[Yikes]

I ordered a DAC 25.2 yesterday. I think I'm ordering a Compass and also a DACMagic and I'm going to see about their respective DAC performance.

The 25.2 uses a 6922 dual triode output tube for the DAC. So it's output is Single Ended, but if they derive the Balanced out by using a phase splitter it is actually Balanced, it's just not Dual Differential Balanced.

 

[Patu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yikes /img/forum/go_quote.gif I ordered a DAC 25.2 yesterday. I think I'm ordering a Compass and also a DACMagic and I'm going to see about their respective DAC performance. The 25.2 uses a 6922 dual triode output tube for the DAC. So it's output is Single Ended, but if they derive the Balanced out by using a phase splitter it is actually Balanced, it's just not Dual Differential Balanced.

I'm very interested about comparison between Music Hall and Compass. Please write your impressions as soon as you've compared them.

 

[Jeremy]

X2. I'm eager to hear your impressions too. I'm on the verge of buying this DAC for my soon to be acquired loudspeaker hi-fi system, since my Apogee Duet doesn't sound good with loudspeakers unless they're active monitors, at least that has been my experience.

 

[Michael10]

yikes,

Let us know what you think about the DAC.

 

[Yikes]

My DAC 25.2 should be here tomorrow. I've had second thoughts concerning purchasing a Compass, since I am planning on buying the Audio-gd Phoenix when it becomes available I don't want to bite off more than I can chew. I'm actually more interested in comparing a Cambridge Audio DacMagic to the 25.2 than a Compass.

I may still get a Compass if I can convince a good friend that he needs it after I'm done with it.

 

[paara]

Looking forward for a review

hope you will like it

The Music hall DAC is high up on my list of DAC's I am concidering if I ever will be able to save up 600$

 

[Yikes]

A couple of things about the 25.2

The 6922 is only used for the SE RCA outputs. The balanced outputs are differentially balanced solid state, as far as what and how goes at this point I don't know. I'm also clueless as to the headphone amp.

 

[Yikes]

It's here.

Nice build.
nice feature set.

the first thing i did was hook up my Oppo DV-970HD with a Kimber DV-75 (All of my better Siltech digital cables are in use)., and plugged in my AKG K-701's. Stone cold with no break-in the headphone amp sounded about the performance level of my Creek OBH-11SE amp, i.e. nothing special. Since I didn't buy it as a headphone amp this doesn't bother me. I will try putting some break-in time on the headphone amp and give it a serious listen to down the road.

The second thing I did (Since the Headphone amp didn't excite me) was put it in my Bedroom stereo.

Computer ALAC files -> Duet -> TOS Cable -> MUSIC HALL DAC 25.2 -> Siltech SQ-110 RCA-> Aragon 24K -> Rotel RB-991 -> Cardas Quadlink 5C -> NHT 1.5 Speakers


In this system it took the place of a EAD DSP-7000 D/A converter. The EAD is a mid 90's $2500 DAC that is still fairly well thought of.

Stone cold, not bad. It's bettering the 7000 right out of the box.

i went shopping - 5 hours of break-in.

now I've moved it into my main rig and am running balanced for some break-in.

So far, good DAC, not so good headphone amp.

I'll post more in a few days

 

[Yikes]

Still burning in. Sounds good even though it only has about 5 hours on the XLR outputs.

I'm going to go ahead and order the Cambridge Audio DacMagic in about 9 hours when my dealer opens. I'm thinking that these are the two DAC's that should be compared.

I'd love to get my hands on one of the Audio-gd DAC's (DAC-200 or [size=x-small]DAC-19MK3[/size] ) but I've decided that I'm not comfortable ordering from China with the potential that I'm just going to be selling the piece in a couple of months once I make up my mind. Of course if someone out there is willing to loan me their Audio-gd DAC for comparison purposes it would make for a heck of a comparison review. I'd be more than happy to ship on my Fedex account.

Anyway I prefer buying equipment that has good US distribution.

 

[Patu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yikes /img/forum/go_quote.gif Still burning in. Sounds good even though it only has about 5 hours on the XLR outputs. I'm going to go ahead and order the Cambridge Audio DacMagic in about 9 hours when my dealer opens. I'm thinking that these are the two DAC's that should be compared. I'd love to get my hands on one of the Audio-gd DAC's (DAC-200 or [size=x-small]DAC-19MK3[/size] ) but I've decided that I'm not comfortable ordering from China with the potential that I'm just going to be selling the piece in a couple of months once I make up my mind. Of course if someone out there is willing to loan me their Audio-gd DAC for comparison purposes it would make for a heck of a comparison review. I'd be more than happy to ship on my Fedex account. Anyway I prefer buying equipment that has good US distribution.

Thanks for the first impressions. It's just like I thought, the DAC is nice but the headphone amp section nothing special. That can be said already when looking at the pics of the internals. Can't wait for comparison with some better known DACs.

Pacific Valve sells Audio-GD in USA so it has distributor there.

You could always ask in Audio-GD Compass thread if there's someone willing to borrow you Compass. It should be about 80-85% of DAC200's performance and based on my own experiences, Compass is already a killer DAC. I'm about to order DAC19Mk3 myself but the first batch is ready only somewhere in middle of May.

 

[donm]

I have been using the Music Hall DAC 25.2 for over a month - purchased from Jeff Wells at Audible Arts in Campbell, Calif. Jeff replaced the cheap Russian tube with a Siemens 6922 - and the sound really improved. It turns digital into a rich analogue sound. Using a Rega Apollo cd player as the transport with Vincent 331 amp and preamp and Magnepan 1.6 speakers - I noticed a fuller bass and richer trebles - and my system isn't broken in yet. Important was the Ixos interconnect ($199) between the transport and dac. My system won't be broken in for a month or two. I definitely think this dac is worth it. Jeff claims that every customer who has heard it has bought it. For more detailed info, I would contact Jeff.

 

[Yikes]

perhaps a little update is in order. my dealer was out of Cambridge Audio DacMagics when I called them, so I have yet to receive a DAC that would make for an appropriate comparison. A little bird told me that the DacMagic is likely to have a bigger brother based on the digital section of the 840 CD player (The DacMagic is based on the 740 CD player) and that's more my speed so I've decided to hold off on purchasing another DAC.

So I can compare it to my EAD DSP-7000 or my Exemplar Audio XD-1. So the 25.2 clearly bests the 10 year old DSP-7000 in every way. No small feat because the DSP-7000 is still a nice sounding piece. Against the Exemplar it's another matter, the Exemplar XD-1 is basically a heavily modified Xindak DAC-5. In the US a stock DAC-5 sells for something like $800-$900 (or $500 direct from China), so a stock DAC-5 would be a fairer comparison. John Tucker at Exemplar really knows how to massage a circuit. The XD-1 is in another league.

Apparently John has taken a look at the 25.2 and determined that it's a nice platform, the only real limit being the small chassis, but in its stock form it has provided a nice improvement to my bedroom system. I also am comfortable that if my XD-1 has to go in for service or updating that the 25.2 can slip into my main rig and it won't send me screaming from the room, more than I expected from a $600 DAC.

 

[paara]

Any new experiences with this dac?

 

[GuyDebord]

bump

 

[cbbw]

Anyone?