I am completely blown away by the USB input of Trinity. I declare over my side that the usage of CD transport is "certified". No matter how expensive is the CD transport (I have most of them including Burmester 069), it can't beat the USB input of Trinity even though we use the stupid MacBook! We were puzzled because MacBook could not perform at this level with other dacs. Dietmar - you are man of the year!
It appears to be a predominant voting for Trinity DAC. Yet, my vote goes to Robert K15 Pre-Amp. I remember when I switched to use K10, I was very happy with the performance of it which brighten up my whole system. I appreciate very much the continuous effort of Robert who still strive to improve his product. For K15, I was stunned by the improvement over K10. It is always difficult to achieve significant improvement particularly when a product is already among the top level. With K15, I can see details of each individual component. And the most stunning part is that each individual component are reproduced as if they are autonomous and independent. I listened to a number of jazz quartet. K15 allow me to see four people with different characters playing vividly in front of me. Trinity DAC is definitely a groundbreaking master piece. But I always think K15 should deserve more voice and praise.
Hi Jeff,
I’m pretty sure you are not the only one who was blown away by the USB input of Trinity . +1 here .
I recalled my audition experience of the Trinity DAC some weeks ago.
It mixed with frustration and excitement.
The 1st session is the ultra high end CD transport + Trinity DAC via SPDIF connection. Well , it has already been one of the very best of experience in my audition experience on digital music playback.
However, as a computer audiophile , what I really want to know is how good the Trinity DAC as a CAS dac.
I took my Mac Book Pro , connected it to the Trinity DAC via USB. No driver needed, just pick the right DAC (Trinity ) at the Audirvana.
.
The Mac book pro did not have any optimisation for CAS. I compared it to my own home system the night before the audition so as to build the baseline for reference. I did not expect that it would reach the level of my home system which has been equipped with very carefully selected component (hw+sw+network) and long time tuning.
.
I AB compared the Macbook pro to the ultra high end transport.
It won over the ambience natural extension and instrument’s abundant harmonics on violin and piano in the following music:
1. Edvard Grieg: Sonata for Violin and Piano No.2 in G Major, Op.13 05:02
Vadim Repin, Violin/Nikolai Lugansky, Piano︱DG 477 8794
and the explosive energy of the female voice in
2. Fernando J. Obradors: El vito 03:2
Elina Garanca, Orchestra Sinfonica Nationale Della Rai︱Karel Mark Chichon︱DG 477 8776
The last one is the DSD file Dvorak symphony no 9 (Ivan Fischer BFO) . Although the Trinity DAC does not support the native DSD file , the Audirvana can convert the DSD to 24/192 on the fly and feed into the Trinity DAC. The DAC fully explored the advantage of the high rez file and provide very high density sound (analogy like).
The Trinity DAC regenerated the whole spectrum of the orchestra sound fluently.
As a computer audiophile, I was frustrated because my highly tuned CAS system could not have any advantage over the mac book pro + Trinity DAC solution.
When I was home, I re-read the thread Trinity Supreme in AE forum and tried to sort out how the magic coming the Trinity DAC. I found db’s post at 16-09-2013 11:29 pm - with the keywords : galvanic decoupling, the ultra precise clock, smart memory management , faultless task management…
I surrendered. db did what we needed to do at the dac level
On the other hand, I’m excited.
When we still have argument of how and what we should do to build a computer so that the CAS can catch up the CD performance, right here , the Trinity DAC has done it with a very general mac book pro !
In CD era, we see how a good DAC can help to fix some noisy CD transport problem. In CAS era, we see how an extraordinary dac solve the same issue from the noisy computer.
Trinity DAC is the statement product in the CAS era. Period.
(p.s. : PT told me that there will be the Trinity PC tailored made for the Trinity DAC…where is the sky ? )
Thanks for Marvel's reminder that I leave my vote until the last day of 2013!
For the 3rd consecutive year, my vote goes to the majestic Dalby cables.
Reason is simple. The more Dalby cables in my System, the more I know what went wrong.
Above all, my best acquisition from AE is the Dalby speaker cables. Please excuse me for no review as I have spent less than 90 hrs with them since. Mr Dalby's recommendation is 500 hrs and therefore I need more time to write something about it.
