Exchanged for a Calyx Femto

Albert

Albert

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Feb 21, 2014
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Mb, Canada
I had recently purchased a Teac UD-503 DAC that sounded very good in my system but I noticed that the highs were a little lacking. Cymbals were a little too splashy and smeared sounding. This may have been due to not being fully broken in as I only had about 40 hours on it.

In the mean time the dealer that I bought the DAC from informed me that he had a 3 year old minty Calyx Femto DAC for sale (thanks Bill at McCulloch Audio). After a little bit of negotiating he gave me a good deal on it, including a full refund on the Teac DAC towards the Calyx Femto. I had to come up with a little more cash but the price seemed more than reasonable considering the new cost and the excellent build quality and design of this DAC. Woohoo!:yahoo1:

I'll just have to eat peanut butter sandwiches for a while at work, I think it is worth it.
 
Very cool. I hope you enjoy it because that is what it is all about! It sounds like a great deal for you!

I am curious, did you play around with the filtering? The Sharp filter would cause more enhancement to the highes while the slow filter smooth things out more. Since I prefer a warmer sound I use the slow filter.

I have came to love DSD so I could not do without it. It sounds like this is not important to you so the Calyx Femto DAC should be amazing for you!

I just purchased a DSD version of an album I already owned in PCM. I will sit down, probably tomorrow and compare them side by side, but listening to it now (without a direct comparison) it sounds a ton better. Cymbals seem very clear.... I will know for sure more when I have a chance to really compare the two. I was just really curious so I had to spend the money on a duplicate purchase to check it out.
 
Albert said:
I had recently purchased a Teac UD-503 DAC that sounded very good in my system but I noticed that the highs were a little lacking. Cymbals were a little too splashy and smeared sounding. This may have been due to not being fully broken in as I only had about 40 hours on it.

In the mean time the dealer that I bought the DAC from informed me that he had a 3 year old minty Calyx Femto DAC for sale (thanks Bill at McCulloch Audio). After a little bit of negotiating he gave me a good deal on it, including a full refund on the Teac DAC towards the Calyx Femto. I had to come up with a little more cash but the price seemed more than reasonable considering the new cost and the excellent build quality and design of this DAC. Woohoo!:yahoo1:

I'll just have to eat peanut butter sandwiches for a while at work, I think it is worth it.
Click to expand...

Very, very good Dac...PCM only.
 
Thanks guys. I believe that my Oppo BDP-95 can do DSD. It will interesting to compare a DSD file played by the Oppo vs a PCM version through the Calyx Femto. Hopefully I can get the Calyx next weekend.
 
Albert said:
Thanks guys. I believe that my Oppo BDP-95 can do DSD. It will interesting to compare a DSD file played by the Oppo vs a PCM version through the Calyx Femto. Hopefully I can get the Calyx next weekend.
Click to expand...
Not a fair fight.

Femto is the far better Dac.
 
The Calyx is delayed until next weekend. The owner was away this week so he couldn't send the DAC to the store he is selling it through by consignment. He says he will send it to the store on Monday who will then ship it to me. Hopefully it will have a smooth trip.
 
Should be here before Christmas anyways. In the meantime I am wondering about transports. I first tried my Oppo BDP-95 with the Teac UD-503 and it sounded very clean and dynamic but a touch on the cold side in my system. It hasn't broken in yet and continues to improve but I had a spare Faroudja DV-1000 so I tried it as a transport. The sound is now a little warmer but slightly less dynamic. Overall the sound is more balanced and analog I think so I left the Faroudja in the system. I also tried it with my tube monoblocks and the sound is even warmer and almost analog (smooth and detailed). My turntable still has it beat though.

So now i see a Wadia 8 for sale on another site and it has me wondering again. I am going to hold off until I get the Calyx in the system. It should be interesting. When it gets here I will be moving the Teac into the bedroom system that has another Faroudja DV1000 that will act as transport. I couldn't let the Teac go as it does sound very good and plays DSD which the Calyx doesn't.
 
I have been checking the internet daily for reviews of the Teac UD-503 but there is almost nothing about it yet. What I have found is in translated Japanese which is pretty much unintelligible. Perhaps people are letting it break in before they post anything.
 
I have not looked specifically for the UD-503. I know there were several very good reviews for the UD-501. I can't imagine it being anything but better... There are some nice upgrades there.
 
Well, my Calyx is in the store in Winnipeg so I think I will be taking a trip tomorrow to pick it up. I don't want to risk shipping it a week before Christmas. This way I know it will get here in one piece. It is a 200 mile round trip in to Winnipeg but it will be worth it. I'll post some pics when she gets home. :D
 
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