dCS Bartók Digital-to-Analog Converter $14,500 Review
August 14, 2020 Comments Off on dCS Bartók Digital-to-Analog Converter $14,500 Review
“These days, $2000-$2500 buys most audiophiles a near-state-of-the-art DAC. Whether an FPGA design from PS Audio or Chord Electronics, a multibit model from Schiit Audio, or a delta-sigma from Benchmark or Mytek, to name just a few, there’s no shortage of excellent options. In fact, you could buy a Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ ($2195) just like mine, plug it into your high-dollar system, and I’m confident you’d be shocked at how clean and resolving its sound is. And you’d be right. My extensive praise for the dCS Bartók might have given the impression that a substantial chasm in sound quality yawns between it and, say, the more proletarian Mytek that hails from Poland. That chasm is narrower than you might think.
With the Bach Partita, Viktoria Mullova’s delicious violin sounded about as transparent through the Mytek as it had through the more-than-six-times-as-costly dCS. That alone is a huge achievement. Still, the Bartók’s re-creation of the Allemanda was distinct in some subtle ways. The soundstage was a touch more compressed through the Mytek — Mullova’s instrument sounded slightly more two-dimensional. Gone was the dCS’s analog-like ease and liquidity, replaced by a more urgent and vivid sound with a more mechanical, stereotypically “digital” feel. I actually enjoy that sort of well-articulated sound, but it’s inherently unnatural, and ultimately, I preferred the Bartók’s version.”
Weiss Engineering DAC502 D/A processor Review
August 12, 2020 Comments Off on Weiss Engineering DAC502 D/A processor Review
“The DAC502’s Room Equalizer comprises five filters that can be set to peak/cut or high shelf for left and right speakers individually or together. To make use of this function, you download a FLAC or WAV file from the Weiss website that sweeps down from 200Hz to 20Hz. While playing this file, you note the time when the loudness is at a maximum. The Weiss processor’s manual includes a table that correlates the time with the frequency of the sinewave. You then manually create up to five correction filters, a complex process that would be more user-friendly if integrated with an app like Room Equalization Wizard.”
PS AUDIO STELLAR GAINCELL PREAMP/DAC $1,699 REVIEW
August 11, 2020 Comments Off on PS AUDIO STELLAR GAINCELL PREAMP/DAC $1,699 REVIEW
“The PS Audio GainCell preamp/DAC is a winner in every respect. It is an excellently built versatile preamplifier that can handle both the analog and digital signal switching equally well. Not only that, but it can also serve as a very capable headphone amplifier. Its audiophile quality is obvious in every aspect of its sonic performance. Transparent, great tonal balance, and good dynamics are some of the nice traits of the sonic characteristics of the GCD. As a DAC, it is capable of handling both PCM and DSD high-resolution music signals, which adds to its repertoire of capabilities. Considering that this versatile great-sounding product can be had for only $1699, the GainCell preamp/DAC truly represents a great bargain in the hi-fi world. Moreover, with 30 days home-trial offer and generous trade-in policy, this is a must audition product for someone looking for modern affordable preamp/DAC. The GCD easily earns my highest recommendation!”
Gold Note DS-10 D/A processor Review
August 10, 2020 Comments Off on Gold Note DS-10 D/A processor Review
“For comparisons, I planned to use the Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ ($2195) and dCS Rossini DAC/Clock ($31,499 total plus three additional cables). While the Brooklyn DAC+ contains a headphone amp, which I compared to the DS-10’s, it does not accept Ethernet—for that, you need the Brooklyn Bridge streaming DAC ($2995), which I do not have here. Hence all comparisons between these two units were performed using the USB input on the two DACs. I also connected them to the MBL N11 preamp ($14,600) and attempted to answer the questions: (a) Does this preamp noticeably improve the sound of the DS-10, and (b) does its addition make more or less difference to the sound of the DS-10 than it does to the far more expensive dCS Rossini DAC/Clock combo? I also compared the DS-10/PSU-10 EVO to the Rossini DAC/Clock, both with and without the N11 preamp in the chain.”
