[mcullinan]

Does it spank the Concero?

 

[superliu]

@Project86,
 
You should definetly try DA8+V200, The clarity of the sound of this combo is phenomenal (at least from my standard). Equiped V200 as amp, DA8 blow my prev D100 mk1 out of water so hard. I'm using single ended T1 and using PCM thru USB as source.
 
Thanks,
 
Robin

 

[mojolo]

Woohoo... My DA8 today. First impressions, no break in... I'm liking this a lot paired with the Soloist and LCD-2.3.

Previously I tried pairing the CIAudio VDA-2 with soloist/LCD but the VDA2, while a wonderfully analog sounding DAC, was a bit too smooth and warm with these two. While the DA8 can be considered warm too... it's all relative. The DA8 is a bit less warm than the VDA2, extends better on high frequencies, is more dynamic and has a wider sound stage. Anyway, will see if these impressions change at all once break in occurs and new toy syndrome wears off.

 

[Funklezen]

How would you say that the soloist compare with thebuild in amp of the da08, Thanks

 

[mojolo]

i tried the built in amp with the LCD2s briefly. an enjoyable sound overall but I found it slightly lacking the power to properly drive them... which isn't to say that it would have trouble driving all cans. it would probably do better with dynamic headphones and there have been a couple reports that it also matches very well with the HE-400s.

i next tried the DA8 feeding the WA7 amp section (with EH gold tubes). this was better but still lacked some bottom end. i also found it a tad bright for my taste... but I think I may be over-sensitive to this as I wouldn't call the pairing bright per se. still, some WA7 owners find the EH gold tubes to be too revealing & neutral and prefer the stock Sovteks, which provide a much warmer sound. I haven't tried the Sovteks in this set up yet.

to me, the Soloist & DA8 was the best match. warmer and more musical than the WA7 + EH golds IMHO. a deeper, richer and better controlled bottom end than the DA8 built-in amp, while also being more transparent and revealing of details. I would honestly be very disappointed if the soloist weren't better as a $1k standalone.

 

[mojolo]

oh yeah... and the DA8 USB dac >>>>> WA7 USB dac section (as it should be... but in case anyone was wunderin

 

[Funklezen]

Thanks Ruben.

Mmmmm Auralic Vega yummy. Thats definitely on my wish list.

The sotm sdp-1000 also looks nice and should be in the same league as the Vega

But also 2.5 the price of the da08 And Thanks mojolo for the reply, so many nice dacs/amps around :d

 

[project86]

Quote:

Does it spank the Concero?

 
 
Spank is a tough word, and the Concero is a supremely capable little guy. But I'd say DA8 is the better DAC by an appreciable amount. I'll have to do more back to back comparisons to find the specifics though. It will require some serious level matching - Concero has a lower than average output voltage. DA8, while claiming 2 Vrms on the RCA output, is slightly louder than my Invicta which is 2.3 Vrms. I compared them directly into my Stax amp switching back and forth between the two inputs, and the DA8 is definitely louder. I'll have to double check my setting on Invicta but I believe it was at full scale. So I'd have to engage the preamp section in the DA8 and turn it down by 5 dB or so, in order to match perfectly. On the plus side, I didn't notice any loss of SQ with the preamp section in play. Theoretically I love the idea of disabling it but so far it seems pretty transparent. 
 
Quote:

@Project86,
 
You should definetly try DA8+V200, The clarity of the sound of this combo is phenomenal (at least from my standard). Equiped V200 as amp, DA8 blow my prev D100 mk1 out of water so hard. I'm using single ended T1 and using PCM thru USB as source.
 
Thanks,
 
Robin

 
Tried that last night, and you're totally right! Very very good sound. The DA8 integrated amp is nice on its own, but the V200 definitely takes it to the next level. Deeper, more believable bass was the key thing I noticed - the built in amp is not deficient in that area, but the V200 is just sooooooo good at it. It made the integrated amp seem a bit limp and lifeless in comparison, like a good reproduction but not the real musical event. 
 
Quote:

i tried the built in amp with the LCD2s briefly. an enjoyable sound overall but I found it slightly lacking the power to properly drive them... which isn't to say that it would have trouble driving all cans. it would probably do better with dynamic headphones and there have been a couple reports that it also matches very well with the HE-400s.

i next tried the DA8 feeding the WA7 amp section (with EH gold tubes). this was better but still lacked some bottom end. i also found it a tad bright for my taste... but I think I may be over-sensitive to this as I wouldn't call the pairing bright per se. still, some WA7 owners find the EH gold tubes to be too revealing & neutral and prefer the stock Sovteks, which provide a much warmer sound. I haven't tried the Sovteks in this set up yet.

to me, the Soloist & DA8 was the best match. warmer and more musical than the WA7 + EH golds IMHO. a deeper, richer and better controlled bottom end than the DA8 built-in amp, while also being more transparent and revealing of details. I would honestly be very disappointed if the soloist weren't better as a $1k standalone.

