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Audeze Deckard - class A amp, USB DAC
Jun 16, 2017 at 5:42 PM Post #466 of 652
Gamergtx260 said:
I own the XC and X, currently using them with Marantz HD DAC1. The XC sounds beautiful as the HD DAC1 is warmer sounding, was wondering if I should stick with it or should get the deckard? As the deckard is clearly more powerful but I really like the warmer sounding Marantz, though the HD DAC1 can get loud at high gain.

Suggestions?
Click to expand...

IMO the Deckard isn't that warm, but in fairness the X/XC are pretty warm to begin with. The Deckard, from what I've seen, was tuned specifically for the X/XC, so I absolutely recommend it.
 
Jun 16, 2017 at 8:33 PM Post #467 of 652
After reading the last 20 pages or so of this thread, I decided to pull the trigger on the Deckard and EL-8 (Open) headphones. Both were open box at my local Best Buy, paid $499 for each of them. I'm new to high-res audio, and my previous setup is HD600's fed via the Oppo HA2-SE. Since my ears aren't very experienced yet, I was having difficulty picking out the differences between the 2 setups. Then I finally found a few FLAC songs that I know very well and did a couple of hours of A/B testing, using only the EL-8 to isolate differences in the dac/amp combos. Now I get it....the bass is MUCH tighter on the Deckard, some songs come across as muddy on the Oppo. I'll be keeping both setups though, I'll just use the Oppo with my laptop when I'm at a client site and keep the Deckard for my desktop. I'm going to stick with the DAC in the Deckard for now, but I think I'll eventually upgrade it to something a little cleaner sounding. From the advice on this forum, I'll need to spend in the $1000 range to get an appreciable upgrade to the Deckard DAC, so that will have to wait a while.

The EL-8 to HD600 comparison is a little tougher, as I like them both. The EL-8 has more bass, but the HD600 is cleaner sounding overall. Not sure which one will end up as my main set. I have the Massdrop Fostex TH-X00 ordered, so that will be an interesting comparison next week.
 
Jun 16, 2017 at 10:28 PM Post #468 of 652
Do you think there would be any issues with placing the Deckard on its side on my desk? It would take up much less room that way, I just don't know if it would cause any issues with the components inside in the long run.
 
Jun 16, 2017 at 10:31 PM Post #469 of 652
abirdie4me said:
After reading the last 20 pages or so of this thread, I decided to pull the trigger on the Deckard and EL-8 (Open) headphones. Both were open box at my local Best Buy, paid $499 for each of them. I'm new to high-res audio, and my previous setup is HD600's fed via the Oppo HA2-SE. Since my ears aren't very experienced yet, I was having difficulty picking out the differences between the 2 setups. Then I finally found a few FLAC songs that I know very well and did a couple of hours of A/B testing, using only the EL-8 to isolate differences in the dac/amp combos. Now I get it....the bass is MUCH tighter on the Deckard, some songs come across as muddy on the Oppo. I'll be keeping both setups though, I'll just use the Oppo with my laptop when I'm at a client site and keep the Deckard for my desktop. I'm going to stick with the DAC in the Deckard for now, but I think I'll eventually upgrade it to something a little cleaner sounding. From the advice on this forum, I'll need to spend in the $1000 range to get an appreciable upgrade to the Deckard DAC, so that will have to wait a while.

The EL-8 to HD600 comparison is a little tougher, as I like them both. The EL-8 has more bass, but the HD600 is cleaner sounding overall. Not sure which one will end up as my main set. I have the Massdrop Fostex TH-X00 ordered, so that will be an interesting comparison next week.
Click to expand...

