magnan AC Filter. I use this design in my own set up. You need to play around with the number of bypass caps (.47uf and .01uf pair) to dial in the best sound quality that matches your listening habits, but it's cheap and well worth the effort. I install the caps in a project box with a 18" 3 wire 18ga powercord (ground the project box with the ground wire). Solder the caps directly to the power cord wiring, and solder a MOV and drain resistor across the line for safety. Allow the parallel filter 4 days before performing any critical listening sessions. Don't be afraid to add multiple filters on the line...the effect multiplies with each add-on application.
Alan
thanks for all the advices, will check them out later on when i get my paycheck.
i agree that the minidac benefits a lot from power conditioning. so far i have tried adding auricaps/v-caps to the receptacles, replacing the stock power supply with a nice elpac one and ultimately adding a running springs haley to my system.
I have mine hooked up to a balanced isolation transformer. The combination is great with the Magnan filter.Alan
The Vibrapods and cones, to a certain degree, take care of some structural vibrations (floor, rack, etc). Some form of damping weights on top would take care of air bourne vibrations.
With my setup, the Vibrapods and cones alone do make the MiniDAC sound better.
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