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USB1543 DAC - Review #2
David Dlugos of www.planet10-hifi.com also a diyAudio.com Moderator
This is a product i could live with -- as is. I am very tempted to
plunk down my money, as this and a PowerBook found in the trash is
the best digital replay i've had in my house (and i've had some big
buck ones). True plug-n-play (not the case with my buddy who tried it
on a PC running windows -- this DAC is an excuse to go out and buy a
Mac)
Yet one wonders how much better it could be with some fairly
straightforward mods. Poly coupling caps in the DACs output can be
installed and make a huge improvement, but with no room on the board
it is a bit of a rube goldberg install. I would have liked to listen
without the opamp buffer, one can only speculate how much it --- and
its rudimentary PS regulation -- are subtracting from the
performance. Similarily there is room for improvement in the DAC
power supply.
And if one wanted to go to town... how much better it could be with a
better DAC chip (probably at a big increase in cost) since -- i am
told by someone who knows how to read them -- that the specs for the
1543 give it an effective 12 bit resolution. One can only wonder how
much better it would be with the full 16 bits, because as is it is
damn (can i say that) good.
dave
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