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Mario Thank you for the generous offer. I would like to download the Iberia piece if possible.

This post was initially placed in the other BADA DAC thread and I have copied and updated some of the information. Please feel free to skip this if this is a rehash for you! I thought it would be best placed in this thread. I received the new Alpha reference approximately 10 days ago, serial#1002 courtesy of Maier Shadi of the Audio Salon. I thank him much for the hard work and guidance he has given me in getting this DAC. Those who are familiar with the previous Alpha series 1 & 2 will be right at home as most controls and inputs are similar except 2 SPDIF inputs are present on the new DAC. The remote is also new and of course the unit itself is very well constructed and much heavier than the other alphas. I previously used the BADA series 1 with and without the Alpha USB box. The combination of the Aurender 20>USB> alpha USB > AES > reference works extremely well & the isolation given to the system with this approach seems to contribute to the lack of height frequency harshness I mention in the next paragraph (it seemed the Alpha USB helped in this regard with the series 1 also). The Constellation Audio Perseus is my reference for analogue playback & its ability to mainatin detail and clarity and at the same time great tonality is the hallmark of the Perseus and I have noted the same for the new reference BADA. Upper frequency harshness is minimal to non existent & again the lower frequency punch is easily noted particularly in HDCD files! Conclusively this has been a major improvement in SQ for my system and look forward to more long term listening!

Ted_b I had initially scripted a long(er) version on the reference with correct formatting etc. Unfortunately when I was ready to upload it to the CA site, the CA login was lost & when I logged in again all my comments were gone / kaput! I was not up to re-doing the whole piece until later in the night when I was finally able to get a few quick impressions of the unit. The room I use for listening is quite dark with black walls so please excuse the photo quality especially the back of the unit where illumination is difficult & all connections are in place! Sorry about the order of the pictures I had some difficulty getting them all attached at once.

I received the new Alpha refrence yesterday ser #1002 courtesy of Maier Shadi of the Audio Salon. I thank him much for the hard work and guidance he has given me in getting this DAC. Those who are familiar with the previous Alpha series 1 & 2 will be right at home as most controls and inputs are similar except I think 2 SPDIF inputs are present on the new DAC. The remote is also new and of course the unit itself is very well constructed and much heavier than the other alphas.I used the alpha series one with and without the Alpha USB box. Currently I have listened to the unit through the alpha USB box from an Aurender W20 & the combination works flawlessly. I plan to try the AES connection later in the month after sustained listening in the current configuration.The best way I can describe the sound is in context with my analogue setup specifically the Constellation Audio Perseus. The ability to mainatin detail and clarity and at the same time great tonality can be difficult to attain but this has been the hallmark of the Perseus and I have noted the same for the new reference BADA. Harshness in the upper frequencies has been an issue i have noted in some of my favorite songs & I have been impressed at how much this issue has been ameliorated in my system . Hi rez files play seemlessly and the bass impact and control is much more evident than in my previous BADA. HDCD files are particularly impressive! I have not had enough time to listen with the various filter options present but plan to do so this later after better familiarity with the "default" set-up. I understand that Chris uses a W20 Aurender and I look forward to reading his critique of the unit particularly when paired with the Aurenders. I hope fellw CA-philes will have a chance to audition this DAC for at least in my system it has made an immense improvement in digital SQ !

Regarding DACs & Auenders: I have used the old tried & true Alpha DAC from Berkeley Audio Design version 1 & it has worked very well that past year or so. The Reference DAC is due any day now & I will post my user experience with it when time premits!

Mariusz I am happy to see you have enjoyed the W20. In the last 6 months or so it has been a joy to use. I am at the same stage you are currently regarding a new DAC (the process is always evolving isnt it? but then again that's part of the enjoyment for me). THe DCS Vivaldi seems to be a formitable piece & I bet you would get much enjoyment when paired with the W; I have seen many shows where the two are matched but I have not personally heard a system with the Vivaldi. Francisco

Chris Enjoyed the tour and agree with your post article comments. I have enjoyed immensely my Q5's and feel they will probably be a long term purchase unlike other parts of my system that will chnage over time. I would love to take a tour as you have and in that abensce will use your photos as a substitute!

