ARRIVED: new Rega DAC - Page 11

Just connect a USB cable from the Rega DAC to the camera adapter, and connect that to the dock connector at the bottom of the iPad.  When you play any music or videos (e.g., internet radio from apps like Tune-In Radio, streaming from desktop computer via Home Sharing) and the sound in its digital form will be streamed to the Rega DAC. 

On sundays it seems my hifi always sounds best, less mainspollution I guess. So I enjoyed a 4 hours listening session (sober, got to work tomorrow, it is easy for stuff to sound good after a few drinks).
A few observations; I absolutely love this thing, like the Apollo before it, it seems Rega is the only company that knows how to make a digital source I can afford and enjoy. It easily beats everything I had before in sheer natural effordless musicality, including the more expensive, respected Audio-GD Reference5 I had for 6 months.
The DAC seems very sensitive to pollution on its powersupply, changing the supplied powercord with something better shielded is a must. A dedicated mainsfilter might be a good idea, suggestions for something that works and is not too expensive are welcome.
It seems to have opened up in the last week, after a month of being on continuously, how is that possible?
I've gone full circle and am back to filter 1; with the stock powercable it sounded muddy and pushy, now it sounds best in my set. Compared to 5 voices are about equal, treble is equally clean, but instruments are more lively and show more of their musical character without getting mixed with the voice (I hate that, and that is what happened in the beginning, with the stock cable and the unit being relatively new).
Summing it up, I'm very happy with the DAC and comparing it to the 5 digital sources I had after I sold the Apollo, it seems amazing value, seeing how much pleasure it gives me.
There are lots of companies that can make well contstructed dacs that measure well, look good and give good value for money specwise, but making one that lets the music flow like it should and let me forget about the electronics? The DAC is the only device that I know off can do that, at a sane price.
Well done, Rega!
Edited by dura - 4/11/11 at 1:36am

Wow. Great news I had no idea you could do this. Good for a 16bit 44k source with good battery life.

My c5 to IEC adapter arrived today and im trying a few cords I have lying around. The Rega DAC seems quite responsive to AC cables. They all sound quite different powering it. A DIY 14 gauge UNshielded is my current favorite. Need to try some more.
Edited by HumanMedia - 4/11/11 at 7:10am

I received a Music Direct newsletter yesterday and one of the featured items was the Rega DAC.  The description included this:

 

"If you're a Rega person, you'll gravitate towards the Rega DAC for its distinctively Rega sound quality: rich, full-bodied, almost tube-like. I can't think of a better way to upgrade...!"
- Sam Tellig, Stereophile, May 2011

 

Anyone know whether the May issue of Stereophile is out yet?  I can't wait to read the full review.

 

EDIT: Got the May issue of Stereophile this morning, and just read the Sam's Space column.  Here are some quotes about the Rega DAC.

 

"The Rega DAC's sound wad distinctive and superb. I was extremely happy with the sound I was able to, er, wrest from my 'medium-rez' CDs" (Stereophile, May 2011, p. 25).

 

"The Rega DAC had a richness, a fullness of tone, an analog sense of ease, that I had not hitherto heard from digital, save for SACD. I heard a naturalness, an organic quality to the sound" (p. 25).

 

Sam Tellig also compared the Rega DAC to the Musical Fidelity M1.

 

"Compared to the M1 DAC, the Rega DAC gave me a greater richness of tone, a more relaxed sound. The M1 DAC, when I reverted to it, displayed distinctive virtues of its own: a certain lightness and fleetness of foot, more apparent air and openness in the top end. There seemed to be more space between the notes. In its own way, each DAC was thoroughly convincing; listening to one, I did not terribly miss the other" (p. 25).

 

Regarding the filter settings, Sam Tellig wrote:

 

"While Rega recommends using Filter Setting 1 as the default, you might find that Filters 4 and 5 have their charms. (I could not and so did not try the filters for higher data rates.) 

Filters 4 and 5 are apodizing filters. Apodizing is another buzzword: it means a minimum-phase digital filter that avoids introducing pre-echo, or pre-ringing, to the signal. The result should be quicker, cleaner, clearer transients - exactly what I heard. But don't make life complicated; Terry Bateman is right to say that the effects of the different digital filters are subtle. When I told him of my fondness for Filter 4, I could see him nod, even though I don't have Skype. I found Filter 4 most apodizing" (p. 27).

 

Finally, Sam Tellig's recommendations (between the Rega DAC and the M1):

 

"I'll be danged if I know which DAC, since each wrests such great sound from those much0despised (thought not by me) CDs. Your choice, if it is between these two, might come down to brand preference." 

 

"If you're a Rega person, you'll gravitate toward the Rega DAC for its distinctively Rega sound quality: rich, full-bodied, almost tube-like. I can't think of any better way to upgrade while keeping, say, a Rega CD player as a transport"

 

"Then, too, your choice might come down to your speakers and the rest of your system. If your amplifier and speakers lean toward leanness, the Rega is your obvious choice. If your speakers have a different, darker tonal balance, then perhaps you'll prefer the lightness, openness, and airiness of the M1 DAC" (p. 27).

