[Audio Addict]

I don't have it yet. I bought in from the Dealer in St.Louis and they are here at RMAF. It will be the end of the month most likely before I get it.

 

[Icenine2]

  Looking forward to your expressions. I am selling my w4s dac2 for a source update. I just don't think it will be a good pair with my new Stax O2. Any ideas on how good the puredac is compare to CD players of the same price range (both in balanced setup)? 

Why don't you go for the W4S upgrade to the DAC2DSDse?  I believe it would be a big jump and on par with what you'll be getting unless you're spending big money (Briscati, MSB, DCS)

 

[drexler007]

I assume an upgrade to the W4s special edition would be a incremental change which is quite pricey. Before I could have a significant upgrade to the league of MSB I want to spend more wisely on products such as the nad m51. The bmc seems extremely promising since I would be able to afford it once I sold my dac2 and my unbalanced amp. In return I will get a balanced combo! Isn't it a good bargain?

Why don't you go for the W4S upgrade to the DAC2DSDse?  I believe it would be a big jump and on par with what you'll be getting unless you're spending big money (Briscati, MSB, DCS)

 

[Audio Addict]

Moon Audio has the Puredac here at RMAF. I am looking forward to listening to it.

 

[Icenine2]

I assume an upgrade to the W4s special edition would be a incremental change which is quite pricey. Before I could have a significant upgrade to the league of MSB I want to spend more wisely on products such as the nad m51. The bmc seems extremely promising since I would be able to afford it once I sold my dac2 and my unbalanced amp. In return I will get a balanced combo! Isn't it a good bargain?

 
It's actually pretty big with power supply, isolated USB and some exotic stuff too.  The noise floor has been dropped big time.  The guys I know who have done this are beyond impressed.  I will be doing this as well.  Of course I don't know this for fact but I'd bet this stands up to DAC's at multiple costs to this.  Of course an MSB would be great but it's $8K.  This is about $2.5K and an upgrade is like half that.
 
A DAC/Amp combo probably has a compromise in the amp section.  Another  consideration for this would be the Grace m903.  If you believe Stereophile reviews they award the DAC an A+ rating in there with Briscati and MSB etc.

 

[drexler007]

   
It's actually pretty big with power supply, isolated USB and some exotic stuff too.  The noise floor has been dropped big time.  The guys I know who have done this are beyond impressed.  I will be doing this as well.  Of course I don't know this for fact but I'd bet this stands up to DAC's at multiple costs to this.  Of course an MSB would be great but it's $8K.  This is about $2.5K and an upgrade is like half that.
 
A DAC/Amp combo probably has a compromise in the amp section.  Another  consideration for this would be the Grace m903.  If you believe Stereophile reviews they award the DAC an A+ rating in there with Briscati and MSB etc.

Just went for the Meitner ma-1. A secondhand sells for about 3600 usd locally. It should be in a different league, right?

 

[knopi]

I am sure it will if you have quality hp or speakers and for this price great purchase! I think my dac is one of the best option to 3000euro. One my friend changed it for MA1 and said MA1 is in another class but it is normal new Meitner MA1 it is almost 3x more expensive.

 

[drexler007]

  I am sure it will if you have quality hp or speakers and for this price great purchase! I think my dac is one of the best option to 3000euro. One my friend changed it for MA1 and said MA1 is in another class but it is normal new Meitner MA1 it is almost 3x more expensive.

I am currently happy listening to Stax O2, driven by a srm-007t. I guess the price of Meitner MA-1s has been much more reasonable recently, especially in the secondhand market. 

 

[Herwet]

I ordered the Pure Dac 2013-10-18 and are looking forward to get it. Will post my listening impressions on here later and maybe it will be of some help to you guys. Until now I have had good experiences of B.M.C´s customer service. I asked them also for their headphone experiences. Of course they emphasized that it is according to personal taste and so on, but they did say that Beyerdynamic T1 works very well with the Pure Dac. They even preferred it than the Sennheiser HD800. Soooo after having read some reviews of the T1 one, I ordered it too. In other words, my coming review will be about the HP amp + T1, the preamp (comparing with my balanced preamp). When it comes to DAC I will only be able to compare it with my old DAC and not any of todays competitors.

 

[Argo Duck]

I can report my impressions of this dac have only got better since my report a few weeks ago. My tube amps needed their signal tubes rolled to restore the 'neutral' sound I prefer - evidently my previous choices had compensated for some thinness in my other dacs. Very happy I took a chance with this one.

I agree the T1 works very well. So, indeed, does the LCD2, from which I've seen a new level of dynamics.

 

[rx7mark]

I can report my impressions of this dac have only got better since my report a few weeks ago. My tube amps needed their signal tubes rolled to restore the 'neutral' sound I prefer - evidently my previous choices had compensated for some thinness in my other dacs. Very happy I took a chance with this one.

I agree the T1 works very well. So, indeed, does the LCD2, from which I've seen a new level of dynamics.

