DAC Shootout Starts This Weekend
Hi Verdantaudio, I have been following your post, My friend and I have Dac's that you are interested in hearing. Maybe one day we can bring them over for a listen. I have a Mola Mola Tambaqui and my friend has an Aries Cerat Kassandra II dac. We live in NYC area. Let me know I'll give you a call Best, Joe |
@snopro we are in process of moving so I am experiencing a touch of upheaval at the moment, but YES! Those are two DACs I very much want to hear. PM Me and we can arrange something in August. |
Okay....new DACs have arrived. The first unit I am going to write up is the AGD Adante. Coming soon will be the Modwright UDP 205 and Soul Note D-2. I know the modwright isn't available new anymore but it deserves a mention given how engaging it is. The AGD Adante is, in fact, a full preamp with DAC and Phono Stage built in. The DAC is a 24bit R2R and there is an on-board player function. The on-board player was Roon Ready but with Roon Ready certification (in 2021), Roon's new rules are incompatible with the hardware in the Adante. You can stream hi-res via Mconnect or any other UPnP/DLNA software. Talking to Alberto, the owner of AGD, he strongly suggested that the unit is far better than its price point of $12.5K as a DAC. I doubted this and expected that it would be a $5-$7K DAC in a very good preamp and it would fall short of the excellence one expects from the Bricasti M1, Weiss 501, Chord Dave, etc.... I was wrong. This unit would be at the top end of performance in that price range and is really more comfortable paired against the Playback Designs MPD-6 or the Rockna Wavedream Signature. Detail performance vs. the Weiss is similar. The Weis is an incredibly detailed DAC that delivers a surprising levels of nuance and detail with solid staging. It is brighter than neutral and can be a hair cold in the wrong system. It's preamp stage is good but a hair limited in terms of volume control. The biggest advantage is the ability to attenuate output to ensure good matching to a power amp. The Adante is not even a hair bright. It is what one expects from an R2R and is neutral to a hair warm. The unit shocked me by delivering as much detail as the Weiss. But it is also not terribly laid back. There is a good balance tonally. Staging is large. It lacks the raw scale in terms of height and width of the Rockna Wavedream Signature but delivers a very large image and has great depth. It may lack the depth and stability of the Chord Dave in terms of image between the speakers but has excellent depth. Taken as a whole, this is an extremely well balanced DAC that is maybe not the very best in any one way, is better in some ways than most of the other units. In terms of tonality and raw performance, it is probably closest to the Playback MPD-6. In terms of actual performance on individua songs, the MPD-6 is better in some ways and Adante in others but it is probably its closest competitor. If you read some recent reviews of the Adante, a reviewer said it even compared favorably vs. the ever so popular Mola Mola. My hunch is that this excellence is being driven by the true preamp stage. Regarding performance on our test songs, the drum rolls on In a Sentimental mood are crisp with good separation but natural. Bass is plucky and clean and there is good air around the cymbals. Piano has sparkle. Overall sound is slightly less forward than the Playback. Be Still My Beating Heart sounds massive. It didn't occur to me to even think about sibilance in Stings voice till nearly the end of the track. Just not relevant with this DAC. Noise floor is very low. Bells are very real sounding. Images were coming from behind me at certain points. Liberty has incredible detail. The FX are detailed and coming from space, not the speakers. Her voice is forward without sibilance. There is energy in the highs while the sax sounds sweet and engaging. Duende is perfect. The opening bass solo has amazing detail without drifting into distortion. There is a wonderful level of energy and dynamism without it drifting to fatiguing. In the Berg piece, separation of instruments is great and the image is well sized. It may be a bit large and lose a touch of the intimacy but that is an expected compromise. The units lacks the energy and dynamism of the Jadis JS1 MKV and even the Rockna Wavedream Signature but it delivers a certain truth and sweetness that cuts through in a very positive way. This unit basically exceeded my expectations in almost every way. If you are in this price range, this is a must listen.
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