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New McIntosh DA2 DAC

Has anyone listened to the new McIntosh DA2 DAC board in their new C53 or C2700 Pre Amplifiers?  Can anyone compare Mac's new DA2 to the Auralic Vega 2 or the PSAudio Direct Stream DAC's? Thanks!
fastfreight
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dep14
336 posts
 
I have had the C2700 with the DA2 Dac for a week now. My previous DAC was the Oppo Sonica, which uses the ESS chipset also. My understanding is the DA2 uses the 9028pro, and the Oppo had the 9038. Which I imagine are close. Implementations are different of course. The C2700 of course has tubes.

That said, I am absolutely thrilled with the performance of the DA2 via USB in the C2700. (I’m absolutely thrilled with the C2700 though, and it was a bit of a spontaneous purchase and system change, using with a MC 462).

Understanding it is difficult to pinpoint the DA2 vs the Oppo since the Oppo I ran through a Pass XP12, then XP22, and even DAC direct. I would tell you this. I feel the DA2 is very detailed, but NOT bright (now, keep in mind the C2700 has tubes).

I would describe the DA2 as dynamic and neutral.  It does do a great job with vocals, one thing I have noticed is that I can hear vocals even more clearly now (but not remotely edgy etc, just more defined). 

My Oppo sold so quickly (great DAC), I only played with it one night via the DA2 through the C2700. They were close, but I prefered the DA2, now quite simply that could be because it was the internal DAC, with associated shorter runs and connections.

I will say this, I would be very surprised if anyone was not satisfied with the DA2 as a DAC. More of the differences I would expect would be related to the pre-amp used in association.

It’s a very good DAC IMO.

The C2700... thus far I find it to be spectacular and actually a bargain.
el_it
3 posts
 

Did any of you try to connect the Oppo 105D's DAC to compare? I have C2700 and I'm debating whether to even bother get cables for the 105 to use its DAC or just sell it and use another streamer to connect straight to the DA2. 

Thanks

wised
2 posts
 

I'm that I'm resuscitating this old thread, But I think it behooves me to make a point. I have  a D2, in my McIntosh C53. The DA2 has a 32bit ESS DAC. That chip is considered the latest and greatest by all measures. I was previously using a Cambridge Audio 851N which is equipped with 24 bit AD 1955. As expected the ESS is techically superior in all measures, better SN, THD and even higher sampling rates. That said, both DAC's sound 100% the same. They both sound equally superb. The reason is very, very simple. All those improvements are way, way, below the threshold of hearing! The same goes for any sampling rate above 96khz. There is no more, "soundstage", channel separation,  transparency or anything else. They both sound exactly the same because the 24 bit chips specs were already below the level of any human's (or bat) level of hearing. The 32 bit chip sets now also include HDMI whic allow the audio compnent to use ARC. However, HDMI is limited to 24/95. If you want to use newer higher sampling rates above 384 requires using the USB rather HDMI connector.

So there you have it. If you have a DAC with a 24 bit DAC, unless you must have ARC control over HDMI, there is absolutely no audio fidelity reason to feel the urge to upgrade! Be assured that no DAC possible can improce on the fidelity you already have. If you are swapping your component for any other reason, rest assured the latest and greatest chip will already be there. FYI, The best DAC chips in the market cost around 100 bucks. Anyone selling you a stand alone DAC for more than 500 bucks should make you just chuckle and look elsewhere.

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