Given that this is a DAC, the implication is that all Audio by Van Alstine components would reveal the same quality of manufacture.

This component would fail to make even the lowest Stereophile list of recommended components. The manner in which components are made, measure and sound are considered in Stereophile reviews and recommended components. The quality control found in the manufacture of this unit would cause it to sound very poor.

Quote:
"Once we open the top of the DAC we see strange things."
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"Except for the standard Crystal CS8412 S/PDIF decoder (no 96 kHz sampling supported here)..."
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"No Toslink input. No digital outputs for MD and CD-R equipment. Can you believe it at this price? Cheap twisted-pair cables connect the digital-in jack to the PC board."
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"Yes, the main filter caps are mismatched to save a couple bucks..... I have never seen a power supply this cheap in any high-end unit I have ever examined."
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"The board is hand-soldered and the work is not of professional quality.... The fact that the solder mask is missing from the board only makes things worse."
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"The DAC is identified by how it is connected up as the very low-end Phillips TDA131X chip."
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"And now - what does this all add up to? The worst measurements we have ever made."
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"It all adds up to full-scale THD+N of -66dB across the spectrum. No, that is not a typo... (The editor has been making faces for years when it's 20 dB better than that.) The THD is so high and so completely dominated by the DAC that other effects like clock jitter and dynamic distortion in the analog stage are not possible to observe."
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"This is a company that claims that the Omega IV DAC is 'easily the best piece of audio equipment we have ever designed'"...and "claim to have applied 'thousands of hours of original advanced math circuit analysis pogramming.'... It is of questionable design and construction."

I posted this in case the material went missing in the future.

I would never buy ANY Audio by Van Alstine gear. I think that people who buy it do so because it is cheap but they don't know how poorly it is manufactured. It is good that reviews are made on products so that the average person can understand what to avoid.

Why take a chance with your hard earned money when there are literally hundreds of far better components in the Stereophile Recommended Components list?

One of the best DACs ever reviewed anywhere is the Benchmark DAC-1. The price is even less than the Van Alstine DAC. It was reviewed right here at Stereophile by John Marks and John Atkinson.
http://stereophile.com/thefifthelement/886/

Here is a discussion regarding the Benchmark DAC-1 at Head-Fi. What was terrific in this long 30 some page forum post was that for several weeks they had two engineers answer questions regarding the operation of the DAC-1.
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=225363

And here are some of the excerpts of the Stereophile review:

http://stereophile.com/thefifthelement/886/index3.html

Quote:
In level-matched comparisons with my long-term reference DAC, the Mark Levinson No.30.6, using Illuminati Orchid AES/EBU digital datalinks, I found it surprisingly difficult to hear differences. But after a lot of listening

http://www.avahifi.com/root/review/omega4_dac_clients.htm

Ain't that the chip in that $45K MISWIRED, highly DISTORTED 3 piece debacle that MF simply loved the sound of? What was the name of that thang a few issues back. A $45K CD player with 3 chassis(man talk about wasting metal and space) with a chip that AVA used years ago, and I think is long discontinued at AVA and Philips...And yet this $45K Cd only 3 piece player is a current model from this company that makes these bizzare players, that MF loved teh sound of, gee, would it be any other outcome?

Latest model out there http://www.avahifi.com/root/equipment/dac/transcendence_dac.htm

One of the funniest ones here, Abysmal color bar man, in an AUDIO forum, (confused)?....the unknowing here I am. Check with AVA about this review from way way back. I guess my stuff was made with good solder joints etc. I have never had an AVA product fail in almost 15 eyars or so of stuff. Ain;t eve seen any with anything of teh sorts what this review speaks about. Yeah, I know how to take teh covers off, and look, matter of fact I even know correct solder joints to bad ones, and much much more....You think i don't learn from my job at the back of a trash truck, I talk to some of the best experts in the field all day while picking up cans. Trash, it's what make me edumacated

DAC-1 is ONE OF THE BEST DACs EVER MADE and HAS BEEN REVIEWED SEVERAL TIMES BECAUSE OF THAT!

First the Wiki on the Benchmark DAC-1! They tell you how you can make a secondary use of it by putting the USB component to work. Just connect the Benchmark DAC-1 to your computer and you get 96kHz off the DAC connected to your computer.
http://extra.benchmarkmedia.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

6Moons.com Review
http://6moons.com/audioreviews/benchmark/dac1.html

Positive Feedback, issue 17
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue17/benchmarkdac1.htm

Positive Feedback, issue 26
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue26/benchmark_dac1.htm

I also recommend that you read the HeadFi articles. It is going to take you around three days to get through it if you read everything.
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=225363

I'll say it again. I've seen and heard Audio by Van Alstine gear at a college friends home and was very unimpressed. It was the weakest link in his entire setup. Lets put it this way. If you are in or just got out of college and bought it, or didn't know any better and bought it nobody would care but it is NOT audiophile or stereophile grade gear. PERIOD.

Do you really think anybody cares about your opinion? What words of wisdom from the peanut gallery. Keep up the good work.

What don't you believe Phil? Who are you arguing with?

