[Somnambulist]

From what I've heard availability of the M51, scarce already, is only going to get worse, and consequently the price is probably going to be bumped up further. I was talking to the dealer I purchased my M51 from today and he expected due to upcoming reviews from the usual mags combined with NADs somewhat interesting take on supply/demand, that most people would be waiting around 6 months to get one, and the price is going to be hiked from £1500 here to £1800 or even £2000.
 
I got mine for £1300 as part of a special weekender thing so I'm sorted and will now avoid going in new DAC threads for several years!
 
Quote:

Hmmm, D18 or Anedio or M51, damn to many choices

 

[Blackmumba]

the d18 is a good value for money purchase, probably to bump up to the next level isn't going to be such a return in quality for your dosh.

 

[cfcmick]

Quote:

I have held off a few days to listen to my new D18 and sort out some computer problems that almost caused me to put it back in the box without a fair test. Other than the wonderful and detailed review presented in the beginning of this thread I have not really seen much written about the D18. I set up the D18 with my La Figaro 332C (I also have an Audio gd 2.2 for comparison). I use my computer as my only source. I have hundreds of lossless music files and a few sacd files. I listen to classical, jazz vocals and pop music. My headphones of choice at the moment are the HE-500. When I first set up the D18 things were not going well. I had sox enabled in Foobar to upsample and the sound was really awful. I discovered the next day that I had a driver conflict with my Xonar D2X which was causing this problem. I only mention this because someone else might have the same experience. The fault was entirely the software. I corrected the problem and the D18 came to life. Thereafter I used my computer to upsample everything on the fly to 192kbs. The D18 responded with a very high level of musical reproduction. I have not had experience with many of the current high end dacs but I could not imagine one that could substantially surpass the performance of the D18. I had an M2Tech Hiface 2 on order but it arrived after I had the D18 for three days. In the meantime I was using optical out from my computer to drive the D18 and while not awe inspiring it was damn good,
 
The Hiface arrived and it was very simple to set up. I turned on one of my usual classical pieces and my jaw dropped. I am not easily moved to tears but the difference in playing the source files through the Hiface was not subtle. It was very obvious that what is a very good dac could become a true musical masterpiece with the addition of a good low jitter digital source. Yulong chose not to include the usb interface in his product I am sure for cost reasons. He also made the comment somewhere that such devices had become common so he did not feel the need. Well, I can state with certainty that the addition of the Hiface 2 made a world of difference by expanding the soundstage, increasing transparency and correcting tonality to the point of absolute accuracy. I have been an audiophile for over thirty years. I have never heard sound like this from any system. This is truly an example of the music being just as good as the source recording. No better no worse. The D18 cannot make a bad recording good  but it can take well recorded material and reproduce it with exceptional accuracy. The only real issue I have with the original review in this thread is that I do not believe to me that the top end is warm, rolled or missing anything. I respect the fact that it might not be so in everyones system. In my setup I can find not fault.
 
I find the D18 to be a true joy and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in a dac upgrade. I do feel that you must spend the extra money on a good usb converter to really experience the D18 at it's best. For now, I am enjoying going back over my old music files and experiencing them all over again through an entirely new window. Yulong has truly brought us a gift.

Interesting... Is your computer a Mac or PC (windows)? And was all your listening done via headphones or does your review include 2 Channel (speakers)?
 
Thanks.

 

[Chodi]

Quote:

Interesting... Is your computer a Mac or PC (windows)? And was all your listening done via headphones or does your review include 2 Channel (speakers)?
 
Thanks.

Sorry for the late reply just noticed your post. All my listening is done using headphones (either T1 or HE 500). My computer is a pc running Windows 7 x64. I have had more time with this setup since my review and my feeling has not changed one bit. I think the D18 is outstanding but I caution that without the Hiface Two the results will not be as impressive. There are other usb interfaces available but I cannot speak to how they will work with the D18.

 

[cfcmick]

Quote:

Sorry for the late reply just noticed your post. All my listening is done using headphones (either T1 or HE 500). My computer is a pc running Windows 7 x64. I have had more time with this setup since my review and my feeling has not changed one bit. I think the D18 is outstanding but I caution that without the Hiface Two the results will not be as impressive. There are other usb interfaces available but I cannot speak to how they will work with the D18.

 
Will definitely check it out. Thanks for getting back to me.
 

 

[joashtzh]

How does the d18 compare to the DAC in the centrance dacmini? 

 

[project86]

Quote:

How does the d18 compare to the DAC in the centrance dacmini? 

 
Sorry, I haven't heard the DACmini yet, maybe someone else has experience with both? I know some people who are fairly pleased with the CEntrance unit though, so it seems like a nice choice. 

 

[customNuts]

Quote:

to : customNuts

1. i would like to hear your review  for d18 pairing with master 5.  i got master 6  and using squeezebox to play 24/96. (my dac only takes 24/96)
 
24/192 is too attractive when you got the 192 files but only limited to 96.
 
2. i also hope you can make comparsion between d18 and ref 7.1 pairing with master 5, which one  you like most?
 
thank you.

Sorry for the delays guys, been moving house - not fun.
 
Ok, so before I packed everything I had a quick session comparing the yulong D18/A18 vs Ref 7.1/Master 5 and variations. 
The Ref 7.1 has an excellent jitter killing dsp and doesn't sound very different with or without my turbo clock OR5 so I just used optical out of my custom built PC. The d18 got the OR5. 
 
