2. digital
  3. 1126769860

Reference DACS: An overall perspective

There has been many threads the last few months regarding the sonic signature of some of the highest regarded reference DACS (Dcs,Meitner,Ensemble,Audio Note,Zanden,Reimyo,Accustic Arts) here on the GON. I have been very fortunate to audtion many of these wonderful pieces in my home or friend's systems. I wanted to share, in a systematic way, my impressions/opinions with you GON members for a two reasons: 1)That my experiences might be helpful to fellow members interested in audtioning these DACS. 2)Starting an interesting discussion regarding the different "sonic flavors" of these reference digital front ends. I totally agree with the statement, "if you have not heard it you don't have an opinion". Therefore, I have no comments regarding DACS from Weiss,Goldmund,Audio Aero and Burmester because I have never had the pleasure of audtioning them. I would love to hear from members who have and share their experiences with us. My overall impression is that these DACS(Dcs,Meitner,Ensemble,Audio Note,Zanden,Reimyo,Accustic Arts) can be grouped into two molar categories regarding their overall sonic signature. By the way, all of them can throw a large/deep soundstage with excellent layering in the acoustic space with "air" around individual players on that stage. However, than they start to part company into two major categories. Category #1) These DACS "flavors" revolve around pristine clarity, fine sharp details,speed,very extended top/bottom frequencies,and great PRAT. These DACS never sound "etched" or "in your face" but are more "upfront" then "layed back" in their presentation. The DACS, to my ear's, that go into this bracket are Dcs,Ensemble,Meitner. My personnal favorite in this group is the Ensemble, which I owned for two years. These DACS remind me of the sonic signature of speakers such as Wilson,Thiel,Dynaudio, Focal/JM Labs. Category #2) These DACS "flavors" revolve around a "musical/organic" sense, natural timbres,and an easy flowing liquidity. Their "less forward" presentation my give the impression of less detail, but I think in this case its an illusion fostered by their more relaxed/organic manner. The DACS, to my ear's, that go into this bracket are Audio Note,Zanden,Reimyo,Accustic Arts. I did find that the tube DACS did not have the top/bottom frequency extenstion and PRAT of the SS DACS in this bracket. For me, the Accustic Arts DAC1-MK3 gave me the best of both categories, therefore it is now the resident DAC in my system. These DACS remind me of the sonic signature of speakers such as Magnepan,Von Schweikert,Sonus Faber. Well, it's all just my opinion regarding these digital pieces, but I hope this post was at least informative/somewhat interesting and would lend itself to other GON members sharing their impressions, not about what DAC is the "BEST" in the world, but your personnal taste and synergy with your system.
teajay
teajay OP
1,333 posts
 
Hello, to Branimir and the rest of the gang on this thread. I know that you were going to be auditioning new digital pieces and was looking forward to what your experiences have been. So, just checking in , have not heard from you in a long time.

And please, if anyone else has heard any DACS or TRANSPORTS that were quite interesting I would love to hear what you discovered.
exlibris
392 posts
 
Teajay,
I'm still waiting for the Weiss combo to be shipped from Europe and I'm still enjoying the EMM combo (using EMM's ST Glass connectors, surprisingly).

I probably no longer need that great Stealth Varidig Sextet AES-EBU digital cable that you put me on to so if anyone out there is interested in a great digital cable at a great price, just send me an email.
henryhk
648 posts
 
Sychedli...thats an incredible collection of players you own! Care to introduce us to the rest of your system(s)? Also given you have extensive exp with EMM, dcS, Zanden and now AOL modded Esoteric, did you find any system synergies worth noting? It escapes my recollection but I saw someone commenting that for example EMM and Audio Rsch Ref 3 was synergistic together...though he didn't say as much, I suspect it is due to both excel at sound staging and catpuring decay. Any comments or pointers?
branimir
236 posts
 
Teajay, good to hear from you!
Here is a small Esoteric D-01/P-01/G-0s combo review...
First, little bit about build quality-it is absolutely the best made digital gear that ever had a chance to put my fingers on! All the rest(except Weiss) looks really rubbish after these things...
Sound? Well, first issue was break-in period. It is simply toooo long! Over 800hours at least. After that period combo was able to show its intended sound. And what sound it was! It is the simply stunning way of NOT showing to the listener that some part of sonic spectrum are more important then other! English is not my first language so I am sorry if some thinks do not make sense to some of you.
It is very organized sound but, in a good way. My Weiss Medea/Jason combo is much more forward sounding then this Esoteric combo and this was a big suprise for me! Esoteric is more organic in midrange and as powerful in bass(and maybe little bit too tigh for some people). Its treble resolution is stunning but, not bright at all(break-in issue here!). What this combo you here much more detalis then on any other digital gear that I heard before. Whole setup(5 pieces) is little bit pain in the a... You will also need excellent digital cables as well(think Acrolink, Siltech or Stealth). In absolute term it beat my Weiss combo in listner involvment, midrange purity and presentation of details. And it gives you nice mid hall soundstage experience(of course, sound is big if recording is big!). It is excellent on classical, jazz but, also on rock music. It was the best Pink Floyd sound ever in my home! Will I go for it? Maybe... Who am I fooling around! I will! It is expensive but, what a sound... All I need to hear is EMMLabs gear now...
Teajay, what about new Mk4 version of Accustic Arts DAC?? I heard some rumor about it...
teajay OP
1,333 posts
 
Branimir and Exilibris, thanks for sharing what you have been up to lately.

Exilibris, I will find very interesting what you like better after you audition the Weiss combo compared to the EMM combo in your system.

Branimir, I have heard nothing regarding a new MK4 version of the Accustic Arts DAC, however I will check into it. So, do I got it right, that you are not going to audition the new Krell digital gear, and your new reference is the Esoteric combo?

A little off the topic, I'm looking forward to tomorrow morning because I'm auditioning a pair of Pass Labs XA-100 monoblocks and I will recieve them in the morning. I have wanted to try these for a long time in my system and finally will scratch this " sonic itch"! Pure single-ended class A, I hope they turn out to be as good as I think they will be. I have no concerns regarding how my Pass Labs X-350.5 powers my MG-20R's midrange/ribbon tweeters right now, its a great sounding amp, but my hunch is that the XA"s will even be more "musical/natural" in my system. It's going to be fun the next few days around my house listening to these mono-blocks as they break in.
More to discover