Author Topic: I’m about to open the Border  (Read 11535 times)

Offline Nick B

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I’m about to open the Border
« on: May 18, 2018, 12:30:08 AM »
Last Sunday as I was fine tuning my plans to soon buy an amp and subwoofer, Emil had the nerve to offer
his Border Patrol SE dac for sale....and for a pretty good price. The problem with that is it wasn’t on my horizon to buy  a dac now!!  But...I’m pretty sure Pete has one and that he and Dave both run Mac minis prepped by Eric Hider for their dacs. As I recall, Gary also has an nos Audio Note. I’ve heard it and it sounds quite good.
So I bit the bullet and it’ll be here from NY this coming Monday. I have wanted to try this dac for well over a year.  This BP dac is coax out only, but that works with my current setup. All the Border Patrol stuff gets raves. So we’ll soon see if Im in the nos camp or not.


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 P.I.

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Re: I’m about to open the Border
« Reply #1 on: May 18, 2018, 10:38:10 PM »
Last Sunday as I was fine tuning my plans to soon buy an amp and subwoofer, Emil had the nerve to offer
his Border Patrol SE dac for sale....and for a pretty good price. The problem with that is it wasn’t on my horizon to buy  a dac now!!  But...I’m pretty sure Pete has one and that he and Dave both run Mac minis prepped by Eric Hider for their dacs. As I recall, Gary also has an nos Audio Note. I’ve heard it and it sounds quite good.
So I bit the bullet and it’ll be here from NY this coming Monday. I have wanted to try this dac for well over a year.  This BP dac is coax out only, but that works with my current setup. All the Border Patrol stuff gets raves. So we’ll soon see if Im in the nos camp or not.
You are going to be amazed at what 44.1 REALLY sounds like!
"A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument." - Hilmar von Campe

Offline tmazz

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Re: I’m about to open the Border
« Reply #2 on: May 19, 2018, 06:06:50 AM »
Build a little wall around it. Help make audio great again.  :lol:
Remember, it's all about the music........

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Offline Nick B

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Re: I’m about to open the Border
« Reply #3 on: May 19, 2018, 07:48:54 AM »
Build a little wall around it. Help make audio great again.  :lol:

Can’t put my finger on it, but seems I’ve heard that refrain before......
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 richidoo

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Re: I’m about to open the Border
« Reply #4 on: May 19, 2018, 07:52:12 AM »
Build a little wall around it. Help make audio great again.  :lol:

:D

Offline rollo

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Re: I’m about to open the Border
« Reply #5 on: May 19, 2018, 08:09:40 AM »
Last Sunday as I was fine tuning my plans to soon buy an amp and subwoofer, Emil had the nerve to offer
his Border Patrol SE dac for sale....and for a pretty good price. The problem with that is it wasn’t on my horizon to buy  a dac now!!  But...I’m pretty sure Pete has one and that he and Dave both run Mac minis prepped by Eric Hider for their dacs. As I recall, Gary also has an nos Audio Note. I’ve heard it and it sounds quite good.
So I bit the bullet and it’ll be here from NY this coming Monday. I have wanted to try this dac for well over a year.  This BP dac is coax out only, but that works with my current setup. All the Border Patrol stuff gets raves. So we’ll soon see if Im in the nos camp or not.
You are going to be amazed at what 44.1 REALLY sounds like!


   Got that right Dave. No upsampling, no over sampling and ladder DAC oh my. That sounds familiar to me as well. Build that wall.

charles


charles
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Offline Emil

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Re: I’m about to open the Border
« Reply #6 on: May 22, 2018, 06:09:19 AM »
Looks like UPS is late. You should of had it yesterday.

Make sure its powered on for at least 24 hours before listening. 
"Today I didn't even have to use my A.K.
I got to say it was a good day"
    --Ice Cube

Offline Nick B

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Re: I’m about to open the Border
« Reply #7 on: May 22, 2018, 07:38:40 AM »
Looks like UPS is late. You should of had it yesterday.

Make sure its powered on for at least 24 hours before listening.

Will do. I’m surprised they’re late. Doesn’t happen that often.
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 Nick B

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Re: I’m about to open the Border
« Reply #8 on: May 22, 2018, 04:58:53 PM »
Emil,
The Border Patrol arrived safely and is warming up
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 Nick B

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Re: I’m about to open the Border
« Reply #9 on: May 23, 2018, 12:06:46 AM »
Looks like UPS is late. You should of had it yesterday.

