Auralic Vega DAC

BlueFox

BlueFox

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In December, I added a new 20 amp circuit solely for the amps. This upgrade removed an unknown haze from the sound. This is one of those things you are not aware of until it is gone. While the new circuit allowed the sound to improve, it exposed another issue. At high volume levels with some Rock CDs there is an annoying high frequency haze on top of the music, and it was at just the right frequency to irritate the slight tinnitus I have in my left ear. After thinking about this I decided it is probably some type of a digital artifact being exposed. While I was aware of five figure DACs that have filters for these different artifacts, my Bryston BDA-2 did not. However, other than that, the Bryston is a great DAC.


Anyway, at the same time I am dealing with this issue, the absolute sound reviewed the Auralic Vega DAC, and it appeared to have everything I needed; excellent sound, both PCM and DSD playback, digital filters, and a reasonable price, at least compared to the five figure DACs. So, I ordered one a month ago, and am now very happy. It sounds superb, is well built, looks great, and, best of all, it handles the digital artifact so that now my tinnitus is happy at high volume levels.


This is the review that pointed me to this fantastic product.


AURALiC Vega Digital Audio Processor | The Absolute Sound
 
Bud...congrats on the Auralic Vega, It has garnered some very positive reviews from many different reviewers, including Audiostream, TAS, 6Moons.com, Computeraudiophile.com, Digital Audio Review, PositiveFeedback.com, and Tone Audio.

Enjoy!
 
Blue Fox, welcome to the club. The Auralic Vega makes for some very uncomfortable comparisons with MUCH more expensive DACs. It is my first recommendation for anyone that asks, great piece.
 
Ritmo said:
Enjoy Bud! Please share your opinions as it breaks in. Congrats!
Click to expand...

I think it was five Fridays ago that it arrived, and it has been turned on the entire time. I keep the Bryston BDP-1 and the DAC, along with the pre, always on. Anyway, the Vega has a 'Exact' setting for the clock that is not available until after it has been on for at least an hour, and warmed up. This setting, along with the precision of the BDP-1, means jitter is virtually non-existent between the two. Regarding break-in, I can't say with any certainty if there have been improvements. I know it sounded great out of the box, and it sounds great now.

One point I should have mentioned for potential buyers is that while it can be used as a digital pre-amp, if you use it as just a DAC then make sure the volume is all the way up. At first I thought it was broken since I couldn't hear anything no matter what I selected. Then it occurred to me to turn the volume up, and at 100% it started to sing.
 
I just discovered a nice little feature. I was using the coax input from the CD player to audition some CDs to determine if they are worthy of being ripped to the music server. When I finished I hit play on the music server, and selected AES on the DAC. The DAC detected there was a signal present on that input, so it automatically muted the volume, and then ramped it up to its previous setting for that input. That was nice since it prevents those awkward moments where the stereo goes from zero volume to ear shattering volumes when changing inputs.
 
I've had mine for about 10 months, still no buyers remorse, very happy with it. I agree with the other post, it sounds best at 100 using some type of analog volume control. For those who are using a computer to drive it via USB, try using the PCM > DSD feature in JRiver Media Center. When I did this for a friend his comment was something like "how can you put s*!t in and get that out?" Obviously no more data than you started with, I expect it has something to do with the what it handles the data stream. I don't really care other than I like the sound. :)
 
10 months huh. That's great. I try to keep on top of things by reading various magazines, and audio forums, but I had never heard of this until I read the absolute sound review. I wonder how much other great gear is out there that I have never heard of. Of course, until I decided I needed a DAC with digital filters I wasn't paying to much attention to them either.

Anyway, I have had the flu since Saturday, and been sitting here, with a fever, everyday listening to it. Maybe it's the fever, but I swear the whole stereo sounds superb. I am questioning whether I really need to add a Typhon to the Triton.
 
I read they are about to release a new streamer priced at $999. Based on the positive reviews I read about the Vega, it could be quite a combo!
 
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