[stevenlongs]

Thanks for the recommendations gwarmi & spkrs01!
 
It seems like reviews come few past a certain price point.  What makes it harder is that a lot of the expensive dacs are also great performers and not many significant changes will separate one from another.  I wish a reviewer like project86 could get a hold of everything, but even then, at the end of the day it is only the opinion of one single person. I guess I will have to just take the plunge at some point and see what the fuss is about. Thanks guys.
This is probably why meets are so valued and appreciated...

 

[project86]

Quote:

Thanks for the recommendations gwarmi & spkrs01!
 
It seems like reviews come few past a certain price point.  What makes it harder is that a lot of the expensive dacs are also great performers and not many significant changes will separate one from another.  I wish a reviewer like project86 could get a hold of everything, but even then, at the end of the day it is only the opinion of one single person. I guess I will have to just take the plunge at some point and see what the fuss is about. Thanks guys.
This is probably why meets are so valued and appreciated...

 
Yep, very good points. The differences between nice DACs like the Audio GD Reference 7, Violectric V800, Anedio D1/D2, Yulong D18, are relatively subtle. Once you get to a high enough level there is less room for major differences. They are there, but not so easy to quickly spot in my experience. 
 
To some extent that makes it less of a burden to find one that works for you. 

 

[Gwarmi]

I cannot speak for the Anedio or Yulong but after spending some time with the Audio-gd Reference 7.1
and the Esoteric D07x - once attuned to their respective 'flavours' The Esoteric is even after a
few brief minutes - to my ears - the better DAC for sure, it exudes a certain naturalness and
effortlessness that seems to be missing from the Kingwa product. Hardly fair though, we're
comparing a $2000 unit to a $5000 unit. Even though I'm not die-hard believer that price taggery
always rules the day - in this instance, I believe it does.
 
Now I did hear from an acquaintance that he had the chance to listen to a MSB Diamond
Plus optioned DAC and to quote his very own words (not mine) - 'The Reference 7.1
sounded and looked like a toy by comparison' 
 
Not that I can see any looming future opportunities to confirm or deny this for
myself when you consider the price of that thing. The optional Femto Galaxy Clock
is reportedly one of, if not the most sophisticated master clock available today.
 
 

 
 

 

[project86]

Meh, a lot of people just go crazy over a high priced component because of the price. It's like when people are in the presence of a celebrity, they get all embarrassed or star-struck. Your friend may have been legitimately impressed or may just have been in awe of the price and fancy casework.
 
Yes, some high priced DACs do in fact sound great. But take away the awe and wonder of it all, and I don't feel they are much different from the exceptional units costing substantially less. This is after owning various heavy hitters from Chord, Levinson, MBL, Esoteric, and others. 
 
I haven't heard the new Esoteric D-07x, but I did spend time with the original D-07, and I don't think there is a substantial differences between them (async USB and headphone jack). The D-07 is on one end of the sound spectrum, the Audio GD on the other. So I can see where that would paint a picture of a clear difference. Interestingly, to me the D-07 was not very enjoyable. That just shows how we all have different preferences and thus why there will always be a demand for "different" sounding gear. 

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

Meh, a lot of people just go crazy over a high priced component because of the price. It's like when people are in the presence of a celebrity, they get all embarrassed or star-struck. Your friend may have been legitimately impressed or may just have been in awe of the price and fancy casework.
 
Yes, some high priced DACs do in fact sound great. But take away the awe and wonder of it all, and I don't feel they are much different from the exceptional units costing substantially less. This is after owning various heavy hitters from Chord, Levinson, MBL, Esoteric, and others. 
 
I haven't heard the new Esoteric D-07x, but I did spend time with the original D-07, and I don't think there is a substantial differences between them (async USB and headphone jack). The D-07 is on one end of the sound spectrum, the Audio GD on the other. So I can see where that would paint a picture of a clear difference. Interestingly, to me the D-07 was not very enjoyable. That just shows how we all have different preferences and thus why there will always be a demand for "different" sounding gear. 

 
 Yes that's so true - I have immense respect for the Reference 7.1, I can take a step back and understand
 why it demands and deserves the attention that it receives. Perhaps I'm just a little funny but the newish
 Esoteric D07x was the first DAC right off the bat that had me thinking within minutes that I would have no qualms
 in jettisoning my Rega DAC + Audiophilleo off a high rise building if in exchange this Esoteric unit would
 be the replacement.
 
 Not to derail the thread any further but there are few suspect mid rangers out there that continue to puzzle me
 - most notably the Schiit Audio BiFrost and Cambridge Audio DacMagic+. The Bifrost is a bit digital, a constant
 reminder that this is music coming off the laptop, it never convinced me in any real sense.
 
