New JKDAC32 USB DAC

[Ken Moreland]

Hi Kyrill and welcome,
Kyrill is a strong contributor to the Jplay forum especially on this subject http://jplay.eu/forum/computer-audio/sp ... -audio-pc/

The suggestions for a dedicated PC are interesting especially fanless. The motherboard is available from Dabs http://www.dabs.ie/products/gigabyte-h6 ... -7Y3Q.html
Anyone interested in giving it a try?

Kyrill, how is the speed of the Olimex isolator, I tried one of these http://electronicsshop.dk/galvanic_isol ... rrency=EUR but the loading speed was painfully slow but the sound was good? How long does it take to load a typical CD track and how about a high resolution track?

KM

[jkeny]

Yes, Ken,
I'm game. Maybe we should split this off to a separate thread?

I've just started one :)

Hi Kyrill and welcome,
Kyrill is a strong contributor to the Jplay forum especially on this subject http://jplay.eu/forum/computer-audio/sp ... -audio-pc/

The suggestions for a dedicated PC are interesting especially fanless. The motherboard is available from Dabs http://www.dabs.ie/products/gigabyte-h6 ... -7Y3Q.html
Anyone interested in giving it a try?

Kyrill, how is the speed of the Olimex isolator, I tried one of these http://electronicsshop.dk/galvanic_isol ... rrency=EUR but the loading speed was painfully slow but the sound was good? How long does it take to load a typical CD track and how about a high resolution track?

KM

[Ivor]

shockin' interesting stuff this

[tony]

Not to put a damper on things but the major cost would be in the area of support. Believe me, the hand-holding required would be substantial based on my experience. We are talking about selling advanced computer technology into the consumer market = nightmare!

Guys, just think about your experiences/learning curve with my DACs & extrapolate it :)

Yes I would agree with Johns thoughts there. Initially the move to dac and jplay caused endless questions and issues for me. All could have been solved by leg work and thinking but most punters including myself just want to plug it in and play. Great to see a new thread started up by John on this. The more detail on that the better as I wouldnt mind trying this option if affordable. I see Johns problem, the ultimate is a minimalist pc with dac onboard but it would also need some kinda of display but once you get to this stage it is a mainstream product with all the crazy costs that entails. Being sensible a laptop with usb connectors on a hifi shelf is not a big deal. A small dedicated PC with small screen is fine for most people.

[Ciaran]

Link to new Audio PC thread.

[jkeny]

New 6Moons review of JKDAC32 http://6moons.com/audioreviews/johnkenny2/1.html

[Sligolad]

Excellent Review John....tells it as it is with no flowery embelishments!

[jkeny]

Thanks :)

[kyrill]

Excellent Review John....tells it as it is with no flowery embelishments!

an unbelievable good piece of DAC for that price
especially as it has a world-class USB input.

[jkeny]

Thanks Kyrill

I like that he compared it to a Peter Daniels NOS DAC also! NOS = non-oversampling! All modern DACs use oversampling!!
So you get the approx sound of NOS without the drawbacks of HF droop & ultrasonic images :)
I've been saying this for a while - maybe a lot of the advantages of NOS is that it dispenses with the digital filters on the output of the DAC? A lot of the problem with OS DACs is that the commonly used filters cause a form of pre-echo distortion. That's what my audio listening test was about - to see how audible pre-echo is.

This DAC has two different filters - one standard filter & a different type of digital filter which eliminates pre-echo. The sonic result of using this filter is a noticeably better sound, less muddy, clearer, etc.!