Taking orders :)
- Thread starter xcortes
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Grainger49
New member
Interesting! I see a Shielded Power Cable. It looks much like the one I built with the Bottlehead Power Cord kit.
What do you mean " . . . sounding with the charging circuit active"?
What do you mean " . . . sounding with the charging circuit active"?
denti alligator
New member
Cool! Can't wait. Sounds like this could be the event of 2014.
A couple questions:
1) Is the height the same as all BH kits? Could it be made slower or is the space needed?
2) Would this cause any electronic interference issues with, say, another BH amp if it were placed too close?
A couple questions:
1) Is the height the same as all BH kits? Could it be made slower or is the space needed?
2) Would this cause any electronic interference issues with, say, another BH amp if it were placed too close?
Chassis is the same height as all others, because the DAC board hangs vertically in a shield box under the chassis.
As to interference, we get none in our setup. John took great pains to make a very quiet well shielded layout with very short signal paths.
As to interference, we get none in our setup. John took great pains to make a very quiet well shielded layout with very short signal paths.
madbrayniak
New member
HOT DOG!
This is really getting me excited! and the idea of using the batteries is GENIUS! Simpler truely is better!
Now that I have been enjoying my Quickie for about a year Im wanting to change that over to a headphone amp and build a BeePree and one of these!
This is really getting me excited! and the idea of using the batteries is GENIUS! Simpler truely is better!
Now that I have been enjoying my Quickie for about a year Im wanting to change that over to a headphone amp and build a BeePree and one of these!
John Swenson
New member
A couple days ago I was sick and couldn't get a couple brain cells together to do any work (like laying out boards for the Bottlehead DAC) and decided to move the prototype into the main listening system. This wasn't easy, the dac board itself is tiny, but I need the linear power supply for the DAC and the squeezebox (running the DAC off the coax S/PDIF out from the SBT). Since I had some time I decided to set all this up, got it running, queued up some music and almost fell on the floor. Up to this point I had just been listening with headphones in the lab, WOW I was blown away!
With good speakers and amp the sense of space just overwhelmed me, this was well beyond anything I had EVER heard before. I just sat down and listened for hours. The sense of being "pulled in" to the music was astonishing.
I put about 500 tracks on the playlist, I just sat there enjoying the experience the rest of the evening, all night and the next morning. (I did get up to go to the bathroom, but that was it)
That was definitely the longest listening session I have ever had, and probably the most enjoyable. This DAC is really something special.
BTW it wasn't just because I was sick, that is all gone and I still get that reaction to listening to it. But now I have to go back to work so I don't have much time to listen anymore.
Thanks for being patient while we get this to you, it is definitely going to be worth it.
John S.
With good speakers and amp the sense of space just overwhelmed me, this was well beyond anything I had EVER heard before. I just sat down and listened for hours. The sense of being "pulled in" to the music was astonishing.
I put about 500 tracks on the playlist, I just sat there enjoying the experience the rest of the evening, all night and the next morning. (I did get up to go to the bathroom, but that was it)
That was definitely the longest listening session I have ever had, and probably the most enjoyable. This DAC is really something special.
BTW it wasn't just because I was sick, that is all gone and I still get that reaction to listening to it. But now I have to go back to work so I don't have much time to listen anymore.
Thanks for being patient while we get this to you, it is definitely going to be worth it.
John S.
John,
Very good news! At this point I have no more technical questions -- I don't feel any need to know any more technical details -- dac chip, output section, aasync, galvanic isolation, number of dac chips, etc. -- it's what comes out that matters and this sounds like something I'll just have to have in my system.
I was really impressed with the prototype that was at RMAF a few years back but it sounds like this is a whole different animal.
Sign me up!
Jim
Very good news! At this point I have no more technical questions -- I don't feel any need to know any more technical details -- dac chip, output section, aasync, galvanic isolation, number of dac chips, etc. -- it's what comes out that matters and this sounds like something I'll just have to have in my system.
I was really impressed with the prototype that was at RMAF a few years back but it sounds like this is a whole different animal.
Sign me up!
Jim
Yes this is a different animal. I have the previous DAC, the second prototype based on PCM1704s that were were demoing this the past year in the listening room. It's really nice and we got a lot of nice complements about it. But the new DAC has such a black background and such a lack of electronic artifacts compared to anything else we have used that it is the one being used all the time now.
John's software digital filter plays a very big part in this. We have a switch on the DAC that allows you to use the hardware filter that is internal to the DAC or John's filter. The hardware filter is very good, but we were joking that the switch is a feature you will only use once.
