Digital Audio Converter Reviews for 2013

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  • PewterTA
    Moderator
    • Nov 2004
    • 2901

    Digital Audio Converter Reviews for 2013

    Saw this over at Stereophile.com and thought it would be worthwhile to link here as it has some quick review/sum-ups of a lot of the DACs released in the last year.

    Digital Processors Editor's Note: The sound of any particular CD transport/digital processor combination will be dependent on the datalink used—see "Bits is Bits?" by Christopher Dunn and Malcolm Omar Hawksford, Stereophile, March 1996, Vol. 19 No.3 (WWW). Unless mentioned, processors are limited to 32/44.1/48kHz sample rates. To be included in Class A+, a digital processor must be capable of handling DSD or 24/96 LPCM data.


    Nice to see that my new NAD M51 was compared to some really nice priced ones and didn't fall far behind. Lots of expensive DACs in the list I tell ya.
    Digital Audio makes me Happy.
    -Dan
  • JonMarsh
    Mad Max Moderator
    • Aug 2000
    • 15261

    #2
    Originally posted by PewterTA
    Saw this over at Stereophile.com and thought it would be worthwhile to link here as it has some quick review/sum-ups of a lot of the DACs released in the last year.

    Digital Processors Editor's Note: The sound of any particular CD transport/digital processor combination will be dependent on the datalink used—see "Bits is Bits?" by Christopher Dunn and Malcolm Omar Hawksford, Stereophile, March 1996, Vol. 19 No.3 (WWW). Unless mentioned, processors are limited to 32/44.1/48kHz sample rates. To be included in Class A+, a digital processor must be capable of handling DSD or 24/96 LPCM data.


    Nice to see that my new NAD M51 was compared to some really nice priced ones and didn't fall far behind. Lots of expensive DACs in the list I tell ya.
    Notice it is one of the two least expensive Class A+ rated units. And with it's broad feature set and excellent digital volume control and balanced outputs, give really great value, IMO.

    That is a great summary article, and I clipped it for reference in my Evernote library.
    the AudioWorx
    Natalie P
    M8ta
    Modula Neo DCC
    Modula MT XE
    Modula Xtreme
    Isiris
    Wavecor Ardent

    SMJ
    Minerva Monitor
    Calliope
    Ardent D

    In Development...
    Isiris Mk II updates- in final test stage!
    Obi-Wan
    Saint-Saëns Symphonique/AKA SMJ-40
    Modula PWB
    Calliope CC Supreme
    Natalie P Ultra
    Natalie P Supreme
    Janus BP1 Sub


    Resistance is not futile, it is Volts divided by Amperes...
    Just ask Mr. Ohm....

    Comment

    • PewterTA
      Moderator
      • Nov 2004
      • 2901

      #3
      Yep... I thought they summed things up pretty well, nice quick and concise overview of a very broad range of DACs.

      I was pleasantly surprised when I read through them and it make my feel good to get the NAD M51. Though I am still waiting to see what Schiit brings to the table (trying to convince WKHanna he needs to get it when released) so we can A/B.
      Digital Audio makes me Happy.
      -Dan

      Comment

      • JonMarsh
        Mad Max Moderator
        • Aug 2000
        • 15261

        #4
        An afternoon or evening A/B can tell you a fair amount in broad strokes, but the real test is living with it for weeks and months.
        the AudioWorx
        Natalie P
        M8ta
        Modula Neo DCC
        Modula MT XE
        Modula Xtreme
        Isiris
        Wavecor Ardent

        SMJ
        Minerva Monitor
        Calliope
        Ardent D

        In Development...
        Isiris Mk II updates- in final test stage!
        Obi-Wan
        Saint-Saëns Symphonique/AKA SMJ-40
        Modula PWB
        Calliope CC Supreme
        Natalie P Ultra
        Natalie P Supreme
        Janus BP1 Sub


        Resistance is not futile, it is Volts divided by Amperes...
        Just ask Mr. Ohm....

