2. digital
  3. 1126769860

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
sychdeli
11 posts
 
Guidocorona,
Yes it is a NWO-2 , I forgot to mention this is an experimental prototype built only after I "cornered " Alex Peychev by paying in advance double the amount of the normal NWO-1. (which itself is fully upgradeable , cost to be determined later this year I understood).
Pride of ownership does not ranks high in my place, so the reason for my post is that simply I believe this is to date the best of the two worlds Teajay mentioned when he started the thread.
I'm an avid listener for the past 20 years and never had heard so "real" sound before , I believe they are so many excellent players out there, I own some of the best, but the difference between the NWO-2 and the rest is clear , you don't need hours of trained listening.
After 10 days , the initial impression stands.
tmhaudio
122 posts
 
Muratc, as the North American distributor of Metronome, the Kalista is very analog sounding as you indicated. I wanted also mention the matching C2-A DAC uses a tube output. One can fine tune the sound with some tube rolling. It is really an amazing product with breathtaking aesthetics!

btw, Metronome has a new turntable, the Gaia, that shares similar Kalista styling, too!
teajay OP
1,697 posts
 
Hello, to Branimir and the rest of the gang on this thread. I know that you were going to be auditioning new digital pieces and was looking forward to what your experiences have been. So, just checking in , have not heard from you in a long time.

And please, if anyone else has heard any DACS or TRANSPORTS that were quite interesting I would love to hear what you discovered.
exlibris
438 posts
 
Teajay,
I'm still waiting for the Weiss combo to be shipped from Europe and I'm still enjoying the EMM combo (using EMM's ST Glass connectors, surprisingly).

I probably no longer need that great Stealth Varidig Sextet AES-EBU digital cable that you put me on to so if anyone out there is interested in a great digital cable at a great price, just send me an email.
henryhk
648 posts
 
Sychedli...thats an incredible collection of players you own! Care to introduce us to the rest of your system(s)? Also given you have extensive exp with EMM, dcS, Zanden and now AOL modded Esoteric, did you find any system synergies worth noting? It escapes my recollection but I saw someone commenting that for example EMM and Audio Rsch Ref 3 was synergistic together...though he didn't say as much, I suspect it is due to both excel at sound staging and catpuring decay. Any comments or pointers?
More to discover