Does anyone own the Wyred4sound DAC 2? - Page 8

I will, but I do plan on being buried with my Eddie Current

WarriorAnt, is that how you are primarily listening to your LCD-2 right now?  Levels high enough?  Just got my pair of LCD-2 today.  No immediate plans to go balanced, haven't looked at the advantages of balanced vs unbalanced yet.  I know it will cost me more in the end in headphone cables and better amps 
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarriorAnt 

I got the black also but I also want the silver!    Once your DAC-2 breaks in try listening your LCD's directly out of it and see what you think.

I have basically the same setup but with a WA22 instead of the ECBA and Klein and Hummel powered monitors all connected with Signal Cables silver ICs.  I love it.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by nspindel 

My W4S DAC2 arrived yesterday.  It's like a little tank.  I love the piece aesthetically.

 

Sound wise, way too early to tell.  I've also replaced the balanced interconnects between the DAC and my Eddie Current Balancing Act with silver cables, those can take up to 500 hours to break in, and at least 200 hours for the W4S.  So I'm going to resist the urge to do any critical listening for several weeks so that silver cable has time to open up.

 

However, I can't imagine that 2496 files playing through the Squeezebox, into a W4S DAC2, into an Eddie Current BA, into either a Krell amp with Polk SDA's, or into LCD-2's, is going to sound anything short of spectacular.  Expectations are definitely very high right now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WNBC 

WarriorAnt, is that how you are primarily listening to your LCD-2 right now?  Levels high enough?  Just got my pair of LCD-2 today.  No immediate plans to go balanced, haven't looked at the advantages of balanced vs unbalanced yet.  I know it will cost me more in the end in headphone cables and better amps 
 

 

Thats one of the ways I'm using the DAC-2  until my V200 arrives which I hope is soon.    I'm using the levels around 56-61.    To be honest though it is not enough power to run the LCD's .  

I'm enjoying the combo of the DAC-2 + Lyr >>> LCD-2 or HE-4

Just loving the DAC-2, couldn't ask for more.  Never heard any other DAC besides the ones I buy but I'm at a point in which I don't feel the need to buy anything else.  

I've had my DAC-2 for about a month and I'm really pleased with the SQ.  I'm using the USB input and J. River MC version 16 to playback FLAC files ripped using dBpoweramp.  I found that the WASAPI output from J. River to sound less digital than kernal streaming that is recommended in the DAC-2 manual.  When I first changed to WASAPI, I had some issues with studdering but after making changes in J. River to clear the buffers, I've had no problems. 

I'm just about at the point where my W4S DAC2 is broken in, it's just under 200 hours right now.  I'm going to continue looping through it for another 100 before I stop.  I've been listening along the way and think it sounds great.  It's looking like it could be a winner over the Benchmark.  Unfortunately, it's breaking in at exactly the same moment that my LCD-2's broke on me.  Listened to them last night, all was perfect.  Listened today, the right channel is gone.  Swapped L/R and R/L connectors on the cable, and the right channel is still out, so it's definitely the headphones that aren't working.  Even swapped cables, no good.  So going to have to make a warranty claim there.

But I'm still enjoying the DAC2 through the loudspeakers, this could be a keeper!

Quote:

Originally Posted by nspindel 

I'm just about at the point where my W4S DAC2 is broken in, it's just under 200 hours right now.  I'm going to continue looping through it for another 100 before I stop.  I've been listening along the way and think it sounds great.  It's looking like it could be a winner over the Benchmark.  Unfortunately, it's breaking in at exactly the same moment that my LCD-2's broke on me.  Listened to them last night, all was perfect.  Listened today, the right channel is gone.  Swapped L/R and R/L connectors on the cable, and the right channel is still out, so it's definitely the headphones that aren't working.  Even swapped cables, no good.  So going to have to make a warranty claim there.

 

But I'm still enjoying the DAC2 through the loudspeakers, this could be a keeper!

I'm now using the LCD's with the DAC-2 and the V200 which just arrived.  I'm still burning in the V200.  The DAC-2 is a very nice DAC.  It has excellent detail retrieval,  high frequencies are extended and natural. The bass is deep and well defined and there is no bloat in the midrange.    Musical detail is musical detail and it has that for sure.  I'm a huge believer in having an excellent source and as a source I don't believe you could ask for more.

