Grant Fidelity Audio - Read Only

[Yashu]

Strictly speaking, I liked my MHDT DAC so much, I went in search for an upgrade. The Dialogue II was their budget model. It was a good design, perfect "first DAC", even with it's quirks, when it was working right, it made digital sound analog. Can't beat that. It used the NOS TDA1543 as it's DAC chip. This is the slightly lower end version of the TDA1545. Now, both of these chips are no longer made, as in they were designed over 20 years ago.

Today, most CDPs and DACs will be oversampling by many times and contain modern "fast" 1 bit DACs. Done right, these are not bad. As is with most things digital, it is the analog stage that really matters, but there is a certain interesting movement that has been going on the past few years with these philips chips. the 43 or 45, there is no "better" one really, it is all about what you want. The TDA1543 has a more laid back presentation and really sounds analog when used correctly, as does the 45, but the 45 carries with it more detail. Serious listeners must ask themselves what they want... musicality or strictly detail. On the end of the detail spectrum, you might want to avoid these new crop of DACs entirely, however, I have heard both chips and the TDA1545 used right, with the right associated components is HARD to beat without spending a LOT more. This says alot about digital audio. 20 years of advancement and some of us are like "hey, we were on the right track then", and companies like MHDT, Scott Nixon, Valab, they decided to branch off the main stream and use these chips to begin with. MHDT makes a very respected set of TDA1545 DACs, the Constantine and the Paradisea, but they also made TDA1543 DACs, Dialogue II, but what I was looking for was the Reniassance II. This is basically the Dialogue II, with major upgrades in the PSU, toroidal transformer, and a tubed output stage. A tube socket for a, I forget the tube, but it is one used in preamps, and everyone seems to like a Western Electric version. This DAC was my holy grail as I had been looking for it forever and it seems MHDT only makes them once and a while, now that everyone is in the NOS game. They have the TDA1545 DACs and also introduced a new DAC that uses NOS design with an old Burr Brown chip, quite a departure from previous. The Havana is a 900 dollar DAC. This takes NOS to a new level.

We are not talking about the Havana though... I have sitting here a Reniassance II, after searching, I found one, AND with the WE tube everyone wants to stick in this, the paradisea and even the havana.

All that writing leads to a "now what" question for the B-283. I don't really know how a tube buffer connected to another tube buffer will behave itself or if it is meant for that application. The DAC without the B-283 sounds golden, so I placed the buffer on media duty, and I was very happy with it there. Movies sound better, soundstage is wider, and 2 channel HT comes closer to filling in that gap of not having the other channels. I don't even notice when watching a movie, that it is just a simple 2 channel system. I still wonder what else I can use the B-283 with, so I am going to be playing around with it, including mastering my own music, as well as recordings that I make, like mixes. I still use tape. I carry a walkman... and I noticed that the B-283 makes the perfect "tape mastering" device. Tape is the ONLY truely accessable portable way of capturing the magic of whatever, tubes, or really anything, and carrying it with you in your pocket. A good tape deck and some chrome or metal bias tapes, and you are good to go. Even some of the better Feo2 tapes sound wonderful. I challenge people at work with their ipods to give me something that sounds as good as what I can play them on my 15 year old walkman. So far, nobody has beat it, even with the best mp3 file. When you play a CD or an mp3, you are resigning yourself to whatever DAC and analog circuit that is on the device. You get whatever sound of the player. With tape... you can capture what you listen to at home, and take it with you. With this revelation, I began to play with it as patched through on my sound card for my own musical production and mastering. My trouble is not DA, but AD conversion. I don't have the best sound card, so some is lost in the AD conversion, but not so on tape, obviously. I just have to get a better sound card. A Lynx or something would do just fine, but if I am going to use this as a processor for music recording and mastering, I thought it would be neat to have a B-28X with some adjustments for things like tube warmth and drive.

Izotope has done well with a plugin VST called Ozone. It was designed to mimic the tube harmonics digitally. It does an OK job. It doesn't beat the real thing though, however Ozone has many many adjustments. One cannot do some of these things with the B-283, which is a shame because it really is a great tool for music production and it was an area I never explored until now.

I am not sure what I am trying to say with this thread, I guess just put some thoughts down ont he subject of "what now?" The reason is that so many people I know, they have bit the tube bug, but end up with something like my Reniassance II. Tube output stage built in. More and more of these smaller manufacturers are doing this, thus placing the B-283 in an interesting position. An upgrade for a CDP for sure, but also moving it more into music production. Maybe with a little bit of design, a B-285 could be made, something that has a few adjustments that can keep people from mucking their shit up with "respected" plugins like Ozone. Trust me folks, Ozone is NOT a tube simulator. It doesn't sound like REAL tubes. I can hear the difference between a song done with real tubes and something done with software like Ozone.

The price point of the B-283 makes it attractive to my friends that just want to "tube up" their SS guitar and bass amps, but people doing actual mastering, I know they wish for more. This is how Ozone became the plugin of choice when wanting to add some "tube warmth". I just find the idea of using DSP to mimic tubes kindof... well... not cool, especially now that I am discovering all that a real tube setup can do.