HIFI Phasure DAC

Hap Hazzard

Wammer
Wammer
Jul 26, 2010
1,704
1,100
158
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Interesting looking! Never seen or heard of this brand before.
We had one at a bake-off once a few years ago and it sounded really promising, but the software was glitchy and it didn’t run for long because of it, so we moved on listning to the other dacs that were brought along that day. It’s bloody big for a dac as well. 😁

For anyone who’s interested in reading.
http://www.phasure.com/index.php
 
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tuga

. . .
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Aug 17, 2007
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Ricardo
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Hadn't realised that the NOS1 had been for sale for this long...

Interesting DAC for those upsampling to high-rate PCM, the resistor-ladder PCM1704U-K chip in this implementation will take 32-bit/768KHz.
 

volante

Wammer
Wammer
Nov 19, 2008
631
55
78
London, UK
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Note what the seller says in the description about the Phisolator:
"The Phisolator has since stopped working and is not repairable as the chips are obsolete, hence price reduction. The Phisolator was a USB galvanic isolator, similar in principal to the Intona 7054, UpTone ISO Regen and there is a separate USB input that bypasses it meaning USB playback is unaffected."
 
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Lawrence001

Mega Wammer
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Jul 21, 2015
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Lawrence
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Note what the seller says in the description about the Phisolator:
"The Phisolator has since stopped working and is not repairable as the chips are obsolete, hence price reduction. The Phisolator was a USB galvanic isolator, similar in principal to the Intona 7054, UpTone ISO Regen and there is a separate USB input that bypasses it meaning USB playback is unaffected."
I wonder if it was bought and returned on eBay.
 

manisandher

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Wammer
Sep 9, 2013
244
199
73
Leamington Spa
AKA
Mani
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
It's a genuine ad. I have two Phasure NOS1 DACs here myself, neither of which I now use, since going fully active a few years ago. I don't know the seller personally (though we happen to live in the same town!), but I was aware of him when I was active on the Phasure forum (quite a few years ago now).

The asking price, for a DAC with 8x genuine PCM1704U-K (highest spec) chips, is reasonable, I think. But...

1. It's a NOS DAC and has no internal filtering whatsoever. However, unlike most other NOS DACs out there, it accepts 24/384 (or 24/768 if using the Phasure software player), so you need to upsample 8x or 16x to get the best out of it. Roon does this very well.
2. Sigma-delta DACs have come on a long way since this Phasure DAC was introduced (12-13 years ago now, though there have been a couple of updates along the way).

My Phasure DACs have the USB filter too, but I prefer the sound bypassing it.

Would I be inclined to take a punt on this one myself? Maybe, if...

1. I was looking for a 2-channel DAC
2. I wasn't satisfied with the sound of any sigma-delta DAC I'd heard to date
3. I was interested in hearing what a good NOS DAC can sound like
4. I was pretty good with a Windows PC (required)
5. I didn't already have two myself!

Mani.
 

manisandher

Wammer
Wammer
Sep 9, 2013
244
199
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Leamington Spa
AKA
Mani
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Doesn't it work when fed by HQPlayer or Audirvana?

Only works with the supplied Windows USB driver.

I managed to get it working with HQPlayer, but that was a long while ago now. Sounded pretty good, from what I can recall. No idea about Audirvana. Roon works no problem.

If you could get hold of them, genuine BB PCM1704U-K chips would cost between GBP 50-100 each, I suspect. There are eight of them in this thing... and they're definitely all genuine. It's also got a very good linear power supply and output stage.

If someone likes tinkering, it might be worth a punt...

Mani.
 
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It Cost How Much!?!

Twisted
Wammer
Oct 27, 2008
17,429
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Hartford, Cheshire
AKA
Bob
HiFi Trade?
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Only works with the supplied Windows USB driver.

I managed to get it working with HQPlayer, but that was a long while ago now. Sounded pretty good, from what I can recall. No idea about Audirvana. Roon works no problem.

If you could get hold of them, genuine BB PCM1704U-K chips would cost between GBP 50-100 each, I suspect. There are eight of them in this thing... and they're definitely all genuine. It's also got a very good linear power supply and output stage.

If someone likes tinkering, it might be worth a punt...

Mani.
Not at that price it's not. Worth about half the asking.
 
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