Wadia 170i and Benchmark Dac1 - anyone try it?

Brian,

I think you got it. The point is that as long as Adasilva uses the DAC1 the "evidence" suggests that it really does not matter what transport he uses (provided it doesn't mess with the bits, as some apparently do).

If Adasilva finds the DAC1 to be a substandard DAC compared to the much better sound of top echelon players then he might, in future, face the interface issues as to what other DAC goes well with the Wadia 170i & possibly what type of digital cable he needs and what length. This is the situation faced when using the majority of DAC designs, which are NOT demonstrated through test data to be totally immune to incoming jitter on the digital signal. In this case, careful selection of components that work well together is mandatory and there are no guarantees, such as Benchmark offers in their claims (In this scenario, everything in the chain should really be as low jitter as possible and, as a general rule, a separate clock signal interface is usualy preferred to qualify as "top echelon" - Meitner gear comes to mind)

BTW - "jitter" is certainly the end of the world - it might be better to have a tubed DAC with a great warm and musical sound than an analytical DAC with better jitter rejection. This is where individual subjectivity comes into it - the lesser of Evils - the horrible pro sound versus the organic warmth of something that sounds much better.

Dave, I used XLO 4.1 signature digital cable then and was really pleased with digital.

Using tube buffer/DAC is like using honey to smooth out chipped windscreen.

A separate box for the clock does nothing to assure that it'll outperform a clock combined with another digital device, like a DAC or transport. Generally you'd expect the separate box clocks to be among the best, due to price, but that isn't necesarily the case.

Dave

I'm using the Analysis Plus Digital Oval coax digital cable with good results, but I can't distinguish it from the one Wadia sent with the 170i. I think that the reclocking in the PD is making up for any error introduced by my cable... maybe. I tried an XLO balanced IC owned by a friend and found it very neutral.

Ah... tube/DACs, what an oxymoron in my mind. If you need to add honey, there's something wrong that needs to be fixed rather than covered up, at least IMHO. I like your point of view Teddy.

Dave

I have the iTransport and love the sound quality. I use lossless files on an Ipod Classic 160gb. It sounds better than my Sony ES CD player. The bass is fuller when comparing the same tracks back to back. Fascinating since the Wadia is playing the digital copy of the CD.

I had a musician in my home recently and he wondered if his Iphone would play his live recordings (lossless) of his Jazz band on my Wadia. It worked well and sounded awesome. He said it was the best the recording had ever sounded, and the closest to live -- on any system.