Hey,
Thanks, but I was asking specifically about the Brooklyn DAC+ which is the updated one released in October.
I will definitely try the filter choices.
Take it EZ,
Robert
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Hello,
Based on the lack of responses to my query, nobody here apparently has the new version. Reviews of both lead me to believe the DAC3 is a bit better than the original Brooklyn. Of course many of us actually want MQA and the Benchmarks do not do MQA.
My expectation is that the new Brooklyn DAC+ will equal or better the DAC3 in non MQA quality. They did quite a bit of work on the new model.
Y'all have some fun,
Robert
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Shadorne,
Thanks for the reply but I was not the one asking about the DAC3. As I said I want MQA (I currently use an Explorer2 for that) and the DAC3 does not have it.
I did read Benchmark's reply in Stereophile about the intersample overs. I had not heard of it and find it interesting. I am pretty much avoiding Redbook pop/rock these days as the LPs are usually not as compressed.
Again, I am interested if anyone has compared the new Brooklyn DAC+ to the older model or it's competition. I have one on order and want to know what to expect.
Hope you have a good eve,
Robert
PS: Since this is not Twitter, I am not @robob. And I am not that on Twitter either:-)
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@djohnson54,
"I understand your confusion about the "@" syntax but this is a
convention that Audiogon uses too. Typing @ when you're replying to
another responder (instead of the OP) in the thread pops up a list of
everyone in the current thread. Selecting one of them (or simply typing
out their handle) allows Audiogon to alert them that someone posted a
response directed at them."
Thanks for that, I never knew it. I get really annoyed at folks doing the @ thing all over the Inet.
I will report on the DAC+. I am working at a possible workaround for sending full resolution DSD out of my Oppo 105 so I can compare it to the DAC+. Unlike current convention I will also swap cables between the Parsec I ordered for it and the Cardas Neutral Reference that are on my JC3+. Both of those are XLR and I will also try some Hero RCA's. My Hero's are the older ones with the WBTs.
@shadorne,
Apologies for the @ comment and thanks for your comments. I am really looking forward to the DAC+. I imagine I will stay with the apodizing filter but I will audition the others. Lack of filter selection may hurt the DAC3 sales.
Hope you folks have some fun,
Robert
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Supposedly on the white truck for delivery today. I will let it reach room temp and then run it for a couple of hours before really listening.
Parsec XLR cables give more weight than the low cost Analysis Plus RCAs they replaced. Also apparently stronger deep bass. Highs are still there. This from my Oppo 105 to Classe CP-500, etc.
Hope you folks are well and good,
Robert
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"Christmas comes early!!!"
Indeed.
Preliminary listen shows more extended and cleaner/more detailed high end and cleaner bass along with more detail top to bottom. Not sure I knew I could still hear that much on top. But don't be thinking it's bright, it is not. Not nasty or analytical sounding.
Interestingly it may be a small amount less full in the mids than the OPPO 105 but it's early. This on 16/44.1 fed via toslink from the OPPO, including OPPO's TIDAL app. Output from DAC+ via Parsec XLRs to Classe CP-500, etc.
Take it EZ,
Robert
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Hey Folks,
One of you pm'ed me asking for more thoughts on the DAC+.
I have now listened to MQA files and streams and SACD's converted to PCM by the OPPO 105 as well as more 16/44.1 material. As I somewhat alluded to, the real eye opener is how good it is with 16/44.1 sources. I am an analog guy primarily and have not been a fan of CD except in the beginning when I was impressed by it's clarity compared to most analog of the time. As I listened more I realized 16/44.1 was not enough bits to capture all the overtones and sustain we are accustomed to hearing with most analog sources.
Listening to a 16/44.1 stream from TIDAL as I type this, the electric Jazz guitar sounds nice and full and textural. Texture and high frequency detail are the two most noticeable improvements over other DACs I have had. The last time I heard 16/44.1 this good was in a MUCH higher priced system with a MUCH higher priced DAC. And I am not sure that presentation was as good in the mids as the DAC+. When a stick or mallet hits a drum you hear not only the hit but the reverberation around the hit. Clarity is there as well, such as delineation of voices in harmony. Also more sense of the space or air is retrieved compared to what I am used to with low resolution sources.
Of course higher resolution audio is better, more analog like, more air, pretty much more everything that is good. MQA is wonderful on most encoded recordings. As I believe JA (John Atkinson in Stereophile) said, MQA does not provide a benefit in every case but it does in most that I have heard. As I said elswhere in these forums, MQA brings one closer to the music. The old, "like lifting a veil" adage is applicable.
I hope to have time tomorrow for cable swapping and more direct comparison to the DAC in the OPPO. All my DAC+ listening so far has been over the Parsec XLRs.
