gebo
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2011
- Posts
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- 10
project86: Thank you very much!Tough to say, as it really depends on what I'm in the mood for at that particular moment. As I mentioned in the write-up - the Niimbus really lets you hear the true character of the source, even highlighting the differences in transport quality (which can be tough to discern in many other situations).
I spent a lot of time with the Resonessence Signature DAC, along with a modded HD800. That combo is about as transparent as it gets without resorting to Stax. Supremely neutral and revealing of every little detail, without being overly bright or boring. A true reference sound that works best with exceptional recordings, very unforgiving on lesser material.
The W4S Anniversary Edition is nearly as revealing, but also a bit thicker, more tonally dense, more impactful. I like it best with Susvara and a few others too. Excellent for electronica of all types, beautiful with classic rock, and a lot more tolerable with mediocre material.
The Assemblage DAC is rich, creamy fun. Better than the Sonic Frontiers which is also fun but a bit too dark for my tastes. This is my choice, paired with the original HE1000 or Abyss, for playing modern recordings that aren't exactly audiophile quality, as well as grimey hiphop and rock like Bad Brains etc.
The Exogal comet Plus is actually very close to the Assemblage. The Niimbus let me hear the improvement made by the upgraded WyWyres umbilical between DAC and PSU. Anyone searching for that classic Assemblage PCM1704 sound from a modern, reliable package that can also do hi-res/DSD, this is your machine.
The new iFi Pro iDSD is actually very similar to the Resonessence Labs sound, for 3x less money. It's not quite on the same level, but goes pretty far in that same direction. Also you can easily tweak it to sound warmer/smoother/etc. Very impressed with it thus far.
I could go on and on. Basically all of these sound great, while some other DACs (my Esoteric D-07x for example) show themselves to be lacking considering the competition.
One additional question: What are the differences between the „Standard“ Resonessence Labs Mirus Pro and the „Signature Series“?