Weiss Minerva Dac

i've heard the Minerva. as much as i wanted to like it, i found it to sound rather artificial (it had a "copy & paste" type of presentation / very little cohesion btw the performers). the Weiss Medea DAC i heard immediately after that was MUCH better.

Has anyone compared the Minerva with BOTH Firewire and XLR cable from a Lynx AE16 card?

I hope all posters will indicate which INTERFACE they are using AND identify the SOURCE component or computer!

Also, a comparison between the Minerva DAC and the Berkeley Alpha DAC would be great but the interfaces and sources used must be disclosed in each case. Both accept XLR.

Thanks in advance for accurate info!

There's a review currently on at: www.computeraudophile.com on the Berkeley DAC. I believe he compares it to the Minerva DAC as well

I've heard the Minerva against the Berkeley, both being fed AES/EBU from a very high-quality server. However, the Berkeley was run directly into the amps while the Minerva was run through a preamp. I expect to hear the two compared again in a few days, in a completely different system.

In that first setting, I preferred the Berkeley in every way. But it might be different in a different system.

Hi,
I recently acquired the Weiss Minerva. I also own the PD MPS5, Esoteric P03-D03-rubidium clock, as well as some other reference grade digital gear. Using a Macbook Pro and setting the output to 24/96 while streaming FLAC files, I was very impressed. The sound was inviting, musical and instilled a sense of rhythm and timing, reminding me of the Naim digital gear I used to own. The output on the Minerva is very high, 6V RCA or XLR (about +17.7 dBu). Not all preamps may like this high an input voltage.

I have not had enough time to evaluate it critically but I am very impressed with the Weiss. However, I just installed it in a different system in a different location and can no longer run a side by side comparison. My impression of the Minerva is such that I would consider auditioning a Medea. Incidentally, I will soon have the Wadia 9 series on hand - it will be interesting to compare all of these units.