[chesebert]

Cambridge is definitely more established and will likely be around in 5 years or longer. No clue about Holo. Jeff was just a guy a couple of years back. The Holo DAC looks good and Jeff's idea of a compensation ladder is pretty smart.

 

[OCC7N]

I mean this thing looks too good to be true:
https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/eur/en/products/evo/evo-150

Ncore400?..maybe

 

[chesebert]

Do you even need an amp for ATC?

 

[OCC7N]

I didnt buy the 40A so yeah

 

[chesebert]

I didnt buy the 40A so yeah

Okay. You need a beefy amp. It’s a hard load to drive. I don’t have any experience with class D with ATC. I have always heard ATC with big class A and A/B amps. MSB analog dac would be a good fit for ATC - it’s a big sounding speaker and a bit too monitor like for me.

 

[chesebert]

Saw someone selling Weiss dac 501 on Agon. You should probably jump on that. I think Weiss works well with ATC. I heard their studio version dac 1 and it was fantastic and a good value.

 

[OCC7N]

Okay. You need a beefy amp. It’s a hard load to drive. I don’t have any experience with class D with ATC. I have always heard ATC with big class A and A/B amps. MSB analog dac would be a good fit for ATC - it’s a big sounding speaker and a bit too monitor like for me.

I have heard from alot of people that has it with Class D. It should be fine with Hypex, Pascal or Purifi modules.

Saw someone selling Weiss dac 501 on Agon. You should probably jump on that. I think Weiss works well with ATC. I heard their studio version dac 1 and it was fantastic and a good value.

Funny you say that last night I spend time researching the Weis DAC1 MK3. I did not see that model you are mentioning, but from pictures it does look good.

I also looked at Crane Song Solaris. Its not HiFi oriented but it does sound awesome they say.

 

[chesebert]

Another well liked dac by mastering engineers. At high end, studio dacs I have heard all have this high resolution, liquid, non fatigue, non-digital like sound with high sound density and weighty notes. These would include Weiss, dCS and Emm Labs.

 

[OCC7N]

Its not a secret Class D is neutral….a little thin. Some say more precise. What ever the term or description. I like my Pascal Pro2 module in my amp….

…that a side I was thinking of also including a low wattage Class A(Tube and SS)preamp after the DAC, into the Class D amp.

 

[OCC7N]

Another well liked dac by mastering engineers. At high end, studio dacs I have heard all have this high resolution, liquid, non fatigue, non-digital like sound with high sound density and weighty notes. These would include Weiss, dCS and Emm Labs.

Emm Labs I have not heard of yet....maybe in the days where gearspace was gearslutz......Why did they change the name. Someone got offended?

 

[OCC7N]

I asked for price, local dealer:
Weiss DAC1 mk3
Weiss DAC502 mk2
Crane Song Solaris....

I forgot to mention Bricasti though

 

[OCC7N]

Well i cant seem to find any spec on the headphone out. If it can play out my Arya with "ease" I am getting closer

https://www.weiss.ch/products/dac501-dac502

Normally I see watt output but the ones I see are very low.

Headphone Output:
(1) stereo 1/4-inch jack connector, DC coupled. The output level is selectable via the LCD menu; four level settings are provided as shown below:



Headphone output with a 0 dBFS sine wave input:
0 dB setting: 6.8 Vrms +18.9 dBu
-10 dB setting: 
2.2 Vrms +8.9 dBu
-20 dB setting: 0.68 Vrms -1.1 dBu
-30 dB setting: 0.22 Vrms -11.1 dBu

These levels are achieved with a 0.0 dB setting for the level control on the LCD screen.

Suggested headphone impedances:
0 dB setting: 200 Ω or higher

-10 dB setting: 30 Ω or higher

-20 dB setting: 10 Ω or higher

-30 dB setting: 4 Ω or higher



The same parameters apply to the 4 pin headphone output of the DAC502 as well.

 

[chesebert]

I would avoid AIO at this level. but I have no experience with 501/502, just their dac1 which I don’t think has a headphone out.

 

[OCC7N]

I ordered Benchmark AHB2(rackversion) for the speakers.

Still need DAC, Headphone AMP, preamp.

I am trying to gather the whole setup in rack, including PC.

So rackversion is most interresting

 

[OCC7N]

I would avoid AIO at this level. but I have no experience with 501/502, just their dac1 which I don’t think has a headphone out.

They are pretty excited about the Weiss DAC501:


Later in the video they say that the 502 is just wider. But I see a XLR 4pin port also on the 502. If thats the only difference I am going for the small one.