Looking for Tube DAC recommendations .....

joeinid said:
Zanden receives great reviews.
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Hi Joe my friend had these three dacs at the same time to evaluate and chose to keep the Jadis.

In his system the Zanden had a warmer sound - - - The Metronome had a livelier sound - - - The Jadis was in the middle - - - i know for me it would have been the Zanden but it wasn't for me.

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Thank you Andre,

I'm with you. I think the Zanden would be my preference also based on your descriptions.

I plan on taking my time on a new DAC. I think there are more to come from some of my favorite manufacturers and it will give me a chance to get my vinyl rig going. :)

MrAcoustat said:
Hi Joe my friend had these three dacs at the same time to evaluate and chose to keep the Jadis.

In his system the Zanden had a warmer sound - - - The Metronome had a livelier sound - - - The Jadis was in the middle - - - i know for me it would have been the Zanden but it wasn't for me.

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Joe...another one to consider is the new DAC from Cary Audio - they have both tube and SS variants: Cary Audio Design - DAC-100t - DAC

DAC-100t_front_800.jpg
 
MrAcoustat said:
Hi Joe my friend had these three dacs at the same time to evaluate and chose to keep the Jadis.

In his system the Zanden had a warmer sound - - - The Metronome had a livelier sound - - - The Jadis was in the middle - - - i know for me it would have been the Zanden but it wasn't for me.

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Very surprising to read that the Zanden sounded warmer than the Jadis .. must have been system dependant , as you mentioned
 
Accustic Arts Tube Dac II Mk2
It uses tubes only in the analog filter as it's here AA thinks it makes sense to be placed in a DAC; the output stage is SS.
 
MrAcoustat said:
Hi Joe my friend had these three dacs at the same time to evaluate and chose to keep the Jadis.

In his system the Zanden had a warmer sound - - - The Metronome had a livelier sound - - - The Jadis was in the middle - - - i know for me it would have been the Zanden but it wasn't for me.

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Hey Mr. A...great to see you here. I think I have spoken with him. yes, he loved his Zanden for years, and went back to Jadis after some time. I think he also had Metronome Kalista Ref Transport at one point. Perhaps he kept it? In any event, I have heard the Metronome Kalista Ref/C2A several times but not the Jadis which apparently is great. I would generally agree that 'untweaked' the C2A is livelier...but like much of the handmade stuff, I have found a lot of value in experimenting with my beloved Zanden. I am not here to try to change anyone's mind, but rather really enjoying sharing my own experiences with Zanden. The 'stock Zanden' plunked down on a table does have some vague shimmer which 'weakens' the strength of the signal, and particularly the bass. However, from an ever so slightly vague signal and light bass response, I managed to surpass the bass slam of an Esoteric X-01SE and Audio Aero La Source (also Esoteric vrds mkv transport) in my system. And markedly increase the depth and strength of the signal/note tone. Without changing the voice of the Zanden DAC. So for me, i'm happy. Tweaks?: Zanden DAC PSU tubes should be changed to Mullard 6CA4 and Sylvania 6X4, you can upgrad ethe stock tube in the main DAC with Amperex 7308 and EAT tube damper. Then to really decrease the shimmer and really start to produce a very, very strong deep note (still Zanden voiced), every single one of the 4 boxes needs great isolation and damping. So HRS underneath and a variety of HRS/Artesania/Stillpoints damping plates on top. The Stillpoints/Entreq dealer came over having heard 3 other Zanden digital systems before, and when we played deep house, he said he had never heard a Zanden slam tight, deep propulsive bass like this before. Its been 5 years of experimenting, but I think I've got it right now (at least for my ears)...and I have shared this with the good people at Zanden as well.
 
From PA,

Holy moly!

Just plugged in my new Lampizator gen 4/level 4 and whoa! Amazing. I really didn't think my system could sound this good. And right out of the box. I don't know how to describe except musical. I hear the interplay of instruments more and it sounds like I am right there with the musicians. I was a little doubtful but I see why people get so gaga over it. I have tried the Benchmark dac2, teac ud-501 and Peachtree iNova and, no sir, they are not even close.



