Just wanted to make audiophile community aware, anyone looking for a DAC must check out Galle DAC from Cinnamon Audio. The feedback from two recent buyers was very inspiring and they bought the DAC after listening.
"The Galle DAC: we’ve crafted a DAC that delivers a natural, lush sound with remarkable dynamics and harmonic richness"
Cutting edge R2R, 27 bit ladder, laser cut the resistors to hit 0.1% tolerance; installed directly into the circuit board for a bargain price of $12,995
You can hear this DAC at Capitol Audio, courtesy @gestaltaudio.
I purchased the WVL Conica stands that just came out recently. They raise the speakers 7 inches and sound fantastic! Stage height is taller and the Sons sound even more open. Now I had to work on repositioning my speakers and listening position to achieve this result. I found more toe-in helped me not lose any deep bass or body. My Sons are now pointing at my shoulders and I can just barely see the inner side of the speakers from my listening position. I also moved my listening position forward about 10 inches. The Sons never sounded better in my room.
@jond thanks for asking. Well, I moved 5 times in the past 2 years and let’s just say it has been a stressful time period. The Audiophile’s Wife and I are now settled and hopefully for many years 🙂. I now have a nice treated and dedicated listening room.
I have the Wolf Von Langa Son speakers with Conica stands, Innuos Pulsar streamer, Cinnamon Galle dac, cables all made by John Tucker of Exemplar Audio and John’s hybrid integrated amp. I will most likely add a tube amp to rotate in at some point in the future. The Galle dac is due in any day now. Once the Galle dac is in place I will load my system into Virtual Systems.
@grannyring Glad to hear the Conica stands are working out for you. I have my SONs on LiveVibe Rhythm Junior stands and they sound great. I wonder how they compare to the Conicas.
I traded the Circle Labs amp/pre for the New Audio Frontiers 211 SE amp and Stradavari pre and they sound wonderful with the SONs.
I look forward to hearing more about your impressions of the new Galle. Saw a bunch of them ready for shipping on the Cinnamon Facebook page. Maybe yours is in that batch. How long have you had to wait for it?
“I traded the Circle Labs amp/pre for the New Audio Frontiers 211 SE amp and Stradavari pre and they sound wonderful with the SONs.” @hchilcoat
Congratulations! To my ears, this was indeed the most beautiful pairing when I last visited @gestalt. And you got HIJIRI cables…I bet you are in musical heaven :-)
@lalitkI finally have reached a point of truly high end sound, especially with the addition of sound treatments to the room. Although I could certainly be happy with my current set up, I am now curious to see what the Galle can add on top of that given what I’ve heard about the Galle from people I trust!
And yes the HIJIRI cables are wonderful. Colin really knows his stuff.
I can totally relate to what you’re saying. Achieving that level of satisfaction, especially with room treatments in place, is a milestone many audiophiles strive for but don’t always reach. As impressive your existing system is, I can understand your curiosity about Galle might bring to the table. That curiosity is the hallmark of a true audiophile—always exploring the potential for even greater refinement and connection to the music.
I can’t praise HIJIRI cables enough, they were one of the best purchases in my audiophile journey. Cables can make a surprising difference, revealing subtleties and enhancing the synergy between components.
It’s also worth noting how important room treatments are in getting the most out of high-end gear. They often make as much, if not more of a difference than a component upgrade. With that foundation already in place, you’re perfectly positioned to hear every nuance a new addition like the Galle might bring.
Looking forward to hearing how it turns out if you decide to take the plunge!
Well I have the Cinnamon Audio dac in my system now. It has some 80 hours on it thus far and I am just elated with the sound of my system. I told Colin the Galle is the most enjoyable and “perfect” sounding piece of audio electronics I have owned or heard in my system. I could write several pages of superlatives, but I will save that for a review I plan to post. Not ever experienced such a radical progression towards realism and tonal richness with a piece of gear. It is the heart of my system and just so much fun.
