ARRIVED: new Rega DAC - Page 4

Their new Isis CD Player is supposedly built very well. Of course it costs 9x the DAC.

I had the chance to borrow the Rega DAC last night. I can understand why some people would like the sound it produces. It's very Rega, that's for sure. Whilst adjectives like musical, analogue and flowing could be (and have been used) others could also be used. Like veiled, lacking attack, and blurred transients. I'd sum it up as being boring and far from neutral. People with tube amplification should definitely demo before putting down the cash.

I had lots of digital sources but the one I loved most was the Rega Apollo, for its lack of "digital" sound.

I've to admit though, I always thought that if the Apollo sound is right all others must be wrong.

I suspect other digital sources, like the Audio-GD Reference 5 I owned until two weeks ago are more accurate and neutral.

Yet somehow it also sounded mechanic to my ears, like if all peaks had the same maximum soundlevel and there was detail and honesty but no beauty in the treble. Plus there was the thing Khollister calls grain.

In contrast the Apollo managed to throw out voices far in front, peaks differed giving an organic/analogue/whatever musical flow and beautiful smooth yet extended treble.

in short, I think theApollo was far from neutral, yet I loved it, and hope the Rega DAC will do the same. But it probably is not for those seeking honesty first and for all. 

Well, if lack of grain and lack of detail were two entirely separate things then I could live with a lack of grain. But in the case of the Rega DAC, lack of grain comes at the expense of detail. Not having listened to the Ref 5 (but I've owned a Ref 7) I expect you'll be swinging from one extreme to the other rather than a middle ground, combining the best attributes of both.

It's like the HD650 - "veiled or not veiled" discussion - a matter of preference. Pick your poison. Seems like the Rega has some of the "NOS DAC"-attributes (warm andanalog sounding)??

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardilla 

Seems like the Rega has some of the "NOS DAC"-attributes (warm andanalog sounding)??

By analogue sounding, you'd have to mean a top-drawer MC cartridge run into too low a load! That's what the bottom end sounds like. There is plenty of it, but "plummy" and lacking definition.

The Rega DAC has nothing in common with a good NOS DAC. (None that I've heard, anyway.) Buying the Rega DAC because it has NOS attributes would be a mistake. (For sure, if you've heard a good PCM63, AD1865, or TDA1541 NOS DAC.)

The Apollo definitely sounded completely different then MHDT Havana (NOS, tubed) I had for half a year; the Havana had a very laid back sound, everything happened behind the speakers with hardly any depth, the Apollo was capable of throwing upfront recorded voices in my lap.

Quote:

Originally Posted by khollister 

I'm assuming the one you borrowed had some hours on it? The transparency and detail certainly increased as it broke in. there is also a large difference in this regard driving it from a low jitter S/PDIF source than the USB.

 

I AM using tubes (Woo WA2) with Sennheisers and Cardas IC's no less, and I certainly do not think it is veiled or smoothed over, but to each his own.

The chap who owns it got it 2 weeks ago. It's been on all that time (looping music) even when he's not been listening. I fed it with SPDIF from Logitech Transporter and SPDIF from a Teac transport.

HD600's, maybe. Tonally, I could see how it could be liked with HD800's. (But it was certainly the case when I listened with HD800's last night that the lack of detail was brutally exposed.) And I couldn't think of a worse combo than using it with HD650's and a nice warm tube amp! ;)

To be honest, I didn't play anything really orchestral. (Pop, Blues, Folk, Rock, Metal.) My comments regarding the bottom end are related to primarily electric bass guitar. Played a couple of Kathryn Williams tracks that have cello on them and felt they sounded rather flat and two-dimensional. Whereas I'm used to hearing a more resonant and airy sounding cello through other DAC's.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by khollister 

I think the Rega is quite transparent and detailed, but it is not an "in your face" forward presentation. I think the stereotypical Sennheiser vs Grado comparison is probably relevant here.

 

No, it's not in your face. It sounded very flat to me, especially lacking depth. Details that I'd expect to be prominent were lost in the mix. A track where the female vocal really projects (like it's 5 foot in front of the backing track) was pegged back. Almost like I could have been listening to a different mix where the vocal had been mixed at a lower level.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by khollister 

The Rega is WAY more transparent and detailed than the Apogee Duet I was using.

Don't take this the wrong way and I say this with humour..... That doesn't say a lot for the Apogee Duet. ;)
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by khollister 

Interesting. The only observation I will make that MIGHT explain the disconnect is I suspect that Rega's marketing about reclocking the USB and S/PDIF inputs is somewhat optimistic. My observation is that the sound is hugely dependent on the jitter in the incoming signal. I do not have any personal experience with the Transporter, so who knows.

 

The more plausible answer is we just have very different perceptions as to what represents accurate or desirable sound reproduction. Not saying either of us is right or wrong - for all I know we could both be deaf as stumps

Sure. I've no axe to grind. Just giving an opinion. I'm well aware that my opinions don't necessarily fit with those of the mainstream.

PS. Whilst not suggesting that the output from the Transporter is the absolute best (re jitter specs), it's not bad.

A question for Khollister; as I said before, one of the things I really loved about the Apollo is the way it could project closely recorded voices in front of the speakers (I listen to a speaker based system at home) and in front of the instruments if the recording supports this. Neither the Audio-GD nor the Havana could do that, the Meier Stagedac I briefly had however did that too.

Do you find that the Rega DAC has that same ability?