Hi Tuyen,
you wrote: "...allergic to 'computer audio' like some audiophiles I have met? Just the thought of having to use a computer to play music makes them shiver. They don't care how good it may perform! The squares from an oscilloscope don't mean much to these audiophiles who don't
believe there is any link between measurements and music replay..."
yes, that's it: it was exactly the same with me some five years ago when it all started... "Per aspera, ad astra." One has to get "used" to those new techniques, to new "handys", to new ultra HDTV, to new Oled-TV, to new DACs and so on...
right you are, there will ever be some who will refuse... for those a proverb in Germany which goes something like this seems to fit: "Those who are no longer curious, are old!" and that's exactly the cause why the new target of the richest society on globe, "Apple", is directed to young people between four and twenty years of age... why? they still learn and adapt by playing...
...and you know the difference between "believing" and "knowing"... those who know "nothing" always have to "believe"... and you will always have to make your own experiences... and this is not easy, this is work...
but I am not a preacher... for us to get rid of that "deficiency" in "not knowing" we have come so far within the last two decades that we try out everything by measuring a n d listening and vice versa... and this is absolutely indispensable... from a certain reproduction level onwards "ears" alone are no longer "sufficient" to make things out (there is no two identical pair of them, they are neither identical between left and right), and to be able to "ameliorate" that, what we really want...
and whenever it came to more perfect squares, this was clearly and immediately listenable (for all different ears)... and hey, measurements, when Formula 1 racing cars are on the road, the computer is on board, and sending all the relevant data to the service station, and they (menwhile forbidden) are able to "adjust" all necessary "things" on the fly to further optimize just while the car is racing... I know, what those guys mean, of course, but no measurements? no measurements at all ? on that level? how naiv is that then ?
if you might want to read more about squares, please have a look here:
http://www.dddac.com/dddac1794_test_specs.htmlbut anyway, everybody is responsible for "his own" luck and may do what he likes... we found out, that there are quite a lot of curious things in addition which have influence on our sound, things that we cannot explain why they are this way or that way, they simply are as they are, and we have to face them, even if they are just the opposite of that what we expected, even "against" mathematical and physical laws... (one of those biggest steps in that direction was to mount from 60 to 120 chips, which took me nearly a year, to "convince" Doede to built it for me at all - against his conviction and studies...
I have told about this experience elsewhare, with 60 chips you have: 2 + 2 = 4, and this is just exactly perfect. So what more to expect if you further enlarge the amount of chips? I tell you: with the step from 60 to 120 the result was more than 4, much much more than 4, the door to "real HiFi" just opened and magic appeared... simply from frequency response nothing changed (not even with measurements), but the sound suddenly came from another universe and the jitter became reduced in an totally unexpected way and amount...
and we anew experienced exactly that really dramatically in another further step while mounting from 120 to 240 chips (my dream) on our last session... after everybody had listened to that - just for seconds - five guys immediately wanted to have a DDDAC1543 with 240 chips, me too of course (and I will get it)...
but that result was only half of the rent, so to speak, that result was only to 50% generated by the DAC... it was not just simply "done" by having "that" DDDAC or another playing... the real sublime and magic results were only reached in combination with an absolute "overdose" on power supply....
hardly anybody seemed to have fully realised that in all its details during our last session (they do not have Klaus's system that way on the long run in their ears as we have), but two of our guests from Karlsruhe who are long time users of WE15- and Klangfilm-systems and were the last to leave the session... (we will visit them for specifically their systems during the next months to come...)
for those who are not familiar of what specifically this is all about here is some report:
http://www.inner-magazines.com/news/90/72/Klangfilm-Bionor/...they really have good ears... they were here with us for the first time and completely unprejudiced, they never ever listened to anything within Klaus's area, and they now listened to all kinds of DDDAC combinations and power supplies that we were able to combine at all (and we only told them afterwards what had been playing), and they did no longer understand the world and were quite astonished when finding out by their own ears that Bernd's power supply with simply one deck of the DDDAC1794 was better than anything else, even Doede's own DDDAC1794 with eight decks and Sowters and everything, and better by far...
...that better, that one of them afterwards said: "well, I have already learned last time at André's that your ´futuristic´ sources very wonderfully work together with 90 year old loudspeaker systems (i.e. vintage Western Electric 15 A and Western amps...), but now I am that massively convinced and in such a temptation that every resistance is of no longer use.. my only worry is, what do I do with all my vinlys?"
get me right: not that the other power supplies were "bad" in any way, they are absolutely top of the gear, it is simply that they just do not reach that level of "magic" that we all are looking for our whole lives, but Bernd's...
I told already, this result belongs to those phenomenons which simply are unexplainable: 5 Volt are 5 Volt, and 12 Volt are 12 Volt, but generated and stabilized with different power supplies lead to such different sorts of result in sound, that you only can shake your head because of all those differences... the result is: power matters, it really heavily matter: 5 Volt and 5 Volt behave absolutely not the same with different power supplies, and you get the most out of it with Bernd's controlled power supply...
and have a look, quite some experts have tried to "handle" that phenomenon: Doede, Jean Hiraga, Bruno Plouvier, even Mundorf (yes, the one with the silver/gold caps... see his site for all kinds of different controlled power supplies up to 3.000 €/piece...)
so the amplification is one of the biggest secrets of getting "the most" out of your DACs, and yes, we have checked Bernd's controlled power supply on some twenty or so different DACs (no, I do not name them, but they were rather expensive with leading names on the market)...
