The Private History of an Experiment that Failed (with apologies to Mark Twain)
With my pretty extensive collection of CDs and SACDs, it's been a journey, trying to find a DAC that can translate digits into music that I actually look forward to listening to. For the last few years I've been quite happy with my AMR DP-777 (original version, not the MK2), a somewhat esoteric hybrid tube/solid state design that's a bit of an antique by contemporary standards. However, weighing it against its two predecessors in my system, a Bryston BDA-1 and PS Audio's Perfectwave MKII, the AMR is the clear winner. There was a lot to like about the Bryston, but it skewed a bit too much to the bright side which I had hoped to remedy by replacing it with the PS Audio DAC. Sorry, but I absolutely HATED that machine. Its presentation was way too in-your-face for my liking, everything hyper-illuminated and just downright shrill. I wouldn't have originally considered the AMR, as I'm not really a tube guy, but it was recommended to me by a very reputable retailer and indeed I do like it.
What the DP-777 has that the others lacked, apart from its very pleasing roundness of sound that doesn't compromise detail, is a quality I refer to as “composure,” that is, the ability to present music at virtually any volume without losing its grip. Bass is nicely balanced and well defined, midrange is full but not overly sweet, and treble is clear and present but never piercing. So what more could I ask of it?
Well, as a somewhat older DAC, it lacks modern connectivity, and it can't decipher DSD at all. That's what prompted me to consider something a little newer. My disc player is a Cambridge Audio CXU, a terrific but now discontinued model that outputs DSD directly over HDMI without using the I2S or DoP protocol. That requires a DAC that can receive this format and the only one I'm aware of at the moment is the Bryston BDA-3. Having done some reading about this DAC, it appears (on paper at least) to be very similar to its predecessor, the BA-2, except for the enhanced connectivity, so when a used BDA-2 came up for sale here on Audiogon for an irresistible price, I thought it would be a good way to assess whether the BDA-3 would be a worthwhile investment, as the two models should sound pretty much the same.
That's where things went a bit wrong. I had hoped the BDA-2 would have more of the things I liked about the BDA-1 and less of the things I didn't like. After all, the reviews all seemed to indicate that it would, but it didn't take much auditioning to discern that this just wasn't the case. It still skewed unpleasantly towards treble, presented surprisingly gelatinous bass (compared to the AMR DAC) and in general really wasn't pleasant to listen to. Vocals had a digital edge that gave the impression of hearing the microphone rather than the voice. Violins sounded edgy and sharp, often with unpleasant glare. So if this is a distinct improvement over the BDA-1, I certainly couldn't hear it.
Okay, I haven't quite gotten on board with the latest streaming technology so I do still spin physical discs, and my streaming (apart from YouTube) is through the Qobuz app on my Samsung TV. There could be improvement, I imagine, with a more sophisticated computer-based streaming platform or even a dedicated streamer, but I'm not quite up to that yet. Nevertheless, I remain convinced that even here, the AMR DAC would still be my clear preference.
Next experiment, I think, will be one of the newer R2R ladder DACs from Audio-gd or Denafrips. There's also the new iFi Pro iDSD Signature Delta-Sigma DAC which piqued my interest because iFi is AMR's parent company, and this DAC got some pretty spectacular reviews. It's more of a Swiss Army knife than I'd want, though. From what I've been able to discern, R2R DACs have upsides and downsides but I'm very intrigued by what's being said about their “natural” presentation, something that really appeals to my sensibilities. Also, almost all of them include I2S inputs which may, after jumping through some technological hoops with my player, permit me to finally hear my SACDs in true DSD resolution which was kind of the point of all this in the first place.
System details: Modwright KWI-200 integrated, Cambridge Audio CXU universal player, AMR DP-777 DAC, Ryan R-610 speakers, REL T-2 sub, Audience Au24 SE speaker cables, various interconnects from Cardas, Clarus Aqua, and Morrow.
