Author Topic: Affordable Nos Dacs - Ross Martin, Teradak  (Read 7691 times)

Offline malloy

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Affordable Nos Dacs - Ross Martin, Teradak
« on: October 14, 2017, 11:56:55 PM »
Has anyone messed around with Teradak or Ross Martin products? I thought the Teradak looked DIY until I saw the Ross Martin ones - white lamp cord, bare metal casing, and a distinct, (not even industrial, but agricultural, as one reviewer in another forum put it) look!


Offline Nick B

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Re: Affordable Nos Dacs - Ross Martin, Teradak
« Reply #1 on: October 15, 2017, 10:02:07 AM »
Hi Paul,
I hadn’t heard of either one. Took a look at both sites. The Ross Martin site intrigues me a bit more. Wish I had some throw away cash to try a couple of those dacs.
Nick
Orchard Starkrimson Ultra amp
Supratek Chardonnay preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Border Patrol SEi dac
Holo Red streamer
Hapa Aero digital coax
WyWires Silver cables
TWL Digital American II p cord
Audio Envy p cords
Roon, Tidal, Qobuz
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Offline malloy

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Re: Affordable Nos Dacs - Ross Martin, Teradak
« Reply #2 on: October 15, 2017, 09:41:46 PM »
Hi Nick,

Yes. Surprises me how there are still so many brands I've never heard of .   Dug around for a bit more info- Some say the Teradak is ok but reliability is not as good.  The Ross Martin is being hailed as very, very good and underpriced for what it does.  I've never had a NOS dac before and the ones I really want to try - Metrum, 47 Labs are too costly. 

Here are some pics of Ross Martin products from their website: 





Offline Nick B

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Re: Affordable Nos Dacs - Ross Martin, Teradak
« Reply #3 on: October 16, 2017, 10:59:17 AM »
Hi Nick,

Yes. Surprises me how there are still so many brands I've never heard of .   Dug around for a bit more info- Some say the Teradak is ok but reliability is not as good.  The Ross Martin is being hailed as very, very good and underpriced for what it does.  I've never had a NOS dac before and the ones I really want to try - Metrum, 47 Labs are too costly. 

Here are some pics of Ross Martin products from their website: 






Paul,
I’ve never tried an nos dac. I believe Dave ...dBe...uses one. It’s the Tranquility dac from Eric Hider which is mated to a Mac mini. I spoke to Eric some time ago about this and am considering it down the road. The pricing is reasonable
Nick
Orchard Starkrimson Ultra amp
Supratek Chardonnay preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Border Patrol SEi dac
Holo Red streamer
Hapa Aero digital coax
WyWires Silver cables
TWL Digital American II p cord
Audio Envy p cords
Roon, Tidal, Qobuz
PI Audio UberBUSS

Offline Triode Pete

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Re: Affordable Nos Dacs - Ross Martin, Teradak
« Reply #4 on: October 16, 2017, 01:43:41 PM »
I love this one...



http://www.borderpatrol.net/DAC.htm

Use it on my home system with an Eric Hider configured Mac mini....



Cheers,
Pete
www.TriodeWireLabs.com
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Offline malloy

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Re: Affordable Nos Dacs - Ross Martin, Teradak
« Reply #5 on: October 18, 2017, 09:34:42 PM »
Wow! This Border Patrol one looks special. Gotta save up and upgrade from my el cheapo equipment!!

I'm interested at this one from MHDT Labs :



Its got a tube and a glass front panel which reminds me of DNM amps.

Offline malloy

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Re: Affordable Nos Dacs - Ross Martin, Teradak
« Reply #6 on: November 09, 2017, 10:42:36 PM »
I just pulled the trigger on a Starting Point Nos DAC on eBay:  http://audio.starting-point-systems.com/  Don't know what got into me O:) . The devil made me do it. I just bid on the thing while at work.

Got it for $140 including shipping from France. 



I wonder if anyone here has the same?


