Gieseler Audio Posted May 30, 2017 Author Share Posted May 30, 2017 (edited) I'm just shipping out another Konverter to a SNA member ( woadl ) & I've actually had time to photograph it Inside & out so I thought it would be good for you guys to see the finished product. The IR remote receiver is now exposed via hole through the front panel & works much better. The PSU & digital boards have be updated to take the new LT3045 regulators & with better cable access points to the other boards The forth photo is final testing with a Auralic Aries mini. Edited May 30, 2017 by Gieseler Audio 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scumbag Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 She's a beauty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gieseler Audio Posted May 30, 2017 Author Share Posted May 30, 2017 Sorry - did not mean to put in so many photos - had trouble editing it. My phone has trouble capturing the OLED display correctly so the missing part of the fonts is just a glitch with my photography 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerav Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 it really is a perfect product, now what can I sell to get $4000. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woadl Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Wow that does look fantastic and such a neat build inside. I have had the pleasure of listening to Clay's DAC last year and liked it very much having compared it to my Auralic Vega its performance on my system I thought was up with the quality of the Vaga. So when Clay announced that he was building a DAC with a Preamp I just had to have one as I would also like to add remote volume to my system, it's been a long wait but I should have it late next week and I will be posting my impressions thanks again Clay 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gemini07 Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 On 2017-5-30 at 11:15 PM, woadl said: Wow that does look fantastic and such a neat build inside. I have had the pleasure of listening to Clay's DAC last year and liked it very much having compared it to my Auralic Vega its performance on my system I thought was up with the quality of the Vaga. So when Clay announced that he was building a DAC with a Preamp I just had to have one as I would also like to add remote volume to my system, it's been a long wait but I should have it late next week and I will be posting my impressions thanks again Clay Any updates on your new arrival? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woadl Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 Hello everyone, well after waiting for over a year now for Clay's Konverter DAC preamp I finally came home and their was the box I had been waiting for sitting in the hallway. As you do when something like this happens you grab yourself a brew, sit down and gently unpack your purchase. I must say the first impressions of Clays DAC was of a piece of equipment that has been put together with a lot of thought with not a hint of being slapped together, I had seen pictures of the internals but I had to take of the lid and have a closer look, Clay I love your work ! To put the Konverter into my system required a bit of rewiring so I decided to pull the whole system apart and give everything a good dusting and rearrange some of the gear. My system consists of a pair of ML2REF speakers, a pair of Quad EightyII mono blocks, Mark Levinson ML1 preamp, Auralic Aries streamer and a Auralic Vega DAC so the pre amp will go and the Vega DAC I sold a while ago, the Konverter will replace them. Also I will be connecting to the Konverter a Audio GD cd transport, a Yamaha cd Recorder, a Technics sp10 turntable, and with the help of a tape selector switch box a Sony TC765 reel to reel and a Pioneer CT-F1250 cassette deck..... Few ! Well after about 3 hours of dusting, polishing and connecting I was now ready to sit down and listen to a bit of music. The remote that comes with the Konverter has volume up and down, muting, channel up and down and a power button, Clay has configured the remote so with these few buttons you can change the inputs, the filter settings the display modes and toggle the Home Theatre bypass on and off. At first trying to navigate through the different modes I found a bit confusing but having live with it for a few days you quickly learn how it works...... So how does it sound ? I believe that if you call yourself an Audiophile you have the ability to store audio memories of not only your own system but also other systems you have listened to over the years, so what I'm trying to say is that I know my own system sound very well I started to stream a few of my favourite tracks and what was apparent straight away was the amount of bass weight that my system had gain it was like I had added a subwoofer to the system, the Konverter goes deep, very deep in bass.....wow The more music I played the more excited I became, tracks I new well we're now being presented to me differently, the sound had a smoothness to it and the image was rock solid. It seemed like every piece of music I played had new surprises, some of the instruments in the songs I knew well were louder than on my old system, the sound stage was much more wider and things like cymbals were smooth with no hint of being splashy, I was having a great time. I then played some HiRez music and the sound as you would expect was taken to a whole new level, another thing I noticed was that the background was very black, no background noise that you could notice I can confidently say that the Konverter sounds much better than the Vega DAC particularly in the bass region, I will also say that my digital music now has a much more analog sound which is what I'm after So how did the analog inputs sound ? Just as good as my old system. I must admit I was a little worried about taking out my Mark Levinson pre amp as I really loved the vintage sound of it and I thought that if that sound changed that much I could always run the Konverter into the Mark Levinson pre to get back that sound back but there's no need to, the Konverter is a dam fine preamp as well. Makes me wonder how much better the sound will be ones it has had a good burn in Clay I must congratulate you on a product that looks good, built very well and sounds bloody brilliant, an outstanding achievement, the wait was worth it ! Thank you. 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matth Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 On 13.6.2017 at 0:05 PM, woadl said: I started to stream a few of my favourite tracks and what was apparent straight away was the amount of bass weight that my system had gain it was like I had added a subwoofer to the system, the Konverter goes deep, very deep in bass.....wow Nice, am I right you address this to the DAC part of the Konverter and not to the preamp part? Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woadl Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 Hi Matt, yesterday I had a long listening session listening to some of my favourite vinyl and what I have found listening to the analog inputs is that the image and the depth is certainly better than the Mark Levinson but yes the real bass extension comes from the DAC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krappo Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 Any more news on the dac only konverter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gieseler Audio Posted June 16, 2017 Author Share Posted June 16, 2017 I have finally (today) completed all the Konverter orders so I'm now working on the the new DAC. Most of the design work is done so it should not be too far away. When it is getting close I will start a new topic/thread about it - stay tuned! 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jermaink Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 (edited) About the DAC only device, would it be possible to get a version with both USB and SPDIF inputs? Edited June 18, 2017 by jermaink 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gieseler Audio Posted June 17, 2017 Author Share Posted June 17, 2017 Yes. The standard version will have just USB in & then as a option you can have S/PDIF inputs added as well. They will be coax, optical & I might look at AES/EBU XLR as well. The single input version will have a slight performance gain as there is no switching of the I2S lines. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jermaink Posted June 18, 2017 Share Posted June 18, 2017 (edited) Would it possible to order a SPDIF only version, and would it similarly benefit from there being no switching of l2s lines? Edited June 18, 2017 by jermaink 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gieseler Audio Posted June 18, 2017 Author Share Posted June 18, 2017 Yes I can certainly offer a S/PDIF only version & it will benefit in terms of sound quality vs the multi input version. Cost will down about a $120 as well as the Amanero USB board won't be needed. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Spyne~ Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 So how many other Konverter owners are out there now? Reviews/thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gieseler Audio Posted July 6, 2017 Author Share Posted July 6, 2017 Hi Adam, just taken an order for number five yesterday. We have improved the firmware a bit too so when I get time I will send out the upgraded control chips to all previous owners. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vqya23N4086e Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 On 06/07/2017 at 3:20 PM, Gieseler Audio said: Hi Adam, just taken an order for number five yesterday. We have improved the firmware a bit too so when I get time I will send out the upgraded control chips to all previous owners. Order number five would be me. It will be teamed with a pair of ML2 Reference speakers and Arion HS500 monoblocks once Clay has worked his build magic. I'll be happy to report back once the system has been set up and I've had a good listen but that won't be for at least a few weeks. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custom_made Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 (edited) Changes over time - boards and layout Gieseler Konverter Animation Edited July 27, 2017 by custom_made 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vqya23N4086e Posted August 4, 2017 Share Posted August 4, 2017 Looks like mine will be arriving late next week. Looking forward to it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vqya23N4086e Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 Mine arrived a couple of weeks ago now and I've been very happy with it so far. Still waiting to put a few other pieces in place before I do more of a review but I'd highly recommend both the Konverter as a DAC/preamp and Clay himself as someone who's great to deal with. 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BioBrian Posted September 25, 2017 Share Posted September 25, 2017 (edited) Hello Clay @Gieseler Audio, I wonder if you could give us a run-down on the volume control in this Konverter, compared with that in the new Gross DAC, please? Also, would it be possible to use 2 outputs (eg XLR and RCA) for bi-amping (looks like switchable only at the moment), or would this involve too much change? Thanks, Brian. Edited September 25, 2017 by BioBrian forgot to tag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gieseler Audio Posted September 25, 2017 Author Share Posted September 25, 2017 (edited) Hi Brian. The Konerter uses a analogue based volume control but with digital control & is located after the DAC chip in the preamp section. This is implemented using a Muses72320 - it is like a switched antenuator but uses CMOS devices instead of a switch. Bottom line - it is like a high quality stepped antenuator but with the convenience of precision/remote control. The Groß DAC uses the digital level antenuator that is built into the AK4497EQ DAC chip so it is a pure digital level control. With digital attenuation you are throwing away bits as the level lowers so you lose a bit of resolution at lower volume levels. Fortunately due to the AK4497EQ 32 bit architecture this has a minimal effect on the sound unless you are listening at extremely low levels. Dual outputs Konverter - no problem - The dual RCA outputs will work simultaneously or if you select XLR the second (2) RCA output can be used at the same time. Groß DAC - strictly RCA or XLR - simultaneous operation is not possible. Edited September 25, 2017 by Gieseler Audio 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gieseler Audio Posted October 6, 2017 Author Share Posted October 6, 2017 Hi Guys, small update. We have put a massive amount of time into the Groß DAC firmware & as a result some of the new features will be able to be incorporated into the Konverter. Things like “heavy load mode” , DSD filter roll off & sound quality select mode. Some off these features will be switchable in the menu & others are behind the screen stuff. Bottom line is they all add small improvements to the sound quality so I definately what to incorporate them into the Konverter. As soon as the work load backs off a bit I will get on to it. The firmware upgrade is dead simple. Just a matter of replacing a plug in chip. Stay tuned. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray H Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 @Gieseler Audio I think this question has been asked before, but I couldn’t see an answer, is it possible to have both outputs active at the same time ? Ie for the purpose of driving active speakers or power amp and sub etc. ? Additional question is on the feasibility of headphone socket ? regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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