AURALIC SIRIUS G2 UNIVERSAL UPSAMPLING PROCESSOR £5,499 REVIEW
August 3, 2020 Comments Off on AURALIC SIRIUS G2 UNIVERSAL UPSAMPLING PROCESSOR £5,499 REVIEW
“The traditional digital brightness and thinness that people associate with streaming begins to go away here. Interestingly, the more components you build into the AURALiC G2 stack, the more those criticisms of streaming became outdated and unfair. The graunch of guitars in the Puscifer track showed this in stark relief; the tone of the track takes on a truly malevolent disposition here, something it rarely does through Tidal.
Is there a downside? Sonically, I don’t think so. However, to get the best from the SIRIUS G2 does involve some fairly complex app-wrangling, matching the upsampler to your DAC’s performance and if you get technofear, terms like ‘Parallelize Sigma-Delta Modulator’ might send chills along your heatsinks. Everything is explained in multiple places, however, but you might feel the need to hand setting up over to an expert. That being said, it’s not complexity for its own sake, but digital matchmaking… almost like Tinder for DACs. ”
PrimaLuna EVO 100 Tube DAC USB Tube DAC Review
August 1, 2020 Comments Off on PrimaLuna EVO 100 Tube DAC USB Tube DAC Review
“Turning to wolfgang.com’s vast selection of rare live gigs, I selected Warren Zevon in 1982 in Boston, for his rousing ‘Werewolves Of London’ at 48kHz. It proved massive in scale and sounding as it should: as if played via FM radio. Switching on Fidelia, I listened to the EVO 100 at 192kHz with a download of BB King’s ‘Sneakin’ Around’, a mono session of dubious sonic merit but musically a gem. I played it against the original LP, The Great BB King [United Records 728] and it was a dead ringer. I want an EVO 100.”
Spectral SDR-2000 Professional D/A processor $8195 Review
July 11, 2020 Comments Off on Spectral SDR-2000 Professional D/A processor $8195 Review
“The DACs are four UltraAnalog 20-bit types, made of discrete and monolithic components encapsulated in a potted module, in a balanced configuration (left +, left –, right +, right –). The SDR-2000 Pro is unique among UltraAnalog-based processors in that the current-to-voltage (I/V) converters and sample-and-hold circuits are not incorporated into the potted DAC module. Instead, UltraAnalog makes a custom version exclusively for Spectral that allows Spectral to build discrete current-to-voltage and sample-and-hold circuits. The capacitors in the sample-and-hold circuit are the result of Keith’s years of searching for the ideal capacitor for this ultra-critical application. The I/V is an ultra-fast-slewing, direct-coupled, FET-based circuit that reportedly achieves fast settling time and low energy storage. According to Keith, this section of a digital processor is critical to sound quality.”
MYTEK DIGITAL BROOKLYN BRIDGE STREAMING DAC £3,000 REVIEW
June 27, 2020 Comments Off on MYTEK DIGITAL BROOKLYN BRIDGE STREAMING DAC £3,000 REVIEW
“The Brooklyn Bridge is truly a jack of many a trade, and will suit, well, anyone looking for a compact do-it-all DAC plus pre-amp plus headphone amp. It even makes a good stab at vinyl when set to MM mode. For the most part it was tested as an audiophile stereo DAC though, and here it has mastered its trade. There are even sweeter sounding DACs if you have another £1,000 or so in your budget, but for under £3,000 it is very hard to better. And if streaming isn’t your bag or you already have that covered, the Brooklyn DAC+ is still available at around £800 less.”
Wadax • Atlantis Digital-to-Analog Converter and Universal Transport $69,000 Review
April 28, 2020 Comments Off on Wadax • Atlantis Digital-to-Analog Converter and Universal Transport $69,000 Review
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That ability to allow the performance its separate voice is both rare and important, suggesting the Atlantis DAC possesses that most valuable of all talents when it comes to transducers: sonic invisibility — the power to step behind the music and out of the aural sightline. With almost no thumbprint imposed on the signal, the Atlantis can pull the same trick whether it’s a classical recording or The Cure. The recording and developmental contrasts between Three Imaginary Boys [Fiction 827 686-2], Seventeen Seconds [Fiction 25 354-2} and Faith [Fiction 827 687-2] underline the band’s steep learning curve and growing sophistication in those pre-sequencer days. Likewise, the lyrical and musical development of artists as varied as Joe Jackson and Elvis Costello, Steve Earle and Nanci Griffith, is just as clear and equally individual. If the perfect system should play all types of music, then the Wadax gets extremely close to that ideal.”
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