Berkeley Alpha DAC: cabling and breaking-in time

I got mine used so it was already broken in. I wouldn't doubt at least 200 hrs. I use the aes/ebu input (purist audio anniversary) and balanced outs (Tara labs the one) with a shunyata python ac cord. My source is a squeezebox touch into an esoteric g25u upsampler/clock, feeding the dac a 176.2 signal (1.24 filter)and it absolutely sings. The dac sits on herbie audio tender feet and 2component top weights. The dac really hums. The herbs really did reduce the transformer noise. Enjoy the dac. It is awesome. My bass frequencies are articulated, deep and very well defined. The dac is capable of it. Try the 1.24 filter.

Thank you Cerrot,
it's sound intresting to me the adoption of G25U in conjunction with the Squeezebox Touch. Could you please describe your imprssions about the improvements on sound of the Logitech with Berkeley, with and without the G25U?
Thanks in advance!
-Massimo

Gladly. The Berkeley replaced a benchmark dac. The Berkeley is more resolving and threw a wider and deeper soundstage. The biggest difference was that the music through the bada just sounded right. The touch into the dac sounds great but up sampling the touch with the g25u (replaced a monarchy combo which up sampled to 96k) brought it to a fascinating level. Increased air, detail and resolution. Picth black backgrounds and an absolute ease in listening. No fatigue at all. I can hear deeper into the music and have more tonal colors (the reeds, vocals, cymbals, bass strings). They sound much more like the real thing. Eerie, actually. I use 172k instead of 196k as it is a natural multiplier of 44.1. I will experiment with the 196k again in future.

Dennis

I have been using the Berkeley for over a year now. I do think it went through some changes over the first month or so and a fellow member who received his around the same time had similar thoughts. I find the dac very sensitive to changes in digital cables. That sort of surprised me. I spoke with Michael Ritter about recommended digital outputs and cables. He strongly encouraged using the AES3 and with some prompting suggested a Straightwire digital cable. I did experiment with that cable and went through a lengthy trial of many others, all price points. This included Kubala Sosna, Stealth, Nordost, and many more. The no contest best in my system, for my taste, was MIT. I used the Digital Proline Reference for a while and eventually decided to invest in the Oracle MA-X. I am very pleased with the cable.

I also do find the dac sensitive to power cables and power devices. I won't bore you with the list I have tried but I currently use an Acoustic Revive Power Reference plugged into an Acoustic Revive RTP Ultimate. I also do like the MIT Oracle Z3 for a little more neutrality (the AR stuff leans to the warmer side).

I also use Logitech stuff, a Transporter currently. I plan to change this as I have the Berkeley Alpha USB converter on order. I have no idea if this will be better but figured I liked the dac so much I would try their proprietary interface.

Enjoy the BADA!