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Post by paintedklown on Jul 25, 2013 20:07:41 GMT -5
Mark, First off I want to say congrats on the new DAC. I am happy to see that you are enjoying it, and that it has made an improvement in your sound (which I imagine was top notch already). Please keep us updated with your continued listening tests and experiments. As you can see, there is a lot of excitement and buzz surrounding this DAC and we are all glued to the forum with anticipation! LOL!
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klinemj
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Post by klinemj on Jul 25, 2013 20:27:30 GMT -5
So, more specific details with more listening...
With each note of each song, I am hearing more fullness/richness/depth of the note. Examples include the cymbals on Miles Davis' "So What" from "Kind of Blue", Mark Knopfler's fingerwork on "Six Blade Knife", every single note played on Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil" and "Sugar Magnolia" from "American Beauty". Each note is placed with specificity and depth...great separation of instruments and locations of same vs. more of a "smear" of sounds.
It seems to start with the bass...much richer and full of depth of note, but it carries on to the rest of the frequency spectrum. I think the bass is most noticeable though. My Maggies are a bit weak in the low end and I supplement them with my sub but at low levels. The DC-1 seems to enhance the bass just that right amount. No boom, no bang, just bass played right. "Rich" keeps coming to mind. It's not that it's lower in frequency...more that it's richer/fuller sounding so I can hear more subtle aspects of each note down at the low end. And, it carries on to the higher frequencies.
On Alabama Shakes "Hold On", Brittany's vocals were so raw and so nice especially toward the end of the song. She has a nice growl that reminds me of Janis Joplin. Then the guitar distortion kicks in so nice to fade it out at the end of the song. With the ERC-2, the distortion is...well, just distortion. With the DC-1, it's a specific and clear distortion that really sounds right...like I am sitting there in the studio.
Norah Jones' "Come Away with Me"...again, depth of notes in her voice stand out. And what a voice...
Johnny Cash's "Walk the Line"...the sections where he hums stand out as distinct and wonderful.
By comparison, the excellent sounding ERC-2 sounds actually compressed with more blending together of sounds/instruments and less detail for each note. More of a blur than distinct instruments/notes. In this difference, the DC-1 sounds less fatiguing to listen to.
That said - the ERC-2 is no slouch at all...it was the best sounding CD player I had ever heard before. Now, it's good, but...
I will try some other comparisons tomorrow after I enjoy the sounds a bit more from how I have it set up. For example, I will set it up to feed a CD from the ERC-2 to the DC-1 via AES/EBU to compare a CD directly via the ERC-2 vs. via the DC-1, each going into an balanced input of the XSP-1.
I will close with the obvious reviewing BS: the sound has the greater richness of finest dark chocolate over plain milk chocolate, with just a hint of the nutty aftertaste that leave one wanting more. OK, enough of the BS...it sounds GREAT!!!
And a great part is that it arrived when Mrs. KlineMJ was out of town and it's small enough that she won't even notice it added to the rack!!! WAF to the max!!!
More to come...
Mark
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Post by creimes on Jul 25, 2013 20:40:16 GMT -5
!!!!Bingo!!!!
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Post by monkumonku on Jul 25, 2013 20:44:21 GMT -5
And a great part is that it arrived when Mrs. KlineMJ was out of town and it's small enough that she won't even notice it added to the rack!!! WAF to the max!!!Mark Big Dan thinks of everything, doesn't he? I guess that's why they call it "Stealth." I'm hopefully slipping mine into the rack tomorrow, although the wife will be asking who was at the door.
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Post by milsap195 on Jul 25, 2013 21:10:39 GMT -5
I'm curious that you think it is better than the oppo. I have not been that impressed with the 105 since I got it almost two months ago.
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klinemj
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Post by klinemj on Jul 25, 2013 21:13:52 GMT -5
Conveniently, the Mrs. (aka Betsy) is in Florida right now and returns tomorrow! I will have plenty of time to reorganize the rack to blend it in. I just won't bring up her large credit card bill for the month as she was in Florida while I was off camping with Scouts.
Mark
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klinemj
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Post by klinemj on Jul 25, 2013 21:15:46 GMT -5
Milsap195...agree...the 105 is about as good as the ERC-2 but not better. The DC-1 trumps both.
Mark
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Post by Porscheguy on Jul 25, 2013 21:27:34 GMT -5
Funny, I was on the phone with Oppo last week with some questions about the remote app for my iPad. I was shooting the breeze with a support guy and I mentioned that I couldn't decide whether I should upgrade to the 105 from the 93 from an SQ POV. He immediately said "No, our consensus around here is that the 93 sounds better than the 105". I was kinda shocked by that statement and asked him why. He went on to say that 105 sounds very sterile in comparison to the 93 because it is so dead on accurate and it lacks the subtle "warmth" of the 93.
He was dead serious, and I am not making this up.
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Post by milsap195 on Jul 25, 2013 21:39:09 GMT -5
The oppo is going back to crutchfield this week.