        Comment

        • PewterTA
          Moderator
          • Nov 2004
          • 2901

          #5
          This is true... it was years with my CA 840c CDP... so getting used to the NAD M51 has been a "change." For the better mind you, but still a change as I find myself liking things the 840c did...but just getting used to the NAD M51 takes a little time. It's the initial smoothness that gets me at points, like I feel I'm missing things, then I go back and listen to a section over again and realize it's all there... due to the 840c being more pronounced.
          Digital Audio makes me Happy.
          -Dan

          Comment

          • Chris D
            Moderator Emeritus
            • Dec 2000
            • 16877

            #6
            Interesting. I was hoping they might have included Parasound's new zDAC's, but no such look.
            CHRIS

            Well, we're safe for now. Thank goodness we're in a bowling alley.
            - Pleasantville

            Comment

            • JonMarsh
              Mad Max Moderator
              • Aug 2000
              • 15261

              #7
              Something else for those of you who might be curious about TotalDAC-D1...








              the AudioWorx
              Natalie P
              M8ta
              Modula Neo DCC
              Modula MT XE
              Modula Xtreme
              Isiris
              Wavecor Ardent

              SMJ
              Minerva Monitor
              Calliope
              Ardent D

              In Development...
              Isiris Mk II updates- in final test stage!
              Obi-Wan
              Saint-Saëns Symphonique/AKA SMJ-40
              Modula PWB
              Calliope CC Supreme
              Natalie P Ultra
              Natalie P Supreme
              Janus BP1 Sub


              Resistance is not futile, it is Volts divided by Amperes...
              Just ask Mr. Ohm....

              Comment

              • JonMarsh
                Mad Max Moderator
                • Aug 2000
                • 15261

                #8
                AURALiC Vega- a review worth checking out.





                This is worth checking out, for those with a bit deeper pockets than an NAD M51- not saying it will sound better for certain, but at least it measures quite competitively, and in that regard is one of the best ones under $5K, but at just $3499.

                I was alerted to the new VEGA D/A processor from Chinese manufacturer AURALiC by Michael Lavorgna's rave review for our sister site AudioStream.com in April 2013: "Everything I played through the Auralic Vega was equally wow-inducing. Everything. . . . Music I've heard hundreds of times was presented with a crisp, clean, and delicate clarity that was simply uncanny and made things old, new again. . . .


                The Vega uses a high-precision master-clock circuit that the company calls the Femto Master Clock. Covered by a hefty heatsink, this uses what is claimed to be an "aerospace grade," temperature-compensated crystal oscillator with an "ultra low noise" linear power supply. The jitter is specified as an extraordinarily low 82 femtoseconds, with phase noise at –168dBc/Hz. The user can choose between four clock settings: Auto (the default), in which the Vega uses the optimal clock window for any source; Coarse, which offers the widest bandwidth of input lock, to allow the Vega to work with very jittery sources; Fine, which narrows the lock acceptance window to give the lowest jitter with high-quality streams; and Exact, which will only give lock with only very low-jitter streams but gives the highest sound quality.

                Once processed by the Sanctuary chip, the oversampled 32-bit data are fed to an ESS Sabre32 9018 D/A converter chip. This is a premium-quality, 32-bit, delta-sigma part with eight individual DAC sections, these operated, I believe, in two sets of four in push-pull parallel to get the lowest possible noise and the highest linearity, even at very low signal levels. Though this chip offers upsampling, this can be bypassed, in which case it will accept data of sample rates up to 1.536MHz, as in the Vega. It offers volume control for both DSD and PCM data. This chip is covered by a plate labeled "AURALiC DSD Direct Stream Digital DXD Digital eXtreme Definition." (DXD is the 24-bit/352.8kHz PCM format introduced by the Swiss company Merging Technologies for its Pyramix DSD workstation some years ago, to allow editing of DSD data without losing resolution.)

                Texas Instruments' high-performance SoundPlus OPA1612 dual–op-amp chips are used for the Vega's I/V and analog low-pass filter stages. The balanced analog output stage, based on what Auralic calls the Orfeo module, is said to be "inspired by the Neve 8078 analog console's circuit design." (Orfeo is not used for the single-ended outputs.) The components in this module are claimed to operate in thermal equilibrium with very low open-loop distortion, the output transistors in class-A. Auralic says that the Vega's output stage will have no problem driving loads as low as 600 ohms from both its balanced and unbalanced outputs, which my measurements confirm (see sidebar).



