Is DEQX a game changer?

Quite the odyssey Al. Enjoy those new tubes!

And how are you liking the DEQX as a DAC to your headphones, relative to other digital sources you have used with them?

Thanks, Roscoe.

When listening to LPs via the Stax headphones, which are of course very revealing, the DEQX continues to seem to me to be perfectly transparent. Which is amazing, of course, considering the A/D and D/A conversions it puts into the signal path.

With CDs, for which I'm now using the DEQX as the DAC and my Bryston BCD-1 just as a transport, on some recordings it has provided a slight benefit compared to using the BCD-1's analog outputs routed to the Stax headphone amp via tape outputs of my previous preamp (a Classe CP-60), while on others there seems to be little if any difference. I suspect, though, that eventually I'll want to experiment with some different digital cables, and also different cable lengths, between the BCD-1 and the DEQX. I'm presently using an inexpensive Mogami AES/EBU cable, in a 6 foot length.

How has your HDP-4 been working out lately?

Best regards,
-- Al

Al, your experience and comments about the sound difference between the DEQX DAC as compared to your Bryston CDP are consistent with my experience. I thought my DEQX PreMATE was a "squeak" better than my ARC CD-8 CDP, but just a bit.

I too am surprised that the DEQX is as transparent as it appears to be. I agree with your comment that "the DEQX continues to ... be perfectly transparent. Which is amazing, of course, considering the A/D and D/A conversions it puts into the signal path."

Please keep the reports coming.

Regards,

Bruce

User observations about 'transparency' always seem to generate controversy on internet audio forums. People who have not listened to a DEQX corrected system often assert that absolute transparency is not possible with the amount of digital correction taking place.

However, those of us open minded enough to own and use DEQX seem to notice transparency and clarity as some of the most apparent features. Too often, audio equipment is pre-judged by specifications and not by listening.

Andrew (Drewan77) ... when dealing with an artifact in the signal path, it's hard to get below zero when it comes to impact on the signal integrity. Not quibbling, but it is quite remarkable to me how little impact there is when sending a signal through the DEQX in pass-through mode.

What can I say ... but kudos to DEQX.