Introduction

[ttucker329]

Hey All.  Just wanted to introduce myself to the forum.  I've been lurking for the past 2-3 months and I have to say this is one of the most interesting and educational forums I've ever been on.  You guys should feel really good about that.  A little about myself.....I'm from Austin, TX and currently working out in Afghanistan as a contractor.  I'm nearing the end of my contract and looking forward to getting home. 

I've just recent started getting into the whole audiophile thing.  I've recently started an expansive music library and bought myself a pair of DT880's and a small solid state FIIO DAC/AMP.  Just the small change from earbuds into my ipod to using a good set of headphones and a DAC/AMP was enough to get me interested and looking......so here I am.  I'm planning on starting with a stock Crack Amp and then start with some mods that others have been doing on the forum as well as the speedball.  I'll do another post when I actually get started with the kit. 

One question I did have before pulling the order trigger is the optional power cord.  Is there a noticeable difference or should I do what everyone else has suggested and start completely stock then add upgrades to listen for the difference?  Any opinions on that would be greatly valued.  Sorry for the long post, and I'm glad to (soon) be part of the club!

-Trenton

 

[Sh7eleven]

Can't comment on the sound - my cord is on the way with my stereomour - but the gravity plate design causes those cords to stick straight up. My Foreplay III has the power cord and interconnects sticking straight up - From an Aesthetic point of view, it would be nice to have all right angle connectors.

 

[ttucker329]

Good point.  I wasn't aware that the stock cord does not have a right angle.  I'm ordering the upgraded cord just for that.  thanks for the input!

 

[Grainger49]

The stock cord is straight out like a computer power cord.  The Bottlehead designed power cord has a right angled exit making it cleaner.

I hope you get both power cords so you get to hear the difference in sound between them.  It is money well spent.

When you get back to Austin you will find a number of Bottleheads around you.

 

[Laudanum]

First off, welcome!

Just for information purposes you can get a basic cord with the right angle IEC plug.  They are all of $3 - $5 with a little looking.  That's actually what I did with my kits.  I dont have the Bottlehead cord so cant comment there.  But, Crack with the Beyerdynamics is a great match.  I have a pair of 880's and 990's.  You will enjoy.

 

[ttucker329]

That's good to hear!  I've been trying to figure out a good DAC to purchase as well.  I've got it narrowed down to 4.

HRT MS II
iDac
Little Dot
Schiit Bifrost

They are all about the same performance, just different chips and prices.  I know alot of guys use the HRT MS II and the price is really good.  I'm leaning toward that one.

 

[Laudanum]

Jim (Jrebman) here on the forums has the HRT Music Streamer II ... I think.  He's very familiar with it and computer based audio.  A good guy and good source for input on HRT and all things audio.

 

[jmv]

I have a Schiit Bifrost, and I'm quite pleased with it.

 

[jrebman]

Hi Trenton,

Welcome to the forum, and thanks for your service to our country.

As far as the DACs go, I actually have the HRT MS II+, not te basic model and I have had the bifrost in on demo, but have never heard the Little Dot or iDac.  The basic (non + version) HRT is pretty good, especially for the money, but in the long run I think the bifrost is a better long term choice.  It is somewhat better than even the HRT MS II+ (in stock form) but if more flexible, plus it has the ability to upgrade in the future, which should make it a better long term investment.  Of course the HRTs are limited to 24/96 and the Bifrost can do up to 24/192 -- again, even if you don't have any 24/192 files or sources now, you probably will at some point.  The caveat here is that the usb input on the Bifrost won't support the 24/176.4 rate at this time -- a bug in the code in the usb receiver firmware that CEntrance is working on a fix for.  This does not apply to the toslink and spdif coax inputs -- they support all sampling rates.

Perhaps I missed it, but what will your source  be?  If a computer, you can always add a usb -> spdif converter later on (the Mapleshade Reclocker (a tweaked version of the original hiface, and far better than the hiface) and a bargain at $184, or yyou could wait until the firmware gets fixed (if you need 24/176.4 capability now) and then potentially use the coax and toslink inputs for other sources later on.  Or, you could buy the basic bifrost without the usb board and then get the Mapleshade reclocker spend another $84 over the price of the usb-equipped dac and have a really very nice setup that again, should keep you in the tits for a good long time to come.  You also don't need a usb cable with the reclocker as it plugs directly into the computer or laptop.

However, if you do plan to go usb, I definitely recommend an upgraded cable -- you don't have to go wild here -- the WireWorld UltraViolet and Starlight (basic, not the silver of platinum) are wonderful cables for a very reasonable price and a definite step up in sound quality.  Another excellent choice is the AudioQuest Carbon -- though the two models below it don't do much for me.

Or, if you have a 2011 mac mini, you can do direct via a decent glass optical cable to the bifrost and get really nicee results too.

And just to confuse you with one morescenario, if you used usb from a computer or laptop, and used the coax fed from a cd player or transport, you could get something like the Cambrridge ID-100 and plug an iDevice in via the optical -- then you can have up to three sources you can select between with the front panel switch.

Of course, if you want another, completely simple alternative (assuming you are using a computer or laptop) that involves no need for special usb cables or interconnects, is limited to 24/96 and provides surprisingly nice sound for the money, the Halide Design DAC HD is a real winner, and IMO sounds better than the bifrost.

I returned my bifrost and kept the Halide for my headphone system

Sorry for the information blitz but of the dacs listed above and the Halide, I don't think you can go wrong -- my fave of th lot is the halide and by a pretty good margin.

Hope this helps more than confuses ,

Jim

 

[Grainger49]

Trenton,

We haven't created an Introductions file folder but how about filling in your information in this thread:

http://www.bottlehead.com/smf/index.php/topic,715.0.html

It just explains how you found Bottlehead.

Did I say Welcome?  If not excuse my belated welcome!

 

[ttucker329]

Thanks for all the input!  I will be using my mac mini and will probably use the S/PDIF that Apple so graciously integrated into the audio out.  I will be re-ripping all of my CD's into Apple Lossless when I get home (a tiring job!) so the S/PDIF will be useful.  I'll take a look at the Halide too as it didn't come up during my research. 

 

[jrebman]

Hey Trenton,

There you go -- that should be a very nice setup and you will also benefit from the galvanic isolation of te optical cable.  Here is a link for the best optical cable I've e ver used, and they aren't super expensive either.  The stainless steel clad ones are bomb-proof and very impressive to feel, but the silflex ones are just as good and a little bit more flexible (though both are plenty flexible enough):

http://www.lifatec.com/toslink2.html

BTW, I used to have an SG standard too -- a zillion years ago when I could still play.

Take care,

Jim

 

[4krow]

Tucker, welcome to a great place for all of us. I noted that you had the 'Little Dot'. I just thought that I would save you some time and money---I owned a Little Dot for a short time. It was noisy, and just not a good tube experience.

 

[ttucker329]

No worries there.  I was doing further research and found that the Little Dot DAC 1 doesn't come anywhere close to the BiFrost.  I took a look at the Halide DAC and while I was really impressed with the form factor, its a bit out of my price range established by my better half.  The pure silver interconnects would really be awesome though.  Looks like the BiFrost is the winner as its specs beat out the Peachtree DAC-iT and I can add a USB upgrade anytime I want.  Thanks for the link to the optical cable.  I'll definitely keep that in mind.

Tell me you kept that SG Standard Jim.  It would be worth some green these days.