                Undithered 1kHz waveform at -90 dBFS, 24 bit data :T
                the AudioWorx
                Natalie P
                M8ta
                Modula Neo DCC
                Modula MT XE
                Modula Xtreme
                Isiris
                Wavecor Ardent

                SMJ
                Minerva Monitor
                Calliope
                Ardent D

                In Development...
                Isiris Mk II updates- in final test stage!
                Obi-Wan
                Saint-Saëns Symphonique/AKA SMJ-40
                Modula PWB
                Calliope CC Supreme
                Natalie P Ultra
                Natalie P Supreme
                Janus BP1 Sub


                Resistance is not futile, it is Volts divided by Amperes...
                Just ask Mr. Ohm....

                Comment

                • JonMarsh
                  Mad Max Moderator
                  • Aug 2000
                  • 15261

                  #9
                  Also an interesting review, including measurements, from Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity- from the editor and hardware tester:


                  Conclusion:

                  I avoided hooking up the VEGA DAC for a few days because reviewing a DAC is hard. I always worry I’ll hear things that aren’t there, or hear no difference. Writing 1,000 words about not hearing a difference would not be much fun, so I delayed the pain. Of course with the VEGA I found myself having no such issues as it has been a pure joy to listen to.

                  At $3,500 the VEGA is an expensive component, but it more than lives up to that price. On our objective bench tests, it performs better than anything I have tested before. Subjectively, it provides a clear sign of that engineering with a refined, natural sound. I will venture to say this is the best sound I have heard in my home theater room to date.

                  For some of the best digital sound out there, you must audition the AURALiC VEGA. It is a reference class product, and I can’t wait to pair it with the upcoming Aires bridge so I can listen to even more of my music with this kind of sound quality.
                  the AudioWorx
                  Natalie P
                  M8ta
                  Modula Neo DCC
                  Modula MT XE
                  Modula Xtreme
                  Isiris
                  Wavecor Ardent

                  SMJ
                  Minerva Monitor
                  Calliope
                  Ardent D

                  In Development...
                  Isiris Mk II updates- in final test stage!
                  Obi-Wan
                  Saint-Saëns Symphonique/AKA SMJ-40
                  Modula PWB
                  Calliope CC Supreme
                  Natalie P Ultra
                  Natalie P Supreme
                  Janus BP1 Sub


                  Resistance is not futile, it is Volts divided by Amperes...
                  Just ask Mr. Ohm....

                  Comment

                  • PewterTA
                    Moderator
                    • Nov 2004
                    • 2901

                    #10
                    I'd love to hear this and the NAD M51 side by side. Since I've done some slight modifications to the NAD M51 it's gotten better... noticeable better...so now I'd really like to see where it falls in the likes of those above it in price range.

                    The M51 has constantly impressed me each time I listen to it!
                    Digital Audio makes me Happy.
                    -Dan

                    Comment

                    • JonMarsh
                      Mad Max Moderator
                      • Aug 2000
                      • 15261

                      #11
                      No question in my mind that the M51 is a great value and performer.


                      I'd certainly expect more for the difference in price- an unlike many units in it's price range, it does measure superbly.

                      Here's the Stereophile's comments comparing it to the M51 and the newest Benchmark DAC. Sounds like it's a pretty close comparison between the M51 and the Vega.

                      Against my benchmarks
                      When a product sounds as good as the Auralic Vega did, it's no problem to wax poetic about it in absolute terms. But how did it compare with the two $2000 D/A processors I was listening to during the same period: the NAD M51 and the Benchmark DAC2 HGC, the latter reviewed by Erick Lichte elsewhere in this issue?

                      Jon Iverson had enthused about the M51 in his July 2012 review, concluding that he preferred DACs "that reveal as much as possible about what was captured on the tape or in the digits, and couldn't care less about adding a rose-colored tint to dodgy digital sound. In this regard, the NAD M51 succeeds with a wonderfully detailed and revealing sound best described as honest, with a friendly smile." I have been using the M51 while working on a review, to appear in a couple of issues' time, of NAD's M50 media server, and have gotten to love its revealing ways.

