The purpose of the testing was
1. To know whether my spendings were out of purpose
2. Share my experience and have your opinion
3. In no case , i have some vested in the stuffs here , neither am I a reviewer
Tracks used for testing (CD tracks ripped via dbpoweramp to Flac uncompressed)
1. Adele : Set fire in the rain
2. Massive attack : Blue line (Bass)
3. Gossip : Heavy cross
4. Rodrigo y Gabriela : Live in Japan : Take five
5. Ella & Louis : April in Paris
6. Sia : Chandelier (Piano version)
7. Hugh Masakela : Stimela : Drums , fine recording
8. Nils Lofgren : Keith don’t go
9. Daft Punk : Giorgio Moroder
FIRST COMPARISON
Aurender N100 H v/s Auralic + MelcoN1A combination VIA USB to Chord DAVE
The Aurender just sounds really pleasant to listen to .. let's say tube like
The details are there , without the edgy part of it
Great pleasure for listening
The Chord Dave is a detailed beast , without being a pain for the ears , fast , and shoe tapping
Enters , the auralic aries , wihich clearly sounds different
Detailed , but there is something missing .. less pleasure for listening
Heavy cross , and Chandelier sound a bit bright
SECOND COMPARISON
How is the USB input of the DAVE ?
Comparing Aries vs Aurender vs Melco Alone in USB
From whant I have read , on forums etc , the USB inputs of DACs are the parts which tend to be the weak points
My question was whether the Chord was different
The melco is known to be having a really isolated USB output
And I just connected the Melco to the USB input of the Dave
I controlled the Melco , via Bubble uPnp (in mode 1)
WOW effect .. the MELCO simply delivers music in a detailed , yet smooth way to the DAVE
It's on the opposite of the Aurender in terms of presentation , to the point of a thought whereby the Aurender was a good buy
But I won't be able to choose betwwen the Aurender and the Melco / JUST because of the missing app , the Aurender condutor app being really nice to play with
I guess that it's just a question of how you like music
BUT in this equation , the Melco , for me is a great value for money
But this comparison does not give me an idea of whether the Chord has a good USB input
All that I can listen , is a clearer and detailed sound from the melco
THIRD COMPARISON
Auralic Aries with DAVE via AES
Auralic Aries with DAVE via USB
Do they sound different ?
This is the comparison that hurts
Initially , I was in the way of selling the Auralic , because I was enjoying the music via the Aurender , and lastly the Melco is a very very good usp player
BUT THIS TIME , I am lost
I bought a basic Analysis Plus AES EBU cable
PLugged it into the Auralic and the DAVE
WOW , great great sound
No way going back to the Aurender
Everything is detailed , better soundstage , smooth without any harshness
pon , some googling , it came out that the Dave had a very good AES EBU .. or was it the USB input which is less interesting
The Auralic shoud stay , or go for something with is supposed to be a better drive
FOURTH COMPARISON
Comparison of different DACs
This is just for the sake of comparing
The DAVE is still a unbeatable for my ears , there's nothing to criticise about it
Fun , smooth detailed , instrument separation second to none
The DDDAC is the DAC of a great versatility , especially sounding full with the Sowter
The BC DAC 3.7 is an upgrade , and sad to say that it's not to my taste . It is powered with the LNS , and yelds to some nice music , good soundstage (bettering the DDDAC) ...but there is something missing
However , the BC Dac 3.7 sounds in a different league to the Eximus in terms of soundstage and detail
I can easily live with both the Eximus and the BC , the former being a good headphone amplifier (and good pre amp)
That's it folks
