It is gone already. I'm not saying there were no differences. They were there, yes, and specifically appeared in the area of imaging. However, it really varied greatly from music genre to genre and, more importantly, from recording to recording.
I fully admit to being susceptible to the placebo effect. This DAC was supposed to be the latest and greatest, I have a pretty terrific, well-thought-out system, so I bit. The fact, though, is that the more I listened, the more subtle the differences became. In the end, it is all about your experience, right? Last night I listened to Gillian Welch, Emmylou Harris, and Air. With my eyes closed, kicked back on the couch (and family out of the house!) the experience was transporting. What really revolutionized my system (Bel Canto Pre2, Carver amp -- don't laugh, it's every bit as good as my earlier Electrocompaniet and McIntosh!, and Harbeth Monitor 40s) was the introduction of frequency response measurement and equalization. My speakers are quite linear, but, thanks to room interactions, I have around a 10db peak at 80hz. Taking care of *that* and otherwise normalizing response has a huge effect. By contrast, the DAC was subtle -- I was wrong -- and subtle enough that the law of diminishing returns kicked in for me. Incidentally, I'm using a Rane DEQ60L (mostly because of build quality, but plenty of people are happy with Behringer; I bought mine as a "blem" unit from Musicians's Friend for $500) and Fuzzmeasure software for the mac, along with appropriate cabling, etc. Oh, and a pair of ACI Force subs, crossed over at 45hz (small but effective...and great to crank for DVDs). -- highdudgeon ------------------------------------------------------------------------ highdudgeon's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2195 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=19475 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
