Grant Fidelity Audio - Read Only

[mtl777]

Hi, I'm interested in the new Tube DAC-09. I'm planning to use it with my PC using coax S/PDIF connection from my M-Audio Delta 1010 sound card. Will it work fine this way?

Also, how would you describe the sound of this unit? Transparent or colored, flat or hyped, etc.? BTW, the application is for mixing on a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) in my personal home recording studio.

Lastly, how does it compare with other DACS such as Beresford TC-7520, Benchmark DAC1, and Lavry DA10? I know the Lavry is really high end but is the Tube DAC-09 close enough?

Any help or opinion would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[igrant]

As answered over at AudioKarma:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=247021&page=2

You will like that it has 2 outputs, one is transistor based and the other is tube based. You can switch between the outputs to suit your studio work needs, such as using the tube outputs while working for less fatigue and the transistor outputs for more accuracy. So the sound can be clear and accurate with transistor and relaxed with tube, both outputs sound full, balanced and expensive.

The computer has been my musical instrument since the mid 80's with Yamaha CMX, Atari, Mac, then PC for MIDI instrument thru multi-tracking, mixdown and mastering. Most of my home studio work involved using my Sennheiser HD 540's for reference and various flavours of JBL monitors for tracking and mixing typically fed by E-Mu or Lexicon soundcards. I know have my own Studio monitors in our GF MBS-1, RBS-1 and LS3/5A speakers and to finally answer your question, have no problems at all using the TubeDAC-09 as a computer soundcard from the USB port and the Coax and Optical outputs I think are even better. In most ways what I am hearing now with the TubeDAC-09 is better than anything I had before.

You also have 2 sets of analog RCA inputs which gives you more options in the studio. If you have heard about our B-283 tube processor and how people are using it for making music, our TubeDAC can be used in the same way as well.

Typically GF gear will compete with gear costing twice as much as our MSRP, so my guess is that it will cost you about $1k to get a large noticeable improvement in performance. That law of diminishing returns type thing. Lot's of DAC's on the market now, we went with tubes and lots of inputs and price to make ours stand out.

Cheers,
Ian
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