2. digital
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how good are the non os dacs?

had the epiphanous vinyl experience and realize that i would like to bring my digital closer to the vinyl qualities i.e. smoother with more natural tones but retaining good resolution. i have my eye on the non os dac by promitheusaudio.com. small company but the opinions thus far are great. could a few of you digital experts comment on how good non os really sounds? love to hear recommendations from those of you that have listened to them in comparison. thanks
djwilbourn
undertow
1,033 posts
 
Djwilbourn
Always a design out there that can do better no doubt! Glad you found a good match to your taste, because thats all it comes down too :-)
rotarius
431 posts
 
Non OS Philips 1543 or 1545 based dacs really show their age. I find they sound a bit congested when playing symphonic music but they can sound smooth. Not very resolving but can sound nice sometimes matched with the right components.
kschiu
73 posts
 
I have a 19 years old Micromega DUO with a TDA1541 chip, is it a NOS DAC?

you guys make me want to hook it up again ... it was considered very musical at the time but totally loose out in upper frequency detail. But it was a true enjoyment to listen for hours.

(BTW is it worth anything?)

djwilbourn OP
42 posts
 
kschiu,
i ran across the 1541a chipset in my research and with the correct implementation it is regarded as one of the best ever, so it might be worth a revisit. obviously, what the rest of your system contributes to your sonic picture matters a great deal i.e. metal vs. soft dome tweeters, tube vs solid state amp
kschiu
73 posts
 
Djwilbourn,

Thanks for the tip. I wonder if the veiled presentation is jitter related? Back then when the product was launched, jitter wasn't even a topic. (after that they switched to bitstream chips which to my ears, sucked)

It's quite an interesting cos it has a volume control and a buffer amp built in - I'll try to hook it up to my power amp directly with my PC/toslink and see what happens.
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