What is the difference/what does the package entail?
This is what he ordered.
10-4.
What is the VIP price for the Signture upgrade but not the Plus? I already have a power supply for my analog board.
Iām not sure they offer that. You could always ask them.
Thanks for the review comparison.
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I have the power supply and transformer upgrades already (not the APS nickel transformers).
Not sure if a further transformer upgrade and the VOCM mod would be worth the price of admissionā¦?
The APS version 1 are nice and the version 2 are supposed to be nicer. I went from Edcor 4400 to APS transformers and the upgrade was definitely worth it. I would go for the version 2 but funds are tight at the moment.
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The VOCM mod is a huge upgrade and definitely worth doing. Along with the APS transformers will blow your mind. It did mine.
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According to APS the DC offset fix is just as important as the new R2 transformers. They work together to give more dynamics and lower distortion.
I donāt know, and NOBODY KNOWS this for sure, except APS
While thereās a kind of consensus that APS transformers are better for DirectStream DAC mkI than any other non APS transformers, nobody knows what the difference is APS vs. APS R2, if any.
Funny fact!
APS already did āupgradeā to these transformers once and raised the price. Said it was a Breakthrough
But later they said they changed their mind and discarded their APS dipped in wax as they got worse within time (I donāt remember 100% their explanation).
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I know that for sure
While there were units reported with DC offset or with significantly different L to R offset, not all of the DirectStream DACs has offset.
If you have APS transformers and they work, then you donāt have it, or it was corrected.
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I know that for sure
The quality of Vocm mod does matter.
APS donāt use Tantalum caps anymoreā¦
Well, I told Jeff it was not the best sounding option. And he didnāt listenā¦ two years later, he obviously changed his mind.
Hurray, I was right again!
I donāt know what kind of new capacitors theyāre using now, I can see how polymer caps could essentially work like my sandwich of Electrolytic+Polymer, though I have the additional Ceramic shunt. This sandwich works in a wider frequency range thus superior.
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reported in this thread
Resistors have no impact on the SQ. Itās just a voltage divider and not in a signal path. There are other resistors in the signal path, though
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I know that for sure
Good power supply for the analog board is a must and has a significant impact on the SQ.
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Now, I will sound like a broken record, but
This I know 100%, and people reported positive experiences here
Swapping the mediocre stock regulators for Sparkos/Belles plus rectifying bridge gave the same or even bigger impact on SQ compared to the transition from Edcore 4400 to APS transformers.
If you have Lundahl transformers, try to swap regulators. Maybe you wonāt need APS transformers.
This gave this clean palpable image and spooky presence, made my speakers completely dissappear.
Though, the quality of drums is mostly determined by the power supply for the analog board.
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This is what nobody knows, but I did it
When at this point, I thought thereās nothing to improve (note: I canāt swap op amps because of the way of my Vocm mod), and I decided to swap the XLR sockets. And it blown me away! It cleaned everything further, tightened the mid to low end, and gave more weight to the instruments and voices. It was really an eye-popping improvement!
I think you are mistaken on many things you wrote here as my reading here on this topic states otherwise. 1st it seems APS started with natural and beeswax versions at the very beginning and later stopped making beeswax versions as they ended up sounding the same after breaking in. They later raised the prices because of the price of nickel. They didnāt make any changes until December 20 2023 via info on Audiogon when they announced their R2 transformers and the DC offset fix. Lots of info over there.
According to APS all DirectStream DACs have high DC offset and a different amount on Left vs Right channels. This will magnetize the transformer over time.
Why do you belittle APS? I think without them these DACs would not be what they are today. Myself I think the more options the better. Iām sure glad I found them and purchased their product.
If you can quote post stating otherwise please do.
Just my $.02
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Please tell me this is a joke. I can understand a cable swap making a small difference for the better however changing an already good XLR socket making improvements you state seems a little over the top. Maybe there were other issues you missed like in the connection or bad Solder joints.
Which XLRs did you swap in?
Were am I mistaken?
They came up with wax dipped transformers as a better version, but later, they themselves refuted it. Itās a fact.
My DAC didnāt have DC offset needed correction. Itās a fact.
When Jeff started offering transformers swaps on this forum, he was once in a while posting instances when he found that several DACs needed offset correction. And it wasnāt with each and every, though, I donāt know the percentage.
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I donāt. As a matter of fact, I stated it multiple times. Iām grateful for the APS transformers.
I donāt like how some businessman eyewashing.
He proved to be wrong at least twice on the matters I personally had an argument with him:
- Tantalum in Vocm mod turned out to be not goodā¦ surprise, but not for me (Jeff:Anton 0:1)
- One needs a good additional power supply for the analog board even with APS transformers for the DirectStream to sound best (0:2)
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I not only read this thread, all 5672 posts ( number by now), but I started these mods on my DirectStream DAC pretty much when this thread began.
I tested a lot for myself, what I didnāt test for myself, I trust different people. And it appears to me that you trust only one guy who makes money on you, he said something without evidence and you are happy to believe.
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By the way, another thing that I personally donāt like. Thereās nothing mentioned anywhere on his website or on the Audiogon thread that initially, he developed these mods in collaboration with (not me, of course) people on this forum.
Jeff never said thanks as far as I know.
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Most of what I said in my previous post is proven to be true in this thread by many others. The last point - XLR sockets - only by my own experience with this DAC. And Iām not hiding it when Iām speculating, or assuming, and when Iām speaking out of experience.
Could you quote where you found this info?
Proof is the end result and itās awesome.
He sure did. He has mentioned turbotk many times explaining how he first discovered the VOCM mod. And asked others who mentioned only him and Ted Smith to not forget turbotk.
First, I already showed you that itās not the end of the mods, but just a version.
Second, you donāt know where APS cut the corners (while I do), and you donāt know (and refuse to admit) that it could be better.
Thus your statement is empty, of no value
Here we go againš
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