AiDee,
Can you comment or compare the performance of the PureDAC's balanced headphone output to the performance of the Taboo with the LCD2.  Just wondering how good is the PureDac as a headphone amp, vs the PureDac fed into a great headphone amp like the Taboo?  I am seriously jealous that you have both!
 
Thanks
Mark

 

[Argo Duck]

Mark,

They're pretty close. Having re-tuned the Taboo I find I still prefer it overall, whereas before this I was starting to think of selling it because the PureDac's amp is very good.

I can't be more precise about differences ATM, but generally I find its amp very 'right'-sounding and listenable (and a great fixed point of reference when tube-rolling), whereas the Taboo adds a sense of 'life' I personally value. I think by this I mean apparent increased micro-dynamics., i.e. fine textures are magnified by the Taboo without upsetting the overall picture. Arguably, the PureDac amp keeps everything in proportion. That aside, I don't notice anything 'faulty' or 'missing' or 'overdone' about either.

If you're into tube amps and you have one that's responsive to tube-rolling, it's clear this dac is a potential enhancement to such a system (large in my case). As for SS amps, my impression is the PureDac's hp amp handily outdistances mid-range contenders like Violectric V100 and Meier Concerto (still reserving judgement on the Meier Classic, which is pretty good IMO). Of course, the PureDac offers balanced out, whereas these others I've named are single-ended. Some people say balanced is better with LCD2, so maybe that's it. Personally, I don't know.

Final thought: with this dac and the Taboo I've dared to start thinking "end-game" in recent weeks, obviously meaning for me. For my needs, I've got both tube and SS bases covered with one dac and one tube amp. Those who've had experience with other dacs and amps in this league might set the performance bar higher than I do.

HTH.

 

[rx7mark]

Mark,

They're pretty close. Having re-tuned the Taboo I find I still prefer it overall, whereas before this I was starting to think of selling it because the PureDac's amp is very good.

I can't be more precise about differences ATM, but generally I find its amp very 'right'-sounding and listenable (and a great fixed point of reference when tube-rolling), whereas the Taboo adds a sense of 'life' I personally value. I think by this I mean apparent increased micro-dynamics., i.e. fine textures are magnified by the Taboo without upsetting the overall picture. Arguably, the PureDac amp keeps everything in proportion. That aside, I don't notice anything 'faulty' or 'missing' or 'overdone' about either.

If you're into tube amps and you have one that's responsive to tube-rolling, it's clear this dac is a potential enhancement to such a system (large in my case). As for SS amps, my impression is the PureDac's hp amp handily outdistances mid-range contenders like Violectric V100 and Meier Concerto (still reserving judgement on the Meier Classic, which is pretty good IMO). Of course, the PureDac offers balanced out, whereas these others I've named are single-ended. Some people say balanced is better with LCD2, so maybe that's it. Personally, I don't know.

Final thought: with this dac and the Taboo I've dared to start thinking "end-game" in recent weeks, obviously meaning for me. For my needs, I've got both tube and SS bases covered with one dac and one tube amp. Those who've had experience with other dacs and amps in this league might set the performance bar higher than I do.

HTH.

Great response AiDee,
Thank you very much!  It sounds like the PureDAC headphone output would at least get me by for awhile with headphones as an all in one, until I decide to buy a tube amp.  In the end I want both great speaker outputs and great headphone outputs from my system, and I was leaning towards a DAC/pre amp like the PureDAC and a Decware tube amp.  With the PureDAC I could even consider upgrading to a Torri mark IV instead of a Taboo for a little more versatility on the speaker side, though I hear the Taboo sounds great on efficient speakers.  Do you use your Taboo to drive speakers?  If so what type?  I plan on building either 3Pi or 4Pi speakers from http://www.pispeakers.com/contents.html this coming year, which should work well with either amp.  Of course the PureDAC is not the only Dac on my short list, but it looks really great for the price, and the above average balanced headphone output might seal the deal for me.
 
I am also hoping this would be my endgame system, with only cable and room tweeking to finish things up.  But only time will tell!
 
Mark

 

[Argo Duck]

Mark I do use speakers with the Taboo. ATM, these are Kef Uni-Q's orphaned from a Kef KIT100 system. They're very inefficient (about 84dB from about 100Hz up), yet as near field speakers work surprisingly well with the Taboo. I have something more efficient in mind but that's for the future. TBH, I'm more a speaker than an hp person and already have a main rig I'm totally happy with (looking forward to slotting the puredac in there but not had time yet), but as I work often from my home office, headphones and small speakers get more of my time these days.

Yeah, there's a lot of tempting stuff coming out of Decware right now. I've got the 6W Taboo II, slightly more power than the mk III 4.5W Taboo. I've never heard them but the Torris do seem endgame for a lot of those on the Decware forums...

I wish you well, whatever gear you end up choosing.

Andre

 

[remilio]

Is there any information about headphone amp output power (balanced/single-ended)? I didn't find any...