Wavelength Brick

i have owned a BRICK for two month , it was a very soft sounding box
with a lack of details in the upper and muddy bass .; some call it "analog" sounding.. you also need a very high gain preamp , not a passive because the brick only get less than 1volt output.
i have replace it with a moded "airport" express to a PASSLAB D1 dac
and will never look back.. ( not the same price also...)

Cheers

WOW! I was completely wrong...I was running this on a Dell PC while I auditioned and until I got my MAC, which came today. I had been in contact with Gordon all the while, and he was very patient and helpful throughout. He seemed to feel pretty strongly that it was the PC (Foobar/ASIO) combination that was causing the sound deficiency for me. I had my doubts, until today.....I got the MAC and WOW! what a difference it has made. Everything is quieter, soundstage is deeper, picking up instruments in the very back of a performance with much greater detail, and getting a nice edge on my horns ands violins. Not fatiguing anymore at all. Much sweeter, albeit a little on the bright side for now.

I am believer now, and I very happy I got the MAC and got rid of the crappy Dell PC.

Problem I have now is, I don't know which toy to play with first, the MAC or my hi-fi. I am very satisfied with the sound up to now and I am glad I didn't overspend on the Cosecant, although I am sure it sounds sensational.

In regards to the pre amp, I am pretty sure mine fits the bill of being worthy of the task. It's a VTL 5.5, brand new, and we both have a sort of love affair with one another. I might even give a kidney for it if it asked. : )

So all is well over here, and thanks for the responses and help, you have been great !

Hello from another Brick/Macbook Owner. I just got my Brick about two months ago.

Glad to hear you like the Mac - Brick combination. I never tried anything but the Mac on the Brick.

Let the Brick settle in a little more - The highs should settle in even further. Also, you can try changing tubes which does change the sound a bit. Gordon put some EI 12AU7 Goldpin in mine and they are very detailed but might exaggerate highs a little until they break in. By the way, tube break in as well as coupling transformer break-in does take much longer than usual electronics.I still feel the Brick is changing a little over time.

Finally I did notice some difference. The output is on the low side (which I very much like). Running the Brick into the higher gain setting (23dB) of my tube amp give much tighter bass and more dynamics than the lower gain setting (13dB).

Enjoy and let us know your impressions after a while.

All's well that ends well - forget my recommendation for a few aspirin, yeah, dump the PC and live a little =) Shoot, I could have told you that. As an added benefit you will find that iTunes works a whole lot better too!

As for tubes, I swapped out for a Brimar which mellowed everything right out - I hesitated to recommend it since Gordon has said that because of the circuit design it shouldn't have much effect (placebo or what)...

So new Mac, new Brick, new VTL - whatever is the Easter Bunny going to leave?

CK, good news huh?! I am siked it all worked out, albeit expensive. I don't care though, I have been trying to get this sound for many years since I have been in hi-fi, and for the most part I have it now. With the convenience of a computer as a controller to-boot!

So next I am going to look into a different tube just to experiment a bit. Although Gordon said the exact same thing to me about changing the tube, it won't make much of a difference due the circuitry. The Telefunkens sound interesting, but there is alot of good stuff out there I am sure.

He also said the Opticis cable didn't make very much difference in his experience either and to just go for a Kimber USB with ferrite if looking for better quality. I am still questioning the isolation factor from the MAC/Brick connection with an optical cable. Its undeniable no?

I also want to try to decouple my Pre on some BDR cones. Right now I have it on some Sorbogel, which I learned after I bought, have a tendency to muddy up the sound.

So some minor tweaks, then I will just be at the set-it and forget-it stage for a while.

Thanks Easter Bunny!