John's software digital filter plays a very big part in this. We have a switch on the DAC that allows you to use the hardware filter that is internal to the DAC or John's filter. The hardware filter is very good, but we were joking that the switch is a feature you will only use once.
mcandmar
New member
I like the switch idea but don't take this the wrong way when i say please add an "off" position to it. Reason i say that is a lot of people will be put off by the very idea of a filter, and besides being able to toggle it on/off will help demonstrate the benefit. My vote is a 3 way toggle 
John Swenson
New member
That's actually what the switch is for, the only way to turn off the filter built into the DAC chip is to feed it 352 or 384. By turning my filter off you can then use an external program to implement your own filter if you want to play around with designing your own. In order to do that you have to turn off my filter and send your 352 or 384 to the DAC chip which will then turn off ITS filter. The switch lets you do that.
If you are not doing that just leave my filter on.
There HAS to be a filter, if you just send a 44.1 or 96 or whatever, the DAC chip will use its own. The only way to turn it off is to upsample to 352 or 384.
BTW a reconstruction filter is not evil, it is a very good thing, it's just that all the DAC chip implementations have made compromises that adversely affect the sound quality. That is what my filter is all about, doing it right so you get the good things from a proper reconstruction filter with out the bad side effects of the DAC chip implementations.
The subject is fairly deep and complicated, it takes WAY more time than I have right now to give it justice in this post. I have written extensively about it on other forums, if you want to track those down you can get some of the details.
The over all summary is that not having an oversampling reconstruction filter is NOT the best sound. It may be better than some of the horrible sounding filters used in DAC chips, but a properly done oversampling reconstruction filter sounds way better than either no filter or the ones built into the DAC chips. The secret is to find the RIGHT filter and how to implement it without degrading the sound. I have been working on this for many years and what is in the BH DAC is the culmination of all that research and listening.
John S.
If you are not doing that just leave my filter on.
There HAS to be a filter, if you just send a 44.1 or 96 or whatever, the DAC chip will use its own. The only way to turn it off is to upsample to 352 or 384.
BTW a reconstruction filter is not evil, it is a very good thing, it's just that all the DAC chip implementations have made compromises that adversely affect the sound quality. That is what my filter is all about, doing it right so you get the good things from a proper reconstruction filter with out the bad side effects of the DAC chip implementations.
The subject is fairly deep and complicated, it takes WAY more time than I have right now to give it justice in this post. I have written extensively about it on other forums, if you want to track those down you can get some of the details.
The over all summary is that not having an oversampling reconstruction filter is NOT the best sound. It may be better than some of the horrible sounding filters used in DAC chips, but a properly done oversampling reconstruction filter sounds way better than either no filter or the ones built into the DAC chips. The secret is to find the RIGHT filter and how to implement it without degrading the sound. I have been working on this for many years and what is in the BH DAC is the culmination of all that research and listening.
John S.
Chris
New member
Wow.. John , you sure have me sold with everyone of your posts... "does this make me TOO easy???" haha.. I know you have already mentioned the possibility of a DSD capability in the future.. and as I finally get around to reading all the "audio show" reports.., they keep saying the BIG thing this year is DSD.... All I want to say, is I very much hope that you can "for extra charge of course in the future" is make DSD or whatever available as an add on... However.. like ALL my previous EXPENSIVE digital components that are mint versions of extinct siliconasaurus rexs"... I am only saying, with infinite trust in Doc, PJ and You can try your best to make it somewhat upgradeable... I VERY much know, ALL of it is not in your hands , but the industry giant powers... My point is... I buy a $2500 dvd SOTA player.. 3 years later it is now basically a 500 dollar player.. Now my 45 pound copper chassis triple transformer beautiful gold beast is probably tough to give away.... times this by a few purchases.. and the digital world is quite painful to soul and pocket.... I MOST definitely will buy your DAC.. I have faith that upgrades will be available for as long as technologically possible.. THIS is why we should buy a Bottlehead DAC.. DOC and Company have already established the "off the charts" quality, price and just plain common sense STANDARD..... I really love how Bottlehead is a group of such QUALITY people... Thank you guys... SINCERELY........ disclaimer... NO , I do not get a free stay at PJs summer cabin, nor do I know Doc nor get any free stuff... nuff said...... However, gettin' hammered with PJ at his summer cabin shooting the breeze about audio?? yeah , that would be a cool day...
denti alligator
New member
Doc, what are the chances of a Xmas pre-order?
John,
Really, really interesting as I've always been a big FAN of NOS dacs, no software SRC and the like, but I did get to hear the chordette dac with the fpla and proprietary processing software and it did some very nice stuff to redbook and what you're doing here seems very much along those lines but with your own algorithms, etc.
Yes, with every new post from you I'm more and more convinced that this dac will be sitting in my reference system.
Doc, what Sam said.
-- Jim
Really, really interesting as I've always been a big FAN of NOS dacs, no software SRC and the like, but I did get to hear the chordette dac with the fpla and proprietary processing software and it did some very nice stuff to redbook and what you're doing here seems very much along those lines but with your own algorithms, etc.
Yes, with every new post from you I'm more and more convinced that this dac will be sitting in my reference system.
Doc, what Sam said.
-- Jim
