Yes it an extremely high resolution, revealing DAC. Designed for the ultimate in transparency. Too transparent for some. But the key is to balance the system for the best synergy. This is the beauty of being able to swap the opamp's with this amp.
At the moment the Bursons sound very good in fact I am vey happy.
How do you think they will change after burn in.
Also I think I should keep the Sparkos for later when my new DAC arrives so I can test them again then.
The Mirus will soon be fitted with dual ESS 9038pro's. This will launch it into another world. The Sabre chip engineer lives down the road from me. He's also the man who completely designed the Mirus from the ground up.
Hi ti33er so based on my findings have you decided which op amp to go for with your NC500s.
As I said in another post I will hold onto the Sparkos op amps in case I find the system changes when I get the FDAC and I need to tone it down.
Hi Colmo
I think I would need to decide with the FDAC in my system as this will be doing all of my music! Hopefully middle of this year, hopefully, we start getting them
Interesting, but I just got a message from a TAG McLaren owner/friend, who tested opa627 (known to work well in the AV32R / AV192R substituting the 2134 OpAmp), then opa827, then BURSON v5 and Sparkos... He is French, message pasted below...
"Hi Paul,
I have done multiple tests with the Opa.
The biggest winner is undoubtedly the V5 BURSON, the sound and the last is the most detailed, the scene wider and the various frequencies that stand out the most.
The second is the SPARKOS, the sound is very good but the soundstage is less extensive and less detailed instruments.
The third is the 827 and the last is 627.
For the test I took the CD Tag Mclaren which is very well mastered all possible sounds.
With BURSON and TMREQ of AV32R, Tag DP sound is much higher than that of the REF3 AUDIO RESEARCH, even with the DAC of Chord.
Both McIntosh amp (MC7270 and MC500) are used instead of Tag amp"
Not sure how long they were in his system for, if burning them in will make one suit his system better than the other later?
I think I would need to decide with the FDAC in my system as this will be doing all of my music! Hopefully middle of this year, hopefully, we start getting them
Interesting, but I just got a message from a TAG McLaren owner/friend, who tested opa627 (known to work well in the AV32R / AV192R substituting the 2134 OpAmp), then opa827, then BURSON v5 and Sparkos... He is French, message pasted below...
"Hi Paul,
I have done multiple tests with the Opa.
The biggest winner is undoubtedly the V5 BURSON, the sound and the last is the most detailed, the scene wider and the various frequencies that stand out the most.
The second is the SPARKOS, the sound is very good but the soundstage is less extensive and less detailed instruments.
The third is the 827 and the last is 627.
For the test I took the CD Tag Mclaren which is very well mastered all possible sounds.
With BURSON and TMREQ of AV32R, Tag DP sound is much higher than that of the REF3 AUDIO RESEARCH, even with the DAC of Chord.
Both McIntosh amp (MC7270 and MC500) are used instead of Tag amp"
Not sure how long they were in his system for, if burning them in will make one suit his system better than the other later?
So I will buy an amp from Carven with nc1200 emulation.
I think it is easy and will cost me only €700.
What is that?
First post
This is me! haha I am about to build up a pair of NC400's and I am looking for info on the best PSU designs for them. After hundreds of pages of content no real info on PSU options or testing.
I have to think with all of the back and forth about opamps (which I love), one would think you guys would have also questioned SMPS vs a LPS. I know I have tested both with his UcD modules and have found very different results then what Bruno has suggested. In fact I have 2 on my bench right now. Both sound really great but are in fact different.
Has anyone else done this kind of testing with his Ncores?
This is me! haha I am about to build up a pair of NC400's and I am looking for info on the best PSU designs for them. After hundreds of pages of content no real info on PSU options or testing.
I have to think with all of the back and forth about opamps (which I love), one would think you guys would have also questioned SMPS vs a LPS. I know I have tested both with his UcD modules and have found very different results then what Bruno has suggested. In fact I have 2 on my bench right now. Both sound really great but are in fact different.
Has anyone else done this kind of testing with his Ncores?
It was long before the Ncore's that it was determined the SMPS's are better than LPS's for their amps. This is why they ditched their LPS's, and now only sell the SMPS. It wasn't a move to degrade performance.
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Alright, you got me!
I have done UcD 180, 400 and 1200 and NC400 in varies ways. I have in fact done two UcD400HG, one where I removed the LM4562 and fed it with a diamond transistor circuit, linear power supply.
The other UcD400 I did was one that Guido Tent sent me to assemble for a customer, the hybrid amp:
So again, the LM4562 was removed and tube front-end with gain. Not a DIY kit for newbies - there were a couple of things I needed to get in touch with Guido about.
It had 2 x 300VA transformers
With the UcD180HG I did, left the LM4562, but added a unity gain tube buffer in front.
So I can speak with some experience, when I say:
Whether you use SMPS or linear supplies, and I have done both and so have friends of mine, yet the NC400 and SMPS600 together beats the lot of them.
I call this My Mighty Tiny Amp.
So there you are. What will the NC400 sound like with linear supply? Don't know, but I doubt if better, and maybe just different, as you say.
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It is a logical conclusion.
So you can put a DSP inside nc500 to emulate a Soulution or a C.A.T. jl2
What you do not understand ?
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I am sure I am not the only one who would love to see your results! Please do share!
what is the reason for your post? a lot of words and you say nothing ;-(Alright, you got me!
I have done UcD 180, 400 and 1200 and NC400 in varies ways. I have ....
...following a lot of words and a picture...
Don't know, but I doubt if better, and maybe just different, as you say.
if you do test in the past, why not sharing your results / findings?
I thought you had already doe this with a variety of op amps and your discrete design...
I would say that if an op amp takes more than a fraction of a second to 'burn in' it's outright scary.
I wouldn't want a component with that much drift in my system.
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Theta did this testing and went in favour of a massive LPS for their Prometheus and even with the Dreadnaught where space is at a premium they went with LPS. Of course, there may be reasons other technical ones for their decision. But there may not be.
Coupling an NC400 / 500 / 1200 module with the applicable Hypex SMPS hardly qualifies as DIY. At best it is IKEA-style self-assembly. (That doesn't at all make it a bad project or inferior amp.)
Doing an NC build with my own linear supply is a project I would love to do at some point. Perhaps when I have finished my current amp projects. It was higher on my priority list before Theta did exactly what I wanted. The Dreadnaught D is fantastic value.
Doing an NC build with my own linear supply is a project I would love to do at some point. Perhaps when I have finished my current amp projects. It was higher on my priority list before Theta did exactly what I wanted. The Dreadnaught D is fantastic value.
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