[glenmorangie]

i am listening to michael petrucciani and stephan grappelli "flamingo" as i write this.

(i have been picking discs tonight that i have been listening to a lot lately so i can compare before/after more accurately.) i bought the vda2 hoping that it would cure the digital harshness that creeps into my music listening pleasure too often.....not only did it send it packing ....there is so much more there that i didnt expect that it is easy to forget that sibilance is the reason why i bought it . i was skeptical that it would make a significant difference with the cold ugly treble that makes my ears tired. my skepticism is long gone..replaced with awe.
i dont have to artificially bloat the bass anymore..it is there....all the wooden sweet double bass i could ever want. stephan's violin has incredible detail and warmth ..u can hear the sympathetic vibrations of the maple back responding to the spruce top and pushing air out the f holes as if he were a few feet from you in just the right spot. cymbals are the most impressive because they can sound so thin and harsh ..now they are so natural , warm and three dimensional ...not cold and annoying like they sometimes could be. there is alot more to say about it but i have only been listening for a few hours so i will stop

 

[HiFiRE]

Thanks for the impressions. I'm thinking of getting a vda or a micro dac. What other DACs have you heard? What's your source?

 

[glenmorangie]

my source is coaxial out of an x-fi soundcard...cd, lossless and 320 k mp3. the only other dacs i have heard are the vda 1 and the dac on the x-fi so i really am not any kind of dac authority, i should have made that clear. there is a profound difference and i am in love with the new sound of my system but i really cant compare it to the other dacs.

 

[solbergg]

I'm thinking about getting this dac. All of the CI Audio products appear to be very good quality, and Dusty is excellent with his customer service, which is a big plus to me. There were a bunch of head-fiers that had ordered the VDA 2 and said they would post impressions when their units arrived, but never did. I'm glad to hear you like enjoy it!