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New Opus up and running.:d/
I received the kit wed and spent the afternoon today putting it together. I got the single dac with the metro, with coax and an optical input. I am using it single ended w/o any output stage, straight out of the dac. It sounds very nice. Plenty of gain. I may build a tube output stage for it later like the Lampizator. I want to give it a couple days to burn in before I comment too much, but I am very happy. I put it together w/o the metro first to make sure I had it connected and set right. Then I added the metro. Sounds better than the monica 2 with a monarchy dip. Looks like I will be selling that. I will need to find a better transport, the old sony is giving me trouble. After I get it in a proper case I will get pics. Its taped in a box right now but it sounds great. I have built a couple of other kits and this is the best so far. Just read all the posts and it is easy. Thanks guys for the great product and great kit.
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Rank: Advanced Member
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So I am about ready to put the Opus in its permanent case. I am going to use koa wood for the face. It should look beautiful. I wanted to ask/show what connections and settings I used. It sounds great and I have changed the Metronome settings from 192khz to 48khz. Sounds good either way. Maybe this will help others to build theirs. If you see anything wrong, let me know. Edited: XO clock disable jumper removed. From the Transformer to PS: yel and orange->S1 red and black ->S2 Daisy chain VD and Gr from DAC->Metro->Rec. Spdif and toslink both to the Receiver ->spdif in. Only have one on at a time and your ok. Out of REC: In to PCMIN on Metro BCK -> BCK LRCK->LRCK Dout->D Grd ->Grd From PCMOUT of Metro to DAC: BCK->BCK SCK->MCK LRC->LRCK D ->DOUT G ->G Out of DAC-single ended to RCA jacks, no additional gain L+ -> L+ G -> L ground R+ -> R+ G -> R ground On the switches: Switch vs Manual + = 1 0 = Open - = 0 Remove XO bypass jumper on Metro Sounds great, pics to follow. :d/ Edited by user Monday, March 10, 2008 11:40:32 PM(UTC)
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Looks good. The only think I would change is to remove the SCK connection between the Receiver and the Metronome.
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Rank: Advanced Member
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So I tried that and get no sound. I looked over the first post and see a few things I didnt note. I have no wires from SPDIFOUT on the REC. On the Metro wires from PCMOUT D->DOUT to the DAC. I get a green light but no sound. The switch settings are as per the manuals for Spdif in/spdif+pcmout config on the REC,as recommended on the Metro, and as recommended for stereo on the DAC. 
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You may have already done this, but make sure you have the XO clock disable jumper removed.
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Rank: Advanced Member
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 Thanks Russ, that did it. Dont know how I missed that! Now it sounds better than ever. So that means I was bypassing the metro all this time? For a know nothing like me there are a lot of things to do to make this dac work. Thats why I wanted to post all the settings on one page. A lot of the posts have been with the old boards so I missed the jumper. But from what I hear now it has been well worth it. I will post pics before I install it in a case and after it is in the new koa faced case. Thanks again for the great support and product.:d/
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Well all it really means is that you were not using the master clock you thought you were. :)
Very glad I could help.
Enjoy!
Russ
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Engaging the master clock makes the Opus sound better. A better balance between midbass and up. The imaging and depth is much nicer. It sounds relaxed, easy, and refined. Still has detail, but not as hard. I like it . Thanks for the great kit and quick response. :d/ Heres the pics. Its koa wood on the face of an old cdp. I used teflon coated solid cat 5 to wire most of it. I used a Furutech gold plated IEC from VH Audio. I have settled on 48 khz for the sampling on the metro. The REC is upside down on the bottom, the metro in the middle, and the dac on top(metro and dac right side up). The led was too bright so I used a 600 ohm resister to turn it down. Shortening all the wires made it sound smoother and cleaner. I broke the toslink input installing it. That got me thinking about bypassing the optical conversion completely. So I disassembled my sony es cdp and found the data and ground output on the board. Used cat5 out the back with a single rca hard wired to the board and made a coax out for the sony. Now I dont need the optical input on the dac! Eliminated 2 optical conversions! Sounds better this way. The Opus sounds wonderful. Detailed but not fatiguing. Bass is full and tight. Center image is rock solid. A very sweet sounding addition to my system. Thanks guys. Edited by user Tuesday, March 11, 2008 12:35:39 AM(UTC)
| Reason: Not specified schnak attached the following image(s):  Opus face (640x306).jpg (68kb) downloaded 357 time(s). Opus case front (640x202).jpg (58kb) downloaded 358 time(s). Opus case top (640x394).jpg (84kb) downloaded 358 time(s). Opus case rt (480x640).jpg (107kb) downloaded 359 time(s). Opus case lt (609x640).jpg (140kb) downloaded 361 time(s). Opus stack rt (480x640).jpg (105kb) downloaded 361 time(s). Opus stack lt (480x640).jpg (91kb) downloaded 357 time(s).You cannot view/download attachments. Try to login or register.
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Rank: Advanced Member
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So the Opus has been sounding great for a month or so now. It seems to have burned in because it sounds better than before. Bass has more detail, better mid bass. Imaging is amazing! I use old Polk SDA speakers and the imaging can come from the walls sometimes. I think the solid silver wire hardwired to the output helps with the imaging. This thing sounds very good.
Is there any benefit to adding an output stage? I am using it direct out of the dac into my preamp. I have too much gain now, cant even use 50% of the volume now.
I dont know how the Buffalo can sound better but we will see what people think. Great stuff guys.
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Hello, If you are happy with the output levels I would not bother adding anything more. :) I am very glad you like your DAC. Great work! Cheers! Russ Edited by user Friday, April 18, 2008 8:01:38 PM(UTC)
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Hi Schnak, Firstly, I've got to agree with Russ - If you're happy with it as it is, leave it alone. But, if you're anything like me, you'll be constantly wondering if it could be better if you did this or that. :) You don't say if you are using the outputs Balanced or Unbalanced. I guess Unbalanced, if you are feeding direct to your pre-amp. You might improve it with an output stage or maybe a second Dac board, but it can get awfully complicated very quickly (see my project in the gallery !).  Personally, I prefer the sound with the Ballsie added, I found it to sound a bit 'dull', without, but YMMV. It also allows you to bypass the output caps on the Dac, which helps. If the Dac is a good match to your pre-amp, then you might even degrade it by adding more stages. :) [ Love the wooden front, btw. :) ]
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