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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
exlibris
438 posts
 
My amps sound quiet but boring with balanced connection. RCA sounds much better. I'm not sure about DAC to pre since my pre doesn't have balanced inputs.
Though the Callisto is balanced I think I would run it single-ended. In J. Valin's review he prefered in with RCAs.
The Epifania is single-ended only.
jafox
1,467 posts
 
I don't mean to hijack this DAC thread but I'd like to chime in on the Callisto and running balanced. When I switched to CAT amps, I had no choice but to change over to RCA ICs as these amps are single-ended only. And then when I got the Callisto, I continued with single-ended cables. I have not compared the Callisto driving amps with balanced vs. single-ended same-model ICs but the 10m Purist Dominus RCA cable works beautifully here.

However, the Callisto inputs are a totally different story at least with the companion Io phono stage. This pair absolutely MUST be run balanced or the soundstage is significantly diminshed. I don't care what any reviewer might write - with the same exact cable model, the single-ended cable takes away much of the magic of these two models as a full-function preamp. This was very clear when I tried Purist Dominus and Kubala-Sosna Emotion single-ended cables compared to the balanced NBS Statement. The less resolving and not as tonally coherent balanced NBS cable brought on a level of musicality here that these other single-ended cables did not. But when I put in a balanced Kubala-Sosna Emotion cable, all of the dimensionality returned plus a significant level of resolution over the NBS. A return to the single-ended Emotion cable and the soundstage collapsed. It was not subtle.

When I did the same test with the Manley Ref DAC into the Callisto, there was only a slight level change which made me conclude this DAC must not have truly balanced outputs. The single-ended Dominus and K-S Emotion from the DAC to the Callisto significantly bettered the balanced NBS in ever way. This made me conclude that the benefit of the balanced cable issue above was more due to the Io. But there was still a slight benefit with the balanced vs. single-ended Emotion cables from the DAC to the Callisto in the context of more air and space between the notes. Here I can only speculate that the Callisto goes through a different path to "up" the single-ended inputs to a balanced signal and this ultimately leads to a slight loss in resolution. So in the final analysis, balanced inputs to the Callisto is the way to go.

John
teajay OP
1,714 posts
 
Exlibris, anything new to report regarding the sonics of the Accustic Arts gear at the present time. I'm assuming you have not yet gotten the Stealth Sextet balanced cable , but am curious if the pieces are changing the longer you break them in and if, still using the Acoustic Zen cable, you are finding them more pleasing or not? When do you expect to get the Sextet from Stealth? Hope its not a long wait for you.
teajay OP
1,714 posts
 
I forgot to put this on my last post because of brain freeze, but I thought that Exlibris, might find it interesting that at the last Rocky Mountain Audio Show many people thought one of the best sounding systems was the one put together by Brian Ackerman of Artistic Audio. It used both Einstein pre and power amps along with a small pair of Acapella speakers and the digital front end was Accustic Arts with the Stealth Sextet cable. If you go to Audio Federation's website they have a picture posted with their opinion regarding the virtues of the system. So, this pre-amp might be what you are looking for to upgrade your system.
exlibris
438 posts
 
Teajay,
I just listen to the Accustic Arts gear for about an hour. The Stealth cable should arrive in 2 to 4 days.
The AA is better than it was last weekend and much better than it was in the very early stages. At this point I can honestly say that it does something better than my front end: the soundstage is bigger and 'bloomier.' At this point I'll state the usual disclaimer: I'm not using the CDSD in my front end.
I can also state that discs that sound extra harsh and aggressive are more listenable on the AA gear.
I still have a long list of things that I prefer with my front end but I won't say any more until I've changed cables.
Thanks for the tip on the Einstein. The positive things that I've personally read about it have mostly come from dealers so far but I will add it to my list.
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