"Old" vs. "new" digital equipment

Hey Guys,
Thought i might chime in here since i am playing the digital game. I have had a few nice units over the years. Starting with a Theta Gen 3 modded and then lately went to Audio Horizons DAC 3.0 and then older Altis Ultima with sep. power supply which was very nice to a Bluce Circle DAC with huge outboard supply and it blows all the rest away. Bigger is Better in my case. Of course pricey too!Also in regards to old vs new. Does anyone know much about using ATT Glass vs AES BAL vs RCA. I was pleasantly surprised when I hooked up my old ATT cable just to see after remembering what the guy I got the DAC from told me. I was hearing more inner detail and the sound is just fabulous! I do not know much about Glass cable but it obviously is newer than COAX. Thanks, Larry

Bigtree,Very well written

Hi, Bikecommuter.

You asked a question that has been on my mind as well.

I have a Gen II Theta DS Pre (not DSPro - the Pre includes a passive attenuator for our non-Theta brethren & cistern) fed by a Proceed PDT II. Should I move up the food chain to a Gen Va, & new disc spinner, etc.? So I added a few toys to play with in the interim(and to solve other problems)including:

* TaCT 2.0 RCS DAC (24/96 & well reviewed)to take out the bass humps in my room. It also functions as a preamp)
* Acurus 5.1 Preamp-processor for multi-channel / HT (not S-O-T-A & never really was, but OK for HT)
* Oppo 980H Universal player based on the reveiws.
* Plus two important tweeks I'll mention later.

Here's what I found
The Theta is still a slammin' good machine. While 'different' from the TaCT 2.0, it is every bit as good, especially 'tweaked' (see below).

The Oppo is far inferior as a CDP, especially in bass slam, timing & dynamics. It is quite good, though, on DVD-A & OK on SACD. The Oppo, however, is a wonderful transport, driving any of the other DACs.

Two things REALLY helped the theta (& the TaCT & Acurus for that matter)in the following areas:
*sibilance on female vocals,
*a certain hardness on upper registers of piano when played very dynamically / fortissimo
*Your massed strings :-)
They were:
* Camelot 5.1 Jitter reduction box used between either the Proceed or the Oppo and any of the DACs(Theta's linque & the Genesis Digital lens were also on my shopping list, but the Camelot does 5.1 for surround, so that's where I went)and;
* Musical Fideltiy V3 Tube buffer. (A note of caution here: since I am running the Theta passive pre directly into the amps, the MF may be helping the impedence matching between the Theta & amps more than would be the case with a 'true' preamp. Or maybe it's just cool).

So, not the newest or state-of-the-art, I suppose, but I've improved on the problems mentioned above, plus, added better imaging, more dimensionality & depth of soundstage to the Theta's orginal performance. Still on the 'accurate' side of things, but warmer, sweeter & easier somehow.

In terms of inertia & general laziness, the configuration I use most is the Oppo driving the Camelot & TaCT (for the remote control when watching films & sports on the front projector, passed through the Theta passive attenuator.

Now, shall we talk vinyl??? ;-)

Cheers,

Ken

I agree that the electronics or even cables can easily cause the grainy massed strings. I base my earlier opinion on the fact that I have heard the 3a sigs at the dealers place driven by top notch ARC tube or Rogue gear and state of the art digital. I heard superb sound with jazz and vocals. When I played classical that I am familiar with, this problem was quite evident. I also heard some Triangles at the same place with the same electronics. They were not in the same league as the vandys obviously but the strings were smoother!