suggest laptop for music storage

Kana813 - Only very old D/A chips only support 16/44.1. Most everything sold in the last 10 years at least does 24/96.

Steve N.

Jc51373 - Do you really believe that these so called "commercial" designs are perfect/flawless and contain no trade-offs? In other words, the designers are really good at doing design?

If the designers were that good, I think they would be making the megabux working for Microsoft, Intel or Apple etc.(That's what I did for 25 years), not working for small audio companies. If the devices had no trade-offs, they would be a LOT more expensive too.

Steve N.

Jax2 - you pose an excellent example of design experience. Gordon, of Wavelength had a long career in big-company electronics before doing his own audio business, as I did. The Benchmark folks are from the pro-audio arena. This kind of experience does not happen in small companies unless you are lucky enough to have an experienced mentor willing to spend a lot of time with you.

They still have not figured out what sounds good in most studios IMO. Still using 20 cents per foot wiring and they believe that measurements are the end-all...

The DAC-1 basic schematic is solid. It's the implementation (PC-board layout) and parts choices that could be improved IMO. To manufacture this and sell it for less than $1K, some tradeoffs had to be made. BTW, the newer DAC-1 USB is much better.

Also, I have modded a few EMC-1's as well. It has a LOT of design problems. It also uses a very old D/A chip and upsampler. If you thing this sounds good, this speaks volumes. A really good DAC will bury the EMC-1 or the ECD-1.

Steve N.

Also, I have modded a few EMC-1's as well. It has a LOT of design problems. It also uses a very old D/A chip and upsampler. If you thing this sounds good, this speaks volumes. A really good DAC will bury the EMC-1 or the ECD-1.

Steve - Thanks for the feedback. I've not had the opportunity to compare my friend's EMC-1 to "a really good DAC" in the same system, as the front-end has remained a constant for him throughout several changes of other components. I guess he likes it too. It's always sounded wonderful in his system, without harshness or long-term fatigue - very engaging overall. It is bested by the Teres table in that same system, but that seemed unsurprising to me. I've never done any comparisons to other digital front-ends in his room, but admit, I've consistently been impressed by the EMC-1 through several 'mutations' of the same system and room, for whatever volumes that speaks. I think he's pretty happy with it too, but then he was VERY impressed having heard your PaceCar demonstration in LV recently, so perhaps a 'really good DAC' may be in his future. I don't doubt your assessment of it and certainly defer to your experience.

I agree with your observations of Brick. Except I would add it rolled the bass a little as well, which is why I moved from it.

I agree, and you'll have to forgive my lack of audiophile vocabulary, but I think we're talking about the same thing when I mentioned the low-end:

It also did not have as solid a low-end as my SS DAC.

Marco

Steve- Jc51373's DAC uses a TDA1543 chip. It only has a USB 1.1 input.

Jc51373- Since you're an expert on upsampling, how many computer based upsamplers have you tried?