Ben, FYI ... the AA reference transport retails for EUR 6990 in europe.
Review: Accustic Arts Reference Tube Hybrid DAC II DA converter
Category: Digital
This will be my third go around reviewing a DAC from the German company Accustic Arts. In between having the MK-3, MK-4, and now their Reference Tube Hybrid as my digital front end, I have had the pleasure to auditioned many of the highest regarded DACS and CDPS in the last couple of years. Many of this digital pieces offered great performance, a few were sonic "turkeys" regardless of some steller reviews, but based on great performance without having to get a second morgage to purchase it, I keep coming back to Accustic Arts.
The MK-4 was a significant improvement over the MK-3 and I still believe it's one of the finer sounding DACS around today. That's way I was skeptical about how much better/different would Accustic Arts new "baby" would be compared with their older DAC.
As in all my reviews I do not get into specifications, you can go to Accustic Arts website to get the details, but always comment on build quality and physical appearance. Like its older siblings the Tube Hybrid is just beautifully built and really is "eye candy". The German engineering and craftmanship is very easy to admire. I know one important technical aspect that this is the first DAC in the world that does not use tubes in the analog section, but somewhere further upstream when bits are still bits before the analog conversion stage. What the tubes are doing and how they are used in the overall design circuitry I don't have the foggist notion, just that sonic bliss is taking place.
When I discovered that Accustic Arts new reference would use tubes I was somewhat concerned for the following reasons: 1) My past experience with tube based DACS, such as the Zanden and a very high level Audio Note, was that they offered a very wonderful midrange but they lacked macrodynamics and extension on both the top and bottom ends. 2) The transparency/clarity and very small details I love in the overall sonic perspective of my system were lost.
SONIC PERFORMANCE
I do not like to result to sonic cliches to describe the sonics of a piece I'm reviewing, but this DAC is a "killer"! I hope all of us can agree that once you get to a high level of excellence in audio gear, their are many great pieces and differences become more quantitive then qualitative. We also have to factor in personnal taste and system synergy in to the equation. Taking all of this into account let me try to explain way this is the best digital I have heard in my system to the present time.
1) The Tube Hybrid retains all of the transparence/clarity and microdetails of the MK-4.
2) I will not say that the Tube Hybrid's extension on the top and bottom are better then the MK-4, but the the overall slam and dynamics is slightly more "lively" and natural sounding. Remember, the MK-4 was no slouch in these sonic areas to begin with.
3) Now we get into the specifics of why the Tube Hybrid is a "killer" in qualitative terms.
A) Unlike adding a "warm/euphonic" aspect to the music this DAC adds what many would call a touch of "bloom/fullness" without destroying the overall linear cohesiveness of the sonic perspective. Another more concrete way of saying it would be that image density and the overall harmonic structure ( leading edge, body, and decay trails) is more natural or what alot of audiophiles would dscribe as "analog" sounding.
B) This DAC offers an overall more sense of liquidity and smoothness, but not at the expensive of slam/punch/dynamics or sounding "soft" to be pleasing to the listener.
C) I have a hunch that another reason why the Tube Hybrid sounds more "real" is that it is more tonally linear compared to the MK-4, and any other digital piece I have heard on Redbook, which makes it sound of one piece top to bottom.
D) The Tube Hybrid offers the most natural timbres I have ever gotten from a digital front end.
E) I don't believe that my system's overall soundstage dramatically improved with the Tube Hybrid, the MK-4 was a champ in this area, but the layering and the air around players also went to a qualitatively higher level.
When I wrote a review here on the GON on the Stealth Metacarbon IC's I struggled to use words to describe the sound of "nothing", meaning these cables just get out of the way of the music so the illusion of real music being played by real people just gets spills into your mind and gut. Well, this DAC hits my sonic ear's the same way, it just sounds more like real music then I have ever heard in my listening room before. The Tube Hybrid sonics can be broken down into specifics, as I have tried to do, but its the overall natural/easy/lifelike sonic illusion without the loss of details,prat,sparkle that makes this a very special piece indeed.
I always end all my reviews with the statement their is no "BEST" in high end audio, but many fine pieces along with the factors of personal taste and system synergy. The new Accustic Arts Tube Hybrid DAC II is among one of the finest DACS on the market today, and while it is not inexpensive it competes with DACS triple its price. This German company sure has some talented thinkers with great ears when it comes to digital gear. If your in the market I highly recommend you audition this DAC before you purchase another.
Associated gear
Click to view my Virtual System
This will be my third go around reviewing a DAC from the German company Accustic Arts. In between having the MK-3, MK-4, and now their Reference Tube Hybrid as my digital front end, I have had the pleasure to auditioned many of the highest regarded DACS and CDPS in the last couple of years. Many of this digital pieces offered great performance, a few were sonic "turkeys" regardless of some steller reviews, but based on great performance without having to get a second morgage to purchase it, I keep coming back to Accustic Arts.
The MK-4 was a significant improvement over the MK-3 and I still believe it's one of the finer sounding DACS around today. That's way I was skeptical about how much better/different would Accustic Arts new "baby" would be compared with their older DAC.
As in all my reviews I do not get into specifications, you can go to Accustic Arts website to get the details, but always comment on build quality and physical appearance. Like its older siblings the Tube Hybrid is just beautifully built and really is "eye candy". The German engineering and craftmanship is very easy to admire. I know one important technical aspect that this is the first DAC in the world that does not use tubes in the analog section, but somewhere further upstream when bits are still bits before the analog conversion stage. What the tubes are doing and how they are used in the overall design circuitry I don't have the foggist notion, just that sonic bliss is taking place.
