Ebay alert -- inexpensive DACs

True, but maybe he learned from past errors? Description reads "Tested includes power adapter". Not too much of a risk at $100, and of course I paid with paypal.

EDIT: noticed that that description applied to one of the auctions where someone got an incorrect power supply. Oh well. Still worth a shot IMO.

 

An update:

I recieved the Entech 205.2 DAC from ebay yesterday. It was a bit dusty, a few marks, used but not abused. No original box or anything, but did include the proper Entech power supply.

Hooked it up to my Squeezebox3 and proceed to put it through it's paces. The reason I was interested in a cheap DAC was because I transferred all of my redbook to a Network Attached Storage device that the Squeezebox interfaced with. I was never satisfied with the sound of the digital out of the SB running into my Denon 4806ci receiver (Denon is used only as a pre-amp for stereo listening). And the analog outputs of the SB are not very spectacular.

So, I was easily able to A/B the digital output of the SB into the Denon vs the output of the Entech going into the Denon via analog. There were three obvious differences:

1) Much better bass with the Entech. Full, round and deep. Noticible to even a casual listener. Takes my enjoyment up several notches.

2) Soundstage. Much improved with the Entech. With just the digital output of the SB, the sound is almost recessed, falling within the boundaries of the speakers. The Entech pushes the sound forward and out into the room.

3) Vocal improvement. Related to the soundstaging improvement, the vocals are now "upfront", locked front and center.

I also compared the output of the Entech to my SCD-1 CD/SACD player. The Entech held its own! Yes, the SCD-1 had a much smoother midrange, and bass was more defined, less "one-notey" than the Entech. Overall, the Entech was a bit wooly sounding compared to the SCD-1, but given the cost difference, it gave a respectable performance.

So, I can definitely recommend the Entech if you are unsatisfied with your current redbook performance, and are searching for a cheap tweak. I no longer long for a better source when listening to Squeezebox-based material. Yes, it's a couple of notches down from state of the art redbook performance, but for the $$, I'm not sure how you could beat it.

 

For anyone who's interested, here's a link to to the Stereophile review of the Entech units (from 1998).

http://www.stereophile.com/digitalprocessors/1298entech/

Quite favorable (but those of us who own them already know that).

 

Oppo 970 + 205.2 + digital coax = wow!

I'll third this recommendation. I previously had my Oppo 970HD connected to my 205.2 via Toslink. I switched to a cheapo Monster digital coaxial I had lying around, then increased the Oppo's output to 192kHz.

I nearly fell out of my chair when I put in a redbook CD. The increase in resolution was unbelievable.

So I ordered a better coaxial cable the next day (a Zu Ash cable off of eBay). I think I'm just beginning to hear what this combo is capable of.

 

Is this true for all DVD players? I always thought the 2 sounded identical. Will a regular RCA cable work for digital coaxial?

 

Yes but it is not optimal. A true digital spdf cable is a 75 ohm cable, a RCA audio cable may or may not be 75 ohms. A cheap 75 ohm cable can be purchased at BB or Radio Shack for very little. As a note, a video RCA cable (Yellow markings as opposed to audio red /black or white) is rated at 75 ohms so if you have one of those, give it a try. One side note, the cheapo cables that are so often supplied with players are not even rated so do not assume a RCA video cable is a correct 75 ohm cable.

One question I do have is for efhjr, are you playing red book cd's out at 192 Khz? I did not think the ENtec would clock any thing over 48 Khz.

Tim


Tim

 

Well, I'm *pretty* sure I am (I confess to being rather ignorant about how all this stuff works). My Oppo's LPCM output is set to 192kHz when I play redbooks, and the Entech does get a lock, so something is happening.

The Oppo will only output 96 and 192 over digital coax, and HDMI audio output must be turned off (I learned this from a post from John Atkinson over on the Stereophile forums).

 

Of course, I cannot discount the fact that the improvement in sound is due to the digital coax cable, and not increasing the Oppo's output.