Beresford TC-7510 DAC MKII
Dec 4, 2006 at 12:48 AM Post #91 of 338
I just wanted to say I am getting one of these for xmas, so I will also come back and post my impressions. I am not going to be able to compare with high-end DACs, but I will be able to compare with my new SB3. Should make for a good test.

Q
 
Dec 6, 2006 at 9:31 PM Post #93 of 338
This is my first review, so please be gentle with me.
smily_headphones1.gif

I don't know much about the mumbo jumbo of audiophile terms. And as usual, disclaimer: This what I hear and feel on my rig. Don't flame me for it. And no, I'm not a shill as I live in New Zealand.

I'm comparing TC-7510 (around 100 hours burn-in) with Xindak DAC3 mk2 (with tube buffer).

Equipemnt:
Headphone: AKG K340
Source: Foobar2000 -> Flac -> USB -> MM Gear USC-100 -> Optical out
DAC: TC-7510 (GBP 90) vs Xindak DAC3 mk2 (around US$400)
Amp: TMS T-200
IC: Cheapo/standard IC. (see my previous post, the TC-7510 can't handle my vDH C5)

Guitar: (Sonata in C minor K466)
Winner: Xindak.
Xindak is more expansive, details are easily heard and more enjoyable. The decay of the string is there.
Xindak is more airy too, i think this is got to do with it having a tube buffer. TC-7510 have more "black" background though.

Piano: Ludovico Einaudi (Stella del maattino)
Winner: Xindak
Again, Xindak is more expansive. I have to say that it "seems" like TC-7510 extend higher than Xindak.

Bass: Aqua - Lollipop (remix)
Winner: Xindak
Xindak has fuller bass.

Vocal: Andrea Bocelli (L'Attesa)
Winner: Xindak
Andrea voice is weightier and crispier (such word exist??)

Vocal: Sarah Brightman (A whiter shade of pale)
Winner: None with TC-7510 slightly preferable.
I guess this because TC-7510 has a darker/blacker background that makes her voice come out more clearly.

General: Maroon5 (Sunday Morning)
Winner: Xindak significantly
This is my "reference" song as it full of subtle sounds from everywhere.
TC-7510 feels less congested, but boy all the details is missing. all that small nuances that makes this song very enjoyable (for me) is gone. I can only hear "major" things with that small things fade or only almost audible. Xindak is grainier than TC-7510 though.

Conclusions:
In general Xindak are louder than TC-7510. Mind you, some people believe that this Xindak is comparable with $2000 DAC. I never heard a $2000 DAC so, can't comment on that. What i try to say is that Xindak is not a bad DAC and it might not fair to compare them.

I want to like the TC-7510 as I purposefully want to downgrade (this is my office rig and I work with monkey. Having a tube headphone amp is constant nightmare). Although Xindak is the clear winner, I don't mind getting rid of it and the TMS T200 headphone amp and just happily live with the TC-7510. I might have to find a more efficient can as this AKG K340 is really picky.

The headphone amp part of TC-7510 although lack the juice for my K340 but never-the-less is pretty good. Word of warning, when i plug my UM2, it has a loud hiss and humm. I guess other people already mentioned this. but if you use higher impedance can, it seems to be just fine. I try my colleage Senn H555 (50 ohm) and is fine with no audible hiss or humm and is more than enough to drive it.

So, for those newbee like me, on budget and have a pretty efficient headphone, TC-7510 is still a very valid option. Surely it can't compete with a more dedicated/expensive unit but it can holds its ground with those that twice it price, especially when you consider you get the headphone amp.

Hope this help.
 
Dec 7, 2006 at 9:04 AM Post #95 of 338
Quote:

Originally Posted by nelda /img/forum/go_quote.gif
This is my first review, so please be gentle with me.
smily_headphones1.gif

II'm comparing TC-7510 (around 100 hours burn-in) with Xindak DAC3 mk2 (with tube buffer).

Equipemnt:
Headphone: AKG K340
Source: Foobar2000 -> Flac -> USB -> MM Gear USC-100 -> Optical out
DAC: TC-7510 (GBP 90) vs Xindak DAC3 mk2 (around US$400)
Amp: TMS T-200
IC: Cheapo/standard IC. (see my previous post, the TC-7510 can't handle my vDH C5)


Nice review. I'd love to hear the Xindak. Anyone else here have any experience with it? It sells on eBay for about £300 delivered to the UK from Hong Kong. I must admit that my gear is "old technology" (separate hifi components) - none of this computerised stuff!!
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You see some good reports of it in the press. Anyone else got any views on this?

It is most interesting that the 7510 is detail-challenged in comparison - wow!
I (think) I hear a tremendous amount of detail in my system. But all this audio stuff is relative, and subject to personal taste.

It's just possible that the Beresford would have performed better with a longer burn-in than the 100 hours that Nelda gave it. Here's a quote from Goonerman's previous post on this thread:-
"Let me start by saying that this (Beresford) DAC sounds pretty rough out of the box and in my opinion you won't hear the best of it until at least a 200 hours of burn in when it really does start to open up."
I, too, certainly heard a tremendous improvement as the 7510 burned in, but I didn't time it.
Perhaps Nelda could do another direct comparison with the Xindak once the Beresford has seen another 100 hours or more of use?
 