My expectations were high but have been surpassed. It would be interesting to see what they could do by removing the phono section and spending the money on the analog out and an outboard power supply.
Hope you folks are well and good,
Robert
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@erik_squires
Hi resolution audio is still better.
@shadorne
The CP-500 sounds really good and I cannot afford to replace it with something that might be better. Remember, newer is not necessarily better. Also the interface and I/O compliment are very nice as well. Who offers a tape loop? And yes, I have tried others.
@pkaram. I have not directly compared it to my Explorer2 for MQA but because the DAC+ has a better analog stage, it should be better.
I have not tried the phono stage yet.
Y'all take care,
Robert
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Folks,
I have many sources so using the DAC+ as a preamp will not work for me.
The CP-500 has numerous inputs, both RCA and XLR and several outputs as well. And I think I mentioned it sounds really good and has a tape loop. The control functions are above average as well.
On another subject, the MC input on the DAC+ is OK to good but I probably need to play it longer to see if it needs to break in. It’s unfairly being compared to a JC3+. So far it sounds a bit closed in and rolled off on top.
Y’all take care,
Robert
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Hey Folks,
The DAC+ is doing well and is wonderful.
I am spinning vinyl through it as I write this. It sounds surprisingly good. I am not sure what caused the constricted sound the first time I tried the MC phono input (analog input set to MC Phone) but I am not hearing it now. This the second time trying it and I warmed it up with the first two sides of a recent re-release of The Koln Concert. The piano was full bodied and Keith's moans were clearly audible.
Currently listening to my original Decca pressing of Who's Next. It sounds very good. It is an above average recording/mastering/pressing for an early 70's rock record. Unfortunatley it was not as well take care of by yours truly as some of my other LPs, but it is playable. I need to run it through the RCM. As far as negatives, doubled voices aren't as good as my JC3+ but then I would not expect that. Also, with my ear close to a speaker I am hearing some noise and a whine when the music is not playing. That could be my less than ideal cable routing. Not much else to complain about, especially for a phone section that is included in a DAC.
On the minus side, I did have an issue a week or so ago when I tried the headphone output. I was playing a non MQA source with MQA enabled and there was some kind of nastiness to the highs. I heard it a little through the speakers as well. I am not too worried about it as I believe it was some weird interaction between the non MQA source and the MQA filter. I will test further.
I hope your folks are well and good,
Robert
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Hey Bondmanp,
I too now have an equalizer. I bought the Loki from Schiit and put it in the tape monitor loop so it can be completely out of the path. I use it when background listening at low volume. Inexpensive and works well although I would like it to be parametric. Perhaps they will do a higher priced one with more controls.
I will try it sometime, but I am not sure taking the CP-500 out of the path would be any better. Since my amp is also a Classe Delta series(CA-2200) of the same vintage as the preamp they work well together.
Take it EZ,
Robert
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Mine was pretty much on song straight out of the box. Although as I said earlier I did let it run for a while(maybe and hour?) before listening seriously. Might have gotten a bit fuller in the mids after 20 hours or so, I don't recall for sure. I am still very pleased with it. Almost all my listening has been PCM, but I have run some DSD over PCM from a MacBook Pro running Audirvana and that sounds very good as well. I have the MacBook Pro hardwired to the Internet for TIDAL and even the 44.1 TIDA HiFi sounds good. Most TIDAL MQA is of course better.
Keep in mind it's not just the DAC chip/circuit, these days the analog section can be the deciding factor.
Good Luck with your comparison,
Robert |
Hello Folks,
I hope you are all well and good.
I agree with uberwaltz. As I maybe mentioned, I have a Kleos and it deserves better. I have a JC3+ and it works well with the Kleos and my Classe CP500 preamp.
On the other hand, as a temporary solution the phono section in the DAC+ would be fine. Also the Benchmark will not do MQA.
BTW, I may start a thread on thus but let me interject here that most folks are buying too low on the cartridge spectrum. The cartridge has to change mechanical motion into electrical signals which is difficult to do properly. Assuming a compatible arm, one should at least be at the Delos level. Also, understand the current Lyras are very different from the old Helikon/Titan line. Still detailed but full as well.
Y'all take care,
Robert |
I have not tried the Control Panel via WiFi, doesn't it require a USB connection to a computer? I would agree the display is too small for most of us to see from the chair.
You may want to temporarily run longer cables and put the DAC+ close to you for the initial setup. The issue in the long run becomes having to getup to change the filter. Different tracks/albums do sound better with a different filter.
Good Luck with your setup,
Robert |
I’m betting that will sound pretty good. You may want to consider a cartridge that is fuller in the mids.
I would look into Audirvana unless Roon does something additional that you need. Audirvana does not require a subscription and allows access to Tidal and some others.
Please let us know how it sounds.
Y’all take care,Robert |
