Rob Watts on the DAC64

OK, the results are in, and there are some surprises!

First up, the Teac T1 straight into the DAC64 via an Ixos XHD308 TOSlink cable I picked up for £20. Claims to be medical standard fibre optic and all that...

Hmmm....somethings wrong, everything sounds terribly "thin". No body, no warmth, very clinical. Also, when the music moves into the treble registers it's very bright - harsh even. Someone please pick my ears back up off the carpet Seems to have great resolution and detail though but I really can't live with that harshness.

Next up, my Apogee Wyde-Eye cable which I terminated with RCA Bullet plugs, also straight into the DAC64:

Ahhh...that's much better, all the body and soul of the music has returned Lots more drive and punch in the bass aswell and none of that horrid treble harshness. Just a touch less detail though, things ever so slightly less well defined as with the TOSlink but of the two the RCA Apogee cable beats TOSlink hands down. It's no contest.

Now the final test: Apogee Wyde-Eye from the T1 to my Monarchy DIP 48/96 Upsampler and then my LAT DI-20MkII balanced AES/EBU to the DAC64. The Monarchy is upsampling to 96kHz aswell as (supposedly) getting rid of any jitter along the way.

This is it! Basically, the best of both worlds. All the body, warmth and drive of the Apogee on its own plus all the detail and resolution of the TOSlink with not a hint of harshness to go with it.

Is the combo of T1 (with Trichord Clock 4 + 'Never Connect' PSU + several 'Tone' mods ) + Monarchy better than what I had previously (old Marantz CD50SE + Trichord Clock 3/Digital Output Board) + Monarchy (using exactly the same cables - Apogee Wyde-Eye and LAT DI20MkII) ?

Difficult to say as I couldn't be arsed to test the side by side. It's certainly no worse that's for sure and the T1 is certainly much nicer from an aesthetics and usability point of view

Lastly, just for a laugh I tried using a Sony Discman I have (D-E805) using the cheap plastic TOSlink cable that came with it (it has a small optical output so I couldn't use the IXOS). I was running it on batteries. Well, surprise of the day: it was better than the T1 via TOSlink Still the same harshness at the top but a much fuller sound overall. Quite why that is I don't know. Maybe running on batteries helps. It wasn't as good as the Teac via RCA or the Teac + Monarchy combo though. Also, using a Discman as a transport (especially on batteries) is a non-starter since:

a) it doesn't send a clock signal unless it's playing a track so you'd always miss the first few seconds of a CD whilst the DAC (any DAC) locked on.
b) it doesn't have a remote.

All in all, I'm a very happy bunny with my new transport and upsampler. Upgraditis has been temporarily cured allthough I expect to see signs of remission in the new year in the amplifier region

Michael.

 

Oh dear, 4 posts in a row

Anyway, just wanted to add that I still agree with Rob Watts that, in theory, TOSLink should be better but for whatever reason, it's not borne out in practise. There are other's I know who've used TOSlink with the DAC64 and found it to be a revelation. Not for me though.

Michael.

 

Interesting experiment Michael and much like my experience with Toslink between the Tact kit.

I guess it just goes to show that theory isn't everything A lesson there I suspect.

Oh and don't forget WM has been in them there parts

 

Aaah - DPA - can't resist a reply....

DPA did make some "one-box" players - a renaissance CD and an Enlightenment CD. The Renaissance wasn't too bad - matched most stuff up to £5/600 or so and sounded good with the matching integrated amp. There was an Enlightenment player also but I have never heard one - by all accounts not as good as the E-Transport / E-DAC combo. The 24 bit E-Transport is first class (not just because I have one...) .

Rob Watts made some brilliant amps - the 50S and 100S pre/powers were absolutely superb, especially with the loudspeaker feedback (if you could afford the double runs of black slink to each speaker..). A sad day for British HiFi when RWs flaws shut down DPA

Neil

 

Rob watts is one of the few geniuses around, yes, tis a shame dpa went.....tim de paravicini is another...

 

The latest issue of HiFi+ has a review of the Tube Technology Fusion CD64. The review claims that the Fusion CD64 uses the same DAC-64 digital 'engine' with WTA filter but excluding the RAM buffer. Oh, and as you might have guessed from the name, it also has a valve output stage to keep the flat-Earthers happy

Could this be the ideal one box solution?

 

I am not sure,

At heathrow, to my ears the Tube Tech room exhibited the trademark DAC64 hardness in the upper midrange which would make long term listening rather uncomfortable IMO. I am not sure whether that was entirely due to the CD source, but I am sure it was playing a part.

 

I certainly would be interested to listen to the Tube Tech Fusion CD64 in a better environment than a hotel room at a show. When I was in the room they were using the separate transport and DAC (also uses the DAC64 internals, including buffer which the CD64 doesn't use). The transport and DAC also have a word clock link.

I liked the sound I heard allthough I didn't really spend enough time in there.

It's certainly some people's opinion that the "trademark" DAC64 hardness (which incidentally I have never experienced) can be tamed with valves...

Michael.

 

:duck:

Looks even more quirky on a seismic sink

 

Hi

I'll think I'll try my Chord Dac64 with an opitcal link. Should be interesting.

The one box Tube Technology player at the show did have a hardness to the sound. Not sure if you can fully blame it on that. There were many variables in that system that could contribute to the performance. I did think the sound had potential.


SCIDB

 

Well, maybe thats a bit of an overstatement, but every system I have heard so far with a DAC 64 (including ones at shows) has the same upper midrange hardness, which I would find wearing in the long term.

Shame, as I really wanted to get one of these. Maybe a home demo in my system will help me decide whether it is the DAC or not.