On jp's recommendation I picked one of these up in my never ended quest to find a source as good as the Cosecant for less money. I don't know if I found it but I am closer than I was yesterday. This dac is by far better than the Cayin I auditioned a few weeks ago. This dac is really giving the Cosecant a run for the money. To me it has a slightly warmer sound but still incredibliy detailed. The bass response is to me where it is clearly a winner. I've volume matched as best I can without a meter (picking one up tomorrow) and on every track I play there is very noticable difference. The bass just goes deeper. I mentioned the volume matching because being off a bit can create the illusion of deeper bass so I will wait for the meeter before passing judgment.
It's difficult to get out of my head the fact the Cosecant retails for $3500 while the duet retails for $500. Something this relatively inexpensive shouldn't sound this good. At least that's what I keep telling myself. As I listen, I'm asking myself whether I can live with this sq as part of my system and the answer keeps coming up yes. At the moment I'm going strictly with my speakers but will give Tom H's 650s with my GE Senn cable a try later.
Originally Posted by granodemostasa
that's quite an incredible product. will you be at voltron's next meet? i'd like to take a look at it.
There should be 2 at Mayberry on Acid.
Originally Posted by saint.panda
The Duet's uses the same converters as the multi-channel Ensemble, but the verdict on gearslutz.com seems to be that the Mini-Dac still has the better d/a section.
I'm not saying they are wrong but as much as I like the Mini-Dac, I don't remember it sounding this good.