ModelCitizen Wrote: > The difference between the Dac1 and the SB2 analogue outputs is easy to > discern on my system, the Dac1 is crystal clear, needle sharp, punchy > and the detail and precision is exceptional (I can see how people may > think it is thin though). The SB2 DAC is slightly mushy and pedestrian > (dull?) in comparison. > > However, I am not at all happy with the set up when I compare it to > using my Naim CDX CD player. Although the difference in sound quality > is not immediately identifiable with tests (although the Dac1 has a > certain thinness), it becomes pretty obvious after a while that most > music (and I have catholic tastes) played via the CDX is more involving > than that played via the Dac1. The Dac1 seems cold and and clinical, > whereas the CDX just sort of keeps your attention and draws you in.... > and encourages me to listen longer (I am talking about intense, dark > room, lie back listening). The sound it produces has an unquantifiable > warmth and atractiveness (I hate the Pace, Rythym and Timing bit too > but you find with Naim that the term is unavoidable). This may be > something to do with the Dac1 being an oversampling dac... I don't know > as, as you have found, it is difficult to try out dacs. > MC
When I first got my DAC1 I felt it might be losing some of the emotion also. Like you said straight out of the box it had wonderful level detail and sparkly cleanliness, but almost felt sterile. To be fair I also run digital amps and transformer volume control both of which have been accused of being almost sterile by themselves. However today I hardly even think about it. I don't know if I got used to it, it broke in, or it was one of the many changes I've made since then, but its pretty much all back now. There are many songs that make me want to dance and I still feel the extreme joy in Beethoven's 9th. Originally the room wasn't treated much and its heavily treated now. I've also moved all of my source gear to individual balanced transformers and built a linear supply for the SB (Sonicaps helped a lot). One of the things that helped most in the PRaT department was the addition of a Running Springs Audio power conditioner. It definately helped out with the toe tapping factor a lot. In other words it may not have been the DAC1 that was sterile, but rather my system and the better DAC was able to expose it so now that I've fixed the other parts of my system its not sterile anymore. In the end its like any other piece of gear and you have to try it yourself in your system to see how it meshes with everything else and your tastes. While I might like to hear the Lavry Black, the Benchmark would still be on my very short list if I were shopping today. -- samplesj Jeremy '2 Channel system' (http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/member_systems.php?sysid=619) / 'HT system' (http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/member_systems.php?sysid=620) / 'Den' (http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/member_systems.php?sysid=636) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ samplesj's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3342 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=23871 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