So the audio-gd setup pulled ahead technically  - as you'd expect - with more air, extension (both ends) & micro detail. Very precise, & neutral. This is a true reference setup and it is pretty unforgiving of mp3 or average recordings. Of course it delivers in spades with reference recordings. There was a touch more grain than the yulongs. 
 
Now the Yulong system was a real surprise. This is one nice system. Quite different to anything I have owned before. The music just pops, big time. Great sound stage, holographic, beautiful imaging and smooth, warm signature. It is also far less brutal with average recordings. The most musical system I have heard and I love it. 
 
So to compare, the audio-gd is the more advanced system, & the yulong is the less precise, more fun alternative with a great wow factor.. Depends on your budget and sound sig preference. For its size & cost, the yulong is hard to beat. Its fun, cheap (for it's performance) relaxed & forgiving.  The Audio-gd is a reference setup for precise neutrality and still musicality to boot. Deep bass and beautiful tonality.  
 
I had great results combining the d18 & M5. It literally combined the 2 sigs and gave me the best of both worlds. Still for the best of either sound presentation, the complete system is the way to go ie d18/A18 or R7.1/M5,  depends on what your after. Modded D7000 & T1's where my fav on the yulong.
 
Hope that helps a bit.

 

[WiR3D]

Quote:

Sorry for the delays guys, been moving house - not fun.
 
Ok, so before I packed everything I had a quick session comparing the yulong D18/A18 vs Ref 7.1/Master 5 and variations. 
The Ref 7.1 has an excellent jitter killing dsp and doesn't sound very different with or without my turbo clock OR5 so I just used optical out of my custom built PC. The d18 got the OR5. 
 
So the audio-gd setup pulled ahead technically  - as you'd expect - with more air, extension (both ends) & micro detail. Very precise, & neutral. This is a true reference setup and it is pretty unforgiving of mp3 or average recordings. Of course it delivers in spades with reference recordings. There was a touch more grain than the yulongs. 
 
Now the Yulong system was a real surprise. This is one nice system. Quite different to anything I have owned before. The music just pops, big time. Great sound stage, holographic, beautiful imaging and smooth, warm signature. It is also far less brutal with average recordings. The most musical system I have heard and I love it. 
 
So to compare, the audio-gd is the more advanced system, & the yulong is the less precise, more fun alternative with a great wow factor.. Depends on your budget and sound sig preference. For its size & cost, the yulong is hard to beat. Its fun, cheap (for it's performance) relaxed & forgiving.  The Audio-gd is a reference setup for precise neutrality and still musicality to boot. Deep bass and beautiful tonality.  
 
I had great results combining the d18 & M5. It literally combined the 2 sigs and gave me the best of both worlds. Still for the best of either sound presentation, the complete system is the way to go ie d18/A18 or R7.1/M5,  depends on what your after. Modded D7000 & T1's where my fav on the yulong.
 
Hope that helps a bit.

I would have thought the more ruthless dac and the forgiving amp would be the way to go (R7.1 + A18) interesting. Thanks! but since the M8 is twice the price of the A18.... I'm gonna be broke forever.....

 

[customNuts]

Quote:

I would have thought the more ruthless dac and the forgiving amp would be the way to go (R7.1 + A18) interesting. Thanks! but since the M8 is twice the price of the A18.... I'm gonna be broke forever.....

I know, so did I. I always thought neutral dac, musical amp was the way to go, but the results speak for them selves. 
It does go the other way though, r7.1 & A18 was just as impressive but the A18 not being fully balanced falls behind the M5 a touch. Also I needed the preamp for my active's so I spent more time with the d/18m5. Still, the A18 is a wicked musical amp for the money, highly recommended. 

 

[brunk]

Quote:

I know, so did I. I always thought neutral dac, musical amp was the way to go, but the results speak for them selves.

 
I have been saying this for a while now, it's about time someone else jumped in!
 
I have been using the Schiit Mjolnir amp with the Yulong D18 and the synergy between the two are very good. With the D18's unique soundstage and natural warmth, combined with Mjolnirs ultra transparency and control, it's simply highly addictive! I just can't get away from it lol. Someone else give the Mjolnir a try that owns the D18 so they can see what I'm talking about. Just wonderful. Especially at $1.5k for the pair, there's no way you can ask for more in terms of pure sound quality.
 

 

[ttan98]

Hi,
 
I am not sure whether this question has been asked before because I did read through all the postings here.
 
Question: When will Yulong release a new model of Sabre D18 which has a USB input?
 
Anyone has any idea. Thanks.

 

[brunk]

Quote:

Hi,
 
I am not sure whether this question has been asked before because I did read through all the postings here.
 
Question: When will Yulong release a new model of Sabre D18 which has a USB input?
 
Anyone has any idea. Thanks.

Maybe try emailing Grant Fidelity yourself and kindly posting the reply to this thread with their answer

 

[Grant Fidelity]

Or I can answer directly , nothing in the works regarding USB for the Sabre D-18, we point those wanting a high quality USB/SPDIF 24/96 reclocker to the Opera Consonance Box 1.1 which we have here:
http://shop.grantfidelity.com/Consonance-24-96-USB-to-SPDIF-converter.html
 
Cheers,
Ian

 

[xtend]

Quote:

Hi,
 
I am not sure whether this question has been asked before because I did read through all the postings here.
 
Question: When will Yulong release a new model of Sabre D18 which has a USB input?
 
Anyone has any idea. Thanks.

 I've read somewhere that they saved the USB input to achieve the low price and focus on sound quality.
 
You can add a M2Tech Hiface Two and you have a high-end 192kHz/24bits USB input on the D18