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Wadia 27/270 vs. dCS Delius+Purcell

Hallo, I want to spend some kilobuck in a new cd-combo and think to buy either a Wadia 27/270 or a dCS DAC Delius with upsampler Purcell. Does somebody has experiences? I have the following questions:
1. Is the Wadia or the dCS the 'better' one?
2. For the dCS I need a transport too. Some people told me, that the transport for the dCS do not neeed to be super expensive because the Purcell will 'upsamle' some weeknesses of the transport as well. A transport of about $ 2.000 would do. Is this right or do I need to buy an superexpensive transport as well? Which transports go well with the dCS?
3. The Wadia and the dCS do not need a preamp, theoreticlly. Here at audiogon one can read that the experiences with Wadia with or without pre are very incoherent. Half people strictly recommend a (good) pre, the other half strictly recommend no pre. How about the dCS? Does this combo need a (good) pre or does it run as good without?
Best regards from Germany and thanks for good advice in advance! Sebastian Hatzfeldt
tim777
ral
124 posts
 
Hbrandt: That's an interesting comment about liking 176K over 192K on dCS gear. Could you give more detail about what you hear on your system between these two sampling rates? Especially in the context of classical music. Thanks.
mikelavigne
2,199 posts
 
although i am no mathemtician it seems clear that the DCS gear has a better time multiplying the cd sampling rate by an even 4 times (172khz) as opposed to the additional computations involved in 192khz. probably cleaner data. maybe a sharper knife than me can shed more light on this issue. i haven't compared the sound of these 2 sampling rates but the why looked obvious.
hbrandt's avatar
hbrandt
272 posts
 
Frankly, I'm not sure why it should be so....but to my ear...and I listen almost exclusively to Classical (symphonic, chamber, etc.), and 60's jazz....172k sounds more musical and refined that 192k. It may just be in my head. Who knows?? I must say that the absolute most dramatics is between 44.1 and 96k. That is by far the greatest improvement. From 96 to 132 to 176 to 192...there is NOT much incremental improvement...although I think 176 is the best. Not to complicate matters, but now we dCS users will have to decide whether to upgrade to DSD. The big question will be whether DSD is superior enough to 172 or 196 to warrant spending megabucks!!!
dan2112
144 posts
 
Hbrandt, Which filter setting are you using on the Delius? Most of the time mine is set to one. - Dan
hbrandt's avatar
hbrandt
272 posts
 
Dan:

I find filter 1 to be the most pleasing for most material - particularly jazz and classical. Sometimes I listen to 3 as well.
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