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AMR DP-777, what am I missing ?

There are a lot of people here who love this DAC, I purchased one (used) based on the many glowing reviews, but feel like this DAC falls short.
To be sure it bested (by not a lot) my Wavelength Cosecant (better imaging and bass) but I still prefer my modest analog setup (Rega RP6, Shelter 500).

I am sure my digital front-end is not super tuned: IMac, audirvana, no-name USB cable to DAC. But before I spend more money I would love some advice from the good folks in this forum on how I can make this $5000 retail DAC at least come close to my modest analog setup that cost much less retail without spending too much coin.

Do I need to invest in a music server, or maybe a USB to SPDIF, or better USB cable or all of the above.

Rest of my system.
Coincident Line stage
Coincident Dragon mk2 monoblocks
Verity Parsifal Encore speakers.

Thanks.
essrand
essrand OP
297 posts
 
Hi Charles,

Yes it did. It just felt so right and was the missing piece in my audiophile search.

The CSL I was surprised didn't do it for me, despite the high praise garnered for it on this forum. Maybe tube rolling might have helped but not sure. It didn't give me the goosebumps like the shindo did.

The CSL was closer to going direct to amp in terms of sound (better musically) but the shindo (less transparent) made music.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,249 posts
 
Hi Essrand,
Thanks for replying. I get your point and will add this. As you noted the CSL is transparent to the point of being nearly invisible in the signal pathway. It is what I'd call an ultra pure signal preserver. As a result it's very sensitive to tube swaps, cables,fuses, equitment stands/platforms etc. It allows the small nuance and information to be easily resolved and presented. Changing the 101D tube to the Pavane W.E.Replica makes a substantial difference,everything improves.

If your source or other components have a certain character the CSL won't alter it, be it musical or analytical.
Yet I do understand your preference for the Shindo, you have to trust your own ears and reactions. Shindo preamps have earned a superb reputation for their SQ, no question.

I get a very emotionally involving and natural presentation that pulls me deep into the music. I realize this is a reflection of the overall construction and voicing of the system. In combo with my 300b SET amp the dynamics, tonal body fullness and harmonic richness are terrific.

I have no doubt that your sound with the inclusion of the Shindo is truely wonderful and very engaging.I bet I'd love the Shindo as well. As we both have learned with experience, many roads lead to Rome.
Best Regards,
Charles,
jazzonthehudson's avatar
jazzonthehudson
277 posts
 
After evaluating two new D A C around $10k last two weeks, I came around to re appreciate what the DC 777 can do; too bad it doesn't handle DSD. It's internal volume  / preamp function is awesome.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 

The presenter that showed us the new AMR DP777 SE version said it can do dsd. And that older versions can be upgraded to the new SE, we heard both versions compared on Redbook playback, and the newer SE one was slightly better, but the standard one would still do.

This was a quote on another forum.

" should have mentioned that AMR is about to come out with a new version of the DP-777. I believe it will utilize one DAC chip instead of two separate chips and will be DSD-enabled"

Whether this is just upsampled to dsd, or true native dsd, which to me there’s not much material that interests me on native dsd anyway.

Cheers George



essrand OP
297 posts
 
I am not very interested in DSD so DP777 works fine for me.

if the new version has one chip instead of two it seems like a step backward as this was one of the best ideas of the Amr dac. 

Not tested this but I believe this dac does its best magic on redbook probably thanks to it having a dedicated chip for redbook.

holding on to my dp777 for now :)
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