I ordered La Voce yesterday. This is my first DAC, so I’m no doubt a good deal less sophisticated than many who’ve posted on this thread in my capacity to assess this type of component, but it seems to do a good job occupying a middle ground. It’s not what I would consider overly analytic but provides a much detail as I want to hear. At the same time, it’s what I would call "musical" (a term reviled by some, but each to his/her own) without straying into what I would regard as tube-like euphonics. PRaT is very important to me and La Dolce serves up a generous helping. The other two DACs I auditioned were, by contrast, to my ears, in my system, quite extreme. The COS was unnaturally detailed while the Metrum’s cholesterol count was off the scale. In the end, hearing presentations at these extreme ends of the scale proved useful in evaluating the Aqua. BTW, I found Alex at Alma Music and Audio in San Diego (the sole CA Aqua dealer) to be terrific. I hope this doesn’t violate any thread rules. Thanks to all who offered suggestions and warm wishes for a happy holiday season!
DACs and bass response?
I'm auditioning dacs in my system. One (COS) was way to analytical, overall, but had very tight bass. Another (Aqua La Voce) is what some would describe as "musical" and sounds terrific in all aspects except bass. My cdp alone does better in that regard. I have monitors and no subs. Can I expect that dacs that are hyper-detailed will also offer tighter bass as a rule?
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That Arte Forma SET amplifier seems like a very high tier no nonsense effort. No doubt that it is exceptionally honest, open, transparent and natural in its sonic character. I suspect it is quite capable of revealing the fine nuances of the various upstream DACs and sources. The nice thing about it is that it is DC-coupled, so no caps in the signal path. Also, the version they sell now contains a circuit-board. The one I have was a point-to-point wired prototype that I further modded. It's too bad they don't offer the wired one, but they could not seem to get consistency in the build. I don't use any of their tubes BTW. Steve N. Empirical Audio |
However, if a device passes the J-test with perfect results then one can only conclude that all distortion spuriae including any jitter of any sort are all below the noise floor. This assumes that the DAC has excellent HF response and transient response. If it doesn't, the spuriae will be masked, filtered. Take the same source to another DAC that has better HF and transient response and you might see more spuriae. I think it depends on the DAC, which it should not. DAC analog circuits should not be part of the measurement IMO. Steve N. Empirical Audio |
It’s hard to believe that a DAC designer wouldn’t use effective caps in their design. It is, but I would not have had a lucrative modding business for 10 years if it was not the case. I trust my ears also. I have to because measurements just don't cut it IME. A good audio designer must rely on both measurements and their ears. I cringe when I read about someone starting out in this industry and thinks they can navigate on measurements alone. I recently read this on DIY forum... Steve N. Empirical Audio |
stuartk DACs and bass response? Aqua La Voce The Aqua La Voce uses the R2R Multibit PCM1704, a killer D/A converter especially in the bass. Used by Naim555, LinnCD12, ML39 ect all which have killer bass. The La Voce I/V stage after the 1704 should be fine and the output buffers should be fine, all that is left is the cheap blue coupling Cap. As I pictured before, or even better go direct coupled. Cheers George |
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