dudlew
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2002
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I just came from my brother. His setu is a Nad C350 amp, A Rotel RCD971 cd player and B&W CDM7NT speakers. I brought my DAC Along just for kicks to see how it would fear against the Rotel in his system.
He hooked up the DAC and we listened but not to critically. Then we started to listen critically. We started with Shaggy. The track we used was never give up (i think). The sound was different. The Rotel stock sound was more lively with a more dynamic character, but to my ears a little bright and sibilant. The DAC had a smoother treble with more extension, a tighter, more defined bass and much better timing. The midrange was a little recessed and the sound was less dynamic; a little sterile to my ears.
We tried Genesis' Hold on My Heart, and the results were the same. the same sonic character.
He was surprised that a DAC of this price was basically keeping up to a player of the Rotels calibre.
the clincher was the cable though. The first cable used, since we did not have any dedicated digital cables was a high imedance Straight Wire. When we switched this to a cheaper cable from Cable Talk with lower resistance, the sound came alive more, with firmer, fuller bass and midrange. the treble extension was not as high but it was still good and smoother than the Rotel. The timing was still there, but it still lacked that nth degree of dynamics the Rotel had.
But in the bass, treble and timing, it had the Rotel beat. To my ears the Rotel did a slightly better job in the midrange with a bit more natural midrange and a more dynamic midrange. The bass dynamics and weight were also a bit better but it just lacked the rythym and definition of bass of the DAC
All in all I think that this DAC is quite good, and a keeper. I will be upgrading the power supply soon and also my transport and plan to get a dedicated cable for a coaxial connection. The power supply upgrade is supposed to work some wonders in the bass and dynamics area which I think would make this even more worth my while.
My eldest brother, the most listened of the three of us, was impressed considering the price of it and that it easily held its own with the Rotel and out doing it in some areas, though he didnt like the treble of the DAC. He preferred the sound of the Rotel, but just.
The flexibility of this DAC with inputs for balanced, toslink and SPDIF digital signals, easy switching between the three and its sonic performance has made me glad that I took the plunge and bought it
D
He hooked up the DAC and we listened but not to critically. Then we started to listen critically. We started with Shaggy. The track we used was never give up (i think). The sound was different. The Rotel stock sound was more lively with a more dynamic character, but to my ears a little bright and sibilant. The DAC had a smoother treble with more extension, a tighter, more defined bass and much better timing. The midrange was a little recessed and the sound was less dynamic; a little sterile to my ears.
We tried Genesis' Hold on My Heart, and the results were the same. the same sonic character.
He was surprised that a DAC of this price was basically keeping up to a player of the Rotels calibre.
the clincher was the cable though. The first cable used, since we did not have any dedicated digital cables was a high imedance Straight Wire. When we switched this to a cheaper cable from Cable Talk with lower resistance, the sound came alive more, with firmer, fuller bass and midrange. the treble extension was not as high but it was still good and smoother than the Rotel. The timing was still there, but it still lacked that nth degree of dynamics the Rotel had.
But in the bass, treble and timing, it had the Rotel beat. To my ears the Rotel did a slightly better job in the midrange with a bit more natural midrange and a more dynamic midrange. The bass dynamics and weight were also a bit better but it just lacked the rythym and definition of bass of the DAC
All in all I think that this DAC is quite good, and a keeper. I will be upgrading the power supply soon and also my transport and plan to get a dedicated cable for a coaxial connection. The power supply upgrade is supposed to work some wonders in the bass and dynamics area which I think would make this even more worth my while.
My eldest brother, the most listened of the three of us, was impressed considering the price of it and that it easily held its own with the Rotel and out doing it in some areas, though he didnt like the treble of the DAC. He preferred the sound of the Rotel, but just.
The flexibility of this DAC with inputs for balanced, toslink and SPDIF digital signals, easy switching between the three and its sonic performance has made me glad that I took the plunge and bought it
D
