[audiofone]

The Marantz looks like a great piece of audio equipment. Another option is the Burson Conductor SL which is currently half price (and cheaper than the Marantz) on Amazon from an authorized dealer. There are two DAC options: 1) The SABRE 9018 or 2) PCM1793 (seperate listings)
 
I believe the seller can add a fixed DAC output or variable pre-amp output for another $100. I know this because I stumbled across these listings last week and ordered one. It arrives tomorrow and will be paired with my new TH900s. The Burson probably isn't quite a flexible as the Marantz (no DSD, limited outputs, no remote). Just thought I would mention the Burson because its a tad cheaper at the moment and seems like a great deal.
 
PCM1873
http://www.amazon.com/Burson-Audio-Conductor-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B00DHIWU6E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420775478&sr=8-1&keywords=burson+conductor+sl
 
SABRE 9018 (check all sellers)
http://www.amazon.com/Burson-Audio-Conductor-9018-Headphone/dp/B00DHJ4GN8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1420775478&sr=8-2&keywords=burson+conductor+sl

 

[thehoff]

I picked up an HD-DAC1 today to go with my LCD-XCs... and I did notice that Burson Conductor SL sale, too. Unfortunately of the two good dealers in town, one had the Burson and one had the Marantz in store. With gear this good I don't trust my ears when I have to drive 30 minutes in between listens so I went with aesthetics... I find the Burson too spare and industrial so I went to the shop with the Marantz to compare it with what he had there.
 
Based on build quality, design, and having a great punch with the XCs, I went with the Marantz. There wasn't really much in the price range to compare -- lots lower and a few higher. I felt it had more low end authority than the Teac 301 DAC headphone amp. Compared to the Bifrost Lyr combo it was pretty similar, both were very enjoyable.
 
I already own a Bifrost but I liked the Marantz so much I went with that to get an all in one package and to go full solid state. I've been using a Woo for over 5 years now so it was time for a change.

 

[2leftears]

  Hello Everyone, i am a Newbie and i use the hd700s and the RS220s both are awesome so far with the asus xonar u7. I have been looking at this Marantz Model. Seems pretty nice. has anyone used it with the above Cans and can it play flac files through a usb stick?? Thanks for reading!

 
I haven't used either.  HD700 would be fine I think, but isn't the RS220 a wireless headphone, with inevitably its own amp in the way?
 
FLAC is not supported for USB sticks.

 

[415906]

you are correct 2leftears, the RS220 is claimed to be by sennheiser an HD650 with a built in Dac and Amp. I listen to them all the time and they are awesome!! I was meaning the HD700s. The Marantz must have more power than the asus xonar u7??. Thanks for your reply!!!

 

[mkrzych]

Hello, anyone usind/tried HD1 with Grado's. I am not talking about if it has enought power, but rather does sound good, wide soundstage, deep low bass etc?

 

[415906]

I could have purchased the Sennheiser hdvd800 for 1500 on sale at amazon, almost pulled the trigger but i read that the DAC they use sucks!!! Would be nice if the Sennheiser hdvd600 (without DAC) went for 1000 and i could get a separate DAC. For now the only one i am really into is the Marantz DAC1 even with its limitations. Maybe they will drop the price on it. I hate MSRP on things. This is FUN!!!!

 

[thehoff]

There have been some stellar reviews of the DAC implementation in this Marantz, including a few users impressions here: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/fantastic-new-budget-dac-the-marantz-hd-dac1.385657/

 

[shuttleboi]

New review of the Marantz HD-DAC1 by Andre Marc at Audio Video Revolution, dated 1/9/2015. His opinion of the unit is extremely positive, although he mainly used it as a DAC preamp in his stereo system (rather than as a headphone amp). He loved the DSD sound.
 
http://www.avrev.com/home-theater-preamplifiers/stereo-preamps/marantz-hd-dac1-dsd-dac-and-headphone-amp-revie.html
 
At $799, the Marantz HD-DAC is very easy recommendation for those who are looking for a DAC that offers superior dynamics, fantastic looks, and a rich feature set with a pedigree that is just about second to none. The build quality and attention to detail are just crazy for this price point. This is my humble opinion, but one would have to spend quite a bit more to get what the Marantz offers, and better it. For instance if you had $3600 to spend, the Auralic Vega might be one to look at, but at five times the price.
 
The Marantz HD-DAC1 also offers a pride of ownership that is rare at this price point, and it would be the DAC I personally would buy if assembling another system. It would easily fit right in with components and speakers costing more. But I implore all prospective buyers to take a listen to the HD-DAC1, and not to take my word for it. DACs these days are more similar than different, but those differences can certainly be more apparent depending on your system. I think most listeners shopping at this price point would be sufficiently impressed to purchase the Marantz HD-DAC1. Highly recommended. 
 
