[Honkymagoo]

Got my Sennheiser 650's in. I only had a few minutes to listen at lunch, but I like what I hear so far.

The Last Time I Saw Richard off of Joni Mitchell's Blue album is a good test track for me, particularly the 3 minute mark till the end. It normally is a little harsh, but the DAC-1 plus the 650's played it the best I've ever heard. The Beyer 990's did pretty good, but the 650's are a solid improvement to my ears.

 

[oatmeal769]

I was considering this a while back but also lost interest due to a lack of reviews. Now I have a PS Audio DL-III, which is just dandy.
I did a 'Shoot-Out' between it and my other DAC, a Tianyun ZERO. (check my signature for a link) I'm now thinking about springing the $300 and doing a review on this as well.
I just love the idea of the Wolfson chip, seems like it's got some really nice clock and synch specs too. I'm a little worried about those op-amps in the output section, but maybe we'll see.

 

[Mehve]

Got my DAC_1 about a week ago, very happy with it so far. Wish I had more experience to compare it to, but I can at least vouch that this is a considerable step up from my OP637'd Prelude stereo output. Even better, the chronic blitter noise I had to deal with before with is finally a thing of the past.

 

[mastertrash]

I thought I'd chime in quickly here as well. I've had the LD Dac for a couple of months now, running it mostly at work with a LD MKV amp, HD650's with blue dragon cable and (on occasion) my unmodified AKG 701's. I also have a Benchmark DAC1 which I run as the source in my hi-fi system, and for occasional late night headphone use.

I haven't done any detailed head-to-head comparison of the two setups, though I've been tempted to do so. There does seem to be a lack of information on the LD dac, and while I was comfortable taking the leap based on price, topology and previous happy experiences with LD, others seem to be gunshy.

What I can say based on general impressions is that the LD Dac + MKV is at the very least competitive with my 2008 Benchmark as a headphone rig, and at lower cost. The sound is very smooth and beguiling, while retaining fabulous detail to my ears. Without doing an A/B comparison, my sense is that the LD dac is distinctly warmer than the Benchmark (while I suppose some of this could be related to the different amp, I never thought the ss MKV ever felt particularly warm before now). Of course, I feel that the overall system synergy between the HD650, blue moon, MKV and LD dac is excellent and this might be giving it an unfair advantage. Then again, the dac alone could just be a better solution than the Benchmark (for me anyway, YMMV)...

If people are interested, I could try to write up a real review and comparison between the dacs. I'd try running both of the dacs off of SPDIF into the MKV to remove the amplification advantage (or so it seems to me) that my LD rig has at the moment. I'm also curious about SPDIF vs. USB on the two, though I don't have the USB version of the Benchmark (unfortunately). Alternately, potential buyers could just rest assured that the dac (and especially the MKV+Dac+HD650 pairing) sounds wonderful to these ears and represents a whole lot of audio nirvana for the money.

 

[pekingduck]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mastertrash /img/forum/go_quote.gif Of course, I feel that the overall system synergy between the HD650, blue moon, MKV and LD dac is excellent and this might be giving it an unfair advantage. Then again, the dac alone could just be a better solution than the Benchmark (for me anyway, YMMV)...

WOW! That's probably the highest compliment you can give to the guys from Little Dot. The DAC1 is known to have great synergy with the HD650 and the phones are officially recommended by Benchmark.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mastertrash /img/forum/go_quote.gif If people are interested, I could try to write up a real review and comparison between the dacs. I'd try running both of the dacs off of SPDIF into the MKV to remove the amplification advantage (or so it seems to me) that my LD rig has at the moment.

Please do so! I am considering upgrading my current rig and have set my sights on either the Benchmark DAC1 HDR or the LD DAC + MKVII (balanced) combo.

 

[mastertrash]

I didn't mean to get ahead of myself there... I meant to suggest that it seems like a possibility given my seat of the pants assessment. What the heck -- I'll bring the LD gear home and give it a proper assessment sometime soon.

 

[oatmeal769]

I think I'll be buying one too, and I will test it against both the Zero and The PS Audio DL-III.

 

[hedmaster]

Mastertrash, I am excited to hear your full review. The mini you just gave us is very, very helpful. I was on the fence between the LD DAC 1 and the Keces 131 MKII. Well, I went with the Keces.

It does sound nice(Keces), but if I could get the LD, with plans on upgrading my EF2 amp to an LD SS, then I would save a whole lot of desktop space. We'll have to see, as it is also a crap shoot as to whether or not you can sell something on the forums lately.

Thanks for taking the time to do this mastertrash, it is greatly appreciated.

Matt

 

[Adda]

I very interested in a review as well, it was kind of a gamble when I bought my LD DAC_I, I feel it was an excellent buy though.
But would really like to know where it's placed in terms of sound quality compared to other products, the DAC_I is the only good DAC I have ever heard., but how good is it?

 

[pekingduck]

From David @ little-dot...

Quote:

We will be releasing the Little Dot DAC_II near the end of November. It will cost slightly more at 289 USD plus shipping, and will have a built-in headphone amplifier with performance on par (and essentially identical) with our portable Little Dot MK I+. The DAC functionality is exactly the same as the current Little Dot DAC_I. Essentially it will serve as an "all-in-one" package for those who desire the convenience of consolidation.

Viewing a thread - Little Dot DAC_I Digital to Analog Converter

 

[HypnoLobster]

I'm seriously considering this. I'm selling my upgraded Zero DAC because I never used it, but this would be really nice. I decided to sell the Zero because I did't want or need a built in headphone amp in the DAC.

Plus the case will match my Little Dot MkIII match

 

[oatmeal769]

I'm going to KEEP my Zero, and SELL my PS Audio DAC, to buy this...

 

[ford2]

Been listening to mine for the last 2 days now,very nice dac indeed,running mine at 96khz with slow filter balanced output into there Mk V11 amp,sounds sweet.

 

[vlach]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HypnoLobster /img/forum/go_quote.gif Plus the case will match my Little Dot MkIII match

Well, yes and no...according to the specs, the DAC_1 is 217mm wide and the Little Dot Mklll is 175mm wide, therefore they have the same shape & style but not the same width unfortunately.

 

[ford2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vlach /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, yes and no...according to the specs, the DAC_1 is 217mm wide and the Little Dot Mklll is 175mm wide, therefore they have the same shape & style but not the same width unfortunately.

It would still look good sitting on top of the dac,or get the MK V11 its identical in size.