I did write one for Origine by Neodio. It is doing an exceptional job as well!
It is a "visual" experience of 2 channel at AE now. I practically feel like watching a movie without a screen on most recordings. And this goes beyond the normal comprehension of soundstage. An revealing experiences indeed. Why should I keep spending so much time and resources on this hobby? You are welcome to come for a sharing. Welcome to 2014.
Comments
I’m pretty sure you are not the only one who was blown away by the USB input of Trinity . +1 here .
I recalled my audition experience of the Trinity DAC some weeks ago.
It mixed with frustration and excitement.
The 1st session is the ultra high end CD transport + Trinity DAC via SPDIF connection. Well , it has already been one of the very best of experience in my audition experience on digital music playback.
However, as a computer audiophile , what I really want to know is how good the Trinity DAC as a CAS dac.
I took my Mac Book Pro , connected it to the Trinity DAC via USB. No driver needed, just pick the right DAC (Trinity ) at the Audirvana.
.
The Mac book pro did not have any optimisation for CAS. I compared it to my own home system the night before the audition so as to build the baseline for reference. I did not expect that it would reach the level of my home system which has been equipped with very carefully selected component (hw+sw+network) and long time tuning.
.
I AB compared the Macbook pro to the ultra high end transport.
It won over the ambience natural extension and instrument’s abundant harmonics on violin and piano in the following music:
1. Edvard Grieg: Sonata for Violin and Piano No.2 in G Major, Op.13 05:02
Vadim Repin, Violin/Nikolai Lugansky, Piano︱DG 477 8794
and the explosive energy of the female voice in
2. Fernando J. Obradors: El vito 03:2
Elina Garanca, Orchestra Sinfonica Nationale Della Rai︱Karel Mark Chichon︱DG 477 8776
The last one is the DSD file Dvorak symphony no 9 (Ivan Fischer BFO) . Although the Trinity DAC does not support the native DSD file , the Audirvana can convert the DSD to 24/192 on the fly and feed into the Trinity DAC. The DAC fully explored the advantage of the high rez file and provide very high density sound (analogy like).
The Trinity DAC regenerated the whole spectrum of the orchestra sound fluently.
As a computer audiophile, I was frustrated because my highly tuned CAS system could not have any advantage over the mac book pro + Trinity DAC solution.
When I was home, I re-read the thread Trinity Supreme in AE forum and tried to sort out how the magic coming the Trinity DAC. I found db’s post at 16-09-2013 11:29 pm - with the keywords : galvanic decoupling, the ultra precise clock, smart memory management , faultless task management…
I surrendered. db did what we needed to do at the dac level
On the other hand, I’m excited.
When we still have argument of how and what we should do to build a computer so that the CAS can catch up the CD performance, right here , the Trinity DAC has done it with a very general mac book pro !
In CD era, we see how a good DAC can help to fix some noisy CD transport problem. In CAS era, we see how an extraordinary dac solve the same issue from the noisy computer.
Trinity DAC is the statement product in the CAS era. Period.
(p.s. : PT told me that there will be the Trinity PC tailored made for the Trinity DAC…where is the sky ? )
Wish you a happy and healthy Year of 2014!
Thanks for Marvel's reminder that I leave my vote until the last day of 2013!
For the 3rd consecutive year, my vote goes to the majestic Dalby cables.
Reason is simple. The more Dalby cables in my System, the more I know what went wrong.
Above all, my best acquisition from AE is the Dalby speaker cables. Please excuse me for no review as I have spent less than 90 hrs with them since. Mr Dalby's recommendation is 500 hrs and therefore I need more time to write something about it.
I did write one for Origine by Neodio. It is doing an exceptional job as well!
The winner is the definitive Dalby Reuben power cord!
I had a 5-hr audition at his place. The Reuben was hooked up with D7. It was electrifying!
Dalby communicates with emotion and interaction and it will be disrespectful to describe my impression from any technical perspectives.
To the best of my knowledge, deja vu sums up my feeling to Reuben.
.......
My vote goes to the following three that break all new ground:
1. Trinity DAC
2. Dalby D7 SE preamplifier
3. Cessaro Lizst/Brahms