 

 

[abvolt]

  I picked up an HD-DAC1 today to go with my LCD-XCs... and I did notice that Burson Conductor SL sale, too. Unfortunately of the two good dealers in town, one had the Burson and one had the Marantz in store. With gear this good I don't trust my ears when I have to drive 30 minutes in between listens so I went with aesthetics... I find the Burson too spare and industrial so I went to the shop with the Marantz to compare it with what he had there.
 
Based on build quality, design, and having a great punch with the XCs, I went with the Marantz. There wasn't really much in the price range to compare -- lots lower and a few higher. I felt it had more low end authority than the Teac 301 DAC headphone amp. Compared to the Bifrost Lyr combo it was pretty similar, both were very enjoyable.
 
I already own a Bifrost but I liked the Marantz so much I went with that to get an all in one package and to go full solid state. I've been using a Woo for over 5 years now so it was time for a change.

Glad to hear your  impressions on this dac I've had my eye on it since release..

 

[thehoff]

New review (from the same guy posting in the previous forum link): 
 
http://www.avrev.com/home-theater-preamplifiers/stereo-preamps/marantz-hd-dac1-dsd-dac-and-headphone-amp-revie.html
 

At $799, the Marantz HD-DAC is very easy recommendation for those who are looking for a DAC that offers superior dynamics, fantastic looks, and a rich feature set with a pedigree that is just about second to none. The build quality and attention to detail are just crazy for this price point. This is my humble opinion, but one would have to spend quite a bit more to get what the Marantz offers, and better it. For instance if you had $3600 to spend, the Auralic Vega might be one to look at, but at five times the price.

 

[2leftears]

For those of you who have the HD-DAC1, what gain setting are you using it at; low, mid or high? I have recently switched from low to mid, as the volume control is still easy enough then, with both HD800 and HD540.

Below is a (Google-translated) interview with one of the designers behind the HD-DAC1:

https://translate.google.com/translate?depth=1&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http://www.phileweb.com/interview/article/201410/02/241.html

The headphone amp consists of a voltage amplification section, employing feedback (presumably based on Marantz' HDAM discrete opamp). This is followed by a zero feedback current supply section (from another article I have understood that a pair of Darlington transistors are employed here).

In this interview (last page) it is suggested that the amp gain is set by modifying the amount of feedback in the voltage amplification section of the headphone amp (more feedback means lower gain). The designer suggests that listening with the amp set on low gain with the volume control set well open will give a subtly different sound when compared to setting the amp on high gain with the volume control throttled back. He says he would like the users to experiment...

I can think of several pro's and con's of low vs. high gain setting:

Noise: For this a low amp gain would be better. There will be less amplified noise in the gain section with the volume control further open followed by a low gain amp.

Distortion: Again a low gain will be better. More feedback means less distortion.

Slew rate: A high gain should be better here. Less feedback in the amp section will improve the slew rate (the amp will be "faster")

Ease of volume control: Here you will want the lowest gain you can get away with. This will mean that the volume control will be wider open and easier to control. Logarithmic pots are only logarithmic over a certain range, for lower volumes (say less than 9 o'clock or so) they start to deviate from logarithmic and are more difficult to control.

The headphones will be adding way more distortion than the amp ever will. So, noise levels allowing, I would think it probably best to use as high a gain as is practical to attain the best slew rate (i.e. medium or high gain setting on the amp).

I'd be interested to put this up for discussion...

 

[crafft]

While auditioning the Marantz at the Shop I noticed that my DT880 (250 ohm) sounded better on medium gain than low gain. And it was not only because of the volume increase!

I tried to listen at the same volume levels with low gain and medium gain and each time the DT880 sounded better to my ears with medium gain (more alive, more involving).
I tried High Gain also but then the volume control got more difficult. And sound wise I thought it got more congested...I felt more confident with the medium gain setting.

So with my Beyer DT880 I use Medium Gain.

I also have the Focal Spirit Pro and with these I can only use Low Gain because the higher gain settings produce (a lot higher) noise(floor) in the headphones!

 

[mkrzych]

For those of you who have the HD-DAC1, what gain setting are you using it at; low, mid or high? I have recently switched from low to mid, as the volume control is still easy enough then, with both HD800 and HD540.

Below is a (Google-translated) interview with one of the designers behind the HD-DAC1:

https://translate.google.com/translate?depth=1&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http://www.phileweb.com/interview/article/201410/02/241.html

The headphone amp consists of a voltage amplification section, employing feedback (presumably based on Marantz' HDAM discrete opamp). This is followed by a zero feedback current supply section (from another article I have understood that a pair of Darlington transistors are employed here).

In this interview (last page) it is suggested that the amp gain is set by modifying the amount of feedback in the voltage amplification section of the headphone amp (more feedback means lower gain). The designer suggests that listening with the amp set on low gain with the volume control set well open will give a subtly different sound when compared to setting the amp on high gain with the volume control throttled back. He says he would like the users to experiment...