Offline Nick B

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Re: Affordable Nos Dacs - Ross Martin, Teradak
« Reply #7 on: November 09, 2017, 10:58:35 PM »
I just pulled the trigger on a Starting Point Nos DAC on eBay:  http://audio.starting-point-systems.com/  Don't know what got into me O:) . The devil made me do it. I just bid on the thing while at work.

Got it for $140 including shipping from France. 



I wonder if anyone here has the same?

Ok, Paul. Real good price. Too late to use the Flip Wilson line now  :) ...... keep us posted
Nick
Orchard Starkrimson Ultra amp
Supratek Chardonnay preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Border Patrol SEi dac
Holo Red streamer
Hapa Aero digital coax
WyWires Silver cables
TWL Digital American II p cord
Audio Envy p cords
Roon, Tidal, Qobuz
PI Audio UberBUSS

Offline malloy

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Re: Affordable Nos Dacs - Ross Martin, Teradak
« Reply #8 on: November 10, 2017, 11:37:28 AM »
Too late to use the Flip Wilson line now  :) ...... keep us posted

Haha! But I swear I didn't want to buy it!  The devil keeps following me around telling me how good these things sound! Dacs, cables, tubes, amps, Dave's power products... I hear him again. Telling me how good a planar headphone sounds...

Offline Nick B

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Re: Affordable Nos Dacs - Ross Martin, Teradak
« Reply #9 on: November 10, 2017, 05:54:55 PM »
Too late to use the Flip Wilson line now  :) ...... keep us posted

Haha! But I swear I didn't want to buy it!  The devil keeps following me around telling me how good these things sound! Dacs, cables, tubes, amps, Dave's power products... I hear him again. Telling me how good a planar headphone sounds...


You’ve come to the right forum. We can “help” you here. Really, we can :)
Orchard Starkrimson Ultra amp
Supratek Chardonnay preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Border Patrol SEi dac
Holo Red streamer
Hapa Aero digital coax
WyWires Silver cables
TWL Digital American II p cord
Audio Envy p cords
Roon, Tidal, Qobuz
PI Audio UberBUSS

Offline malloy

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Re: Affordable Nos Dacs - Ross Martin, Teradak
« Reply #10 on: November 27, 2017, 09:15:36 PM »
The DAC just arrived from France!  :thumb:



Cold and out of the box and without the benefit of the wyred4sound usb recovery, it is fully competitive with the Meridian Direct DAC I was using. I am hearing little details in my test tracks obscured by the other dac. If I had one gripe it is a bit lacking in bass, but maybe that's just from not having the Wyred4Sound in the chain or because it has not broken in yet.  Sounds very smooth but detailed.

Anyway, this is a no brainer, especially for the low price! Too early to tell how this will ultimately sound, but so far (after just 20 minutes of listening) I am liking what I am hearing.

Offline Nick B

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Re: Affordable Nos Dacs - Ross Martin, Teradak
« Reply #11 on: November 27, 2017, 09:56:43 PM »
The DAC just arrived from France!  :thumb:



Cold and out of the box and without the benefit of the wyred4sound usb recovery, it is fully competitive with the Meridian Direct DAC I was using. I am hearing little details in my test tracks obscured by the other dac. If I had one gripe it is a bit lacking in bass, but maybe that's just from not having the Wyred4Sound in the chain or because it has not broken in yet.  Sounds very smooth but detailed.

Anyway, this is a no brainer, especially for the low price! Too early to tell how this will ultimately sound, but so far (after just 20 minutes of listening) I am liking what I am hearing.


What a great deal for you! Glad it’s sounding good. Do let us know more when you have some hours on it.
Orchard Starkrimson Ultra amp
Supratek Chardonnay preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Border Patrol SEi dac
Holo Red streamer
Hapa Aero digital coax
WyWires Silver cables
TWL Digital American II p cord
Audio Envy p cords
Roon, Tidal, Qobuz
PI Audio UberBUSS

Offline malloy

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Re: Affordable Nos Dacs - Ross Martin, Teradak
« Reply #12 on: December 17, 2017, 09:37:27 PM »
Update:

It's been approximately 3 weeks and maybe more than 175 hours of running in the Starting Point NOS dac. Here are some observations after doing a quick A>B test with the Meridian Direct I was previously using:

