Audiophilepure

As much as I enjoyed playing around with filters to endlessly unravel music threads in hopes of discovering something new about old chestnuts, the Stellar DAC is not really made for such interrogations. This is a beautiful sounding DAC, by design. Playing Sasha Matson’s newest album, Fillmore Street, proved to be a splendid way to put the Stellar DAC to the test. This album is full of interesting twists and turns in composition, timing, and melodic themes. Flawlessly recorded, the title track opens the album to give you a taste of what’s to come—orchestral energy with competing instruments propelling the ascending melody line to create tension that ultimately resolves in a languorous swoon reminiscent of Gershwin. The Stellar DAC does an exceptional job of capturing the breadth and dimension of the orchestra, but more importantly, the tone and texture of the instruments sings naturally and without distracting emphasis. I played many, many other artists from a variety of genres, but the overall balance and tonal fulsomeness was sustained in excellent fashion.

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