I just got a T+A DAC 200, and wow, I'm impressed. The sound stage is spectacular, as is the level of detail and nuance. These are the first two things that jumped out at me. The tone is very linear. Neither warm nor bright, but just a tad of euphonic richness. A very organic tonality. What's great is that the abundance of detail is presented naturally. This DAC never sounds analytical. Decays are never truncated. A very, very musical DAC. I've only had mine less than 24 hours though. I've got a lot more listening to do!
Showing 7 responses by ljgm
After about a month, I really do like the DAC200. It really does have a beautiful sound. I’ve also found that its preamp is better than the preamp in my Vitus SS020 integrated amp. So now, I bypass the Vitus preamp internally and use it as a straight amplifier and control the volume with the DAC200. I am looking for negatives with the DAC200 and I would say some people might find it a bit reticent. But with HQP, that can be alleviated to my tastes. I prefer a natural sound, not a hifi sound. And I think the DAC 200 achieves it. I prefer to enjoy the beauty between the notes rather than be slapped in the face by their leading edges. To me, the DAC 200 neither sounds reserved nor sounds over hyped. It sounds like real music. But I know some will prefer a faster, more exciting sound. I just strongly prefer the DAC 200’s approach. This DAC has so much detail naturally presented within a very deep soundstage. And I find tone and timbre to be extremely well executed. The main reasons to buy the DAC 200 would be its high level of detail retrieval that is naturally presented (completely non-fatiguing) including micro details and decays - the hallmark of a high resolution component imo), its wide and deep soundstage with believable imaging and fully fleshed out images, its fabulous tone, and its spot-on timbre. So much to like. it’s a great feeling to finally be satisfied with and even excited about digital playback in my otherwise analog front end. |
@blisshifi no, I haven't even tried the DAC200 filters at all. I've only been using HQ Player. Of course, HQPlayer has many many more filter choices and there as well, you get the same effect of seemingly listening to entirely different DAC based on your configuration. So I've really only used the wide bandwidth NOS setting and have been upsampling in HQP. I've actually settled on a DSD configuration that sounds phenomenal. I'm also using the preamp volume control of the DAC200. My Vitus SS-020 integrated amp has a preamp bypass so that it can be used as a straight amp, and I've found the DAC200's volume control (which can also be optionally bypassed) sounds better than the one in my Vitus. |
Yeah this DAC is in a "second" (or less extravagant) system that resides in my office. My reference for line stages is a silver Emia AVC. And while the Emia does sound better, it’s overkill in this system and I use it in my big system. The DAC 200 with it’s preamp stage sounds fantastic in this setup. And it saves the extra pair of interconnects that would be otherwise necessary for an outboard preamp as well! Win win. |