[varyV]

Hello everyone!

The concerto looks like a nice dac upgrade for me (I just put in an order for a Burson Soloist today). It meets my criteria perfectly ....It's transportable, does not occupy too much desk space and has a clean, neutral sound. My biggest concern with the Concero is the revelation of bad recordings. I have some albums that are not exactly recorded in the highest caliber (for instance, Robert Plant's "Dreamland"). Does the Concero really make albums like these unlistenable, or is the difference more subtle?

If someone could elucidate a little on the Concero/Soloist pairing, I'd be rather appreciative . Oh, and any comparisons vs the Dacport LX (my current dac) would be rather welcome as well.

 

[MorbidToaster]

I don't think any piece of equipment should make something unlistenable.
 
I'll still listen to the worst sounding CD in my collection because it's good music.
 
tl;dr - No.
 
Quote:

Hello everyone!

The concerto looks like a nice dac upgrade for me (I just put in an order for a Burson Soloist today). It meets my criteria perfectly ....It's transportable, does not occupy too much desk space and has a clean, neutral sound. My biggest concern with the Concero is the revelation of bad recordings. I have some albums that are not exactly recorded in the highest caliber (for instance, Robert Plant's "Dreamland"). Does the Concero really make albums like these unlistenable, or is the difference more subtle?

If someone could elucidate a little on the Concero/Soloist pairing, I'd be rather appreciative

. Oh, and any comparisons vs the Dacport LX (my current dac) would be rather welcome as well.

 

[Clemmaster]

Did anyone manage to get the concero work with the Squeezebox touch through USB? It's a no go for me so far. The LED is blue but nothing comes out.
It works through Coax but only when I plug the concero on my phone's USB charger.

 

[project86]

Quote:

Hello everyone!

The concerto looks like a nice dac upgrade for me (I just put in an order for a Burson Soloist today). It meets my criteria perfectly ....It's transportable, does not occupy too much desk space and has a clean, neutral sound. My biggest concern with the Concero is the revelation of bad recordings. I have some albums that are not exactly recorded in the highest caliber (for instance, Robert Plant's "Dreamland"). Does the Concero really make albums like these unlistenable, or is the difference more subtle?

If someone could elucidate a little on the Concero/Soloist pairing, I'd be rather appreciative

. Oh, and any comparisons vs the Dacport LX (my current dac) would be rather welcome as well.

 
I agree with MorbidToaster here - you should be able to enjoy everything in your collection, to the extent that it is actually possible. Some recordings truly are crap, but the Concero doesn't make them sound any worse than other revealing equipment would.
 
That said, I'd make sure not to play some Reference Recordings/Mapleshade/Linn/Chesky tracks back to back with your poor recordings. It will be a shock to the ears!
 
Quote:

Did anyone manage to get the concero work with the Squeezebox touch through USB? It's a no go for me so far. The LED is blue but nothing comes out.
It works through Coax but only when I plug the concero on my phone's USB charger.

 
I no longer have my Touch but it wouldn't surprise me that it isn't working. It seemed to only work with about 50% of the DACs I tried. Too bad....

 

[Clemmaster]

Quote:

I no longer have my Touch but it wouldn't surprise me that it isn't working. It seemed to only work with about 50% of the DACs I tried. Too bad....

 
Yeah... It's seems the Invicta does not fully work (cf. the compatibility list for the EDO applet). One needs to play a file on a PC first and then the Squeezebox Touch can play any file with the same sample rate. This is not convenient but 99% of my collection is Redbook so it might not be a big deal.
 
I will try that
 
It is not fully USB Class 2 complient I suppose...

 

[SlingBlade]

I am curious about how this DAC compares to the Metrum Octave. I know the Octave is NOS, so it's not apples to apples but would they be about on the same level? I've been scoping the Octave but a clean one box solution sure does have its appeal in the Concero.

 

[project86]

Quote:

I am curious about how this DAC compares to the Metrum Octave. I know the Octave is NOS, so it's not apples to apples but would they be about on the same level? I've been scoping the Octave but a clean one box solution sure does have its appeal in the Concero.

 
I've heard the Octave on several occasions but never in my own system. So it's tough to say. I did like what I heard though. It seemed like a somewhat more colored sound as compared to the Concero, but in a good way, so it could be desirable. But again - that could be some other aspect of the system at work. 

 

[khaine1711]

Quote:

I am curious about how this DAC compares to the Metrum Octave. I know the Octave is NOS, so it's not apples to apples but would they be about on the same level? I've been scoping the Octave but a clean one box solution sure does have its appeal in the Concero.

 
In short, the Octave was (far) better. I'm lazy and kinda don't want to write lengthy impressions 

 
However, you'll need good transport for the Octave to shine - factoring that in you'll looking at 2x-3x the price of the concero at least so I'm not sure how one could compare the two.

 

[Clemmaster]

Quote:

 
In short, the Octave was (far) better. I'm lazy and kinda don't want to write lengthy impressions 

 
However, you'll need good transport for the Octave to shine - factoring that in you'll looking at 2x-3x the price of the concero at least so I'm not sure how one could compare the two.

 
Was?
Did you sell/return one of them?
 
I received the Concero but, sadly, it does not interwork with my Squeezebox Touch (EDO). I intended to use it as both a standalone DAC and a TOTL USB-SPDIF converter for my Metrum Quad.
 
If it cannot work with the SBT I will need to get a laptop. In this case, I might well get an Octave MkII and use software upsampling (JRiver).
 