  • The Meridian has more kick in the bass and more extension in treble, however the Starting Point dac sounds more natural and balanced - I always found fault with vocals with the Meridian
  • As a result of (maybe an un-exaggerated bass(?)or treble response, I am hearing nuances in vocals and other midrange instruments, more detail and texture in instruments in general
  • Listening to the snare drum on Nikki Yanofsky's 'A Tisket a Tasket Live', I could hear a more natural snare sound. On the intro, the marching drum pattern's can be heard better. This sounds bloated and unnatural on the Meridian 
  • every single recording I have with vocals sounds better and more natural - I am able to hear nuances such as vibrato, held notes, reverb,etc. better
  • everything sounds less digital (hard-core, objectivist, engineering types will scoff and say the sound is rolled-off and old-fashioned!  :)
  • sound output seems lower, so I have to turn up the volume a bit more
Now, if this is how a very modestly priced 'NOS' dac sounds. It boggles my mind how a more expensive (Border Patrol, Metrum, DB Audio Labs, etc) one will sound. :shock:

I've read so many criticisms of NOS dacs by engineers and lay people alike before actually trying one. Every expert claims that NOS dacs measure worse and are antiquated, obsolete, and are easily outmeasured by OS dacs. Having no subjective experience about a particular design and product and simply relying on measurements isn't the way to go it seems.

Offline Nick B

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Re: Affordable Nos Dacs - Ross Martin, Teradak
« Reply #13 on: December 18, 2017, 08:18:15 AM »
Update:

It's been approximately 3 weeks and maybe more than 175 hours of running in the Starting Point NOS dac. Here are some observations after doing a quick A>B test with the Meridian Direct I was previously using:

  • The Meridian has more kick in the bass and more extension in treble, however the Starting Point dac sounds more natural and balanced - I always found fault with vocals with the Meridian
  • As a result of (maybe an un-exaggerated bass(?)or treble response, I am hearing nuances in vocals and other midrange instruments, more detail and texture in instruments in general
  • Listening to the snare drum on Nikki Yanofsky's 'A Tisket a Tasket Live', I could hear a more natural snare sound. On the intro, the marching drum pattern's can be heard better. This sounds bloated and unnatural on the Meridian 
  • every single recording I have with vocals sounds better and more natural - I am able to hear nuances such as vibrato, held notes, reverb,etc. better
  • everything sounds less digital (hard-core, objectivist, engineering types will scoff and say the sound is rolled-off and old-fashioned!  :)
  • sound output seems lower, so I have to turn up the volume a bit more
Now, if this is how a very modestly priced 'NOS' dac sounds. It boggles my mind how a more expensive (Border Patrol, Metrum, DB Audio Labs, etc) one will sound. :shock:

I've read so many criticisms of NOS dacs by engineers and lay people alike before actually trying one. Every expert claims that NOS dacs measure worse and are antiquated, obsolete, and are easily outmeasured by OS dacs. Having no subjective experience about a particular design and product and simply relying on measurements isn't the way to go it seems.

Glad you posted. I was curious how things were going with this dac. I don’t know anything about the Meridian dac you have, so I’d appreciate more info on that as to features and pricing. Are you considering buying one of the NOS dacs you mentioned?
Nick
Orchard Starkrimson Ultra amp
Supratek Chardonnay preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Border Patrol SEi dac
Holo Red streamer
Hapa Aero digital coax
WyWires Silver cables
TWL Digital American II p cord
Audio Envy p cords
Roon, Tidal, Qobuz
PI Audio UberBUSS

Offline rollo

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Re: Affordable Nos Dacs - Ross Martin, Teradak
« Reply #14 on: December 18, 2017, 09:20:12 AM »
   For NOS  DAC's the one to get is EAD or MSB. For the latest in in galvanic isolation with optologic technology, NO CHIP SET would be Aqua Acoustic Quality La Scala. Uses a pair of 12AT7 that are NOT set sideways. Ya want your tubes straight up.
If ya want to try a Promitheous transformer coupled  DAC with NOS chip I have one that serverd me well for many a year.



charles
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