Thanks for updating your system- nice to see pictures of it in a real environment.
I am just waiting for someone to put on the top of a rack like yours, put a fake faucet above it, post it in a designer magazine and ask for comments about their $12K "high end sink"
Congratulations on your new home (room) setup. If I can be completely candid…what an incredible setup! I am somewhat envious of those folks who can get away with fewer pieces and still manage to get a great sound; something I have not able to achieve yet.
The Cinnamon Audio Galle DAC is a seriously refined piece, and pairing it with the WVL Sons and eXemplar Audio amp must create a beautifully natural and dynamic sound. It’s inspiring to hear that this is the most enjoyable system you’ve put together. Isn’t it always extraordinary when everything just clicks.
Maybe once the metal dust settles you may consider trying their network transport? Anyone heard this at Colin's? I assume he has it paired up with the DAC?
I'm glad I don't have a turntable, or I might consider their phono stage.
Perhaps others have a curiousity to hear it, hey @lalitk?
I am sure Galle Network Transport is optimized to deliver optimal performance when paired with their DAC. Personally, Galle Network Transport wouldn’t be my 1st choice if I am using a Roon app. I don’t want another ‘box’ on my network to run core. Interestingly, Galle Transport supports Qobuz streaming through UPnP which could provide a sublime experience with JPLAY app. During my two weeks trial, JPLAY app provided seamless integration of my Qobuz playlist and a very user friendly interface. The sound quality is among the very best and comparable to Innuos Sense App. IMHO, JPLAY probably the best app outside Roon.
I already spoken with Colin about auditioning Galle Model II with their Transport in near future.
And yeah, the phono stage temptation is real if you’re into vinyl, but luckily that’s one rabbit hole you don’t have to go down. I just purchased my 3rd phono stage to try it out…lol!
What’s drawing you to the Galle transport, just curiosity or are you thinking it could bring something extra to your setup?
I am happy with what I have, mainly curious what these Cinnamon guys have done as far as the streaming taking into account the good reviews of their converters, and how it may compare with other streamers. Yes it is just an endpoint; not a server, so I assume Cinnamon would suggest Jplay/Qobuz would be the best choice?
A few on the Antipodes forum have been playing with Jplay, I have read it sounds fantastic, but most feel Squeeze is still the best option for sound quality, and it is free. About 10% of the time when I want the best resolution and am in the mood to tolerate the horrible UI I take the 7-8 seconds and flip the streamer over to squeeze from Roon. But yes, I hear Jplay is much nicer UI wise. I am looking forward to Audirvana integration with Antipodes later this year (fingers crossed).
But I am open to anything in the future, I have been building a second system, and don’t have a digital front end yet. I probably will not get end-game equipment to start it up, maybe just a converter with renderer, but years down the road if at some point I hear the Cinnamon converter and I am as impressed as grannyring is I think it is only natural to try their endpoint with it- of course my core is already on the K50 so all I would need is an endpoint in the second system.
For sure if you hear this Cinnamon digital pairing let me/us know how it is! And especially with the Eufrodites!
I will be comparing the Cinnamon Audio streamer vs my Innuos Pulsar. The Pulsar costs about $2000 more so it will be interesting. I really like the Pulsar and Innuos Sense software so the Cinnamon has a real hurdle 🙂.
Ha I missed the updates on this thread now I don't feel bad about saying it looked like a washbasin on Bill's system thread! That phono stage looks pretty sweet though.
Looking forward to your impressions on Galle Transport. Also, would like to hear your thoughts on Paul Pang Audio PLATINUM M LAN CABLE. This cable reminds me of braided construction of Pink Faun Interlink LAN. I just added a pair of FTA Metis and loving the organic and detailed sound.
Well, the Paul Pang LAN cable replaced the topline Network Acoustics cable in my system. It is a more relaxed and “at ease” sounding cable compared to the high resolution of the NA cable. That’s how I would describe the difference…at least in my rig.
