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Reference DACS: An overall perspective

There has been many threads the last few months regarding the sonic signature of some of the highest regarded reference DACS (Dcs,Meitner,Ensemble,Audio Note,Zanden,Reimyo,Accustic Arts) here on the GON. I have been very fortunate to audtion many of these wonderful pieces in my home or friend's systems. I wanted to share, in a systematic way, my impressions/opinions with you GON members for a two reasons: 1)That my experiences might be helpful to fellow members interested in audtioning these DACS. 2)Starting an interesting discussion regarding the different "sonic flavors" of these reference digital front ends. I totally agree with the statement, "if you have not heard it you don't have an opinion". Therefore, I have no comments regarding DACS from Weiss,Goldmund,Audio Aero and Burmester because I have never had the pleasure of audtioning them. I would love to hear from members who have and share their experiences with us. My overall impression is that these DACS(Dcs,Meitner,Ensemble,Audio Note,Zanden,Reimyo,Accustic Arts) can be grouped into two molar categories regarding their overall sonic signature. By the way, all of them can throw a large/deep soundstage with excellent layering in the acoustic space with "air" around individual players on that stage. However, than they start to part company into two major categories. Category #1) These DACS "flavors" revolve around pristine clarity, fine sharp details,speed,very extended top/bottom frequencies,and great PRAT. These DACS never sound "etched" or "in your face" but are more "upfront" then "layed back" in their presentation. The DACS, to my ear's, that go into this bracket are Dcs,Ensemble,Meitner. My personnal favorite in this group is the Ensemble, which I owned for two years. These DACS remind me of the sonic signature of speakers such as Wilson,Thiel,Dynaudio, Focal/JM Labs. Category #2) These DACS "flavors" revolve around a "musical/organic" sense, natural timbres,and an easy flowing liquidity. Their "less forward" presentation my give the impression of less detail, but I think in this case its an illusion fostered by their more relaxed/organic manner. The DACS, to my ear's, that go into this bracket are Audio Note,Zanden,Reimyo,Accustic Arts. I did find that the tube DACS did not have the top/bottom frequency extenstion and PRAT of the SS DACS in this bracket. For me, the Accustic Arts DAC1-MK3 gave me the best of both categories, therefore it is now the resident DAC in my system. These DACS remind me of the sonic signature of speakers such as Magnepan,Von Schweikert,Sonus Faber. Well, it's all just my opinion regarding these digital pieces, but I hope this post was at least informative/somewhat interesting and would lend itself to other GON members sharing their impressions, not about what DAC is the "BEST" in the world, but your personnal taste and synergy with your system.
teajay
sgr's avatar
sgr
689 posts
 
Teejay,
Thanks for the info. I see there is a DCS Purcell unit available now. Would it be better to move this way, or buy a new DAC entirely and replace my 360s? If I did replace my DAC which type would you recomend a group 1 or 2? Do you consider the transport nuetral? What would I have to do to convert to DSD which the Purcell seems to do or is this important?
I have never thougt about this route until today.
teajay OP
1,655 posts
 
Branimir, I don't know if you read a review I posted about week ago on the Stealth Sextet digital cable, but it will give alot more details regarding what cables I compared it to and why its my new reference. It's hard to put into words why the Sextet is not just an improvement, in my opinion, compared to other great cables, but offers a qualitative shift towards musicalty/liquidity, without loss of speed/details/dynamics, in a very natural way. I still think most audiophiles would say it sounds like "analog" in its ease and organic presentation. I was talking to someone about this cable and they shared that a very dedicated audiophile, who happens to live in Europe, had gone the extra mile and had literally auditioned every highly regarded digital cable available today, regardless of cost, and had come to the same conclusion, its a qualitative shift towards the illusion of real music, not just doing things better then other cables. This cable was the owner/designer of Stealth attempt to replicate the sound of his highly acclaimed Indra interconnect in the digital domain. That I can't comment on since I never had one in my system, but the Sextet in its own right is a very special cable indeed. I would find it very interesting, if its in your budget, if you auditioned it with your gear and share what you think. Stealth has a thirty day audition policy, with full refund minus shipping.
teajay OP
1,655 posts
 
Sgr, before I finally replaced my ML360s, I had added the DCS Purcell which significantly raised the performance of the 360s in all the right ways {more air around players,bigger/deeper sound stage,more details,more clarity,deeper/better bass} and kept that front end for another two years. The 360s will only handle 24/96 upsampling, so DSD is not possible with this DAC. So, my opinion would be: 1) If you can audition a DSC Purcell, see if you can find a older model without the firewire for DSD, it should be less expensive and have no effect on the sonics, see if it gives you a great sonic bang for the buck, if not, then audition some of the newer DACS discussed in the thread. 2) Your ML 31.5 is still one of the best transports in the world, I would see no reason to change it regardless if you go to a different DAC in your system. 3) My personnal taste is towards type #2 DACS that still offer great details,speed,dynamics along with warmth/liquidity/musicality, thats why I finally chose the Accustic Arts DAC1 MK3 for my system. I never claimed that its the "BEST" in the world, even though I think its quite terrific and a great bargain at its price. 4) I'm sure your quite curious to hear some of these other DACS in your system, but first I would run the experiment with the Purcell to really get all the possible potential out of your 360s, you will also have fun experimenting with the four digital filters that the Purcell offers you to tailor the sound to your personnal taste ( mine was always filter 4 by the way), then go on to audition other DACS if your not really satisfied.
branimir
236 posts
 
Good news for all CEC TL-0 fans, CEC just introduced TL-0x!
TL-0x in refinement of original TL-0. New one is available in silver color only. It should be available in Europe and Usa in limited quantities( 1st quarter of 2006 ). More is on www.cec-web.co.jp( Japanese web side ). Price-around $14K
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Thank you TJ for this excellent thread. Not having had the opportunity of listening to the Esoteric stack, I have auditioned at length, then finally purchased the Teac Esoteric X-01 single box. My findings concur with Branimir: a type 1 sound. . . one with clenliness, ease, liquidity and a great 'heart'.
not to forget its huge 3d well focused soundstage and the ever-present sense of air and room decay around instruments. I listen only to classical music, mostly chamber and the X-01 staggers me with its nuance and microdynamics.
I have now just over 300 hrs on it and the creature is coming into its own and is still changing.
One interesting note: I recently had the opportunity to audition the X-01 augmented by the G0S masterclock. . . over the course of a whole evening I could detect a discernable improvement only on a couple of recordings. Changing IC from Panther Audioquest to Sky made instead a quantum leap improvement.
And one question: has anyone gathered any info about the brand new Esoteric P03/D03 combo?
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