So, unless I find something very special with the Concero + Quad pairing, if the compatibility is not assured in the future, I shall send it back and rethink my whole transport setup.

 

[EraserXIV]

Resonessence is trying to work on the squeezebox issue, hopefully they work something out: https://twitter.com/resonessence/status/315848621528604672

 

[khaine1711]

Yes, I'm doing "Dac deathmatch" until one Dac comes out on top. Coming up next is the Octave vs Chord dac

.
 
Transport-wise I found native mode sound best (i.e. I got no use for the upsampling feature - and I really wish(ed) hardware upsampling provides better result than software; turns out it's not the case).It's pretty neat though, 4x upsampling for red book cd; and automatically changed to native mode if you feed it 192hz materials, no need to configure or press any buttons. 
 
I would probably get the Concero again to compare with JKSPDIF and AP2, once I've settled with a DAC. 
 
Quote:

 
Was?
Did you sell/return one of them?
 
So, unless I find something very special with the Concero + Quad pairing, if the compatibility is not assured in the future, I shall send it back and rethink my whole transport setup.

 

[swmtnbiker]

Well guys, after reading the bulk of this thread and swapping a couple of emails with Mark I bit on the Concero. I've been auditioning a number of DACs over the past few months, looking for an upgrade over my CIAudio VDA-1/VAC-1 combo paired with my Crack + Speedball and HD 650. Here's what I've had in the line so far:
 
Yulong D100 MKII
Schiit Bifrost
Meridian Explorer
Peachtree Audio DAC-iT
Schiit Magni
HRT MusicStreamer II
HRT MicroStreamer
Arcam rDAC
Audioengine D1
 
None of these have bested my Channel Islands Audio gear IMO, so I'm hoping the Concero breaks the losing streak. I also have a Benchmark DAC1 USB on the way. From a strictly economic perspective, my hopes lie with the Resonessence DAC.

 

[Theogenes]

Quote:

Well guys, after reading the bulk of this thread and swapping a couple of emails with Mark I bit on the Concero. I've been auditioning a number of DACs over the past few months, looking for an upgrade over my CIAudio VDA-1/VAC-1 combo paired with my Crack + Speedball and HD 650. Here's what I've had in the line so far:
 
Yulong D100 MKII
Schiit Bifrost
Meridian Explorer
Peachtree Audio DAC-iT
Schiit Magni
HRT MusicStreamer II
HRT MicroStreamer
Arcam rDAC
Audioengine D1
 
None of these have bested my Channel Islands Audio gear IMO, so I'm hoping the Concero breaks the losing streak. I also have a Benchmark DAC1 USB on the way. From a strictly economic perspective, my hopes lie with the Resonessence DAC.

 
I have the CI combo as well, and when I tried it last (albeit without the VAC-1), I found it significantly less resolving than my D100 (Mk I). Do you find the VAC makes a significant difference? Also, may I ask what you're feeding signal-wise into your VDA-2? I got a V-Link 192 just so I could try out the CIA stuff, and I was disappointed enough with it to switch back to the D100 before I even got the umbilical needed to use the VAC-1. 
 
Sorry for the OT, we can take this to PM if need be. Great avatar btw

 

[swmtnbiker]

Quote:

 
I have the CI combo as well, and when I tried it last (albeit without the VAC-1), I found it significantly less resolving than my D100 (Mk I). Do you find the VAC makes a significant difference? Also, may I ask what you're feeding signal-wise into your VDA-2? I got a V-Link 192 just so I could try out the CIA stuff, and I was disappointed enough with it to switch back to the D100 before I even got the umbilical needed to use the VAC-1. 
 
Sorry for the OT, we can take this to PM if need be. Great avatar btw

 
To be honest I've been using the VAC-1 with the DAC for so long that I can't remember what the VDA-1 is like without it (although I still have the walwart). In my rig the D100 MK11 had a much flatter presentation than the CIAudio gear, which was superior in soundstage, depth, and air. The Yulong was probably a bit less flaccid in the low frequencies, but other than that I preferred Dusty's stuff to it by a pretty large margin. I'm hoping that Canada can do better than China in this regard.
 
And thanks for the compliment on the avatar. Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what-have-you's.
 
Forgot to mention source. PC FLAC bit-perfect output via JRiver Media Center (WASAPI Event Style) TOSLINK to the VDA-1. I used USB out when available to all of my runners-up, TOSLINK when it wasn't.

 

[Clemmaster]

Quote:

Yes, I'm doing "Dac deathmatch" until one Dac comes out on top. Coming up next is the Octave vs Chord dac

.
 
Transport-wise I found native mode sound best (i.e. I got no use for the upsampling feature - and I really wish(ed) hardware upsampling provides better result than software; turns out it's not the case).It's pretty neat though, 4x upsampling for red book cd; and automatically changed to native mode if you feed it 192hz materials, no need to configure or press any buttons. 
 
I would probably get the Concero again to compare with JKSPDIF and AP2, once I've settled with a DAC. 
 

 
What's wrong with the Octave? Aren't you fully happy?
 
I also went in a Dac deathmatch in the last 4 months during which I owned the Reference 5.32, NFB-27 and, recently, the Concero. So far the Metrum Quad survived them all
Will have to investigate with the Concero on a laptop in native mode (no remote) to see how it partners the Quad.
 
I'm really considering the Octave mkII which would be a double upgrade and all-in-one solution I am after (yet with proprietary drivers...).