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Post by paintedklown on Jul 25, 2013 21:50:48 GMT -5
Rickie, I hope your DAC comes in tomorrow and you are able to get some time with it. I will be looking forward to your thread as well. I am curious to know how it compares to the Shiit gear and the Oppo. Fingers crossed for you buddy! ED, That certainly is an interesting statement coming from the Oppo HQ directly. Funny how we all strive to have 100% accurate systems, and when that accuracy gets there, we prefer the old way better. I would love to have the funds to do these listening tests myself. It would be a fun/interesting experiment to say the least.
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Post by creimes on Jul 25, 2013 22:09:19 GMT -5
Milsap195...agree...the 105 is about as good as the ERC-2 but not better. The DC-1 trumps both. Mark Hmmmm I was thinking of picking up a BDP-95 locally if he still has it when and if I sell some of my stuff, really I would just like to have a CD/DVD/Blu-ray/SACD player in one rather then my Pioneer Elite, PS3 and ERC-1, less gear plugged in
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klinemj
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Post by klinemj on Jul 25, 2013 22:12:04 GMT -5
Decisions...
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Post by deltadube on Jul 25, 2013 22:31:29 GMT -5
Hey Monkumonku.. maybe the fedex guys are testing out your dc 1 tonight... cheers The fedex guy maybe doing Rickie a favor so called "burn in" so it will sound great when he use it for the first time. I would like to hear from you since your review is what I crave and pay most of my attention. i would like to hear Monkumonku reviews on his brand new dc 1 aswell... im sure the fedex employees are noticing the hot new emo product.. Monkumonku is a good sport.. cheers
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Post by Dan Laufman on Jul 25, 2013 22:49:51 GMT -5
Never been a fan of the sound of the Sabre DAC's, or we would have used them in the DC-1... they measure really well, but I'm not into their "sound". And believe me, they do have signature that is very easily heard. Some people like Keith dig them, but overall I'm not into it. Remember now, Keith has been known to change DAC's with each song!! I love the Oppo units though, but I'd never spring for the 105. Just MO.
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Post by deltadube on Jul 25, 2013 22:55:40 GMT -5
Never been a fan of the sound of the Sabre DAC's, or we would have used them in the DC-1... they measure really well, but I'm not into their "sound". And believe me, they do have signature that is very easily heard. Some people like Keith dig them, but overall I'm not into it. Remember now, Keith has been known to change DAC's with each song!! I love the Oppo units though, but I'd never spring for the 105. Just MO. thanks Dan for making great sound affordable for the little guys im really happy with my products .. with Marks review of the DC 1 he just cost me 400 bucks.. now i cant get the cd 1 have to get the dc 1.. thanks
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klinemj
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Post by klinemj on Jul 26, 2013 6:24:41 GMT -5
Sorry about that Bob! But, if you have the DC-1, it will make your current CD player sound pretty nice!
Mark
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Post by garbulky on Jul 26, 2013 7:49:30 GMT -5
So, more specific details with more listening... With each note of each song, I am hearing more fullness/richness/depth of the note. Examples include the cymbals on Miles Davis' "So What" from "Kind of Blue", Mark Knopfler's fingerwork on "Six Blade Knife", every single note played on Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil" and "Sugar Magnolia" from "American Beauty". Each note is placed with specificity and depth...great separation of instruments and locations of same vs. more of a "smear" of sounds. It seems to start with the bass...much richer and full of depth of note, but it carries on to the rest of the frequency spectrum. I think the bass is most noticeable though. My Maggies are a bit weak in the low end and I supplement them with my sub but at low levels. The DC-1 seems to enhance the bass just that right amount. No boom, no bang, just bass played right. "Rich" keeps coming to mind. It's not that it's lower in frequency...more that it's richer/fuller sounding so I can hear more subtle aspects of each note down at the low end. And, it carries on to the higher frequencies. On Alabama Shakes "Hold On", Brittany's vocals were so raw and so nice especially toward the end of the song. She has a nice growl that reminds me of Janis Joplin. Then the guitar distortion kicks in so nice to fade it out at the end of the song. With the ERC-2, the distortion is...well, just distortion. With the DC-1, it's a specific and clear distortion that really sounds right...like I am sitting there in the studio. Norah Jones' "Come Away with Me"...again, depth of notes in her voice stand out. And what a voice... Johnny Cash's "Walk the Line"...the sections where he hums stand out as distinct and wonderful. By comparison, the excellent sounding ERC-2 sounds actually compressed with more blending together of sounds/instruments and less detail for each note. More of a blur than distinct instruments/notes. In this difference, the DC-1 sounds less fatiguing to listen to. That said - the ERC-2 is no slouch at all...it was the best sounding CD player I had ever heard before. Now, it's good, but... I will try some other comparisons tomorrow after I enjoy the sounds a bit more from how I have it set up. For example, I will set it up to feed a CD from the ERC-2 to the DC-1 via AES/EBU to compare a CD directly via the ERC-2 vs. via the DC-1, each going into an balanced input of the XSP-1. I will close with the obvious reviewing BS: the sound has the greater richness of finest dark chocolate over plain milk chocolate, with just a hint of the nutty aftertaste that leave one wanting more. OK, enough of the BS...it sounds GREAT!!! And a great part is that it arrived when Mrs. KlineMJ was out of town and it's small enough that she won't even notice it added to the rack!!! WAF to the max!!! More to come... Mark Mark that is a stellar review. The style was perfect imo. It gave me a vivid picture of what you experienced. It makes me want to go back and listen to these tracks so I can see what you are talking about. I feel you have caused a few people to order their DC-1 ! If I had the money that would have been enought to convince me too! Enjoy your system. Hope you are loving your fully balanced setup.