I have seen a only a few postings regarding users of the mentioned machines. The information from Chris was also noted in the past. I would like to give my user experience with both machines having lived for about a year with the S and ~a month with the W. My journey in the music server started with a 2011 Mac mini with upgraded(8gb) RAM and various applications including Pure Music, Amarra(full), and Fidelia. Athough I enjoyed the process of setting up a system I grew tired of continual bugs, upgrade subsequent bugs etc. I began investigating a more turnkey approach & decided on the Widelab offerings. The article on this site by Chris, my interaction with Maier Shadi at the Audio Salon convinced me to make the sizable investment and sell my other gear. I preface my thought s on the system by stating that the DAC used is the BADA alpha. I converted every CD, Blue Ray, DVD-A I had in my home(to FLAC) using some of the software mentioned on the site and I am grateful to those who mentioned their experience with them prior to my buying such material. The S10 was revelatory to me especially regards to ease of use, minimal hastle factor and simply amazing back up and support by Eric Shim at Widealab and Maier with his great relationship with those at Widealab. The 10 using the USB(solo & with alpha USB) as well as XLR output was amazing in its ability to produce the spatial cues and presentation I craved and enjoyed in my analog side of things. The 20 has leaped frogged in the same vein but to a much greater degree in my mind probably due to the amazing low noise/distortion helped (I am told) by the use of the battery pack running the system once started. The 10 it apears to has allowed the production team to focus on specifics such as better USB isolation, the battery, larger storage etc. I have enjoyed the use of the iPad application and it has matured also over the past year due to user input I am sure. I am not an audio reviewer and have no financial interest in the companies mentioned but just wanted to briefly give my thumbs up to this system and allow others(particularly users) to add comment also. Perhaps additions, issues could all be included in this thread in the hopes of improving the experience for users and possibly future users of the products.

Magico Q5,s

The Auender team has been wonderful when it comes to support which although expected for the price point is not always the case. The iPad software also has been a joy to use! My understanding is that the new W20 will be around 15,000 USD. I have been a user of the S10 since they initially were released.

I have tried it on all my Macs(2010 mini, 2009 iMac, 2008 MacBookPro & 2011 MacPro) all without issues. I run Amarra, Pure Music & Fidelia all on Snow Leopard.I guess I must be lucky on that account.

Who & how will the music be released ? I have been longing to get the DVD-A / SACD version of Avalon for a very long time but the issue is out of production and the remaining discs used are in in the $100's.

If you remember a tonearm protractor , names such as Nakamichi,Hafler, Dahlquist, SP-6,7,8 , 9 & 10's! And God forbid EIGHT track tape!?

I have not noted a significant increase in volume having set it at the recommended level when played through a pre-amplifier(Krell KRC-HR). Thinking about it further when played straight out to my mono-amps(Krell Audo Standards) I still didn't notice a significant volume change! As you stated, though, amazing improvement in sound quality and I "only" have series 1 BADA!! Unfortunaltely I bought mine just prior to the cutoff number for upgrade.

Any information on this interesting new "phase layering" technology would be appreciated!<br /> http://www.bsgt.com<br /> thanks<br /> Francisco

Many of us have been working with Amarra as beta testers fervently trying to make the application the program it should be. My understanding is, after quite a few beta releases and fixes, an updated version will be out very soon.We are in the final review of the current release evaluation.

Woo Audio GES & Blue Hawaii SE amplifiers with Stax SR-009 cans; Woo audio headphone stand HPS-R & Stax SRE 950-S extension cable

I am a late buyer into the software(mini) & unlike some do not have issues with the software.The occasional hiccup on starting songs otherwise I do not share the sentiment. Perhaps the latest firmware wil fix the issues others have.

In the end if you can't get art work in automatically (happens quite often with my eclectic collection in iTunes) go to google images & download the art work. I have yet not been able to find even obscure covers there. Good luck!

Audio_ELF<br /> I have a couple of the units for streaming music and have tried to figure how to use it with the Aurender( I do not yet have one), but I'm not sure exactly how it would be configured for the Aurender to access my wireless network(Airport Extreme based).<br /> thanks

Amir<br /> Thanks I will take a look at it. As an aside, I have the Oppo BDP-95 & it has a wireless USB router that comes with the unit that works quite well for firmware updates et al.

Very interested in product but I do not have ethernet access in my stereo enclave(basement). For those with the unit would it be possible to use a USB wireless router instead of the ethernet connection to access the internet. I realize that the connection would be too slow for music file transfer & would not use it as such.

i have not had an issue with the remote so far and both the BADA & USB Alpha have been flawless.I have had good correspondence with both the factory as well as the dealer ( Music Lovers-Berkeley) & I am sure one or the other will get you working again soon.

Rarely occur and really not a big deal for me. I have no other issues fortunately and use it as my primary software despite also having PM & Fidelia. In my case money wel spent for the enjoyment I get.

I took a rather different approach than take apart my 2011 mini; i decided to use an external OWC SSD as my boot drive using the Firewire 800 connection and I use the internal HDD as a backup boot drive and backup document drive, et al. I have seen NO issues regarding speed , quirks, clicks etc. I have done this now for the better part of a year. I use Amarra mini, as well as occasionally Pure Music & Fidelia. I have bluetooth enabled for a wireless keyboard too. I did upgrade to 8GB ram and run Lion. System runs flawlessly.