 
Weird. I wouldn't say the integrated amp is lacking in power at all. I think it's just refinement as compared to a better dedicated amp. I think it delivers somewhere around 500-700mW into the LCD-2 which should be plenty in terms of quantity. It's the quality we are taking issue with, and compared to a reference stand alone amp then yes it is lacking some. But as you said, it's a great match with HE-400. 

 

[kwlinca]

Has anyone tried the DA8 with ciems?  What is the volume range like (e.g., number of useable steps)?
 

 

[mojolo]

Weird. I wouldn't say the integrated amp is lacking in power at all. I think it's just refinement as compared to a better dedicated amp. I think it delivers somewhere around 500-700mW into the LCD-2 which should be plenty in terms of quantity. It's the quality we are taking issue with, and compared to a reference stand alone amp then yes it is lacking some. But as you said, it's a great match with HE-400. 

To qualify, this is doing an A-B comparison with the Soloist. So if I'd listened to the DA8 amp on it's own, who knows. That said, Audeze recommend a min of 1w and actually prefer 2w to avoid clipping... the soloist outputs 1.28w into the LCD2, I believe. Nonetheless, I'm quite fond of the authority and refinement the Soloist brings to the table with the LCD-2, and I don't get the same sense of deep bass and control from the DA8 amp. I'd still love to try other amps that are supposed to match well with the LCD-2s, such as the Decware Taboo. For now, I'm happy that I've found a good match, to my ears, between the Soloist and DA8. Now the WA7 can return to work rig (with TH600s) duties, which it was originally intended for.

 

[Iskander71]

I'm very interested in DA8.
I use asynchronous converter Nuforce U192S plus Icon HDP with linear power supply LPS-1. Icon HDP output is used with HE-400 or Marantz PM-6004 with MA Silver RX2. 
 
I have two questions:
1. Is power supply in DA8 linear or not? I'm a bit confused as external linear power supply for Icon HDP is quite big and heavy. It makes huge difference in sound quality when Icon HDP is coupled with HE-400. I'm not sure if DA8 built-in power supply is efficient enough for headphone amplification circuitry. Please correct me if my assumption is wrong.
2. Seems that DA8 DAC USB input is synchronous. My understanding that asynchronous USB input gives quite noticeable gain in sound quality. I would be grateful if someone could share his experience about how DA8 performs when USB input is used? Will I gain in SQ if I switch from Icon HDP to DA8? 

Thanks.

 

 

[Sonic54]

Project86
Have you heard the Eximus DAC? And how does the DA8 compare with it?
Thanks for your helpful insight

 

[project86]

Quote:

I'm very interested in DA8.
I use asynchronous converter Nuforce U192S plus Icon HDP with linear power supply LPS-1. Icon HDP output is used with HE-400 or Marantz PM-6004 with MA Silver RX2. 
 
I have two questions:
1. Is power supply in DA8 linear or not? I'm a bit confused as external linear power supply for Icon HDP is quite big and heavy. It makes huge difference in sound quality when Icon HDP is coupled with HE-400. I'm not sure if DA8 built-in power supply is efficient enough for headphone amplification circuitry. Please correct me if my assumption is wrong.
2. Seems that DA8 DAC USB input is synchronous. My understanding that asynchronous USB input gives quite noticeable gain in sound quality. I would be grateful if someone could share his experience about how DA8 performs when USB input is used? Will I gain in SQ if I switch from Icon HDP to DA8? 

Thanks.

 

 
The DA8 does indeed have a linear power supply with a large toroidal transformer and fairly extensive voltage regulation, etc. I've also got the LPS-1 and if you open it up you'll see the guts look very similar to what's found in the DA8. It's just that the DA8 has it all in one enclosure rather than a separate section. 
 
The DA8 uses an asynchronous USB implementation. It's quite good - USB input sounds better than SPDIF to my ears, unless I use a super-duper transport like the Audiophilleo AP1 with PurePower. I'd say the built-in USB is probably better than your NuForce 192S. 
 
 
Quote:

Project86
Have you heard the Eximus DAC? And how does the DA8 compare with it?
Thanks for your helpful insight

 
I've heard the DP1 on several occasions and I liked it. I never had it next to the DA8 to directly compare though. I hear a lot of similarities, based on memory alone. Both are somewhat on the warmer side with a very well controlled top end, meaning no harshness or digital glare. I honestly don't recall anything from the Eximus that would blow away the DA8 except for the fancy casework. In fact, the Yulong may be the better DAC. Especially over SPDIF as I feel the Eximus has some bottlenecks due to certain design choices. The DA8 definitely has the better headphone amp section though. I didn't care for the one in the DP1. 

 

[Sonic54]

Thank you Project86. It is an interesting comparison as both DACs have volume control. I would use the DAC to drive active speakers directly. I hope you will cover this aspect when you let us have your DA8 review. I am really looking forward to that.
Best regards

 

[project86]

Quote:

Thank you Project86. It is an interesting comparison as both DACs have volume control. I would use the DAC to drive active speakers directly. I hope you will cover this aspect when you let us have your DA8 review. I am really looking forward to that.
Best regards

 
I sure will. I'm actually using the DA8 in a speaker setup right now, displacing an expensive dedicated tube preamp. We'll see how it compares and if anything is lost in the process or not.