End of the road DAC

For you New Yorkers, Audioarts has one of these (Adam's DAC) Trinity's in the store apparently. Not sure if Trinity will be at CES or not. Anyone know?
 
tunes said:
For you New Yorkers, Audioarts has one of these (Adam's DAC) Trinity's in the store apparently. Not sure if Trinity will be at CES or not. Anyone know?
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Yes it will be. I'm already in contact with the manufacturer and US distributor.
 
Mike,
You going to CES? Hope so for those of us who can't get there :)
Chris
 
Happy with my CH Precision C1 but it's also half the price (roughly) of the Trinity.
Maybe not a good idea for me to hear it :)
 
MDP said:
Really interesting stuff Adam, thanks !!

Adam, even though I can't afford one. Is it that much better than a Linn DS ?
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Unfortunately - yes. It is just another league altogether. It is like comparing well specd Passat to Rolls.
 
Jazzhead said:
Elberoth ... could you tell us please , what makes it so special . What are you using as Transport/Streamer . Have you been able to compare it to the Vivaldi DAC . Look forward to your thoughts .
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If you are talking about my aureal impressions, then please read my previous posts. I have a hi-man PC server, fanless, with SSD, fast RAM, powerful processor, all SOtM bits etc.

I did not have a chance to compare it to the Vivaldi head to head - but it is in the cards. I think I will do such a comparo next month - a friend of mine owns the Vivaldi and wants to listen to the Trinity in his system.
 
asiufy said:
Adam,
Congrats :) I was curious about that thread on WBF, where the designer showed up. It does indeed look cheap on the outside, but then, so does the MSB :)
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It is actually very well made - much better than the MSB (it is made in Germany afterall). The box is made from a solid block of aluminium, the connectors, footers, even the screws used are of highest quality. See the images in the preamp review on the positive feedback site.
 
elegy said:
Happy with my CH Precision C1 but it's also half the price (roughly) of the Trinity.
Maybe not a good idea for me to hear it :)
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Please do not listen to one, if you have no intention / means to buy one. You will instantly start hating your DAC, and that is worst that can happen to an audiophile.

This is what happened to me and I just was not able to return it and start listening again on my MSB (I think that at least 2 months vacation would be necessary to force the sound out of my head).
 
p504931106-4.jpg


Inside, also the preamp is built in the same way.
 
Adam,

I was literally going to place an order for the full MSB Diamond stack on Monday with the Diamond DAC and Power Base, UMT+ and Dual Signature Transport Power Base. When you compared the Trinity to the MSB DAC, were you using the Diamond Power Base and the Galaxy Clock? I assume you were using the USB2 input on the MSB? I apologize if you made this clear in the thread already -- just trying to figure out whether you compared the MSB DAC on a standalone basis to the Trinity DAC or if you compared the Trinity to the full MSB stack? Considering the Trinity MSRP is closer to the cost of the full MSB stack including the UMT+, I'm wondering if you were comparing apples to apples? As you likely know, a lot of the magic of the MSB Diamond DAC is only realized after using the full stack vs using the Diamond MSB on a standalone basis. Certainly not questioning your judgement - just want to understand the details of your comparison.

Thanks,

Battles
 
Elberoth said:
Francesco,

(...) As as for the preamp. this is where it gets interesting. I use digital attenuation in ... Jriver ! I have only changed the output to 24bits, which makes the attenuation far less sound degrading. The MSB had analog preamp built in - I rekon, on a regular analog preamp, bit perfect output, the difference may be even bigger !

But quite frankly - I do not care. It sounds much better with the Jriver volume than the MSB with analog one. It all that counts for me.
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Adam,

Did you try it with the DartZeel or another power amplifier? The Trinity and the Dart would seem a very tempting set!
 
Adam, would you mind sending me a PM? Would like to better understand what the street price on the Trinity would likely be in USDs. I need to make a game time decision this weekend on whether I proceed with the MSB stack or postpone until I hear the Trinity DAC at CES. Also, I'd like to understand how quickly I could likely audition one in the USA and if I should reach out to the manufacturer or the US distributor on the east coast (whoever that may be).

Many thanks!!!
 
Battles...I am assuming you are dealing with the folks at Goodwins on the potential MSB purchase. You may want to ask them and see if they would be willing to bring a Trinity DAC in for you to demo and compare to the MSB stack. They may be amenable and may be interested to check it out themselves. Not sure who you may be dealing with at Goodwins but Paul will certainly be flexible at this price point in order to satisfy your curiosity. It's worth a shot. I believe, the folks at Audio Arts in NYC have the Trinity DAC on demo if you want to travel to hear it but then you will be listening to it in an unfamiliar environment.
 
Elberoth said:
Mike - as I wrote you in our email exchange, it indeed used to the the case for the last 25 years or so.

The main problem with digital, was that DACs used to be very grainy. You could try to cover that graininess with tube lushness, which would make the DAC sound 'analog' and fluid. The drawback was that you had also sacrified the details by doing so.

On the other side there was a resolution camp, which went for the maximum details (dCS, Theta etc). The drawback of going after maximum resolution, was that you also exposed the grain, which made long term listening a tiring experience ...

And that is how people got divided into two different camps.

In my experience, the best DACs can do both nowadays. Due to vanishingly low jitter levels, they are ultra smooth, fluid and grainless, exceeding best so called analog sounding DACs in that regard. But since they do not have to sugar coat anything anymore to sound smooth, they can also offer superior transparency and resolution.

The DAC I just found is just such a DAC. The most fluid and grainless DAC I have ever heard (by a wide marigin !) and at the same - the most detailed, articulate and dimensional one. It is just spooky real. A game changing product for me.
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Great, GREAT thread!!! Thanks, Adam. And I totally agree here...I have finally found in the last 12-18 months that a few super DACs were actually combining organic with detail...very difficult to do. I am not sure any of them has gotten it perfectly, but the level of advancement has been eye opening. Vivaldi, Stahl-Tek, and I am told Adam's new DAC is sensational. I have a good friend who just bought one and is now picking up the Transport. Congrats, Adam!
 
microstrip said:
Adam,

Did you try it with the DartZeel or another power amplifier? The Trinity and the Dart would seem a very tempting set!
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No I didn't. But I have a dart sitting in my listening room, so I may give it a try.
 
I may trade in my CH Precision C1 for the Trinity with drive if the Trinity really
is that much better and will go to Audioarts in late January to audition. I already have
the Trinity pre so I may go for it. Gideon at Audioarts puts on the best demo with
incredible music so it's alot of fun. And you've never seen a showroom like this in your
life - definitely worth the trip....
 
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