I can think of several pro's and con's of low vs. high gain setting:

Noise: For this a low amp gain would be better. There will be less amplified noise in the gain section with the volume control further open followed by a low gain amp.

Distortion: Again a low gain will be better. More feedback means less distortion.

Slew rate: A high gain should be better here. Less feedback in the amp section will improve the slew rate (the amp will be "faster")

Ease of volume control: Here you will want the lowest gain you can get away with. This will mean that the volume control will be wider open and easier to control. Logarithmic pots are only logarithmic over a certain range, for lower volumes (say less than 9 o'clock or so) they start to deviate from logarithmic and are more difficult to control.

The headphones will be adding way more distortion than the amp ever will. So, noise levels allowing, I would think it probably best to use as high a gain as is practical to attain the best slew rate (i.e. medium or high gain setting on the amp).

I'd be interested to put this up for discussion...

This is very interesting subject! I used to play with my DAC headphone amp section changing the resistors and caps int the operational amp IC gain loop to obtain the best results with my low impedance Grado cans. Implementation of this section is also done to get the feedback response from headphones.

So far I have ended up with quite nice results for the low bass and tonal balance chcanging caps and the same path resistots, but since I do not know what is the overall gain of thr circuit, changing the feedback resistor is more kind of experimentation and the sound and quickness in the cans response also depends on the recording quality and recorded level, as well on what genre you are listening.

If it is good quite environment around me (late nite, day alone etc.) For good classical recorded music from RR or Chandos (they tend to record rather in low RMS) I need to cranck my pot around 2PM to get the best dynamics and to actually clearly hear the lowest passages. For the not so good (Compressed) music the pot is usually around 12-1PM or 11AM in extreme.

I don't know if it should be like this, because some people saying that I shouldn't go so far on the pot and always land up around 10-12PM, but others that in potentially less gain when the pot is almost at full scale you will get less noise floor and better sound, but the feeling that you are at almost full scale of your volume pot is just a mental feeling and you shouldn't care about that.

 

[mkrzych]

For those of you who have the HD-DAC1, what gain setting are you using it at; low, mid or high? I have recently switched from low to mid, as the volume control is still easy enough then, with both HD800 and HD540.

Below is a (Google-translated) interview with one of the designers behind the HD-DAC1:

https://translate.google.com/translate?depth=1&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http://www.phileweb.com/interview/article/201410/02/241.html

The headphone amp consists of a voltage amplification section, employing feedback (presumably based on Marantz' HDAM discrete opamp). This is followed by a zero feedback current supply section (from another article I have understood that a pair of Darlington transistors are employed here).

In this interview (last page) it is suggested that the amp gain is set by modifying the amount of feedback in the voltage amplification section of the headphone amp (more feedback means lower gain). The designer suggests that listening with the amp set on low gain with the volume control set well open will give a subtly different sound when compared to setting the amp on high gain with the volume control throttled back. He says he would like the users to experiment...

I can think of several pro's and con's of low vs. high gain setting:

Noise: For this a low amp gain would be better. There will be less amplified noise in the gain section with the volume control further open followed by a low gain amp.

Distortion: Again a low gain will be better. More feedback means less distortion.

Slew rate: A high gain should be better here. Less feedback in the amp section will improve the slew rate (the amp will be "faster")

Ease of volume control: Here you will want the lowest gain you can get away with. This will mean that the volume control will be wider open and easier to control. Logarithmic pots are only logarithmic over a certain range, for lower volumes (say less than 9 o'clock or so) they start to deviate from logarithmic and are more difficult to control.

The headphones will be adding way more distortion than the amp ever will. So, noise levels allowing, I would think it probably best to use as high a gain as is practical to attain the best slew rate (i.e. medium or high gain setting on the amp).

I'd be interested to put this up for discussion...

This is very interesting subject! I used to play with my DAC headphone amp section changing the resistors and caps int the operational amp IC gain loop to obtain the best results with my low impedance Grado cans. Implementation of this section is also done to get the feedback response from headphones.

So far I have ended up with quite nice results for the low bass and tonal balance chcanging caps and resistots in the same path, but since I do not know what is the overall gain of thr circuit, changing the feedback resistors is more kind of experimentation and the sound and quickness in the cans response also depends on the recording quality and recorded level, as well on what genre you are listening.

If it is good quite environment around me (late nite, day alone etc.) For good classical recorded music from RR or Chandos (they tend to record rather in low RMS) I need to cranck my pot around 2PM to get the best dynamics and to actually clearly hear the lowest passages. For the not so good (Compressed) music the pot is usually around 12-1PM or 11AM in extreme.

I don't know if it should be like this, because some people saying that I shouldn't go so far on the pot and always land up around 10-12PM, but others that in potentially less gain when the pot is almost at full scale you will get less noise floor and better sound, but the feeling that you are at almost full scale of your volume pot is just a mental feeling and you shouldn't care about that.

 

[mkrzych]

Posted two times doing correction. Sorry.