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Reference DACS: An overall perspective

There has been many threads the last few months regarding the sonic signature of some of the highest regarded reference DACS (Dcs,Meitner,Ensemble,Audio Note,Zanden,Reimyo,Accustic Arts) here on the GON. I have been very fortunate to audtion many of these wonderful pieces in my home or friend's systems. I wanted to share, in a systematic way, my impressions/opinions with you GON members for a two reasons: 1)That my experiences might be helpful to fellow members interested in audtioning these DACS. 2)Starting an interesting discussion regarding the different "sonic flavors" of these reference digital front ends. I totally agree with the statement, "if you have not heard it you don't have an opinion". Therefore, I have no comments regarding DACS from Weiss,Goldmund,Audio Aero and Burmester because I have never had the pleasure of audtioning them. I would love to hear from members who have and share their experiences with us. My overall impression is that these DACS(Dcs,Meitner,Ensemble,Audio Note,Zanden,Reimyo,Accustic Arts) can be grouped into two molar categories regarding their overall sonic signature. By the way, all of them can throw a large/deep soundstage with excellent layering in the acoustic space with "air" around individual players on that stage. However, than they start to part company into two major categories. Category #1) These DACS "flavors" revolve around pristine clarity, fine sharp details,speed,very extended top/bottom frequencies,and great PRAT. These DACS never sound "etched" or "in your face" but are more "upfront" then "layed back" in their presentation. The DACS, to my ear's, that go into this bracket are Dcs,Ensemble,Meitner. My personnal favorite in this group is the Ensemble, which I owned for two years. These DACS remind me of the sonic signature of speakers such as Wilson,Thiel,Dynaudio, Focal/JM Labs. Category #2) These DACS "flavors" revolve around a "musical/organic" sense, natural timbres,and an easy flowing liquidity. Their "less forward" presentation my give the impression of less detail, but I think in this case its an illusion fostered by their more relaxed/organic manner. The DACS, to my ear's, that go into this bracket are Audio Note,Zanden,Reimyo,Accustic Arts. I did find that the tube DACS did not have the top/bottom frequency extenstion and PRAT of the SS DACS in this bracket. For me, the Accustic Arts DAC1-MK3 gave me the best of both categories, therefore it is now the resident DAC in my system. These DACS remind me of the sonic signature of speakers such as Magnepan,Von Schweikert,Sonus Faber. Well, it's all just my opinion regarding these digital pieces, but I hope this post was at least informative/somewhat interesting and would lend itself to other GON members sharing their impressions, not about what DAC is the "BEST" in the world, but your personnal taste and synergy with your system.
teajay

Showing 6 responses by jafox

jafox
1,447 posts
 
I have the Manley Ref DAC from the late 90's and this fits right in category 2. Only wish it had a little more low-end extension. But for now, it is a keeper.
jafox
1,447 posts
 
Yr44: I was at KaDeWe in 2002 and that was quite an experience to walk around and see virtually all of the top notch products from around the world. But after 5 or 6 floors and a great lunch, it was time to go. If only I had known they did high-end audio systems! It never dawned on me to check. Now I have an excuse to go back. 8-)
jafox
1,447 posts
 
Exlibris: I have had the Manley Ref DAC for several years and for a long time, it was not at all close to the weakest link in my system. But this last year I have changed from a BAT 31SE to Callisto Sig, Wolcott Presence to CAT JL-3, Magnepan 3.5 to Soundlab A1, NBS Statement to almost all Purist Dominus and the addition of an Audio Magic Eclipse II PLC which was the biggest improvement of all. This is an insane amount of changes for me as I typically only have done one such change in the same period of time.

My system is heavy on tubes and the sound has been too much on the warm side mainly due to the Aesthetix Io, Manley DAC and NBS cables. But the Purist cables alone have brought me closer to "center". So I find I like the Manley even more now that I have a greater bass foundation and clarity with the Purist. In other words, even though I know the Manley is more grainy, less resolving, fatter in the mids, lean in the bass, softer on the top, etc., compared to today's new models, the Manley portrays music that for me at least brings on a level of involvement that will not be easy to give up.

Artg brought over his Audio Aero Cap II a few months ago and it clearly was a more refined unit, but it did not take the music to the "next level" that would give me an itch to change. But my system did not have the PLC then and so the AA Cap may have widened the gap with further resolution coming through. Art has since changed to the Reimyo so maybe I can entice him to bring that over and give me a real taste of today's models. And perhaps Jadem6 can bring over his supercharged modified SCD-1.

Hearing the EMM, Zanden, DCS, Spectral, MBL, etc., would be nice, but until I drop these in my system, and then can't give up what they bring to the table, I am a happy camper.

I just got the CD duplicator system and already I love this thing for its improvements in dynamics, clarity and giving instruments and singers more presence without bringing on any fatigue. So it's like I just upgraded the Manley. 8-)

John
jafox
1,447 posts
 
Wow! Already there are audio diehards upgrading the CD Duplicator. I love it. By some time next year I will throw in the towel and just leave well enough alone for a few years as was the case back in the mid 80s into the early 90s.

As for the AA Cap and the Reimyo, Art has posted some comments on A'gon indicating as wonderful as the AA is, the Reimyo is quite a step up in performance.

John
jafox
1,447 posts
 
I don't mean to hijack this DAC thread but I'd like to chime in on the Callisto and running balanced. When I switched to CAT amps, I had no choice but to change over to RCA ICs as these amps are single-ended only. And then when I got the Callisto, I continued with single-ended cables. I have not compared the Callisto driving amps with balanced vs. single-ended same-model ICs but the 10m Purist Dominus RCA cable works beautifully here.

However, the Callisto inputs are a totally different story at least with the companion Io phono stage. This pair absolutely MUST be run balanced or the soundstage is significantly diminshed. I don't care what any reviewer might write - with the same exact cable model, the single-ended cable takes away much of the magic of these two models as a full-function preamp. This was very clear when I tried Purist Dominus and Kubala-Sosna Emotion single-ended cables compared to the balanced NBS Statement. The less resolving and not as tonally coherent balanced NBS cable brought on a level of musicality here that these other single-ended cables did not. But when I put in a balanced Kubala-Sosna Emotion cable, all of the dimensionality returned plus a significant level of resolution over the NBS. A return to the single-ended Emotion cable and the soundstage collapsed. It was not subtle.

When I did the same test with the Manley Ref DAC into the Callisto, there was only a slight level change which made me conclude this DAC must not have truly balanced outputs. The single-ended Dominus and K-S Emotion from the DAC to the Callisto significantly bettered the balanced NBS in ever way. This made me conclude that the benefit of the balanced cable issue above was more due to the Io. But there was still a slight benefit with the balanced vs. single-ended Emotion cables from the DAC to the Callisto in the context of more air and space between the notes. Here I can only speculate that the Callisto goes through a different path to "up" the single-ended inputs to a balanced signal and this ultimately leads to a slight loss in resolution. So in the final analysis, balanced inputs to the Callisto is the way to go.

John
jafox
1,447 posts
 
There are a lot of USB->SPDIF and USB->AES/EBU converters out there so do not limit yourself to only DACs with a USB interface. With a name like "tubesrule", I suggest the Manley Reference or The Wave DAC. Eveanna would be proud. 8-)
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