 

I hope that was helpful for those considering the Rega DAC. 

Edited by lmf22 - 4/15/11 at 3:04pm

I've been using the Rega DAC fed by a Pangea AC14SE and was able to listen to it with the Audiophilleo 2 for almost a week now.  I can say the Audiophilleo 2 definitely improves the sound quite significantly over what I was getting through USB or the spdif output from my computer (which incidently sounded worse than the USB).  I haven't had this much enjoyment from any audio setup I've had before.  Being amped by a Pico Slim, I can rotate through my many IEMs and headphones and I am simply enjoying what I'm hearing through any of them more than ever before.

It is a great DAC; I struggle to describe it, and usually leave it at natural, effortless, musical, for me it is impossible to listen to it with an analytical ear, I just enjoy the music too much.

Other dacs I had had their strong and weak points, and I respected them but didn't really love them, but the way I feel now the Rega stays until one of us dies or is redundant.

I don't say that often of components, and all the stuff I said it about I still have; the 12 year old Primare amp, the same age Kimber 8TCs, and the Rega Apollo that only had to go because I stopped playings Cd's.

Very well said dura. 

 

I've been using the Pangea AC14SE for about 3 weeks now; didn't want to write anything about it before having time for burn-in and evaluation.  I think the Rega DAC benefits a lot from the the AC14SE.  The differences were immediately noticeable from day-one and continued to improve for about a week.  I noticed a deeper soundstage (but not sure about wider).  The background is also darker, allowing more details to come out.  The AC14SE seems to make the strengths of the DAC even stronger.  I highly recommend this power cord for those with the Rega DAC.  At only $65 for 1 meter including the C5 adapter (available from Audio Adviser), I think it's a good investment to make an already great DAC even better.  I like it so much I got another for my PS Audio phono preamp and two of Pangea's AC9 power cords (one for my headphone amp and another for my integrated amp). 

 

In regards to filters, I've been experimenting with Filer 4 and 5 and liking 4 more and more.  It seems like Filter 4 is between Filters 1 and 5.  For me, Filter 1 is a bit too "digital" and Filter 5 seems too smooth in the treble lacking exciting.  Filter 4 sounds natural and exciting.  (When I say "digital" I meant relative to Filters 4 and 5, but still natural sounding relative to other DACs I had before.)
 

Any more impressions of the Rega DAC?  It seems like this thread has been dormant for a while.

 

By the way, Rega will be releasing a matching integrated amp, the Brio-R.  How exciting!  http://www.rega.co.uk/html/Brio-R.htm

Edited by lmf22 - 4/28/11 at 9:01pm

I have just read this thread hoping to get an idea of the Regas signature , i did get a bit but i got distracted by all the power cable , interconnect chat. I must have bad ears because i have had several DAC's and i have never heard any difference in there performance by changing the kettle lead, i won a russ andrews power cable and it made no difference at all to the sound, maybe i have a really clean supply.....

Auditory memory is around 3 - 5 seconds if i remember properly so stop saying that i havent listened for long enough to notice a difference ! Also all this chat about what jitter sounds like is frankly ridiculous, i would bet my house that no-one here could A-B their dac using async, spdif or just plain usb. Anyway , rant over , i think i will buy the Rega and plug it into a plug , with the supplied USB cable and enjoy it.

Edited by astroid - 4/29/11 at 4:43am

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Edited by ardilla - 5/3/11 at 1:11pm

Apogee Duet 2 will ship this week.  I ordered one.  I wonder if the new kid will do better than the Rega.

Another enthusiastic review, originally from hifi choice:

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/audio-visual/hi-fi-and-audio/hi-fi-accessories/rega-dac-945203/review

 

I do not understand why this gem gets so little attention; after two years of trying different dacs that are all very respected here (Meier Stagedac, MHDT Havana, Audio-GD Ref5DSP) I feel the Rega DAC is the end of a quest, pure music, and in a completely different league then all other dacs mentioned.

A non-audiophile friend last week stated: "all the others you had sounded flat and square, this one sounds round and deep". A rather artistic statement, but nevertheless it somehow sounds true to me.

A lack of hi-res USB input perhaps? That is the cool thing to have nowadays. 

 

The Rega was high in my short-list some time ago but I couldn't resist the sudden appearance of a modified vintage Parasound. Since I wanted to try new things, I thought it would make more sense to go to that direction instead of the Rega which employs a similar Wolfson WM874x design as found in my other DAC, the DIY AMB γ2. 

 

THX for the review link!

 

Best used with EL84 valves

This would certainly make it more appealing to many out there. I expect do audition this one soon although all that "musicality" that abounds as a constant on every review maybe just be too much of a good thing on my rigs.

 

I particularly enjoy the price tag although it may be not enough high-end to many :)

There's a place over here that has Rega and Naim stuff and allows overnight loaners, so I may have a chance to listen to this DAC in the next week or two.  Fun!