Audio Alchemy options

iep · 16th June 2010, 08:04 PM

I'm looking for a decent DAC to connect to the SPDIF output of my media PC. I've seen s few older Audio Alchemy DACs going on eBay recently and thought they might be worth a punt (particularly with a bit of light modding).

However, I don't know a huge amount about the range of products they make and was looking for a bit of info.

The two that come up most often are the DDE and DAC-IN-THE-BOX. Does anyone know how they compare?

Alternatively, I could wait a while and save up for a REGA IO to match my Mira amp and planet CD player. Do people think the IO would be much better than the AA?

Cheers,

iep

stephensank · 17th June 2010, 02:08 AM

The Dac in the Box is a lovely sounding little dac, and I consider it actually the best of the AA dacs(ddeV3.0 would have been, if the soundstage had not be collapsed by the horrid PMD100 hdcd chip). It's very smooth & easy on the ears, even stock. Some upgrading & a better power supply can make it more spacious & punchy, but it's quite fine stock.

iep · 17th June 2010, 07:42 AM

Thanks, that is good to know. It's difficult to work out how the various models compare so a bit of word of mouth advice is very useful.

At a complete tangent, has anyone tried one of these?

Mark Findlay Audio DAC

iep

SilverStrings · 17th June 2010, 10:00 AM

The audio alchemy stuff is really good I have a DDS pro and a Pro32 DTI which are connected together through their I2S inputs/outputs and that is connected to my TADAC dac, I have never heard a better sounding CD player. I also use to own a dac in the box which I powered with a linear power supply and it was really good but the analog output stopped working after a now I just have it sitting around here I'll probably put up on ebay soon.

arupg · 29th June 2010, 12:10 PM

@iep: Go for the DITB, its worth every penny. As stephensank says, yes indeed, its probably Mark Schifter's best done job while at AA. The DITB can be pushed up several notches & it all depends how far you would like to pursue that road. It also benefits quite a bit if you can ADD a jitter-buster like DTI+ or Theta TLC before it.

In case you would like to talk about the mods, I am cool with it.

Andystam · 28th September 2010, 12:01 AM

Hi,

I too have the AA gear and love it. I have the dds pro, dti pro 32 and the dde v3. I'd love to be able to use the i2s bus connection but I can't find the right connectors to make up cables. Can anyone tell me where to buy parts or cables or even how to modify the connections on the gear itself to a more readily available connector type?
Any advice is much appreciated.

Regards,

Andy

16th June 2010, 08:04 PM	#1
iep diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2005	Audio Alchemy options I'm looking for a decent DAC to connect to the SPDIF output of my media PC. I've seen s few older Audio Alchemy DACs going on eBay recently and thought they might be worth a punt (particularly with a bit of light modding). However, I don't know a huge amount about the range of products they make and was looking for a bit of info. The two that come up most often are the DDE and DAC-IN-THE-BOX. Does anyone know how they compare? Alternatively, I could wait a while and save up for a REGA IO to match my Mira amp and planet CD player. Do people think the IO would be much better than the AA? Cheers, iep

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17th June 2010, 02:08 AM	#2
stephensank diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2006	The Dac in the Box is a lovely sounding little dac, and I consider it actually the best of the AA dacs(ddeV3.0 would have been, if the soundstage had not be collapsed by the horrid PMD100 hdcd chip). It's very smooth & easy on the ears, even stock. Some upgrading & a better power supply can make it more spacious & punchy, but it's quite fine stock.

17th June 2010, 07:42 AM	#3
iep diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2005	Thanks, that is good to know. It's difficult to work out how the various models compare so a bit of word of mouth advice is very useful. At a complete tangent, has anyone tried one of these? Mark Findlay Audio DAC iep

17th June 2010, 10:00 AM	#4
SilverStrings diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: SoCal	The audio alchemy stuff is really good I have a DDS pro and a Pro32 DTI which are connected together through their I2S inputs/outputs and that is connected to my TADAC dac, I have never heard a better sounding CD player. I also use to own a dac in the box which I powered with a linear power supply and it was really good but the analog output stopped working after a now I just have it sitting around here I'll probably put up on ebay soon.

29th June 2010, 12:10 PM	#5
arupg diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Riga	@iep: Go for the DITB, its worth every penny. As stephensank says, yes indeed, its probably Mark Schifter's best done job while at AA. The DITB can be pushed up several notches & it all depends how far you would like to pursue that road. It also benefits quite a bit if you can ADD a jitter-buster like DTI+ or Theta TLC before it. In case you would like to talk about the mods, I am cool with it.

28th September 2010, 12:01 AM	#6
Andystam diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2010	Hi, I too have the AA gear and love it. I have the dds pro, dti pro 32 and the dde v3. I'd love to be able to use the i2s bus connection but I can't find the right connectors to make up cables. Can anyone tell me where to buy parts or cables or even how to modify the connections on the gear itself to a more readily available connector type? Any advice is much appreciated. Regards, Andy