Audio Synthesis Dax Decade Users Thoughts / Comments Please

I've had the pleasure of hearing Zanash's DAX. IMO, the best DAC I've heard to date (when used in balanced mode).

 

Hello,


Sorry for the late reply to everyone's comments.

Thank you for your input. I just wanted to post to kind of wrap up this thread.

I have done away with my Wharfedale speakers and this has really helped. I guess they just didn't work well with the Dax Decade and sounded more full and more to my liking when used with the NAD CD player. Changing various speaker cables and interconnects also showed that some were alot more sympathetic to my systems sound than others.

The sound I am getting now is laid back, musical, open, not in my face and generally alot better than what I had with my old NAD setup. (Which it should of course costing alot more I guess).

I have tried the Dax Decade without my TVC and I must say that I do prefer it with the TVC in the signal chain. The music sounds a little more open and exciting to my ears especially when listening at lower levels which I do quite often at the moment late at night.

I have reverted to leaving the filter setting on 1 at all times now.

 

I have had my AS DAX Decade for 2 years now and bought it after auditioning Chord DAC 64, TRI-VISTA and a Bel Canto. Only the Bel-Canto was anywhere near as good as the AS, the biggest disappointment being the DAC 64. The guy in the hi-fi shop who hired it out to me said it was the best piece of hi-fi kit he had heard. It did nothing for me. When I eventually heard the AS I knew I had to buy it. I would never call it it thin sounding, au contraire, it is a full fat, highly musical DAC with just the right mix of etched leading edges and deep sonourous bass. As a fan of vinyl I can say it has that widebandwidth sound I love. Yes, it doesn't quite match a 200g LP on my VPI but it comes very, very close. I use a Trichord modded TEAC VRDS player and the Trichord 75 digital interconnect also helps. Just added Usher CP6371's to my setup, its awesome. Build quality also adds greatly to pride of ownership. Use a good quality powerlead as well. Vishnu at the vert least.

 

Just another point, the DAX Decade is also a very good pre-amp. I used to use it straight into a Audio Research D70 power amp with great results. If running into an integrated however set the volume to -12 dBs and use the amp to alter volume. Anything higher and the output can cause distortion.

 

I have now been using the Decade in a reference Analog and Digital system, and do not understand the sound those complaining about it are getting.
I have found the sound full, detailed and neutral. Sometimes the bass is abit 'soft', deep, big, bold but blurred (that is in comparison to the analog system, no digital system I have used is any better). It compares, remarkably, very well with the analog in character as well and general quality, sounding in general remarkably similar, any difference are due to the limitations of CD.

The system consists of Krell MDA300 Monoblocs powering big Martin Logans. The analog is Mitchell Orbe, SME V, Ortofon Jubilee. Digital transport is actually the Sony DVP-7700 DVD player, and before you scoff, it was ranked second only to a Mark Levinson CD transport by Stereophile. Cabling is all Goertz pure Silver.

 

you would get a further improvement by hunting out a transport with AS Ncode - typically the Transcend but also existing in some modded transports.

and who knows, if you contacted David Heaton of AS he may mod your DVP-7700.