Stereophile reviewed that the Benchmark DAC-1 is that good.
http://stereophile.com/thefifthelement/886/index1.html

Quote:
Shazam! Gloriosky, even. All you need is a transport to feed the DAC 1 a digital signal, a power amplifier, speakers, and a few bits of wire, and you have a stripped-down hot rod of a system that is ready to rock'n'roll. Or Wagnerize, even.
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After carefully using the pink-noise track from Stereophile's Test CD 2 as a reference to help match the DAC 1's output level to that of the Marantz SA-14, I played a variety of favorite CD tracks

I find it even more impressive that a man can operate a thriving audio business, especially in today's climate without the need or blessing of a review from one of the mentioned mags. From what I can gather Frank never played the PC game or cow downed to the mags or reviewers. Bottom line being that unless you play the game by their rules you don't get any press. Apparently Frank never needed it because of word of mouth & an on going following of his products. He has built up a cult following & his gear is in high demand. What is he doing wrong? Apparently there are a lot of audiophiles who appreciate his work. Are they all wrong too? I don't think so.

The world has changed. Word of mouth still works but it can work against you too. That is why you need to get your products out to be reviewed. If you have nothing to fear then your components will come out smokin and everyone will flock to you to buy them.

I don't know how the Audio Critic got the product but they reviewed it. In order to deal with reviews like that you need to get your product reviewed or else someone like 301 or whomever is going to burn you if you keep opening up your mouth about how great your gear is.

Quote:
Apparently there are a lot of audiophiles who appreciate his work. Are they all wrong too? I don't think so.

We wouldn't know, the product hasn't been reviewed by any other magazine other than at the location stated. Get it? Its marketing its simple. Its 2007.

A little work on my part(which YOU should be doing NOT me) and I find that there have been AVA gear reviewed by Stereophile. That is according to what I have found so Frank Van Alstine knows how to play the game. Stereophile review: Audio by Van Alstine Stereo MOSFET-120B (Holt) VII-1,7.

After all this is said and done, there is one review for the newer gear and Carl Engebretsen's word. And guess what? That doesn't buy you much around here.

Everybody operates there business differently. Maybe Frank isn't interested in explosive growth. He just might be very content at where he is right now. His lead time for a new piece is approx. 6-8 weeks. That might change after the next issue of The Absolute Sound, they are reviewing his T-8 preamp. Another reviewer Sue Kroft was so impressed with his Ultra DAC that she ordered one for herself. I hope he's not over whelmed with orders after the review.

When it comes to quality there are no shortcuts. If you've taken a shortcut when they open the case on your system as they apparently did in the review that you do not like then they are going to report what they see. Your statement does not hold a lot of water.

Quote:
Everybody operates there business differently.

I hope that the review gets published. TAS is a good journal. Nobody has seen or heard of the review that I know of other than yourself. When the review comes out come back and get yourself a forum page to discuss the component, good or bad. Be ready to deal with the fallout if the review is bad. If the review never comes off then people will know that either you were lying or that the component failed and was withdrawn from the reviewer. There is only ONE person who cares if the review is good within these forums that I know of. Until the review comes out all of this is just water under the bridge....TALK.

You said Frank Van Alstine has been in business for 40 years? I would not call a good review in 2007 explosive growth, which he could not deal with.

Regarding cult followings of audio gear. Apple has a cult following and the iPod is one of the worst pieces of audio gear around. I believe the Wes Phillips term used to describe the audio files used which are better than Apples as polished "turds". And those were FLAC.
http://stereophile.com/mediaservers/207slim/

Here's a few excerpts from over at AudioCircle forum. I don't remember what issue of TAS the reviews are in. What I meant by explosive growth is that if it takes Frank 6-8 wks to deliver your gear with the staff he has working now, if a positive review comes out he might be in some sort of a production pickle. Some guys don't like having to hire & train more people to meet demands. That in itself can be a nightmare. If Frank is happy at his current production level who are we to argue.

Re: ULTRA DAC impressions please?

Quote:
Do you really think anybody cares about your opinion? What words of wisdom from the peanut gallery. Keep up the good work.

This is all a bunch of bull. Anyone can see through that. For a guy who disrespected these forums so flagrantly you sure learned how to get down in the dirt quick and you're staying not leaving. So welcome aboard. Maybe you're just another paid shill. In any case we look forward to the FULL TAS review. It is on its way isn't it? You just said so.

In the case of waiting for a piece of his gear to be reviewed, Carl Engebretsen harasses forum readers, Stereopile writers and editors DIALY with regard to the fact that the gear is never reviewed.

SUBMIT THE GEAR TO BE TESTED TO STEREOPHILE AND TAS AND BEG THEM FOR A REVIEW.

Stereophile is transparent, and states what gear they have just received for review. You can see what gear they even use for reviews. So if you're on the mark the rest of us should be getting that announcement in less than a month. I am sure that given all the headaches around here regarding AVA the editors or writers will state when the gear is in their hands.

If the gear tests well Frank raises his prices, it is simple supply and demand. Where did you go to school? Have you graduated from an American high-school? Frank Van Alstine doesn't have to make one more DAC per month than he does now. Now go back to school and get some very basic coursework in supply and demand.

I think it is becoming clear that enclosure and his many aliases are at it again.

what a waste of time. You are creating different personas here to create the impression a number of people are against DUP and AVA.

Is your life really that miserable that you need to do that?

Are you that insecure that you let DUP drive you to such distraction?

I am beginning to feel sorry for you, when I stop laughing.

Maybe Stephen should close down this thread as well.

Quote:
Maybe Stephen should close down this thread as well.

I think that's a good idea. And we can add the original poster, TimeSmear, to the list of Showflash's aliases.