[Bernard23]

I bought a Topping D50s. The DAC betters what the HD-DAC1 has, and for a lot less money than $1000. I notice considerably more clarity in complex music as compared to the Marantz.

how well does it work as a headphone amp though?

 

[pbarach]

how well does it work as a headphone amp though?

The D50s is a DAC and has no headphone amp. I am pairing it now with a Massdrop THX 789, and I like the clarity of this combination.

 

[Bernard23]

A week or so of ownership, it's been on and running for large periods during that time, partly to run in new headphones. I've recently acquired some Grado SR325e and today some Hemps, so they're on overnight to help burn them in. Initial impressions are favourable, but I needed to change the pads, but that's another story. Meantime the Marantz is working beautifully as a dedicated headphone amp. Mine doesn't get particularly hot, and the relay clicking isn't an irritation for me. Without measuring it, I can't in all honesty claim to able to opinion on its tonal accuracy, as after a few hours listening our hearing normalises to the new system so it presents well recorded tracks well, and those that were not, it doesn't hide the fact. If looks add value, then this thing is a bargain, it's a tactile and visual delight, which as everyone knows makes it sound better.

 

[1-MiC]

The D50s is a DAC and has no headphone amp. I am pairing it now with a Massdrop THX 789, and I like the clarity of this combination.

That is a well reviewed dac, I'm glad you enjoy it! I do wonder how a d90 would compare to this Marantz unit.

I think my preference would be in a r2r dac.
My needs and use case would only justify something with multiple outputs. A variable output for my monitors, a fixed output for a different head amp, is perfect for me. I enjoy that it works with my iphone and Ipod as well.
I am looking at the Audio-GD R-28 for a balanced set up, but i think adding something like the 789 would be a fine option for me.

 

[Kaelis]

I've managed to grab a used HD-DAC1 (in Silver) a few months ago. Bought a new and discounted pair of HD800S to replace my HD650 (still own it) along the way. Grand total of 1.500€. I've been running that combo for the past 6 months now. Previous gear includes Shure SRH840 and SRH940, some Fiio amps and DACs too.
Current nomad headphones are the PCX550, had the Momentum 2 before.

Been using the combo for gaming on my Xbox Series X (HDMI to my OLED 65C7 and TOSLINK back to the Marantz, couldn't hear the difference compared to my previous One X directly plugged via TOSLINK to the Marantz)) and music listening via Audirvana on Mac (USB). The combo sounds really great to my ears :

- Huge and "airy" soundstage, almost feels like you're listening to real speakers and not tiny headphones transducers. Vocals fill your ears in a pleasing way and that huge space allow for easy focused listening of any part of the soundtrack.

- Very detailed sound signature, you can pick any detail ouf of the music. For gaming it allows for a great spatialization experience since I'm using Dolby Atmos for Headphones and DTS:X Headphones on my Xbox.
Downside is that poorly compressed files can sound harsh, although 320 MP3 and 256/320 AAC sounds great.

- Overall I feel like the Marantz is a good match for the HD800S, feeding it a detailed stream that the headphones unravel masterfully. The Marantz seems to have a certain musicality, allowing the headphones to not sound overly analytical and dry. Music is enjoyable in a casual way when I need it to, I'm listening to K-Pop right now (Red Velvet - The ReVe Festival) and it sounds positively enjoyable.

- It makes the combo very versatile, you can use it for precision listening for gaming or highly-technical musical genres (metal, classical etc.) or just blast some hip-pop and enjoy without overanalyzing the sound.
Mazzy Star - "Fade Into You" sounds very natural and musical for instance. Rolling Stones - "Midnight Rambler" sounds rhythmic and fun, good impact from the drums, great details in the guitar lines and clear and powerful vocals.
Spoon - "Don't You Evah" sounds lifelike, balanced and fun. Every instrument at its place, detailed and natural.

