Filbert: i would love to hear your latest creations... also, i keep hearing word of this dac, but i've never heard or seen it...
We were having a normal mini meet/ a shootout between the VDA-2 and the Stello DA100, when a CD player decided to literally crash the party by walking right in (wow, was i shocked). I now have a suspicion as to where it came from, if i actually do get to keep it i'll give my transport to the wonderful young lady who let me do the shootout and let me borrow the 325i this afternoon.
in any case...
is my love affair with the 325i over? i seriously have to start asking this question. for the last year I've been absolutely amazed by the Grado's ability to out-speed, out-detail, out-rock and head nod and foot tap the HD650. but is it possible that the system i threw it up against today simply over ran it... that i have meet the limits of the 325i's potential to improve? I certainly feel that this is the case, an RS-1 would be more appropriate for this system a this point. for the first time, I heard the 325i and wasn't blown away... no, paradoxically it sounded dead, un-detailed, un exciting, and somewhat flat. I guess this is the magic of Sennheiser at play... at some point the HD650 will continue to improve as components do, while other cans will flatten out and become weak-links. I'm sorry Jocelyn, this time the 325i just doesn't get my toe tapping.
the DA100 is quite an amazing machine. forget that it can't do balanced (unless you seriously need it). I can't really claim pin point imaging, nor can i claim it to be the most neutral thing I've ever heard (it's warm, maybe a bit too warm with the HD650 sometimes), but it sure is just about the most musical dac I've heard and sounds exactly like the DP200. IronDreamer noted that he couldn't tell the difference between this and the 220, i thought he had tin-ears or wasn't trying hard enough.. i was wrong, the Stellos all do sound alike and I'd be hard pressed to find differences between them. Overall, the good things and bad things i perceived about the DP200 and VDA-2 are still the same but the HD650 is much less revealing than the K1000/F1, so they don't matter as much. I will add that the DA100 brought out all kinds of texture and "liveliness" and live like qualities that i hadn't heard on the VDA-2. if it wasn't for the VDA-2's superior soundstaging, i would be all over the da100....
don't take this as me saying one is better than the other. i actually think the da100 may be a better overall dac than the vda-2 (and maybe the lavry). However, there are things i have to consider... and i don't think i can give up the accuracy of the vda-2 just yet. both are fine dacs, and if you are looking at both, the only real question is whether you want something warm and musical v. something analytical.
the CD players:
I only got one day with the pioneer... it is a very fast, good looking player that can do other things if needed, and for 36 dollars i still consider it the best deal I've ever gotten. It replaced a toshiba that actually died a long time ago. It has a remote, a feature i only got to use once, but it was useful. It is what it is, so i can't say it inspires confidence or that it didn't skip a track or two once in a while, but i could live with that.
the Cambridge.... oh wow. Okay, so i got a story to tell. I'm A/bing between the DA100 and the VDA-2 when the fedex man calls my phone and tells me that i got a package downstairs. At first i thought it was my missing CD, but it wasn't... the box was far larger. i ended up opening it with caution, suspecting some type of practical joke and my friends to be filming me from the building across the courtyard... but no grass hoppers or locust jumped out. it was a box reading "Cambridge Audio." I panicked, i really did... looking to where it came from, i went straight for my computer and checked my CC and banking history to find out where it came from... but those resources yielded no results. i stared at it for about 5 minutes... and it came to me. I went over to the thread and saw no clues. right now i suspect ASR of this wonderful gift, but i proceed with caution.... is it you?
wow, this thing sure is confidence inspiring! a beautiful LCD, fast reading, fast opening, power light, and a perfect match with the Zana Deux and Stello da100. I'm looking at it as i type.. watching the seconds go from 45, 46, 47, 48, 49.... as i listen to the CD that i may have to give up...
Oh, if it serves as any measure... my un-audiophile roommate chose the VDA-2 over the da100 and Cambridge on a blind A/B/C test.
