I asked permission to copy this over to here. There was no objection to me doing this over there. I hope there is none here. I was thinking that someone with his credentials might have some thoughts that could be appreciated here. I have noticed that some times when I refer to that forum some appear not able to access it so I bring this to those in particular.
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chrissugar
Joined: 12 Jun 2005
Posts: 8
Location: ROMANIA
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I decided to share my own experience with the DA10 after some month of listening to it.
I have access to some really high end listening equipment (Wilson Audio speakers, Spectral amp, Boulder preamp and DAC, Clearaudio turntable and many others) and I almost always try to make listening tests in controled conditions, with high quality 24bit/96k recordings.
I have for more than half a year the DA10, and recently I bought a mastering level monitoring sistem that has also a top quality DAC, the Cranesong Avocet: http://www.cranesong.com/AVOCET.html
I have the latest REV6 DAC board. (Bob Katz said that in controled listening tests the quality of the Avocet with the REV6 DAC was the same like the top DCS player costing 25K$).
To make a long story short, the DA10 and the Avocet were clearly more authentic than the Boulder1012 DAC (15K$ as new)
http://www.boulderamp.com/pdf/1012DataSheet.pdf
The stereo image of the DA10 was more stable and significantly better defined than on the Boulder. Also, details you could hear on the DA10, were lost on the Boulder.
One more important thing. While the Boulder changes the sound depending on the type of digital cable (opto, SPDIF, AES) or length of the cable, the DA10 is totally imune to such things. I played the same 24bit/96k file from the same hard drive at the same time through TOSLINK, SPDIF and AES outputs into the three inputs of the DA10. The AB testing was very simple (in fact ABC testing) by switching realtime the digital input selector on the DA10. Couldn't detect any difference between the different inputs, which is an indicator that the DA10 is imune to jitter, so any reasonble quality cable will produce the same high quality sound.
Still can't decide between the DA10 and the AVOCET but at this moment my impression is that the DA10 has a hair more resolution and spatial detail while the AVOCET has maybe a hair nicer presentation. But we are talking about details.
I personally consider the DA10 a fantastic value. It will give the same excellent quality to the audio professional or amateur audiophile.
Many thanks Dan for this great product.
chrissugar
P.S. if the future Lavry Black (or whatever it's name will be) AD converter will deliver the same quality, you can be sure I will buy one.
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No problem, yes you can. I don't think I really want to add something more to this because I really don't like the audiophile kind of reviews Very Happy . I tried to be as objective as possible. For me listening to music is not only a hobby but it is also my job, so it is important to have the most acurate reproduction system I can afford.
I have friends who preffer a warm tube sound or other kind of sounds. I'm looking for authentic sound, which means the record to sound like it sounded in the space where it was recorded (I'm talking about acoustic music in acoustic space, recorded with minimal two mic technique). The closer to that, the better. For me any device that makes things sound "better" than the original record is not better. DACs and ADCs should not affect the sound in any way (not even euphonic from an esthetical point of view).
chrissugar
_____________________________
chrissugar
Joined: 12 Jun 2005
Posts: 8
Location: ROMANIA
______________________________
I decided to share my own experience with the DA10 after some month of listening to it.
I have access to some really high end listening equipment (Wilson Audio speakers, Spectral amp, Boulder preamp and DAC, Clearaudio turntable and many others) and I almost always try to make listening tests in controled conditions, with high quality 24bit/96k recordings.
I have for more than half a year the DA10, and recently I bought a mastering level monitoring sistem that has also a top quality DAC, the Cranesong Avocet: http://www.cranesong.com/AVOCET.html
I have the latest REV6 DAC board. (Bob Katz said that in controled listening tests the quality of the Avocet with the REV6 DAC was the same like the top DCS player costing 25K$).
To make a long story short, the DA10 and the Avocet were clearly more authentic than the Boulder1012 DAC (15K$ as new)
http://www.boulderamp.com/pdf/1012DataSheet.pdf
The stereo image of the DA10 was more stable and significantly better defined than on the Boulder. Also, details you could hear on the DA10, were lost on the Boulder.
One more important thing. While the Boulder changes the sound depending on the type of digital cable (opto, SPDIF, AES) or length of the cable, the DA10 is totally imune to such things. I played the same 24bit/96k file from the same hard drive at the same time through TOSLINK, SPDIF and AES outputs into the three inputs of the DA10. The AB testing was very simple (in fact ABC testing) by switching realtime the digital input selector on the DA10. Couldn't detect any difference between the different inputs, which is an indicator that the DA10 is imune to jitter, so any reasonble quality cable will produce the same high quality sound.
Still can't decide between the DA10 and the AVOCET but at this moment my impression is that the DA10 has a hair more resolution and spatial detail while the AVOCET has maybe a hair nicer presentation. But we are talking about details.
I personally consider the DA10 a fantastic value. It will give the same excellent quality to the audio professional or amateur audiophile.
Many thanks Dan for this great product.
chrissugar
P.S. if the future Lavry Black (or whatever it's name will be) AD converter will deliver the same quality, you can be sure I will buy one.
__________________
No problem, yes you can. I don't think I really want to add something more to this because I really don't like the audiophile kind of reviews Very Happy . I tried to be as objective as possible. For me listening to music is not only a hobby but it is also my job, so it is important to have the most acurate reproduction system I can afford.
I have friends who preffer a warm tube sound or other kind of sounds. I'm looking for authentic sound, which means the record to sound like it sounded in the space where it was recorded (I'm talking about acoustic music in acoustic space, recorded with minimal two mic technique). The closer to that, the better. For me any device that makes things sound "better" than the original record is not better. DACs and ADCs should not affect the sound in any way (not even euphonic from an esthetical point of view).
chrissugar
[jaw drop]