- Bass is deep and tight, HD650 feels muddy and dark compared to HD800S on the same Marantz. Classic Hip-Hop/Rap is enjoyable on this combo, for instance Scientific - "Downlo Ho" sounds lively and deep, as does Nas - "Halftime".
The bass at the start of Massive Attack - "Risingson" sounds deep and lively, with great extension and articulation.
Doom Eternal OST - "Command and Control" sounds powerful with a lot of detailed bass impact.

- The combo definitely shines on technical and fast tracks. The level of detail, the big soundstage and the speed and accuracy of transitions makes everything easy to resolve in a masterful way.

- I love female voices on this combo, for instance Au Revoir Simone's "Somebody Who" sounds fantastic. The female singers sound so clear and eery without ever becoming lifeless/artificial or too dry. Same for "Boiling Point" on the same album, or any song from that group for that matter.
The female voices in the Nier Automata OST sound awesome too.

- Both items are a joy to use with great materials and timeless looks. The Marantz is intuitive and easy to use, the big round central screen is helpful and can be switched off for gaming nights. The remote is great to have.

Overall I'm very happy with this combo, especially considering the relatively low price I paid for it. Everything sounds great, detailed and musical. From gaming to music and movies, it can do it all. I won't be buying audio stuff for a while, at least for home-use.

I'm sure you can find better for more money, or maybe for the same amount, but to my ears and my budget this is a great worthy setup.

 

[pbarach]

I think the airy soundstage should be credited to the HD-800s, a strength of these headphones noted by every review I've seen.

 

[Bernard23]

The dac is a dac, the difference in tonality between headphones is far greater, the key part of the Marantz is its glorious headphone amp. I've read that it's output impedance is as high as 11 ohms, which if true, is its only obvious concern at its price point, but then this is only of real concern for some headphones, and not all. I'm a big Grado fan, and a 3:1 or so ratio is not ideal on paper but in practice a little bass lift is welcome on most of the range. It's a reliable solid piece of kit that given the build quality and choice of components should last a good lifetime. The fact its stunning to look at in a retro 70s style just adds to the experience!

 

[ranfan]

I just tried the DAC1 at the store today. And was impressed at how big the soundstage was, and clear the vocals and instruments sounded. Seemingly effortless. It has an excellent presentation overall. Lovely


(Found this video related. Looks like a nice home desktop setup)

Will go to the store again this Tuesday. Hopefully buy one

 

[pbarach]

I'm selling mine (mint condition) soon. I liked it just fine until I heard how much more clarity I found in complex orchestral music with the THX Drop 789.

 

[Livnmuskoka]

Hooking up a Topping L30 to the Dac-1 gave a lower noise floor and even better clarity.
But the L30 has crap build quality and needed repair after a month.
Now I did a big upgrade to the RME adi-2 dac. I had buyer's remorse between ordering and receiving the RME and didn't think it would be much of an upgrade, if any.
I'm glad I was very wrong. This thing sounds incredible. A tool of perfection is the best way I could describe it. And that's with none of its many adjustments yet.

 

[pbarach]

I'm using a Topping D50s (no problem with build quality, but I wish the display were a little bigger). Adding it to the HD-DAC1 improved clarity. Replacing the HD-DAC1 in my headphone system with a THX Drop 789 amplifier added more clarity and better imaging; furthermore, the amp has pass-through connections so that the benefits of the D50s get passed to my AVR and speakers.

 

[Smoothstereo]

I have the HD-DAC1 and at one point, I added a Monoprice THX 887 amp to compliment it, using the Marantz as the DAC. In SE headphone out on the THX 887, it was not really better. I actually think the Marantz SE out was more of my preference. But in Balance out on the THX 887, it was a bit better.

But I find the overall sound to be too dry, sterile, and soundstage was a bit off. The biggest thing that was missing from the THX 887, to me was the soul of the music. Even with the extra power and clarity, it didn't do it for me. I ended returning the THX 887.

I have had good results pairing the Vali2 tube hybrid amp with the HD-DAC1. The combo is so good, I am planning to pair the much nicer Mjolnir2 to the HD-DAC1. Hopefully it will not disappoint.

