buson160man
1000+ Head-Fier
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- Feb 3, 2011
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I recently bought a refurbished decco 2 to use primarily as a preamp usb dac for my computer.It is certainly very versatile in the computer sound area.The dac is proving to be the strong point of this unit.I have not listened to the onboard amp because I am using emotiva active 5 powered monitors.I may actually never listen to the amp because I do not need one.But as a preamp usb dac and dedicated dac the unit works pretty well especially for the price I paid for it. As a refurbished unit it has a same as new warranty so I could not go wrong.
I have several power cords and have been auditioning all of them with the decco 2.I have tried my emotiva,harmonic tech ac-11,nordost brahma and last but not least a kubala sosna emotion power cable.Each cord gives a different presentation which different power cords do.I am going to list my preferences in order from least to most satisfying at least in my humble opinion.I least liked the nordost with the decco 2 it is dynamic but things sound a bit to analytical for my tastes when I use it with the decco.Next up is the emotiva things are somewhat less dynamic than with the nordost but over the long haul things are more listenable and less fatigueing.Next up is the harmonic tech, the decco is ballsier with this cord and very easy to listen to .The sound is not fatigueing and the bass is very impressive.I just hooked up the kubala cord today and listened briefly to the headphone output with my akg 701 phones.It sounded very promising with good weight a pleasing tonal balance and with pretty decent soundstaging.I think the kubala may be the soundstaging champ among the cables I have based on what I have heard so far.I have engaged the emotiva active monitors and am just starting to listen to them.So far I like the kubala emotion the best. The presentation is pretty well balanced between the musical and neutral side.The soundstage performance is the best of the bunch.
The decco 2 is proving to be somewhat better than I thought it to be as a dac/preamp especially with the kubala emotion power cable.I still will probably use it primarily for desk top computer usage.But it is not actually half bad as a preamp dac with active monitors.Dollar for dollar I think this unit will be hard to match.I am sure there are better dac/preamp and or dac/preamp/amp combos out there but the price for admission is going to be quite a bit higher than what I paid for my decco 2.
I basically think the decco is a pretty good starting point to get into computer sound.You could do a lot worse and setup is a breeze.No down loading drivers and then downloading to program them.You just hook up the usb to the computer turn on the decco and away you go.Things do not get much simpler.
I have several power cords and have been auditioning all of them with the decco 2.I have tried my emotiva,harmonic tech ac-11,nordost brahma and last but not least a kubala sosna emotion power cable.Each cord gives a different presentation which different power cords do.I am going to list my preferences in order from least to most satisfying at least in my humble opinion.I least liked the nordost with the decco 2 it is dynamic but things sound a bit to analytical for my tastes when I use it with the decco.Next up is the emotiva things are somewhat less dynamic than with the nordost but over the long haul things are more listenable and less fatigueing.Next up is the harmonic tech, the decco is ballsier with this cord and very easy to listen to .The sound is not fatigueing and the bass is very impressive.I just hooked up the kubala cord today and listened briefly to the headphone output with my akg 701 phones.It sounded very promising with good weight a pleasing tonal balance and with pretty decent soundstaging.I think the kubala may be the soundstaging champ among the cables I have based on what I have heard so far.I have engaged the emotiva active monitors and am just starting to listen to them.So far I like the kubala emotion the best. The presentation is pretty well balanced between the musical and neutral side.The soundstage performance is the best of the bunch.
The decco 2 is proving to be somewhat better than I thought it to be as a dac/preamp especially with the kubala emotion power cable.I still will probably use it primarily for desk top computer usage.But it is not actually half bad as a preamp dac with active monitors.Dollar for dollar I think this unit will be hard to match.I am sure there are better dac/preamp and or dac/preamp/amp combos out there but the price for admission is going to be quite a bit higher than what I paid for my decco 2.
I basically think the decco is a pretty good starting point to get into computer sound.You could do a lot worse and setup is a breeze.No down loading drivers and then downloading to program them.You just hook up the usb to the computer turn on the decco and away you go.Things do not get much simpler.
