Lite DAC versus Altmann versus Audio Note 2.1X

Digital Drive

Upsamplers, DACs, jitter, shakes and analogue withdrawals, this is it.

Well here it is! I have been able to acquire an Altmann DAC and an Audio Note 2.1X from some friends of mine to use against my modified Lite DAC AH.
The mods done to my Lite DAC AH were very simple and easy to do with great results and very, very inexpensive. I can thank a fellow inmate "JANDG" for the heads up on bypassing the stock output stage and going direct from the DAC chip through a 2.0(cap of choice) coupling cap(I use a VH OIMP cap). That mod made a big difference from the stock opamp output but the real difference was when I went battery power supply and disconnected the transformer solid state rectified power supply.
Now comparing the three DACs was very hard to do. All sounded great and all had their plusses but the biggest plus the AH had against the other two was the cost. You can buy the DAC brandy new for about $180 and get it modified to the point mine was done for about $125 or so with the SLA battery and coupling caps of choice. The coupling dcaps and choice of battery(I used a 5 amp hour SLA battery) will determine the cost of the mods. The labor is very nominal in time and if you needed it done, it can be done for under $75 for the labor(approx. 1 hour time) from a qualified tech, and that's with putting in the battery terminals on the back of the DAC.
As far as the sonics, the AH had it all over the Audio Note and was just as good as the Altmann. I felt the AH had much cleaner highs. The bass was equal with the Altmann and the Audio Note. The midrange was all over the Audio Note from the Altmann and the Lite DAC AH. I used them all with my just built JE Labs 76 preamp and I felt the tube output of the Audio Note got in the way. After all, you are running a tube preamp into a tube preamp at that point. If you use the Audio Note direct(as I did at one time) to an amp with volume pots built into the amp, then it sounded much better than through my preamp. I tried other preamps and got the same results.
Now the real Kicker! DAC AH with mods and my time(if I were to put a value on my time) $285. The Altmann without the JISCO or any other additions to it $975. The Audio Note 2.1X around $2000.

Sonically no one DAC was really better than the other as far as being blown away. For my money? Well, I guess you can tell where I'm at! The Lite DAC is a real sleeper and will stand in there with DACs costing thousands.
Again! Only my opinion so please be kind! But I can only wonder why there aren't more Audio Note DACs for sale.
OK Audio Note people. You are free to hammer me now!

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Topic - Lite DAC versus Altmann versus Audio Note 2.1X - xaudiomanx 18:11:33 09/28/06 (7)

It's fun and it's a bargain. But it ain't no 2.1x - Quiet Earth 22:14:42 10/3/06 (0)

Re: Lite DAC versus Altmann versus Audio Note 2.1X - koscsof1@t-email.hu 02:56:43 09/30/06 (0)

What a pleasure... - RioTubes 19:51:32 09/28/06 (4)

Re: What a pleasure... - xaudiomanx 20:01:56 09/28/06 (3)

Re: What a pleasure... - zanash 23:29:24 09/28/06 (2)

Re: What a pleasure... - xaudiomanx 03:37:44 09/29/06 (1)

Re: What a pleasure... - nguyenchiro@yahoo.com 12:25:34 10/12/06 (0)

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