Bel Canto DAC2 vs. DAC1/1.1?

I’ve never listened to the Bel Canto 1.1 or any Wadia player so I can’t comment on those but I do have a Bel Canto DAC2 and really like it. In my system, the DAC2 is full-bodied and quite detailed without sounding edgy or grating. The music has a certain “rightness” to it that other players and DACs I’ve tried never had. I did have to try several interconnects before finding one that delivered the goods and that I could live with long-term. In my system, I found that the sound changed noticeably depending on your choice of coax interconnect. Copper interconnects were warm but kinda slow and a little dull. The two silver coax interconnects I tried were much faster and more detailed but both did something weird to the time alignment of the music. I finally settled on JPS Superconductor as it was faster than copper and sounded much better than silver cables. YMMV, of course.

I have recently upgraded my DAC 1.1 to a 2.0. I've enjoyed the 1.1 for several years here in my office system. I must say however that I was VERY pleasantly surprised how much better the 2.0 sounded. The first thing I noticed was a blacker, quieter background. The 2.0 is much less "digital" sounding than the 1.1. Bel Canto told me that virtually everything inside the DAC is removed and replaced with a new design. I've noticed tighter bass, more definition and a much more relaxed, musical presentation. IMHO, there is little comparison between the DACS. I would gladly upgrade again!

Hi Jaguar:

Have you compared the coaxial and optical outputs? (I would be using an RME Digi96/8 PAD sound card, which has both coaxial and optical outputs, though I think the optical one is supposed to be better, in terms of a greater signal to noise ratio).

Also, when you owned the DAC1.1, did you feel it was musically complete? Were you satisfied with it's musical worth until you heard the dAC2?

Hi Mshan...
I have not compared the coax and optical connections. I use a Theta Pearl transport in this system. It only has coax connectors. To answer your second question, I would have to say no because my main system consists of an Accuphase DP-90 transport and Electrocompaniet ECD-1 DAC. The BelCanto 2.0 and the Electrocompaniet DACs share a 24/192 upsampler which makes a significant improvement in music reproduction over the 24/96 in the 1.1. My primary objective was to make my office digital system sound closer to my main digital system.

The DAC 1.1 still sounds quite good. I was quite pleased with its performance for over 2 years. It's older technology competes, but just doesn't compare with the newer digital technology. For whatever difference in price you may find between the two DACS, I personally would gladly take the difference in transparency, the sheen and shimmer of brass and guitar, and the analog-like difference in musicality.

FWIW...get a 2.0, or if the budget permits, the Electrocompaniet. The EC is more refined and really enhances everything going through it....Good luck.