[project86]

I can totally see how people would dismiss the Concero on quick listen though. If you're used to the Eximus, Yulong Sabre D18, Decware Zen DAC, Rega DAC, or similar, and you play a track which *normally* sounds pretty good if not audiophile quality, you may find it more lifeless than you'd normally expect. That's the actual recording speaking though.
 
It's debatable whether or not this transparency is a desirable effect. 

 

[mcullinan]

True project86. Was the Invicta similar or did it improve upon the recording quality?
 
Ill have to play with the filters more, but definitely with the blue unfiltered you lose a lot.

 

[project86]

Quote:

True project86. Was the Invicta similar or did it improve upon the recording quality?
 
Ill have to play with the filters more, but definitely with the blue unfiltered you lose a lot.

 
I actually have my very own Invicta now (which is very exciting). It is somewhat ruthless in general (as many of these higher end units are) but has more filter choices and some of them are more appropriate for mediocre recordings. 
 
I still prefer my Yulong D18 for those types of music though. 

 

[rawrster]

Quote:

Any luck with the USB connection/filters?

 
Kinda.
 
The usb is still a no go. I have no idea why as the computer recognizes it and in foobar I get an option to choose the concero as the device however an error pops up shortly after. In the sound config when I try to test the driver there's a popup saying the test tone can't be played. I have a netbook but with linux on it and try it some time later to see if it works on that or not. As for the filter I think my issue was that I was holding the menu button too long. I think I'm able to get it consistently now. 

 

[mcullinan]

I actually have my very own Invicta now (which is very exciting). It is somewhat ruthless in general (as many of these higher end units are) but has more filter choices and some of them are more appropriate for mediocre recordings. 

I still prefer my Yulong D18 for those types of music though. 

Nice. So is there a strong family resemblance between the 2 Dacs even though they use slightly different chips?

 

[project86]

Quote:

Nice. So is there a strong family resemblance between the 2 Dacs even though they use slightly different chips?

 
Yep, Concero is like Invicta junior. If you like one, you are almost sure to like the other. It's just that Invicta has more potential for tweaking with the extra filters. But if someone absolutely hated Concero, I wouldn't recommend Invicta as it is in the same family (but significantly better, as the price would suggest). 

 

[rawrster]

I really like the concero but the invicta would be hard to justify at the price esp when I don't need all those features. The Concero is more in line with the features I want although I didn't quite expect something so small sounding so good.

 

[jronan2]

Hey project, which do you prefer the D100 or the Concerno in performance?


Edit: Sorry I just read the whole thread and saw your opinions. I'm basically trying to biuld a TH 900/denon set up. I don't know know whether I should just keep my D100(original version) because I love it with my denons. I will exclusively need the best usb performance I can find, as my transport will be a macbook air. I am considering the concerno. What do you think?

 

[project86]

Quote:

I really like the concero but the invicta would be hard to justify at the price esp when I don't need all those features. The Concero is more in line with the features I want although I didn't quite expect something so small sounding so good.

 
I take that to mean you got it working properly? Any idea what the problem might have been?
 
 
Quote:

Hey project, which do you prefer the D100 or the Concerno in performance?


Edit: Sorry I just read the whole thread and saw your opinions. I'm basically trying to biuld a TH 900/denon set up. I don't know know whether I should just keep my D100(original version) because I love it with my denons. I will exclusively need the best usb performance I can find, as my transport will be a macbook air. I am considering the concerno. What do you think?

 
It's tough because though Concero is better, D100 is still very good. And with the TH 900 you probably wouldn't have issues with brightness which was an occasional complaint with the original D100. The difficulty is putting the improvement into percentages, or dollar value, which is never easy.
 
Do you use the integrated D100 amp? Because obviously the Concero would need something external and that may factor in.  

 

[rawrster]

It kinda works. The filters are good but no usb. I was holding the menu too long for the filter. I have my vlink connected in between my computer and the concero. It's not all bad but odd why usb isn't working when my other dac is fine on same usb ports.

 

[project86]

Quote:

It kinda works. The filters are good but no usb. I was holding the menu too long for the filter. I have my vlink connected in between my computer and the concero. It's not all bad but odd why usb isn't working when my other dac is fine on same usb ports.

 
Ah, forgot about the V-Link. It's good that it works for you that way, but mystifying as to why USB has issues. I still think you should find another computer to try but since you have a workaround I guess it doesn't matter. 

 

[jronan2]

Yea I use the integrated amp in the D100 for my denons as it has absolutely no noise and the denons, like the fostex, need very little amplification, just a nice clean sound. I just want to find the best dac exclusively for usb with my mb air as the transport. If I changed up obviously I woild need an amp as well. Is the older D100 usb implementation that outdated compared the concero and the rest of the competition?

 

[mcullinan]

So I have been trying different cables... I had a Pangea USB Ag and it was making my ears bleed. The highs were irritating to say the least so out it came. Now I'm running the stock USB cable which sounds much better. I ordered some Virtue Audio Nirvana USB cables and heard they are pretty good. We will see. The Pangea was just not a good system match or me match

Project, how is the Concero feeding the Youlong. Does it sound good? I'm not sure if this is the Dac for me.
Ok so I think I solved the issue. I might have a system mismatch, or maybe its just my ears... lol
So I used the software volume in Ardivana and cut the volume going into the DAC by 3db.
This relieved the piercing aggressive highs, not to mention that it sounded like the sound was being overdriven like a mic up way too high.
Now the sound is full and relaxing... much better. Im not sure if I lose biits my sacrificing 3db or not though. But it sounds good and thats what matters.

 

[gurus]

Quote:

 
Yep, Concero is like Invicta junior. If you like one, you are almost sure to like the other. It's just that Invicta has more potential for tweaking with the extra filters. But if someone absolutely hated Concero, I wouldn't recommend Invicta as it is in the same family (but significantly better, as the price would suggest). 

 How does the Concero sound through the USB output ? I saw the sound impressions of the Concero using it as a USB=>Spdif converter. Unfortunately, I do not have a DAC that has SPDIF. So my use would be computer music to Concero using USB to a preamp/amp combo

 

[Nick Dangerous]

Quote:

 How does the Concero sound through the USB output ? I saw the sound impressions of the Concero using it as a USB=>Spdif converter. Unfortunately, I do not have a DAC that has SPDIF. So my use would be computer music to Concero using USB to a preamp/amp combo

 
Sounds great! I use mine this way.