dCS Elgar plus vs. Delius - confused

Hi audiobb,

Delius DAC was a no-frills version of the dCS DAC. My understanding is that it has a less costly power supply and less costly casework than Elgar Plus but is otherwise the same.

In relation to the Firewire/1394/DSD input, this is a matter of chronology not model. Late model Delius and Elgar Plus both have it. Early models don't. Don't buy either if it doesn't have the 1394 input (that's assuming you have a transport with 1394 output).

The other output voltage is 2V.

Both have volume control in digital domain. My Delius remote appears to have volume control although I've never used it (I have integrated amp so the digital volume is set permanently to highest value - 0db). If you run the DAC straight into a power amp, the switchable output voltage is used in conjunction with the digital volume to put the fine control into the right loudness area for the listening room.

I own Delius but haven't heard Elgar Plus in an A-B situation.

Delius will always be cheaper for same age and features. My advice is to get the latest model in the best condition that you can. Then if you can afford what sellers are asking for Elgar Plus, go for that. If not, Delius is still stunning.

The dCS stack is wonderful with either DAC. It is uncompromising and won't tart up the sound if it's not on the disc, so if that's your desire, look elsewhere.

Note that you can download the dCS manuals in PDF from the site. Thay are as detailed as you could want.

Finally, if you do buy dCS stack, upgrade the Firewire cable from the one supplied. There are big gains from using the Esoteric 8N-6p-6pi cable.

Hi Gtfour45,

Thanks a lot for your very helpfull answer.
I am not sure yet is Elgar plus capable of accepting 24bit/192 kHz data?
For instance,if someone uses a Purcell in front of Elgar and feeds it 24/192,is Elgar plus able to process it?
As i understood,with Purcell,you can feed it with any (RCA,BNC or Toslink) 16bit/44.1kHz data,and get out of it anything you want?24/96,24/194 or even DSD at Firewire output?

Yes, Elgar Plus accepts 24/196 with their dual AESBU. And I also second Gtfour45 opinion in that replacing the stock firewire cable is a worthwhile upgrade. In my case using all Siltech cablings. Prior to fw cable change have always preferred their dual AESBU, whereas now, mostly listens to the DSD up-sampled format.

Do consider including their Verona master clock in the stack if budget permits. Another 'very worthwhile' difference! Making the whole musical presentation more analogue and relax sounding, with you feeling just more 'there' there.

Also pay particular attention to cabling - ICs, power cords and good AC too. Otherwise they might leave one the impression of being a tad cold / clinical as often wrongly perceived by some. Having lived with them happily for 5yrs now, I can confidently say that they are anything but "that". When optimally set up, imo it still is one of the better digital playback system worthy of respect today.

And I believe, with their newer releases, classic DCS stack could be snap up quite reasonably in the second hand market now (thus very good value). Hope all this help. Best!

To the best of my knowledge DCS DACs do not use a volume control in the digital domain, rather they use a switched analogue attenuation network. I have found the DAC attenuator to be less intrusive than any preamp that I have inserted afterward,

Murray