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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
aplhifi
515 posts
 
Guido, the Esoteric vision/objective was/is to design a digital transport in such a way that ALL the information possible is retrieved from the actual disc and I have to say that they have done an OUTSTANDING job!!!

While the top line Burr-Brown laser trimmed ladder DACs in the UX-1, X-01 and D-1 would give you very accurate and airy presentation, the top line AD1955 DACs by Analog Devices in the CHEAPER combo would provide more rounded and bottom heavy sound. This might be to the liking of some but not to everyone, especially those who own truly revealing systems which are not in the need of "smoothing out". The fact that Esoteric have decided to use the Burr-Brown in the top line and Analog Devices in the cheaper line is more than self explanatory. “Oh, but it sounds better”. Sure in that audio system to those ears.

In conclusion, Teac Esoteric VRDS-NEO is hands down the LEADER when it comes to a digital transport today. What is behind the VRDS-NEO in terms of electronics just suits different tastes.

Regards,
Alex
guidocorona
4,114 posts
 
Thank you Alex, this is the first time I read a good characterization of the AD sound. A twist to the whole matter though is the fact that TEAC adopted the AD chips for the $25K P03/D03 combo. Have you heard it. I wonder at this point if TEAC is abandoning Burr Brown in favor of AD throughout its Esoteric Line for the sake of facile euphony.
fcrowder
191 posts
 
I suspect that this will be somewhat off point but I had the opportunity to listen to an Esoteric P-01 in a system with which I am very familiar, Martin Logan Summits and subs, Parasound JC1's, Tact 2.2x, Levinsin ML 30.1 transport, good quality cabling and power cords. This system had never really been one that I would have wanted to own. It did some things well but was tonally a bit thin with a touch of brightness, lack of image density, little depth and an image that had a tendency to wander. I blamed the Tact room correction, but really had no basis for that assumption. The owner substituted the Esoteric P-01 about two weeks ago. Initially the sound was unremarkable and a bit bright. By last Sunday the system had undergone a major transformation with all the weaknesses corrected, phenomenal bass, rock solid images, layered depth, wall to wall soundstage, excellent dynamics, lower noise floor, greater ability to hear into the music, greater transparency, and correct tonality. We listened primarily to Schubert symphonies. I was speechless. I just wanted to listen to the music not disect it. I am not sure what the moral of this story is, but I do know that I was very much impressed that the change out of the transport could make this kind of difference. I have not heard the P-03 so have no thoughts on how it compares, but I find myself trying to figure out how to afford the P-01/D-01/G0 combination and this is from someone who already owns a Rockport TT. Go figure.
teajay OP
1,333 posts
 
Branimir, Guidocorona, Kops, I got a chance yesterday to listen to the Esoteric X-01 Limited, in a very good system that was totally different that I'm accustomed to listening to, and thought it was a terrific sounding CDP.

Since, you guys are the "Esoteric" experts, how close does the X-01 Limited come to the performance of the very expensive high end Esoteric seperate transports and dacs? What precentage of performance does the X-01 Limited give compared to its more high end siblings?

If, any of you have had the experience of listening to the Accoustic Arts DAC 1 MK3 and transport and the X-01 Limited, how would you describe the differences/similarities in their sonic signatures?

Finally, Guidocorona, I never heard from you regarding if my response regarding the Pass Labs XA-100's had answered you questions regarding their sonics compared to the 350.5. So, should I assume it was helpful enough or you just got into other things audio and otherwise and still would like to discuss the topic?
branimir
236 posts
 
Teajay, I am glad that you liked sound of Esoteric X-01LTD.
Precentage of differences? I would say that X-01 achives about 75% of P-01/D-01/G-0s combo. X-01LTD is little bit better then X-01 but, difference here is within 5%, IMO.
As Alex very nicely pointed out P-03/D-03/G-0s combo is different sounding then P-03/D-03/G-0s combo since it is using AD1955 dacs(D-01 or X-01/X-01LTD are using BB1704) which are warmer sounding devices by design. So, you can even say that D-03 is #2 sound flavor but, not IMO. It is very closr to #2 flavor but, still #1 flavor for me. All Esoteric gear is #1 flavor with D-03 sounding warmer then others.
Let put it this way:
P-01/D-01/G-0s combo 100%
P-03/D-03/G-0s combo 90%(in some systems up to 95%)
X-01LTD 80%
X-01 75%
UX-1/X-03 65%(or 70% for X-03)
UX-3 60%
DV-50S 50%
As a comparison(IMO):
Weiss Medea/Jason combo 85%(in some systems up to 90%)
Krell Evolution 505 80%(XLRs, with Krell CAST up to 90%!!)
Audio Research REF CD7 75%(but, emotional champ!)

All comparison are made in my system No.1

Teajay, are you starting to consider some of Esoteric gear for your system?
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