Make sure its powered on for at least 24 hours before listening.

I did nearly, kinda what you said...... Started to listen at the 4 hour mark. What a good dac. Thanks for selling and at a nice price 👍
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 Nick B

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Re: I’m about to open the Border
« Reply #10 on: May 23, 2018, 12:31:17 AM »
Last Sunday as I was fine tuning my plans to soon buy an amp and subwoofer, Emil had the nerve to offer
his Border Patrol SE dac for sale....and for a pretty good price. The problem with that is it wasn’t on my horizon to buy  a dac now!!  But...I’m pretty sure Pete has one and that he and Dave both run Mac minis prepped by Eric Hider for their dacs. As I recall, Gary also has an nos Audio Note. I’ve heard it and it sounds quite good.
So I bit the bullet and it’ll be here from NY this coming Monday. I have wanted to try this dac for well over a year.  This BP dac is coax out only, but that works with my current setup. All the Border Patrol stuff gets raves. So we’ll soon see if Im in the nos camp or not.
You are going to be amazed at what 44.1 REALLY sounds like!

Ya know, Dave, I really hate it when you’re right (not really haha). With little time to warm up the innards, I started to listen and what a very, very pleasant surprise. It is easily superior to my Antelope dac.
Two things are  apparent quite quickly
1) it resolves better
2) it has a wonderfully organic presentation. instruments sound more real
Both the Border Patrol and Deepak’s teeny Piano dac also have a fuller sound than the Antelope, which sounds a bit thin in comparison. That’s why my wife....who wears hearing aids btw....liked the sound of the Piano dac.
Emil mentioned a different tube that TWL Pete uses in his BP dac, the valvo ez80. I did a quick search and they go for $10 to $40. If anyone’s familiar with this tube, pls advise.
I’m fortunate to have a good amp like the McCormack and Gary’s new carbon fiber digital and ic’s to easily discern the differences. Too bad it doesn’t have a usb jack as it would be interesting to hear Eric Hider’s tweaked and modded Mac mini with it.
Oh, yes, and the Icepower amp will be here Friday. It’s Christmas in May ❄️ 🎅🏽
Nick
« Last Edit: May 23, 2018, 12:36:48 AM by Nick B »
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 Emil

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Re: I’m about to open the Border
« Reply #11 on: May 23, 2018, 04:54:08 AM »
Good for you, Nick!

Enjoy :thumb:
"Today I didn't even have to use my A.K.
I got to say it was a good day"
    --Ice Cube

Offline jbtrio

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Re: I’m about to open the Border
« Reply #12 on: May 23, 2018, 06:19:15 AM »
Hey Emil,
Which DAC did you replace it with?
VPI classic3,3d arm, Lyra Kleos SL,K&K maxxed-out phonostage,Quadratic MC-1 SUT,Mola Mola Tambaqui Dac, Jay's Audio CDT-2 Mk.3transport,Supratek Sauvignon preamp,Frankenstein 300b mk.2 amps,FW SIT-3 amp, Purepower 1500+,Horning Eufrodite Ellipse speakers

Offline Emil

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Re: I’m about to open the Border
« Reply #13 on: May 23, 2018, 06:44:43 AM »
Hey Emil,
Which DAC did you replace it with?

I got it from a local guy to scratch an itch I was having and I've been scratching a lot of itches lately :lol:

I was hoping it would best my Schitt Yggdrasil but in MY system, I preferred the Schitt
"Today I didn't even have to use my A.K.
I got to say it was a good day"
    --Ice Cube

Offline jbtrio

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Re: I’m about to open the Border
« Reply #14 on: May 23, 2018, 08:02:25 AM »
I hear ya!😁 I had an itch too. I just bought a Denafrips Terminator DAC after reading the buzz on the internet. I have around 45 hours on it and it is sounding pretty impressive.

They have a cheaper model called an Ares that suppose to sound pretty close to this flagship model.
If that’s true for the price it’s a great find. I think it cost 8 or $900.

It is a latter Dac like your Schitt.
VPI classic3,3d arm, Lyra Kleos SL,K&K maxxed-out phonostage,Quadratic MC-1 SUT,Mola Mola Tambaqui Dac, Jay's Audio CDT-2 Mk.3transport,Supratek Sauvignon preamp,Frankenstein 300b mk.2 amps,FW SIT-3 amp, Purepower 1500+,Horning Eufrodite Ellipse speakers