« Last Edit: 14 Sep 2013, 09:03 pm by Jason »
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Feedback from a UK forum:


A couple of other nice touches - the L4 was optimised for the input impedance of my preamp and I was asked what output level I'd like. Plumped for 2.5V but TBH that obviously varies with the tube installed. CV491 (ECC82) requires noticeably more preamp gain than either ECC40 or 6829.

The L4 is excellent. It is hard to be read as objective without people thinking it is just self-affirming "I made the right decision" type of prose.

The price leap between the L3 and the L4 I have is substantial, but the increase in performance is "on another level". And indeed it is a level 4 - 1 level up!

Which kind of makes me extremely curious as to the quality of sonics available from a 5 or 6. I don't believe it'd be possible to have the same degree of lift in performance as witnessed between L3->L4 V-Cap'd.

I haven't heard a digital source that betters the L4's level of performance in my system. But that's just my opinion and biasing, I suppose.


========================
I thought it'd be interesting to take the Lukasz description of the Gen 4 sound and comment on them. In relation to the previous generation I can't comment, which is what his comments refer to. So my observations are simply objective rather than relative. Or where I have felt like it they are relative to an L3.

1) The musical changes are among others: more palpable sound, more “here” in front of you. You can isolate separate threads easier and follow them easier and understand who is doing what.

3D projection is very good. But the bolded bit is absolutely spot on. Rather than stuff getting a bit hashed together, it is incredibly easy to follow various aspects of some particular part in both simple and complex passages. It's the ability to handle complex passages that really stands out - when there's a lot in the mix it really seems quite oddly good at doing this.

It is a bit like comparing a cheap cartridge to an expensive one whose tracking ability is vastly better. Only the level to which this is taken with the L4 is beyond any analogue or digital source I have ever heard in my system. It is literally brilliant at it.

3) There is a deeper and more tuneful bass.

Well it is deep. It is tuneful. And in the L4 it is better controlled than in L3. It is also fast without being "forced fast" if that makes any sense.

4) Human voices are more human.

A fellow Apogee owner from Lichtenstein came round and remarked how good voices were with the L3. They are more real sounding with the L4. But then so are instruments - which get close to convincingly being in front of you. But then you could say that about quite a few good DACs.

5) The 3D space is a more believable one.

No question the L4 can place various elements of the sound where you'd expect them to be. With electronic music that fails to take on much meaning, though, but it still conjures up a very nice soundstage.

The L4 is considerably better than the L3 was with electronic music. It is quicker, and the bass doesn't lose the required control/grip. But it'll never beat my old Tri-Vista in its ability to shove out bass that is both very controlled and subjectively fast.

6) Long time fatigue is significantly smaller

Agreed. But then again rougher, harsher sounds can sometimes help to maintain interest, even if it is ultimately fatiguing. You cannot have everything. It is all a compromise.

7) Any remaining “digital roughness” is completely gone.

Totally true. And maybe hard to get used to. A prime example of this is the Libertines first album which I used to find a bit difficult to get through with the Tri-Vista and other DACs. It sounded bloody fabulous on Friday night. Really clear, alive and energetic and not at all harsh/rough. This aspect seems to apply to pretty much everything - there is no "digital glare" to speak of. A bit uncanny and quite unusual.

I have to concede that from all the above you just don't know how it sounds, just like any other written review. All you can do is imagine... but the above should help point you in a direction or frame of mind as to the sorts of things that this DAC is good at.



 
Thanks Jerome

Since I bought my EAR Acute III cd player and dac, I am happy. It sounds amazing. Big, full three dimensional sound and a touch of sweetness. I need to sort out my future speaker choice so I am sitting tight for a while.
 
Jerome...do you like your AMR DP-777 better than the Mc MDA-1000? How do they compare?
 
Cyril,
I prefer the AMR DP777 to the MDA.
On some tunes, it is very difficult to hear a difference but on some others, the AMR is clearly more dynamic, more resolved and has a better 3D sound.
The MDA is for sale actually.


Envoyé de mon iPhone à l'aide de Tapatalk
 
Jerome...thx for feedback.

Jeff...do you know if AMR is coming out with an update to the DP-777 to enable it to play DSD files or is their a successor DAC that is DSD capable on the way at its price point? Thx
 
Hi Jeff (A/V Solutions)...not sure if you saw question above but if you have any insights that would be appreciated.
 
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