Dec 7, 2006 at 7:56 PM Post #97 of 338
Quote:

Originally Posted by donthuang /img/forum/go_quote.gif
If i dont misunderstand the Chinese-simp languge auction page

Xindak DAC-3 MK2's price is about usd 250 in china


Well, as some will testify, it is always cheaper to buy chinese audio gear in china. and then you have to take into account shipping charges,etc to send it to New zealand, for instance.

BTW, my xindak has mullard tube and silver fuse, if that makes any difference.
 
Dec 8, 2006 at 5:52 PM Post #98 of 338
I'm new to this forum and have never owned a DAC until now -- I just ordered a TC-7510 from the U.S. seller. We'll see if it improves the input to my Jolida 1301 amp, with output from an Onkyo DX-C390, which is the weak point in my system. I just bought the Jolida and Infinity Primus 360 speakers, and have been debating how to upgrade the sourcing over the Onkyo. We'll see how this works. For $159 shipped it won't be too tragic a mistake if the DAC is a dog.

Russell
 
Dec 12, 2006 at 6:15 PM Post #99 of 338
The TC-7510 dac arrived this morning. Already I'm concluding it was worth the money -- it's giving me significantly more resolution and imaging than the Onkyo's converter (I'm using the Onkyo as a transport). No more harsh upper treble and slushy mid-range. Very listenable. It doesn't have as much resonance as I'd like yet -- the sound is sort of pinched and thin and brittle in some registers. I'm hoping that evolves. All in all, what I hoped was that for $159 I could get something that would equal a mid-level player (NAD 542, e.g.), and so far my impression is that's exactly what I have. So far I'm satisfied.

System: Onkyo DX C-390 changer to TEC TC-7510 dac to Jolida 1301 30-w integrated amp to Infinity Primus 360 speakers.

Russell
 
Dec 12, 2006 at 6:35 PM Post #100 of 338
Quote:

Originally Posted by hortiholic /img/forum/go_quote.gif
The TC-7510 dac arrived this morning. Already I'm concluding it was worth the money -- it's giving me significantly more resolution and imaging .... It doesn't have as much resonance as I'd like yet -- the sound is sort of pinched and thin and brittle in some registers. I'm hoping that evolves. Russell


That's sounds the way I hear it, too .... give it a few more days playing time and the sound really opens up. Let us know what you think at the end of this week.
 
Dec 13, 2006 at 3:51 PM Post #101 of 338
I too ordered this one today. It will be my first external DAC so I can't give very detailed impressions. I will try the DAC along with my first headamp and my first non-subpar headphones. Quite a newbie here!

I won't get all the equipment before January though, I think.
 
Dec 13, 2006 at 10:21 PM Post #102 of 338
Just posted the below on pink fish. I'm keeping a sort of diary on the TC-7510 as it breaks in. So far, so good. It's giving me exactly what I wanted. So it's not Meridian or Levinson -- for what I paid it's a bargain, so far.

The TC-7510 has now had more than 24 hours of burn-in. I can't make comparisons with other dacs, since I haven't listened to any. What I can say is that I'm very happy with what I hear. My previous system had an NAD 321BEE cd player, and for $159 shipped this dac, with the Onkyo turntable serving as transport, is easily the equal of the NAD. It produces about the same volume now as the Onkyo (at the beginning of the burn-in it was some 10 or 20 percent fainter), but compared with the Onkyo is much clearer, deeper, and wider. I played The Baltimore Consort's 'On the Banks of the Helicon' this morning, and enjoyed it more than I ever have. Custus LaRue's voice had none of the edge that it had on my old system. Wind instruments were clear and not strident. I asked a non-musical friend to take a blind test with the 7510 against the Onkyo (both playing through BJC-100 cables -- the Onkyo having the cable advantage because its cables are already thoroughly broken in), and his response was immediate and unambivalent: "the first one (the 7510) is much better -- it gives you the feel of bagpipes playing in a hall; the second one (the Onkyo) doesn't sound nearly as lifelike." Two Mozart horn duos (with Andrew Clark and Roger Montgomery) gave similar results. With the 7510 the horns were distinct in timbre and location. The Onkyo lacked the definition and ambience of the 7510, and moreover sounded harsher. THe Mahler 8th, with Claudio Abbado conducting, completely defeated the Onkyo -- the music basically disintegrated. The 7510 held it together thrillingly, capturing the mass of the music but also its various textures and timbres. The one area in which I might still prefer the Onkyo is in its slightly more resonant tone, but this gap is closing as the dac burns in. I'm very pleased!

Russell

BTW, my enthusiasm for the Jolida 1301 amp and Infinity Primus 360 speakers is only increasing. They ripped through the Mahler 8th without flinching. Rich, open sound.

PS -- I don't have headphones, so I can't speak for how the 7510 does with headphones.
 
Dec 14, 2006 at 8:34 PM Post #103 of 338
Stanley is sending my review unit my way tomorow. I expect to have it in the week of the 25th. I'll use it with my Mapletree/RS-1 combo, and my K-1000 with whichever poweramp I can find before then. I think I can have first impressions up early next year.

[size=xx-small]I wonder how it powers the K-1000 from the headphone jack.
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Dec 14, 2006 at 8:38 PM Post #104 of 338
200+ hours later

Xindak still have more weight, details and generally more enjoyable.

Note: Xindak is upsampling dac (locked to 24bit/96Khz) and i believe TC7510 is NOS. So that might explain the difference and at the end is my personal preference rather than any inferiority from TC-7510.
And i still feel that i can live with only TC7510. in fact, i'm selling my xindak and tms headphone. So there you go.
 
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