When I discovered that Accustic Arts new reference would use tubes I was somewhat concerned for the following reasons: 1) My past experience with tube based DACS, such as the Zanden and a very high level Audio Note, was that they offered a very wonderful midrange but they lacked macrodynamics and extension on both the top and bottom ends. 2) The transparency/clarity and very small details I love in the overall sonic perspective of my system were lost.
SONIC PERFORMANCE
I do not like to result to sonic cliches to describe the sonics of a piece I'm reviewing, but this DAC is a "killer"! I hope all of us can agree that once you get to a high level of excellence in audio gear, their are many great pieces and differences become more quantitive then qualitative. We also have to factor in personnal taste and system synergy in to the equation. Taking all of this into account let me try to explain way this is the best digital I have heard in my system to the present time.
1) The Tube Hybrid retains all of the transparence/clarity and microdetails of the MK-4.
2) I will not say that the Tube Hybrid's extension on the top and bottom are better then the MK-4, but the the overall slam and dynamics is slightly more "lively" and natural sounding. Remember, the MK-4 was no slouch in these sonic areas to begin with.
3) Now we get into the specifics of why the Tube Hybrid is a "killer" in qualitative terms.
A) Unlike adding a "warm/euphonic" aspect to the music this DAC adds what many would call a touch of "bloom/fullness" without destroying the overall linear cohesiveness of the sonic perspective. Another more concrete way of saying it would be that image density and the overall harmonic structure ( leading edge, body, and decay trails) is more natural or what alot of audiophiles would dscribe as "analog" sounding.
B) This DAC offers an overall more sense of liquidity and smoothness, but not at the expensive of slam/punch/dynamics or sounding "soft" to be pleasing to the listener.
C) I have a hunch that another reason why the Tube Hybrid sounds more "real" is that it is more tonally linear compared to the MK-4, and any other digital piece I have heard on Redbook, which makes it sound of one piece top to bottom.
D) The Tube Hybrid offers the most natural timbres I have ever gotten from a digital front end.
E) I don't believe that my system's overall soundstage dramatically improved with the Tube Hybrid, the MK-4 was a champ in this area, but the layering and the air around players also went to a qualitatively higher level.
When I wrote a review here on the GON on the Stealth Metacarbon IC's I struggled to use words to describe the sound of "nothing", meaning these cables just get out of the way of the music so the illusion of real music being played by real people just gets spills into your mind and gut. Well, this DAC hits my sonic ear's the same way, it just sounds more like real music then I have ever heard in my listening room before. The Tube Hybrid sonics can be broken down into specifics, as I have tried to do, but its the overall natural/easy/lifelike sonic illusion without the loss of details,prat,sparkle that makes this a very special piece indeed.
I always end all my reviews with the statement their is no "BEST" in high end audio, but many fine pieces along with the factors of personal taste and system synergy. The new Accustic Arts Tube Hybrid DAC II is among one of the finest DACS on the market today, and while it is not inexpensive it competes with DACS triple its price. This German company sure has some talented thinkers with great ears when it comes to digital gear. If your in the market I highly recommend you audition this DAC before you purchase another.
Associated gear
Click to view my Virtual System
- ...
- 114 posts total
Ben, if you want to compare Audio Note CDT3, you can only compare it with the lesser Drive1 Mk2, which is of similar pricing. The new Reference Drive is the Accustic Arts statement transport, with no-hold-pricing but yet is still less expensive than the MBL 1521 MSRP(2nd tier in MBL range, top is the 1621) which Teajay has just upgraded to. For an equitable comparison of transports at this level, one should compare the new Accustic Arts Reference Drive to the MBL 1521/1621 as firstly both are made in Germany (so share same quality of build) and secondly, are in the similar price bracket (though with MBL still commanding the higher premium) If you check earlier threads in this review, there's already a comparison of differences between AA Drive1 Mk2 and the Reference Drive, to illustrate what you get for the price difference. There's also a referenced URL to MBL transport specifications to show that the AA's specs are as good as MBL's if not better in certain areas. So make sure you check those links to make an educated comparion between the two. Of course nothing's more accurate than listening to both side by side. But until the AA Reference Drive production units are already delivered to the distributors world-wide (my local dist. still's awaiting delivery), Reference Tube DAC2 owners can only wait with anxious expectations ;-) |
There's a new German review of the Accustic Arts Reference Drive 2 and DAC 2 at http://www.accusticarts.de/pages/en/reviews/imagehifi_2008_04.html As it's not in pdf but screenshots, I cannot cut and paste to some language translators to get the gist of that review. If someone knows german, would be keen to know what the review says in conclusion. Thanks in advance. |
Ok, here a translation from Dirk Sommer's review in Aprils Image HiFi: Liked: how much room and dynamism the DAC II solution extracts from standard redbook CD (16bit/44.1khz). Surprised: how incredibly high value of price to enjoyment ratio you get - even when you have to pay a hefty sum in absolute terms Missing: the possibility to play at sample rates above 48Khz To do: compare this dream combo against clearly more expensive components So obviously he liked the sound of the AA reference combo a lot, but also clearly states its limitations. I loved the sound of the AA DACII as well, and for playback of RBCD its the best I've heard. That doesn't mean much though, as I have not heard a whole lot. My wish would be to be able to have 24/192 or DSD level detail and the wonderful sound of the DACII. Clearly this limitations lies in their unique 32bit DAC implementation. Maybe Steffen Schunk is working on that ... |
- 114 posts total