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In Reply to: Transport for Benchmark Dac1? posted by Awacs on February 1, 2007 at 19:42:12:
Aram - I used to recommend the Sony DVP-S7700 with mods, but now that Northstar has put out an I2S-output transport, this is the Transport that I am recommending. If you can eliminate S/PDIF, this is a big win in clarity and dynamics. The first time I drove the DAC-1 with an I2S Northstar 192 Transport my jaw dropped. Closest thing to PC-driven audio. No other transport can touch that I2S Northstar IMO.There are speaker dealers that will only audition their speakers with this I2S transport.
Follow Ups:
HEy Steve,I was looking at your I2S Offramp, and noticed that it has an RJ-45 jack for I2S.
My birdland dac has an input with that same jack that just says "Data in" and another one that says "Clock out".
What are these used for since the manual doesn't mention there use?
You got me. If it's I2S, then this is interesting. Designers use RJ-45 for all kinds of interfaces though. I would ask Birdland.
n
Hi,Doesn't this arrangement require modification to the Benchmark DAC1?
Thx,
Yes, it requires adding an I2S interface which makes it a NOS DAC. You can always use a Northstar 192 DAC, which already has I2S in, but in order for the I2S to sound great, it needs some mods as well IMO......
NUS (as in non-upsampling)? :-)))IIRC, the DAC-1 uses some kind of sigma-delta or low-bit DAC, which simply can't work with any audio PCM data without some form of internal oversampling...
Which DAC chip does the DAC-1 use?
I imagine you've listened to the Benchmark in two implementations:a. your turbo modded Dac 1 with favorite spdif transport (usb or traditional); versus
b. an i2s feed (either Northstar or usb-i2s) into the i2s modified Dac 1 in NOS mode
how would you characterize the differences, and which do you prefer?
Rio - here are my preferences:1) definitely the I2S from the computer to the NOS DAC-1 - more resolution and detail, more airy. Best cymbols and bells I have heard from ANY DAC. Upsampling to 24/96 is great.
2) Northstar Transport driving I2S to NOS DAC-1 - more jitter, but upsamples to 24/192 in the transport. Close to the USB driven I2S, but not quite as detailed or airy. Superclock in the Transport helps.
3) Any low-jitter modded transport driving the modded DAC-1 with S/PDIF - Uses the 24/192 asynchronous upsampler "AD1896" in the DAC-1. Not as good, more fuzzy on top and less bass tightness, but still beats most $10K+ DAC's. Superclock in the DAC-1 for the upsampler chip helps.
These ratings are all published on my audiocircle.com forum.
but you mention in #1 above to "24/96 is great". Sorry, please explain
24/96 is upsampled data using SRC (Secret Rabbit Code) on the PC. IT does the upsampling on the fly. Best upsampling code that I have heard.
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