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klinemj
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Post by klinemj on Jul 26, 2013 9:33:37 GMT -5
UPDATE: This time, I hooked the ERC's AES/EBU output to the DC-1 so I could single-variably compare CD playback via the ERC's internal DAC vs. the DC-1's.
Long story short...same results...DC-1 sounded better for all the reasons I noted above. As I was listening, I realized that the ERC-2 just sounds a bit more "hollow", like the surface of the notes are being heard and not the full richness behind them that the DC-1 reveals. That's really the best way I can summarize the difference. And again - it's not that the ERC-2 is bad...it's great and I would have been fully happy with it other than I wanted a good DAC I could use with my computer to feed my system. That I got that AND it sounds better is a huge bonus.
But I did listen to more music. Observations follow..
Norah Jones: "Don't Know Why" and "Come Away with me"...the piano notes sound so much more real w/the DC-1.
Robert Plant/Allison Krauss: "Sister Rosetta"...at 1 minute to 1:25, Allison is singing with Robert backing her. Robert's backing is so much more clear and Allison's voice so much richer.
Coldplay: "Mylo Xyloto" - the chimy notes at 16-30 seconds are so much more clear and crisp. "Hurts Like Heaven" - backing vocals really stand out more clearly.
Steely Dan: "Doctor Wu" - the percussion over Fagen's voice just as he begins to sing has much more fullness to each strike.
Dave Brubeck: "Tangerine" and "Take Five" - much more subtle sounds of the winds through the horn. And it was on "Blue Rondo ala Turk" that I realized the difference of "hollow/surface sounding" of the ERC-2 vs. the DC-1...
Net overall, the DC-1 is a winner for me.
I may do one last comparison in the near future (trying the DC-1 as a preamp direct to my nCores), but I won't be using it like that ever because I need the HT Bypass feature, bass MGMT, and the phono preamp of the XSP-1. Still, I want to hear it bypass the XSP-1 just for fun.
But for now, I'm just going to enjoy some listening and await Ricky's review!
And Creimes...I don't have AMOK...I should look for that! I do like Radiohead.
Mark
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Post by creimes on Jul 26, 2013 9:44:06 GMT -5
Definitely grab it, I ordered the CD online so I have the CD and also ripped it to iTunes as lossless WAV format, it's a great sounding album, especially track 2 "Default"
Chad
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Post by monkumonku on Jul 26, 2013 9:58:07 GMT -5
UPDATE: This time, I hooked the ERC's AES/EBU output to the DC-1 so I could single-variably compare CD playback via the ERC's internal DAC vs. the DC-1's. Long story short...same results...DC-1 sounded better for all the reasons I noted above. As I was listening, I realized that the ERC-2 just sounds a bit more "hollow", like the surface of the notes are being heard and not the full richness behind them that the DC-1 reveals. That's really the best way I can summarize the difference. And again - it's not that the ERC-2 is bad...it's great and I would have been fully happy with it other than I wanted a good DAC I could use with my computer to feed my system. That I got that AND it sounds better is a huge bonus. But I did listen to more music. Observations follow.. Norah Jones: "Don't Know Why" and "Come Away with me"...the piano notes sound so much more real w/the DC-1. Robert Plant/Allison Krauss: "Sister Rosetta"...at 1 minute to 1:25, Allison is singing with Robert backing her. Robert's backing is so much more clear and Allison's voice so much richer. Coldplay: "Mylo Xyloto" - the chimy notes at 16-30 seconds are so much more clear and crisp. "Hurts Like Heaven" - backing vocals really stand out more clearly. Steely Dan: "Doctor Wu" - the percussion over Fagen's voice just as he begins to sing has much more fullness to each strike. Dave Brubeck: "Tangerine" and "Take Five" - much more subtle sounds of the winds through the horn. And it was on "Blue Rondo ala Turk" that I realized the difference of "hollow/surface sounding" of the ERC-2 vs. the DC-1... Net overall, the DC-1 is a winner for me. I may do one last comparison in the near future (trying the DC-1 as a preamp direct to my nCores), but I won't be using it like that ever because I need the HT Bypass feature, bass MGMT, and the phono preamp of the XSP-1. Still, I want to hear it bypass the XSP-1 just for fun. But for now, I'm just going to enjoy some listening and await Ricky's review! And Creimes...I don't have AMOK...I should look for that! I do like Radiohead. Mark Thanks for your impressions! I'm getting anxious/worried because the FedEx site shows the package is at the local facility but is NOT on the truck yet. It's "Home Delivery" so I am hoping that is why it is so late... GRRR I have a picky question for you about Doctor Wu - was this the original or remastered version that you were listening to? I want to add this to my list for listening, but add the right version.
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