The Nagra headphone output is not all that powerful, so fairly efficient headphones are needed. The Final Audio D8000 Pro and LCD4Z work well. However, I don't find the Nagra headphone output all that good. My EAR HP4 and Niimbus US4 are really much better. I haven't heard the BHSE and SR009...

Thanks, that is what I have been doing. But I know other power supplies I have used - eg Naim Supercap - benefit significantly from being left on all the time, so was curious what others do.

Question for those using a Classic PSU with their HD/Tube DAC. Do you leave your Classic PSU running 24/7 and only turn off the dac when not in use? Or do you turn off both the DAC and PSU at the same time?

Apologies for the late response on this issue, but I think your dealer mis-represented Tim de Paravicini. A few years ago, I emailed EAR to ask about tube rolling in my 912 preamp. The response was as follows: Sir, Nothing to do with the difference of ECC88 or PCC88 or for Americans 6 or 7...

Thanks, Mark. I'm very keen to get it back!

I agree, I came to the Nagra DAC from a Chord DAVE/Blu 2, and then a Lumin X1. I thought the DCS Bartok would be my next DAC, but I borrowed one from a dealer for a week and it did not work for me. In fact, within a few minutes I knew I couldn't live with it. Great detail, startlingly realistic...

Very nice set up. Do you use your Roon Nucleus as a Roon core, or as an endpoint with core elsewhere?

Thanks, it does sound like the USB input of the HD DAC has been extremely well designed. It is sounding great with the Ultrarendu into the USB input, using a Furutech USB cable, so I will probably just leave it at that. Good advice not leaving the dac on 24/7. I guess I will just have to allow...

I've just bought an HD Dac and have a couple of questions. I've been through a lot of DACs over the last few years - Chord DAVE/Blu 2, Ayre QX5 Twenty, Mytek Manhattan II, Lumin X1 - and most recently I have spent a few days with a borrowed DCS Bartok to see if this could finally be "the one"...

Congratulations, you have heard the true sonic effect of the M Scaler. You have not been influenced by the endless gushing reviews in this forum and elsewhere into thinking that the lean, bright sound produced by the M Scaler is actually an improvement. The TT2 on its own is quite a decent DAC...

I haven't heard either the Bartok of the Mojo DAC, but those two seem like complete opposites philosphically and probably in sound quality terms as well. Reading between the lines, you seem to prefer the NOS R2R sound of the Mojo to the sound of the Bartok with its massive processing power and...

So I've been told.

I think that is an over-simplification. Nothing in hifi is perfect, no matter how expensive it is. Sometimes it takes a while to realise there is something about a piece of hifi gear that just isn't working for you. Sometimes it is immediately obvious, sometimes it creeps up over a long period...

As I understand it, the Bartok already applies massive upscaling using the DCS Ringdac technology. So adding additional (and very different) upscaling by using the M Scaler with the Bartok does not seem like it should produce good results, particularly as you will not be getting the full...

I'm also extremely happy with the QX5. Mine replaced a DAVE/Blu 2 and I much prefer the Ayre. I really shouldn't be thinking about another DAC, and yet can't help being curious about the Bartok.

DCS dacs used to have a reputation for being bright, as well as lacking a certain musicality. This seems to have changed with the Bartok, judging by the comments of the few people who have heard it. I'm very intrigued by this DAC and wondering how it would compare to my Ayre QX5, and also to...

I will be interested to hear how the TT2/M Scaler compares to the Bartok. I have just moved from Chord DAVE/Blu 2 and then TT2/M Scaler to the Ayre QX5 and much prefer the Ayre. Can you please provide a little more detail on how the QX5 compared to the Bartok - for example, in terms of...

Currently an Exposure 5010, but I have also used a Tron Seven and EAR 912 with similar results.

I tried the TT2 directly into my Exposure 5010 power amps. It sounded good - better than other DACs I have tried this with, including the DAVE. There was a little more detail and tonal purity going direct. But I still prefer going through the preamp. It adds more body and dynamics, it just...

I agree absolutely. I "downgraded" from DAVE to a TT2 for exactly the same reasons. I know at least one other person who has done the same. I don't accept that DAVE is more "transparent". I don't believe there is any detail on a recording that I am missing because of the change. On the contrary...

Thanks I will do some experimenting.

That's pretty much what I have been saying.

I paid full price for both the DAVE and TT2, and I don't feel at all hard done by because I ended up with the TT2 (which I prefer). Remember, double the price does not mean double the sound quality. The majority of the additional cost of the DAVE is attributable to its casework, the internal...

... Fortunately I listen mostly to classical, opera and jazz, so not really an issue for me. I can't imagine what "grime" is.

But, really, we are getting off topic in this DAVE vs TT2 discussion, since this is the M Scaler thread. And I seem to be alone in the view that the M Scaler may not be all positive. I am still trying to find a methodology to test whether the effects of the M Scaler are entirely beneficial. If...