Never heard the Deckard but from what I read many say that the DAC section isn't par with the amp section (Something similar to HDVD 800, though I found the DAC section pretty good). So I'm guessing deckard's DAC is simply cleaner sounding but of course, this hobby has no limits so people aren't satisfied :wink:

Haven't heard the EL-8 as well but have owned the HD600/650 for many years now, have changed many headphones over the ears but never sold the HD6-series. They are simply good without any extra expenditure or some fancy DAC. To me, the best experience of the HD600/650 was from the Marantz HD DAC1. To answer you question, if you are planning to scale up to the LCD-series in future, then it is better to do right now as I think the EL-8 is an intermediate step to the LCD series.
 
Jun 17, 2017 at 10:36 AM Post #470 of 652
Pulled the trigger on a open box deckard, should receive them in few days. Couldn't resist as i believe that extra power will really make my X/XC open up. I hope the dac section isn't disappointing as I only use Apple Music and no high-res files.

Will post comparisons with the Deckard and HD DAC1 and also as a standalone amplifier soon.
 
Jun 17, 2017 at 11:13 AM Post #471 of 652
Gamergtx260 said:
Pulled the trigger on a open box deckard, should receive them in few days. Couldn't resist as i believe that extra power will really make my X/XC open up. I hope the dac section isn't disappointing as I only use Apple Music and no high-res files.

Will post comparisons with the Deckard and HD DAC1 and also as a standalone amplifier soon.
Click to expand...
I think your going to love it.... I had a great time using our Deckard with a plethora of headphones when we had it. Get back to us what you think whenever you get some head time with it! :)
 
Jun 30, 2017 at 1:42 AM Post #472 of 652
Gamergtx260 said:
Pulled the trigger on a open box deckard, should receive them in few days. Couldn't resist as i believe that extra power will really make my X/XC open up. I hope the dac section isn't disappointing as I only use Apple Music and no high-res files.

Will post comparisons with the Deckard and HD DAC1 and also as a standalone amplifier soon.
Click to expand...
Where's those comparison's my good man
 
Jun 30, 2017 at 10:06 AM Post #473 of 652
MTMECraig said:
I think your going to love it.... I had a great time using our Deckard with a plethora of headphones when we had it. Get back to us what you think whenever you get some head time with it! :)
Click to expand...

Aw dang, what happened to your Deckard... :o2smile:
 
Jul 2, 2017 at 7:18 AM Post #476 of 652
I have the chance to grab a Deckard fairly cheap secondhand from my forum, wondering what to expect going from from an original M-Stage HPA-1? Also does the Deckard work well with sensitive headphones? (No hum etc)
 
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Jul 3, 2017 at 11:16 AM Post #477 of 652
Gamergtx260 said:
Pulled the trigger on a open box deckard, should receive them in few days. Couldn't resist as i believe that extra power will really make my X/XC open up. I hope the dac section isn't disappointing as I only use Apple Music and no high-res files.

Will post comparisons with the Deckard and HD DAC1 and also as a standalone amplifier soon.
Click to expand...

Guys, I received the Deckard yesterday. Did a quick test after about 30 minutes of warmup time (Haven't burned them yet). They sounded very muddy compared to the HD DAC1 in direct comparison.

Then, I connected the DAC section of the HD DAC1 and the amp section of the Deckard and they were stunning. They opened up the LCD X/XC with more details and wider soundstage. I used low gain and they are dead silent, although high gain had some noise but I only have the LCD X/XC for now and low gain is more than enough.

Like everyone else mentioned the Deckard's amp section is very very good, probably the best amp for X/XC. The DAC section needs more burn-in maybe, they sounded very grainy and less euphonic.
 
Jul 5, 2017 at 3:14 PM Post #478 of 652
So my Deckard up and died this morning. What's Audeze's replacement policy like?
 
Jul 6, 2017 at 7:50 AM Post #480 of 652
Update on the Deckard's DAC guys. I let it on and playing music for 2 days straight. Now I listened to it and I really like it. It is surely not a laid-back sounding DAC (which I like) but it is really a clean sounding DAC. Now I'm thinking if I should sell the Marantz and keep the Deckard :)
 
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