[jjbbssll]

looking forward to your review! 
 
I was thinking the DA-200 and the SQ-n100 int tube amp would be a great system. 

 

[Donnyhifi]

It will be my first attempt at an Impressions/Review and I might not have the audiophile lingo to explain it as some of the great reviewers here but I will try my best! I will be taking of to Canada in a couple weeks and will post my impressions once I get back.
 
 

 

[jjbbssll]

Did you take the demo unit home and put it in your system or just heard the demo unit at the store?

 

[milosolo]

I'm curious if anyone has this unit yet? Impressions? It looks like they are available in the US now.

 

[decur]

i am wondering about the headphone amp?
is it the p1u headphone stage or the p200 headphone stage or something entirely different??????

 

[jjbbssll]

Just noticed the Luxman Japanese website mentioned a DA-100 but did not have any info yet.  So I found this website about it
 
http://www.phileweb.com/news/audio/201110/14/11332.html
 
It is in Japanese so you will have to use one of the website translators.

 

[Currawong]

It uses a DA chip that has direct line-level output built-in. It'll probably be somewhat reasonably priced here in Japan, but too expensive to export, if history is anything to go by.

 

[jjbbssll]

Luxman is releasing the M-200 power amp. 
 
25 watts stereo or 70 watts mono. 
 
http://www.onahighernote.com/products/?c=0&id=58

 

[Hooster]

why did this discussion die???
 

 

[AppleheadMay]

Best Dac I ever heard, beats most 192/24 Dacs, not necissarily in clarity, detail and imaging but it's a lot more natural.
Really good headphone amp too but it doesn't match the P-1u in that area.
Anything else you wanna know?
 

 

[Hooster]

Thanks. I am wondering if I should get the DA-200 or a P-200 and worry about getting a good dac later. I already have an excellent pre-amp but my dac is up for an upgrade (Music streamer II).
 

 

[SleepyOne]

What headphone are you planning to use? Because if it is easy to drive you maybe ok with DA-200 and get stronger headphone amp later on. Do check with owner of DA-200 to see how strong is its headamp. This way at least your speaker system will benefit and maybe sufficent for now re: headphone setup.

 

[Hooster]

Thanks. On my short list of phones are the AKG K701, ATH-W1000X and ATH-A1000. These might be driven by the DA-200 easily enough...
 
I am leaning towards getting the P-200. That will give me greater flexibility to upgrade DACs as time goes by while keeping the P-200 (It seems that few if any DAC pre-amplifiers have an onboard headphone amp of that caliber and if they did they would be out of my league price wise). USB DACs seem to be in their infancy and very much a moving target. I always seem to be reading about how great DAC A is but then someone says DAC B kills it but then there is always DAC C... My brain and my wallet are telling be to just get a good headphone amp and the DAC will appear later.
 
All this said the DA-200 is a well designed product. You have got to wonder why more manufacturers don't include at least one analog input in their USB DAC pre-amplifiers. A big plus to Luxman for having 2 on their DA-200. The cost of an analog input or two can't be that huge...

 

[AppleheadMay]

I don't think the P-200 will be much of an improvement on the DA-200's headphone output, it's pretty good but it remains a bit below the P-1u. I only heard the P-200 briefly in the store though but I owned the DA-200 and P-1u. I'd recommend a used P-1 or P-1u instead of a P-200, it's in a different league. 
Or check out some tube amps, I strongly prefer some of those over SS amps.
 
The DA-200 will drive all AT's and most other closed phones with ease of course but it did a good job with any of the Sennheisers I had at the time as well. The K701 is a different beast though you need a pretty powerful amp to make that thing sound good. Don't look at it's impedance (62 Ohm I believe?) it's really hard to drive it well.
 
Unless you really want 192/24 the DA-200 is a really good sounding Dac. I preferred it's sound over the PWD Mark1 I had as well.
For a 192/24 Dac take a look at the TEAC UD-H01, you could be amazed by this little cheap thing. Not as refined as the DA-200 of course and not much of a headphone output though.
My next Dac is going to be a Marantz NA-11S1 when it comes available next spring.
A Marantz NA7004 might be worth a look but it's 96/24 as well, sounds pretty good as well but doesn't come near the DA-200 though. It does cost quite a bit less.
 
 
 
 

 

[Currawong]

What kind of music do you listen to? I honestly thought the DA-100 and DA-200 sounded completely unnatural and awful with instruments.