Anybody have success stories trying different aftermarket cables?  I'm still using stock power cable and Blue Jeans Cables interconnects.  I did get a deal on a Wireworld Starlight USB cable but it's hard to say that had any real effect on sound.  But it looks good and is flat 

I'm using the coax with a Signal Cable Silver Resolution Digital cable.  The sound is absolutely superb.

WarriorAnt, good description, I agree 100%.  This is a really great dac.

How do you think the DAC-2 will match with a Darkvoice 337 and HD600's?

Also, can you adjust the volume easily without the use of the remote; using the up/down buttons?

Thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by WNBC 

Anybody have success stories trying different aftermarket cables?  I'm still using stock power cable and Blue Jeans Cables interconnects.  I did get a deal on a Wireworld Starlight USB cable but it's hard to say that had any real effect on sound.  But it looks good and is flat 

I was about to do the review of my Violectric V200 when I decided to by the Wyred4Sound  C-1 Ultra Analog balanced cable.   I'm using the balanced out of the DAC-2 into the V200 and the RCA out of the DAC-2 into an integrated amp.  

I did a lot of listening to the RCA out to the V200 with an MIT MI 330 interconnect.  The sound was very good. When I went to the balanced C-1 Ultra Analog cable the sound improved greatly in all regards from the unbalanced MIT MI 330 interconnect.  I figured I'd give Wyred4Sound a chance with their cable thinking that perhaps they were making a cable that might be tailored for the W4S DAC-2. 

I don't know how much of the change was due to the fact that I went from unbalance to balanced.  Other than a voltage change and a greater signal to noise floor ratio.   The difference in SQ was very significant though. it really opened up my LCD's.

I'm very familiar with the sound of the MIT 330, I've had it for about 20 years now and it was definitely coloring the sound.  What I want to do now is get a set of C-1 Ultra Analog unbalanced interconnects  and then do a comparison to see if there is a sonic difference between the RCA path into the V200 and the Balanced path into the V200.   Of course now I also want to hear another set of balanced cables from a quality source just to hear them against the W4S.

I'm considering a power cable from W4S and their digital cable.

Other considerations are the Nordost Blue Heaven USB cable, The WireWorld Starlight USB Cable, and now the Signal Cable Silver Resolution Digital cable.

Other power cables under consideration besides the W4S is the Shunyata Research Venom3.  I might get the W4S for the DAC-2 and the Venom3  for the V200  or the Venom3 for both.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nspindel 

I'm using the coax with a Signal Cable Silver Resolution Digital cable.  The sound is absolutely superb.

 

 

WarriorAnt, good description, I agree 100%.  This is a really great dac.

I like this review of the DAC-2.

http://digitalaudioreview.net.au/index.php/audio-reviews/digital-source-reviews/item/157-wyred-4-sound-dac-2

I agree with this quote from the review.

" Its strengths lie in plumbing the depths to reveal an ocean of detailed wonderment - its role as a bathysphere of accuracy could hardly be challenged".

  "t doesn't possess an easily identifiable sonic signature. It is detailed, yet neutral. Its soundstage is deep and wide and tall. It is engaging and doesn't suffer from the oft-clinical indifference of delta-sigma DACs; instead opting to paint from a brilliantly rich palette. Instrumental separation is its strong suit. "

If you get the C-1 unbalanced and decide not to keep them you can sell them to me  (less than 2 meters)

Do you have a local distributor for the Shunyata Research Venom3?  The cord looks interesting but no distributors in the US
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarriorAnt 

What I want to do now is get a set of C-1 Ultra Analog unbalanced interconnects  and then do a comparison to see if there is a sonic difference between the RCA path into the V200 and the Balanced path into the V200.   

 

Other power cables under consideration besides the W4S is the Shunyata Research Venom3.  I might get the W4S for the DAC-2 and the Venom3  for the V200  or the Venom3 for both.

 

 

Just ordered the dac. It'll be here next week :) Can't wait.