Any insight with the Berkeley Alpha DAC ..??


Reference Recordings, which had had some spectacular CDs on the market is launching a "HRx" DVD-A product which is 24bit and sampled at 176.4 or 88.2 kHZ ...They recommend using a Windows XP desktop fitted with a Lynx AES 16 card and a Media Monkey as it's player and play this 2 channel DVD-R disk through a BERKELEY Audio Design Alpha DAC.

This has been favorably mentioned as a breakthrough in the Absolute Sound April/May edition....has anybody had any experience with this???

I would appreciate your response. Thanks
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Drubin,
It is going swimmingly. I was really struggling with making a decision between the Berkeley/Computer-based music server, the Marantz SA-7S1, or the Abbingdon CD-77. I couldn't really arrange any auditions in my own system--which is really the only kind of audition that would tell me much (in someone else's system, how does one sort out the characteristics of the digital player from those of the preamp, or the speakers?).

I decided to take a chance on the Berkeley, primarily because I have a fairly large CD collection (4,000 or so), and I liked the idea of putting it all on a hard drive and having it available at my fingertips. I figured I could always punt and sell it if the Berkeley did not meet my expectations.

I would still love to hear those other players, but it is really hard for me to imagine that they would deliver more than the Berkeley is delivering. It really is astonishing, even on redbook recordings. The sound is just so liquid, yet detailed and spacious. The separation and layering of instruments is excellent, without being exagerrated. Images are the size and shape they should be, and the timber and texture of the music--the harmonics--sounds just right to me. Unlike other players I have had, it excels on all types of music, which is very important to me, as I have wide-ranging taste and need a player that can do Joni Mitchell, John Coltrane, Nickel Creek, or the New York Dolls, and sound equally adept with all of the above. I guess you could say it is equally capable of finesse and impact, grit and subtlety.

I'm certainly no reviewer, and lack the audiophile vocabulary to accurately describe its attributes. I just can't think of anything the Berkeley is not doing that I wish it would or could do.

By the way, I really love the computer-based approach as well. Being able to change albums instantly, or being able to play a couple of particular tracks I may be in the mood to hear while getting ready for work in the morning has really been amazing. I am really an album guy at heart, and tend to listen to albums all the way through, but it is really nice to just have it all right there in front of you when you are feeling impulsive. I've played a lot of music I haven't heard in years due only to the convenience factor.

Sorry for rambling. If you get a chance to try the Berkeley, I would be surprised if you weren't impressed with it. It is exactly the digital upgrade I've hoped for for the past several years (and there have been a few disappointments in there, believe me).

I hope this has been somewhat helpful. It would be great to hear updates from others who have some experience with the Berkeley.
What is the difference between the ESS and AKM DAC chip? Is the one better than the other? Are Burr-Brown and Philips already outdated?

Chris
This is an excellent post.

I can report much of the same experience Watersalas describes in his transtion to PC audio.

I concur with this statement 100%. Very well put:

"By the way, I really love the computer-based approach as well. Being able to change albums instantly, or being able to play a couple of particular tracks I may be in the mood to hear while getting ready for work in the morning has really been amazing. I am really an album guy at heart, and tend to listen to albums all the way through, but it is really nice to just have it all right there in front of you when you are feeling impulsi very good soundve. I've played a lot of music I haven't heard in years due only to the convenience factor."

PC Audio is a big step forward that any audiophile can get into for not a ton of money, almost overnight. And get excellent sound.

We can all be musing about what we can do to make it sound even better as we go along, but for now my advice is, if you haven't already, GET STARTED ON IT!

You'll dig it.
Dazzdax, I don't think BurrBrown is at all already dated, but they have different price levels and intended audiences is all. Once you are at the Bryston and Alpha Dac, you are in some pretty serious territory.

One question I have, do the dcs stacks and Emmlabs products still sit high on the mountian top of DACs, or does this threaten them at all?