[grokit]

I am currently auditioning my new Devilsound v2.1 DAC, and while it's generally deserves all of the glowing reviews I'm reading, I have some concerns. My first impression was "wow, this is waaay better than that toslink cable coming out of my Mac Pro (Apple Lossless)", which is pretty much what I expected. The difference in clarity, depth, penetration and soundstage were immediately apparent, but as I started trying different kinds of music with it, I noticed a slight "imperfection" that has me concerned.

Since this is my first thread/post I will share my "listening" background: I was into pop, rock, and some motown records in grade through high school, got into higher-end gear and more esoteric rock and world music in college (Klipschorns, metal tapes, etc.), then kind of lost my way when consumer CDs came out and the vinyl went into storage. Then the iPod came along and gave my CDs new life, and now the vinyl and turntable have come out of storage, I think it's a somewhat common story. I am now listening to much more blues/jazz/classical/reggae/jam/bluegrass than before, and rock n'roll still rules my roost.

The Devilsound 2.1 is my first outboard DAC, and I have been comparing it to vinyl when I can find the same mix of the same song on CD and LP, which is not that easy in my collection. As it breaks in a bit, I am finding that it continues to improve in almost every category, but it loses control of the extreme audible low end on some recordings. It is worse than when I turn off the subsonic filter on my phono stage, and it only happens on certain recordings.

I have even ordered another 16-bit adaptive USB DAC that's a bit more versatile to compare with, a Fubar I/O USB DAC/ADC w/their Supplier PSU, that I can use to digitize my vinyl, theoretically. I'm not opposed to keeping both, as the portability of the Devilsound makes it quite versatile in its own right. Overall there are differences when comparing directly to vinyl; the vinyl seems a bit more audible, with more penetration of individual sounds, but the Devilsound seems to have more clarity and depth to the soundstage.

But as thisbenjamin said, I'm not so sure I'm such a "huge fan" of the Devilsound sound so far either. I am hoping that more people will expand on their experiences with the Devilsound v2.1 since I'm relatively new at this. I REALLY like the overall soundstage, and the mids, highs and mid-bass seem accurate and lively enough, but the lowest bass does seem a little loose and uncontrolled to me sometimes, and I've never been "bass shy". I am also wondering if this will correct itself with further break-in.

I am interested in what specific listening experiences anyone has had with their Devilsound v2.1, what they like, and what they don't.

 

[grokit]

Upon further reflection, I must state that I was doing the above comparisons without my headphones and with my bi-amped tower speakers in 2.1 stereo, because my balanced Little Dot rig is busy being "replaced" by David. The extreme low-end problem went away completely when I connected the Devilsound to my unbalanced headphone amps; it warmed up and definitely extended the somewhat sterile-sounding G&W TW-J1 SS amp>HD 400 setup substantially, and although the Indeed Hybrid Tube doesn't quite drive those cans as well, the sound was clean and sweet through the 400s as well. I am "in between" Grados at the moment.

So I am a bit mystified as to why the Devilsound is behaving like my phono stage, which gives out clean, extended bass when connected directly to my headphone amps, and needs a subsonic (rumble) filter when performing "live" through speakers. Could it somehow be absorbing or reflecting resonance from my speakers somewhat like a turntable? I think I have noticed that at least one medium-high DAC has a subsonic filter, but I can't remember which one, and may be "miss-remembering" completely

Anyways, this Devilsound is most likely a keeper. It seems to be meticulously built, and if you consider the silver rca cables with their high-end connectors to be worth $100, and the audiophile usb and usb extension cables worth $50, then what you are left with is a very good-sounding, extremely portable, plug and play, innnovatively-designed and reportedly cryogenically-produced DAC for $250, especially fabulous for headphone setups.

I am really looking forward to the ultimate showdown, when I get my balanced rig back, and I ordered the hybrid SACD of Norah Jones' "Come Away With Me", which will be compressed in a loss-less (16-bit) fashion and used to compare both DACs, then go up against the 200g vinyl version with a brand new stylus.

 

[punkaroo]

I'm going to chalk this up to good ol' burn-in. I bought my Devilsound from jwbrent and he had used it for hundreds of hours.

Just keep using that little Devil

 

[.Sup]

I see its now twice its initial price...