 

[osdu]

I am also soul searching... because currently I own a small s.m.s.l. su-8 with an arcam rhead over some long balanced cables and with hd660s... It’s way too raspy, unmusical, dry and analytical for me. There is good resolution and imaging, but separation, rhythm/timing/musicality/smoothness is worse than my cheap Cyrus sound key, or even a MacBook Air for that matter.

Admittedly I mainly use an optical connection out from my tv which is absolute garbage in terms of jitter, so it will be interesting for me to test how well the marantz can handle the jitter (which I saw is advertised with a jitter remover inbuilt!!!) - compared to my hifiberry dac+ dsp which acts as a jitter remover in between my tv and su-8. Yes, the sU-8 is very jitter sensitive and absolutely needs the hifiberry (Raspberry pi hat) to help it - it works perfectly well btw and also adds custom eq and audio delays (mainly got it for the poor lip sync delays with my Philips android tv, plus it’s got room corrections in the hifiberry software...).

I also use the hifiberry dsp to warm up the sound from my tv for the su-8... which it does very well! But unfortunately the smoothness/richness and separation (even with dual ess 9038q2m chips) in the su-8 is not good enough. I suspect the extra compact power supplies and class d amplifier output stages in chi-fi dacs are to blame for this - you may think you get an amazing deal with the cost advantages Shenzen Audio have over everyone else... but I will see if my incoming denafrips (apparently the best of chi-fi) - can make up for my cheap little smsl.

On Friday I will receive the marantz hd-dac1 and also a denafrips ares 2 and will compare the three dacs! I will use the denafrips and arcam rhead for headphones and the marantz will feed my yamaha a-s500.

 

[AndyBrechin]

I have an HD-DAC1 which I think is excellent, but the display has stopped working, it is blank. Sure, I occasionally used to toggle through the Dimmer settings but now it is blank and stays blank. I would say the remote still works as it operates the other functions OK and acts as if it is toggling through the various Display Dim settings.
I guess it is a dot matrix display rather than a bulb replacement, so the question is:
Is there a factory reset routine I can apply, remembering I have no display to keep me right.
Is there firmware I can re-apply somehow?
Thanks folks.

 

[1-MiC]

I am also soul searching... because currently I own a small s.m.s.l. su-8 with an arcam rhead over some long balanced cables and with hd660s... It’s way too raspy, unmusical, dry and analytical for me. There is good resolution and imaging, but separation, rhythm/timing/musicality/smoothness is worse than my cheap Cyrus sound key, or even a MacBook Air for that matter.

Admittedly I mainly use an optical connection out from my tv which is absolute garbage in terms of jitter, so it will be interesting for me to test how well the marantz can handle the jitter (which I saw is advertised with a jitter remover inbuilt!!!) - compared to my hifiberry dac+ dsp which acts as a jitter remover in between my tv and su-8. Yes, the sU-8 is very jitter sensitive and absolutely needs the hifiberry (Raspberry pi hat) to help it - it works perfectly well btw and also adds custom eq and audio delays (mainly got it for the poor lip sync delays with my Philips android tv, plus it’s got room corrections in the hifiberry software...).

I also use the hifiberry dsp to warm up the sound from my tv for the su-8... which it does very well! But unfortunately the smoothness/richness and separation (even with dual ess 9038q2m chips) in the su-8 is not good enough. I suspect the extra compact power supplies and class d amplifier output stages in chi-fi dacs are to blame for this - you may think you get an amazing deal with the cost advantages Shenzen Audio have over everyone else... but I will see if my incoming denafrips (apparently the best of chi-fi) - can make up for my cheap little smsl.

On Friday I will receive the marantz hd-dac1 and also a denafrips ares 2 and will compare the three dacs! I will use the denafrips and arcam rhead for headphones and the marantz will feed my yamaha a-s500.

I look forward to your comparison. I am considering a su-9 for a balanced set up, to give myself 2 setups to use in different rooms.

Just today my balanced cables came in so i'm going to be comparing the SE amp of the Marantz vs the Liquid Carbon X balanced amp. Initial impressions are... not much of a difference!