To recap, if you’ve followed this thread deviation, I’ve sent Steve my Border Patrol SE dac. It did arrive safely this afternoon and I’m looking forward to his comments and/or criticisms. He’ll also be comparing it to his Schiit Modi 2 that he has modded to his high standards.
I wasn’t planning on starting a new thread just for this, but I’ll let Jeremy do that if he wishes.
Nick
I had an enjoyable week to audition Nicks BP SE dac with the Uptone Audio polypropylene film and foil caps. Rectifier tube is a Tungsram.
Thanks Nick. I used several selections from the CDs to audition both BP and my modified Modi 2.
1. Chopin, HMU 907244 Harmonia mundi France, production USA, Made in Germany. Pianist is Jon Nakamatsu.
Grande Fantaisie sur des Themes polonais, Op. 13.
2. Dave Brubek’s Greatest Hits, Unsquare Danced, Take Five
3. Purity an inspirational collection, IsoMike a trademark of Kimber Kable.
4. Eva Cassidy, Live at Blues Alley, Tall Trees in Georgia
The Border Patrol is a nice piece. The sound was much closer than I expected to my Modified Modi 2 dac. I don't wish to choose a dac as better, but just the differences. In fact they were very close.
1. I had to use the dvd drive in the computer and USB output for the modified Modi 2. I used the NAD 521Bee transport and SPDIF output for the BP.
With vacuum tube rectification powered on.
2. The BP is just a tad fuller than my modified Modi 2. This extends from treble to bass. There is just a little more
“sparkle” to the piano and other instruments, just a touch more shades of harmonics with the Modi 2. Rotating the speakers “1/8” inch might take care of the fuller difference.
3. The BP has a slight sonic signature, that of just a touch less higher order instrumental harmonics. I doubt if speaker adjustment/rotation will cure this difference, but it could help. Personal preference maybe?
4. Depth, sound stage, dynamics so so close. Attack time just slightly different due to slightly fuller sound. Not saying better or worse, just slightly different.
5. Warm up time is much greater with the BP, but then the other components in one’s system require warmup as well, for best sonics. Just an observation. I let the components warm up 3-6 hours before testing myself.
With ss rectification power supply.
7. Still seemed a little fuller, even after powered on over night. However, the higher harmonics of the instruments are better, nice extension. Another interesting aspect is I heated the BP with the tube over night, then listened, and the tonal balance between the BP and modified Modi 2 seemed so close that I don't know if I could tell the difference.
After tube power off, the unit cooled over time and became just a tad fuller again. This is not surprising since altering the temperature will affect the parts values.
With the higher order harmonics of instruments being proper, a slight adjustment of speaker placement may minimize that touch of tonal difference between the two dacs. I preferred without the tube rectification in my system.
All in all it is a very very nice DAC, impressed with the sonics, and how close they got it right.
cheers
steve