 

[grokit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by punkaroo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm going to chalk this up to good ol' burn-in. I bought my Devilsound from jwbrent and he had used it for hundreds of hours. Just keep using that little Devil

I have now been running it continuously for a couple of days, will keep running it until the balanced amp comes back, it already had 50 to 100 hours on it.

 

[grokit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by .Sup /img/forum/go_quote.gif I see its now twice its initial price...

Yes, it went up when they did a minor re-design for v.2, then another bill for the 2.1 "cryogenic" processing/treatment.

Am I the only one to take the Devilsound 2.1 plunge?

 

[punkaroo]

I'm pretty sure jwbrent sold me his to get the new 2.1

 

[grokit]

So now it's burnt in, and I think that the bass has cleaned up significantly. I am completely impressed with the Devilsound v2.1 DAC, and I would even say that this DAC is probably as good as it gets for the 16-bit adaptive type. It's sound is sophisticated and refined when it needs to be, and it will really release an incredible sound-stage and "punch" when called upon. It is very well balanced now that it has settled down; it started out a little bright in the upper mids, then lost a little control of the low end, as it was breaking in. Now the highs are clean and clear without being too sharp, the mids have carved out their own space, and the bass is clean, deep, and extended.

I tried something else with the Devilsound that I found very interesting, but not surprising: when I plugged it in to my favorite Bluetooth combo, the Motorola DC800 transmitter and S805 Headphones, the difference was stunning. Let's just say that I knew those cans had to be decent under the right circumstances, and I have found those circumstances

!

I would have to say that the only fault I can find with this unit so far is that it is ruthlessly transparent; it will not "fix" any faults with your digital source or the audio mix used in the music itself, nor with any of your sound reproduction equipment. This is due to the fact that this is what it was designed to do: to give you exactly what is present in your 16-bit digital file, for better or worse.

An oversampling or upsampling unit may do a better job with inferior recordings, as they are designed to "shape" the sound to some extent. They also have the ability to translate higher bit-rate files, while with the a Devilsound, you will extract the most accurate information off of a lossless file from a 16-bit CD without any additional flavoring. At least that is how I understand it at this point

.

Any other impressions would be welcome as I continue to form mine...

 

[grokit]

As I continue to try different content, amps, and cans with it, I am starting to believe that this "little devil" is so good that any initial reservations I had about it were either resolved during the burn-in process, or were merely a result of inadequacies in various parts of my listening systems that I never knew I had...

For example, the bass problem is only during live sound and not on headphones; evidently I never had exposed my cheap bi-amped tower speakers to such levels of mid-bass, and they continue to falter with certain less-than-optimum recordings run through the devilsound. I believe that this is also because my receiver won't let me define the crossover frequency for them once I have chosen to activate the bi-amp circuit.

Another thing I have found is that the stock cable for my HD600s really causes high-frequency fatigue through the devilsound; I had upgraded the cable because of the same problem when running them direct from my phono stage; this is the first time otherwise I have had this problem, and it is resolved spectacularly with a simple Cardas cable upgrade.

The devilsound 2.1 lets me hear exactly what is good AND bad about my music/source/cables/cans; it doesn't change a thing and is as simple as running an interconnect. It reminds me of a good phono setup that way, as you know immediately if anything has gone haywire in the setup, and if the recording itself has any quality problems whatsoever.

to be continued...

 

[Rumble_Pak]

Compared to the DAC707 i used to have it has a lot more impact and bass, not overpowering but its definitely on the rich and meaty side of things, in a very good way of course. I did have a problem pulling that techflex kind of stuff out of the rca connectors but was my fault for not pulling the connectors directly. I do get the feeling its a bit bass centric but my phones have always had a bit of a deficit in the bass department. I do love it very much!

 

[grokit]

I miss my Devilsound, gonna have to re-acquire it someday...

 

[Jeff]

Does the v2.1 support ASIO mode in foobar? 

 

[Rico67]

YES.
it works fine.
I use the first version of the Devil.
and it's a good friend for my ipad listening session with (camera adaptator).
As indicate, this dac needs more than 150 hours of burn to be ok in deep and high frequences.
at first time , out of the box, all is great (separation, detail and warm) but it's like there are too much control  don't reveal deeper and higher frequences. (strange)
Now at 300 hours, it's sing Free and it's only pleasure.