                      214auralic.2.jpg

                      With the 24/96 version of Joni Mitchell's "Cotton Avenue," the NAD processor focused more on Mitchell's open-strung acoustic guitar than had the Auralic, and Jaco Pastorius's subterranean bass-guitar notes didn't have quite the weight I'd heard with the Vega. But the overall sound was a little more airy via the M51, as it was with Little Feat's live "Fat Man in the Bathtub." The Vega's reconstruction of Richie Hayward's drums emphasized a bit less the cymbals and snare wires. By contrast, the M51 was less kind to the compromised sound quality of the bootlegged "On Your Way Down." Both DACs boogied hard, however, though the NAD had slightly more definition with kick drum. The M51's cleaner if leaner balance worked better with "Even the Clock," from Steamhammer's 1969 album Reflection (24/192 ALAC needle drop from UK LP, CBS 63611).

                      The M51 decodes only PCM files, which puts it at somewhat of a disadvantage for DSD playback. The Audirvana Plus program downsampled DXD to 24/192 and DSD64 and DSD128 to 24/176.4kHz, in order to play the files via the M51 via USB. There wasn't then quite the sense of space in "Vaquero," though the definition of the individual sounds of the instruments was superb; the initial "flap" of the skin on the bass-drum strokes was slightly clearer through the M51 than it had been through the Vega. But overall, I preferred Auralic's converter; the individual aspects of the sound were better integrated into the whole, but without becoming smeared or diffuse—in a word, it was more organic.

                      The Benchmark DAC2 uses the same ESS Sabre32 9018 DAC chip as the Vega. To get familiar with the DAC2's sound, I used it for two days of intense listening, mainly feeding it hi-rez PCM, such as HDtracks' 24/192 remastering of Miles Davis's Kind of Blue, via USB. EL called it correctly: It may cost just $1995, but the DAC2 is a superb-sounding processor with authoritative lows, smooth yet detailed highs, and accurate, stable stereo imaging. I have forgotten how many reissues of Kind of Blue (including two different vinyl transfers) I have—I have even handled the master tapes and listened to them in Sony's mastering studio—but decoded by the Benchmark, this new HDtracks release was the best I had heard.

                      Until I played it through the Auralic Vega. Miles Davis is supposed to have said that music "lies in the spaces between the notes." The Auralic and Benchmark DACs both got the notes right, and both had similarly smooth high frequencies, but the Vega was slightly better at getting right the spaces between those notes. The Benchmark's sense of the recording venue was not quite as fully fleshed out as the Auralic's, though each individual instrument was a little more detailed.

                      I turned to DSD files, played back using Audirvana Plus. One disadvantage the DAC2 had in these comparisons was that it appears to be limited to DSD64 playback. DSD128 files were downsampled to 24/176.4 by Audirvana if I tried to use the DAC2 with this format, while attempting to play a DXD file with the DAC2 resulted in white noise. But with a superb-sounding DSD64 recording, such as Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra performing Rachmaninoff's Symphony 2 (Channel Classics 21604), this was not a problem. Both DACs dug deep into Rachmaninoff's lush, lyrical score. Both DACs threw a deep, detailed, stable soundstage. Both DACs allowed me to forget the playback mechanics and lose myself in the music. But in the end, I had to concede that the Auralic's sound was a touch sweeter, a touch closer to that of real violins. But damn, this is a superb recording!
                      the AudioWorx
                      Natalie P
                      M8ta
                      Modula Neo DCC
                      Modula MT XE
                      Modula Xtreme
                      Isiris
                      Wavecor Ardent

                      SMJ
                      Minerva Monitor
                      Calliope
                      Ardent D

                      In Development...
                      Isiris Mk II updates- in final test stage!
                      Obi-Wan
                      Saint-Saëns Symphonique/AKA SMJ-40
                      Modula PWB
                      Calliope CC Supreme
                      Natalie P Ultra
                      Natalie P Supreme
                      Janus BP1 Sub


                      Resistance is not futile, it is Volts divided by Amperes...
                      Just ask Mr. Ohm....

                      Comment

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