Ooohh how is the balanced grace DAC I’m interested in that…
Fundamentally …
… it’s like the normal SDAC (signature wise), with better separation, resolution and improved dynamics … and, realistically, the best (and perhaps only) sane answer to “What’s a good value/low-cost balanced DAC?”
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Funny!
My RDAC is on the bottom!
(And the Balanced SDAC to the left …)
I shall have to take proper pictures on Thursday (I could do it tomorrow, but that’d mean going into the office on a Wednesday … and nothing good will come of that!).
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I’m actually in the middle of rearranging my space so it is kind of a mess lol…not its final form/evolution lol
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SR15 sounds really good with the CA Cascades with balanced cables! Yeah buddy! Tomorrow I’ll try the Elegia…but I don’t have a balanced adapter for them so it will just be SE, depending on how that goes and if I can get Qobuz running on the SR15 I might be selling the THX788…lol
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What adapter do you need?
2.5mm TRRS to … ?
May have one you can have …
Qobuz, via the OpenAPK feature on the A&K players (a bit fiddly to start), worked beautifully for me. Still using it on the SP1000M (and wishing the N8 could do it too).
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I got Qobuz up and running took a bit of figuring out but honestly the harder one was Spotify due to all the cracked APKs for free premium…trying to find a legit APK for it was a m’f (needless to say I tried installing multiple and I new they weren’t good when they wouldn’t initialize…luckily so far no virus/trackers) finally got a good one loaded and running though.
So far I’m really digging on the CA Cascade and this as a combo! I’ve ordered a XLR to 2.5mm adapter (balanced)
I’m working from home today so I’ll be playing with my two new toys…I have the EC ZDT Jr open and on my lap right now… I’ll post a pic in a sec… but man did they go crazy with the glue gun on this thing!.. Now I just need to figure out where to get and what type of shielding to wrap the transformer…SBAF has some good talks on it but no instructions that are easy for a novice like me to follow lol… I’ll probably put it all back together today so I can listen some more, but once I have the supplies in to fix the transformer it will be amp surgery time!!! get your smock and gloves!!! Luckily I have a good sense of humor and smallish hands?? 
lol…not funny =(
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If you go to APKPure (which is A&K’s recommended source), and search for “Spotify”, the first link should be the legitimate version. I don’t see any dodgy versions there at all, in fact (though I only scrolled down a few pages).
Same for TIDAL and Qobuz.
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That is where I got Qobuz from, the Spotify apk on there is not available…the only link is to the google store to download. I think Spotify took it down due to people cracking it lol. I found a legit version on another site luckily… I may have to add Tidal back to my streaming service at some point, but we’ll see… back to figuring out this ZDT Jr shielding fun times… I was hoping I could just go to homedepot or similar eliectronics store but so far not finding what I need at those places…and I don’t feel like driving around all day, as I have “work” to do =(
Ahhhhhhhhhhhbbbbhbbbfffffgghhhghffdff…
Now I just need to extend the transformer wires… Drill a hole…wait on shielding…and hope this wasn’t for naught lol
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Got a couple of boxes the other day, please excuse terrible pics as I was in a rush to try it out
First box wasn’t too exciting, it was my replacement T2s…
I was more interested in the second box, so interested that it has taken me 3 days to upload the box pic
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Now my chain looks tiny more professional…
Anyway it completes the current chapter of my sr1a adventure. With the built 10-band peq, everything works as expected – consistently across digital platforms (foobar2000 and tidal) & at much lower cost than permanent roon subscription.
RTA and level meters are unexpectedly pleasing.
PS. Picked this up at ebay… at a ridiculous(!) price. Cosmetic conditions not ideal though.
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I’ve had that on my list for a bit now lol…just no where to put it cleanly…
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Aha!
So that’s the “little toy” you were referring to!
Nice to see that it uses internal 32-40 bit math and can do it’s thing purely in the digital domain (i.e. without having to use the ADC or DAC in the unit).
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Haha. Yes it is. And I really wanted to avoid including extra AD-DA conversions in the chain.
32-40 bits sounds like calculation would be done after 16-bit up shifting original 16-24 bit signal (then recovering to the input level) to increase significant (float) digits during the process. I doubt its significant effectiveness in simpler equalizations, but no loss from my side. haha.
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Ordered yesterday afternoon, arrived this morning with Amazon Prime:
A curious little box, the Cambridge Audio Alva Duo MM/MC Preamplifier, which interestingly also includes a headphone amplifier. I came across it over at the Audio Science Review website, in this Review and Measurements thread. More than anything else I‘m always interested in measurements first, so as this little thing measures remarkably well and is only $299 I want to give it a try. The headphone section unfortunately seems to be a bit weak, but certainly an interesting option for folks who just occasionally listen to vinyl and want to add a quick and inexpensive but technically good way to do that.
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