 The DacMagic+ was also a shrilly mid range unit to my ears - bit more detailed than the Bifrost but the higher
 frequencies were glared and nasty. Still, plenty of folk would disagree with me - their popularity speaks
 volumes.

 

[stevenlongs]

Well, I went ahead and bought the EE Minimax plus from the member allyl.
 
I hope it will sound good to my ears paired with the V200.  I would have liked to try the Violectric stack but the box is just too expensive 

.
Those MSB "things" look alien to me due to the pricetag. 
 
I am very impressed and delighted with what I am hearing through the V200. I don't have a comparison or reference point of any kind but to my ears the money was well worth it. It is musically and emotionally captivating.

 

[Gwarmi]

 Occasionally it can take time for true appreciation of a product to really sink in. I've never been disappointed with the performance and synergy
 of the V200 with my Grado PS1000's - the only niggle that I had was that sometimes I wished for a slightly more forward presentation which
 is more of a trait of the PS1000's than anything else - the V200 has a very good mids presentation generally speaking.
 
 After spending some time with the new Burson Soloist and RSA Raptor - it reaffirmed my contentment with the V200, the Burson
 works really well with the Audeze range but on the PS1000 - it appears to be a tad bloated and the mids do not come forward
 anymore so than on the V200. The Raptor changes all of that by bringing things forward but there is simply too much gain
 on that thing - I've never seen anyone turn beyond 9 o clock on the Raptor and even then - that is a tonne of volume.
 
 Its a great listen at the end of the day - you just have to audition many other contenders out there to come back to
 how good this unit really is.

 

[hifuguy]

Hi Guys....
 
Well I'm seriously excited.... I have ordered a V200 today from Robert at AphroditeCu29. He was indeed very nice an helpful.
 
Thanks to everyone here for doing such a good job of sharing your experiences with the V200. I most likely would have glossed over and dismissed the V200 without you guys. It's amazing how many people, with such different headphone types, with such different headphone brands/models love the V200. You have to work at finding a disparaging comment anywhere. Even tube-guys kinda like it! What a unique happening  at Head-Fi!
 
I look forward to adding my thoughts to the thread when it arrives and gets settled-in.
 
With Best Regards.... Happy Listening!

 

[WNBC]

This tube guy liked the V200 as well.  It's one of those fantastic all-purpose amps.  Money no object, I would still have one, but unfortunately I gotta feed this tube addiction.  

 
 
Quote:

Hi Guys....
 
Even tube-guys kinda like it! What a unique happening  at Head-Fi!

 

[caracara08]

This tube guy liked the V200 as well.  It's one of those fantastic all-purpose amps.  Money no object, I would still have one, but unfortunately I gotta feed this tube addiction.  

100 % feel the same way as you. I thought the v200 was nothing short of amazing. I hope when finances allow, ill buy another one and try out the v800

 

[dukeskd]

Quote:

 
 Yes that's so true - I have immense respect for the Reference 7.1, I can take a step back and understand
 why it demands and deserves the attention that it receives. Perhaps I'm just a little funny but the newish
 Esoteric D07x was the first DAC right off the bat that had me thinking within minutes that I would have no qualms
 in jettisoning my Rega DAC + Audiophilleo off a high rise building if in exchange this Esoteric unit would
 be the replacement.
 
 Not to derail the thread any further but there are few suspect mid rangers out there that continue to puzzle me
 - most notably the Schiit Audio BiFrost and Cambridge Audio DacMagic+. The Bifrost is a bit digital, a constant
 reminder that this is music coming off the laptop, it never convinced me in any real sense.
 
 The DacMagic+ was also a shrilly mid range unit to my ears - bit more detailed than the Bifrost but the higher
 frequencies were glared and nasty. Still, plenty of folk would disagree with me - their popularity speaks
 volumes.

 
One DAC that isn't much discussed in this forum is the Mytek 192 DSD DAC, that can play SACDs through USB/Firewire, you can read my review here:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/622248/review-mytek-stereo-192-dsd-dac-preamp-amplifier

 

[madbull]

I'm so lazy to search for this info... can the V200 drive the HE-6 and LCD-3 properly?
 

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

I'm so lazy to search for this info... can the V200 drive the HE-6 and LCD-3 properly?
 

 
Yes...but not the best synergy IMO with regards to the LCD-3s. But not enough to properly drive the HE-6s.

 

[Gwarmi]

 Yes I can second that ~ the LCD3 is the only headphone that comes to mind off the bat that the V200 simply does not like. It makes
 for a very muddy, warbly marriage

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

 Yes I can second that ~ the LCD3 is the only headphone that comes to mind off the bat that the V200 simply does not like. It makes
 for a very muddy, warbly marriage

You can add the Schiit Lyr to that list as well. It was fantastic with the LCD-2.2s, but a real let down with the LCD-3s.