Zanden DAC noise problem

Hi Nilthepill,

Sounds very interesting! I have spoken with ERic Pheils who said Mitsubishi tested the new Zanden cables and found that with the Safety Wave fabric in it...they had 5db lower noise floor...the guys at Mitsubishi were apparently dumbfounded.

Enjoy!

As for Stahl-Tek...i have heard only the original Vekian 2 years ago. The new Opus is supposedly far better, more organic, better sense of live music in the upper treble.

That said, the Stahl-Tek Vekian is the first digital ever to make me consider trading in my beloved Zanden. I have heard Scarlatti, Emm CDSA, Meridian 808.2i, ARC CD7, CD8, Wadia s7i, Metronome Kalista Ref/C2A...none have tempted me so far.

But as some will be sick of reading...i have been trying to speak with everyone i can think of about Zanden v STahl-tek...until i can get a shoot-out arranged hopefully in about a month's time.

The Stahl-Tek has a Scarlatti-like low noise floor, the ability to keep tempo/pace in complex passages which enables you to totally and easily understand contrapuntal themes which are often lost on other digital playback. I have not heard such effortless delivery of multiple individual themes of music so you can follow each one before.

At the same time, my Zanden is older than yours. I have heard the latest Zanden but not for long enough and not in a direct shoot-out with Stahl-Tek.

But i have spoken to more than a few guys in Asia who owned Zanden and have traded in for stahl-tek. so it does make me think! honestly, i could be very happy with Zanden (as well i should!)...but if i am going to 'double down' and buy a second-hand transport...i may as well be sure about this. STay tuned!...;)

Pls post your findings about Zanden cables when you hear them!!!!!!!!!!

ou my want to try Bill T at Music Technology.com. He has a vast amount of experience with a wide range of gear and was the Product Design engineer at Conrad Johnson for 20 Y.

Thanks for all the responses.I did upgrade my DAC in 2008,and I did get the Zanden cable connecting the DAC and transport repaired at Audio Revelation they did an excellent job.I also purchased from them a5J cable,that cable seems somewhat brighter than the Zanden cable,however it might not be completely broken in.As for repairing the DAC I decided to live with it as the hum is not noticeable at normal listening levels.
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Ramy,

Good to know. Was there a big improvement in the 2008 Zanden DAC upgrade? i am thinking of doing the upgrade myself...what were the improvements, if could be specific? thanks!

I do not know the specific upgrades to the DAC,and I could not detect a significant audio quality improvement.The damage to the pocket book was more significant.However it is hard for me to really evaluate it properly.In my main system the Zanden did not truly shine,however in my new bedroom system the Zanden does contribute significantly to the musicality of the sound.Most of the time I listen downloads of my CDs onto the Meridian Sooloos and the sound is excellent I think I have some improvement at times when the I use the Zanden by passing the Meridian861V6 and playing through the Einstein preamp directly into Atma Sphere M-60 amps.However there are so many variables such as power cables, interconnect,vibration platforms etc.that it is not a truly controlled comparisons.