Playback Designs vs. Berkeley

Tab110s

Usually I set Berkeley DAC volume at 55 and use ASR volume control. I also tried setting ASR volume at 51 which according to ASR is a neutral position where there is no active gain and use Berkeley volume control. However, Berkeley gain is rather low and at full volume on Berkeley sometimes it still was not enough.

"Jonathan, I wonder if you can elaborate the upcoming USB upgrade a bit more. I am in the process of auditioning Weiss INT202 to compare to my Lynx AES 16 card but it seems like I should wait to see what's going on with PD USB first."

Suteetat: We already have transfers through USB of up to 384 kHz. We expect to be able to transfer over 5.6 MHz through a USB connection shortly. You might even hear it at CES if you care to visit!

"What MH unit did you use and what soundcard was in the Mac Pro to output AES/EBU?

Where the DACs connected directly to active monitors/amps?"

Kana813: We were using the Sonic 305 which is a Sonic branded ULN-8 with a Lynx AES16 card.
The DAC's were connected through a Crane Song Avocet (modified by Dave Hill) and Pass Labs XA-100.5 monoblocs.

Jonathan, thanks for the information. Another quick question, is there already a firmware upgrade or something that would let the current PLayback support 384 kHz USB input available or is it only a working prototype that will be incorporated in the USB upgrade that you mention.
This is a bit unclear to me. I assume there will be some kind of USB driver to support this as it is unlikely that Window will support this natively.

Also for 5.6 MHz transmission, I assume that it would be useful for DSD but I am not sure how useful that is going to be unless there is a way to copy SACD to HD.

I will not be at CES but some friends are going there and I will ask them to take a look for me.

"We were using the Sonic 305 which is a Sonic branded ULN-8 with a Lynx AES16 card.The DAC's were connected through a Crane Song Avocet (modified by Dave Hill) and Pass Labs XA-100.5 monoblocs."

Crna39-

Appreciate the additional info.

Computer Audiophiles don't need or use a control units like the Crane Song Avocet with the MH units to directly driving their amp(s)or active speakers.

Perhaps the Avocet masked or colored the superior sound of the MH based unit in your system.

IMO, less boxes and cables = better SQ.