Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

Oh. I met with Sunil of Care Audio today and secured an Allnic DAC demo when I'm ready. For any interested in Allnic, 3M, or Vicoustics gear should give him a call. He's good Audiophilio.

The report from the Allnic importer is that the DAC tested by Stereophile had 3 bad tubes and the distributor was never notified. I'll let my ears decide.

I agree that the ultimate test is in the listening, and nothing else really matters. However it is interesting to note that all of the claims regarding the cause of the Allnic DAC's poor measurements refer to its fragile vintage tubes that were apparently damaged in shipping. However some of the worst and most disturbing measurements were in the digital section of the DAC, not the analog stage. Best of luck with your room acoustics, and we look forward to your further findings in due time. Good listening!

I am very familiar with allnic and the D5000.

To be clear. In order to test the digital realm the signal passed through the dht tubes. I had mine sent off to So Ca for independent testing. It too tested poorly but sounded excellent. Even the engineer commented to this effect. There is something inherent to the DHT tubes that create poor results. My unit test results were symmetric and poor. I do have an extra set of tubes. I do not have the testing equipment and my ears do not hear a difference between channels or an overall improvement between them.

Interestingly Waversa tests are perfect. I have no explanation.

The DHT dac is an excellent dac. I give it higher marks than the engineer who felt the Resonnance invicta mirus is currently top dac. Best measurements and best sounding. I have no experience to say either way. It sells for only 5k.

Sunil - he is wonderful on all fronts. I would not hesitate doing business with him. He also has a demo program which I highly recommend. Never purchase on reviews alone. I did for the EMM dac and was a financial mistake.

Anyone interested in Allnic gear and wants an unbiased perspective pm me.

I have a to b tested allnic to the odse. Both have unique qualities. I did sell my odse for the diamond SX with ethernet input. I currently have a dac with both ethernet and usb input. Ethernet is a magnitude better, eliminating the server.

Check out my allnic review for those interested. Call Sunil and demo before purchasing. Demo both the odse and decide for yourself. Empirical also has a demo program. Your system, your ears, your money. They all are great people to deal with.

Cheers!

How do you do ethernet instead of usb? I don't fully understand how to not use a server. Sorry, crash course need, lol.

CStooner,

You could the $14K Dartzeel "Danalogue" that is about to be release. Its the LHC-208 and its an Ethernet Dac (to 384PCM (DXD) and DSD128) and 200 wpc Integrated amp in one. For darTZeel, that is very "cheap".

Otherwise, just get a Sonore Signature Rendu for $3k (Streamer) and that will take Internet input and output in RCA Spdif or HDMI (i2S - PS Audio standard). What makes this special is that John Swenson consulted on this one and it has a reworked power distribution network on the input and isolates the transport from polluting the Dac, especially via i2S (I think he uses giant magneto resitives).

An extract of his burb here:
"On isolation, I have been including full isolation between digital sections and mixed signal sections for many many years. I do not use optical isolators, I do not like them at all, I prefer the GMR (Giant Magneto Resistive) isolators made by NVE. I think they work way better than opto isolators."

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f10-music-servers/mac-mini-version-computer-audiophile-pocket-server-music-server-step-step-17666/index10.html#post370186

Finally I think Steve is planning Ethernet input in his latest Dac