Tuyen, I told you already months ago to invest all the money that you have in multi-amping Class A amplifiers (according to Jean's data-sheets) and to make it all active, this is the best you can get with presumably lowest cost and least work to do... I saw some sort of "prototype" of yours quite some time ago, but never ever any "finish"... just read about some "hum" during the building phase, but from that what I got to know there was never ever a final solution, or was there any? then please tell me if I'm wrong..
anyway, as you are into this "DAC" now, this meanwhile should no longer be the "first" step (but the second)... with the same "amount" as for your power supplies you should care for a definitely "controlled" power supply for your DAC - not just with the minimum requirements but with a powerful "overdose" in every part...
we happened to experience al these advantages just by accident... because I wanted to get rid of my long time car and lorry batteries for the DDDAC1543 which consumes some awesome 6 Ampère and takes about two days to get completely reloaded again...
so, one day Bernd came around the corner, having just finished a new controlled power supply for our Goto drivers, weighing some twenty kilos, and he said just for fun, we could try it out in combination with my DDDAC1543... and yes, what to say, totally speechless we both said: yes, that's it, it was that magic, right from the first moment on, and I would have "killed" him if he would have taken away that power supply... no coloration at all, no distortion, no indications that horns are playing, just pure music, as good as the source is...
and yes, that power supply turned out to be equally the "perfect" thing as well for our purposes with the DDDAC1794... well, meanwhile not only Mundorf and/or other suppliers, but Doede himself - after the plan of Bernd - and even Jean himself have tried their own versions, but in four week longtime tests just in January this year where we have been able to compare them all side by side, we found out that Bernd's is by far the best and "the" one to go...
and Bernd's power supply with Doede's eight deck (no Sowters, no small power supplies) that's it for me, and for Klaus...
not that the other power supplies are "bad" or so, no, no, not at all, they are all absolutely first rate, their only disadvantage is, that they simply do not "reach" magic and that level of real deep satisfaction like Bernd's...
the "gain" in sound is that dramatic, one has to hear it to believe...
even if I should repeat myself: after some four weeks of hard core testing with all what we have: DDDAC1543 with 60 chips (Klaus), DDDAC1543 with 120 chips (mine), DDDAC1794 with one deck, DDDAC1794 with four decks, controlled power supply from Mundorf (some 1.200 €, which is rather strong and really quite good - but far not good enough for our sources), the ones from Doede, which have been made in mind to be "small" and "affordable" for everybody, and which are absolutely superb regarding price/performance/ratio without a doubt (but are not that what y o u , especially y o u are looking for, neither does the latest newly built one by Jean himself.... but Bernd's...
the result was the following: Bernd's 20 kilogram super power supply (which originally was intended to become a final controlled Class A power supply for our Goto drivers) beats everything there is, and by far... that way, that Bernd's power supply with one deck - believe it or not - is far superior than Doede' total construction with 8 decks and Sowters and everything...
and we have only one explanation for that: all the "false" things seem to be immanent within the "not perfect" squares of the Sowters (as good as they might appear - presumably most of the DIYers will not have been able to "listen" to "such" "relatively good" squares before (but they still produce overswings up and down and have not enough velocity to get it perfectly vertically, and stability to get it perfectly horizontally, and take it for "good", but this is "nothing" in comparison to "perfect" squares...
you wrote further: "He is using the custom sowter output transformers (highly recommend) over the capacitor output..." well, did you ever trust me ? if so, get rid of the Sowters and get Bernd's power supply, the "value" is roughly about the same, but you will get "the" sound that you ever have been dreaming of (although it is another question of how far you are able to bring the "generated" 500 horse powers onto the road... I told already...
not to make the Sowters bad, they are highly esteemed everywhere within DIY circles (see the ongoing discussion and tweaking progresses here):
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-line-level/224108-nos-192-24-dac-pcm1794-waveio-usb-input.htmland they are surely the best available if there would not "be" Bernd's power supply.... and this exactly makes for us the difference between HiFi and magic... so, what are you looking for ?
by the way, next month, to be precise on April 5th, we will habe a bunch of guys of those DIYers mostly from the Netherlands here with us, especially Supersurfer who for fifteen years is developing with no less than Guido Tent on all kind of DACs, and who are quite some steps ahead of us with their Shunt regulators, Tantualum resistors and all different kind of tweaks, and be assured, they will get a big shock, some sort of that shock, of which lately J. told me: listening to your system for the first time was one of the greatest shocks in my life... I made so many mistakes... I want to have it exactly like you... I know I am four or five trains late, but I am already on the right platform...
so, do yourself a favor and get Bernd's power supply... I told him about your long time ambition and I have already asked him, and he explained that he would build one for you if you like (by the way, Bernd's profession is being qualified high voltage electrician...)
...and keep in mind, this is not a new investment, this is just a change (more or less), but it will bring you exactly that what you ever have been dreaming of, a perfect origin...