As you know I am a big fan of the NA filters, switches and cables per my numerous posts over the years on their effectiveness. Since setting up my new system I found it sounded more to my liking without any ethernet switch or filter in place. This fact took me by surprise and still has me scratching my head. The Innuos Pulsar is the piece that brought on this change. It may be interesting to try the new NA Tempus switch I suppose, but I really like where the system is at right now.
That’s an interesting shift in your setup. It sounds like the Innuos Pulsar changed how your network components interact, making some of the previous tweaks less necessary. And, to your preference Paul Pang cables appears to have a natural presentation.
I can understand the temptation of trying Tempus switch but I think your system is in that “Don’t mess with it” sweet spot.
Agreed! I will just move forward without a switch. I had an opportunity to listen the Cinnamon Audio Galle streamer over the last two days in my rig. I currently own an Innuos Pulsar which is really fantastic. It turns out both are actually priced about the same at around $8000 MSRP.
The comparison was interesting. The Galle streamer was used with both Roon and a Jriver. I preferred Roon’s feel and features, but felt Jriver sounded a little better. Jriver was a little more buttoned up/refined sounding during complex passages and sounded a bit cleaner with less digital “edginess” if you will. Improved purity of signal is another way to put it. Not a huge difference, but discernible to those who really care about such things.
Comparing the Pulsar to the Galle streamer proved interesting. The differences were not anything approaching day and night. Both units are really first rate and so enjoyable. I had a slight preference for the Galle in my system. However, remember I have the matching Galle dac. The Galle offered a bit more overall clarity while the Pulsar had a tad more scale and stage size. The Galle sounded more intimate while the Pulsar was less immediate sounding with the presentation set back a bit more. The biggest difference to me was in this one area; at lower volume levels, 40-50db average, the Galle sounded a little more vibrant and impactful. This was not really noticeable as the volume was turned up however (60 -80db). I listen at lower volume levels often so this difference, in my particular system, can be important.
I am not sure this comparison would play out the same way in another system. This is the nature of audio where different systems and preference play a huge role on what one prefers. I have decided to buy the Galle as I like it as much as I my Pulsar and it is the natural mate to my Galle dac!
The biggest difference to me was in this one area; at lower volume levels, 40-50db average, the Galle sounded a little more vibrant and impactful.
That's interesting. I wonder what it is that would be affect that? There is another thread going on where the listener can only listen at 50db, and he was looking for speaker recommendations, and I wondered if it was the speakers or the amp which caused lack of sound quality at lower SPL's, well maybe it is the source?
@grannyring Bill, I'd be interested in any comparison comments your may have between the Cinnamon DAC and the Tron Signature DAC that you had and really liked. I auditioned the Tron at Colin's , and while it was a couple of years back I still remember it. Since I largely spin CDs I went at that time with the Neodio Origine S2 CD player as I preferred its DAC's slightly smoother sound than that of the Tron. Anyway, I'd appreciate any thoughts you have between the Cinnamon and the Tron.
@factenThe Tron really sounded good my system and we enjoyed it for a couple of years. Bottom line is the Galle is a very special piece that based on my listening experience transcends what I thought was possible from a dac. It delivers in spades on realism. No other piece of gear I have owned does realism at this level.
Yup, I am that over the moon with this piece. More muscular sounding than the Tron with a richness that is so engaging. You hear the resonate body of instruments that were previously missing or muted. I can honestly say one has to hear this in their system to fully grasp the experience it delivers.The Galle sorts out the simple and complex passages with an ease and flow that both captivates and relaxes you.
@factenYou have an outstanding Neodio dac/cd player. If you mostly spin CDs it is certainly a plus to have a great transport and dac built into the same piece. No need for an extra power cord and digital cable. Not sure how much streaming you would do?
@grannyringBill thank you for the response. Regarding streaming I don't stream at all, but if I decide to do so I can add a streamer and use the Neodio if I wanted as it is designed to allow for streaming input as well.
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That phono stage looks pretty sweet though.