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Post by rimmymcribbons on Feb 23, 2016 16:13:59 GMT -5
Hello!
I've narrowed down my speaker decision to the Airmotiv 5S. My question is has anyone compared the AudioEngine D1 to the Stealth DC-1? Is there a noticeable increase in sound quality stepping up to the DC-1? I do like the added connectivity options found in the DC-1. Thanks for your feedback!
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Post by garbulky on Feb 23, 2016 16:20:50 GMT -5
do yourself a favor! dc-1  |
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Post by routlaw on Feb 23, 2016 16:45:11 GMT -5
At the risk of being self serving, I just put up an ad for my DC-1 that is in near mint condition. But I would agree with garbulky, these dacs are awesome and I've had quite a few that cost way, way more than the new price of $500. Currently they are back ordered, not sure when they will be available again. hope this helps. emotivalounge.proboards.com/thread/46037/stealth-dc-1-sale |
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Post by rimmymcribbons on Feb 23, 2016 21:33:43 GMT -5
do yourself a favor! dc-1 IKR! That thing is beautiful! I'm very torn though given the $200-$300 difference in price! I'm trying to figure out if there is a dramatic increase in quality of the sound |
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Post by rtg97229 on Feb 24, 2016 0:18:37 GMT -5
I think the DC-1 over the Audioengine d1 is a no brainer personally but I would also wait on the speakers because their new speakers look like a great deal and at least many cause others to sell their Airmotiv 5S speakers on the used market to get the new ones.
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Post by garbulky on Feb 24, 2016 0:26:47 GMT -5
I haven't heard the other DAC. So I couldn't make a meaningful comparison. Here's my experience with the DC-1. I have a DC-1 coupled fully balanced to an XPA-1 gen 2. It's really a damn good combination. For instance the DC-1 has more resolving power than the ( really good) XSP-1. With the XSP-1 very surprisingly mudding the bass and treble slightly when compared. Which imo says a lot for the capabilities of the DC-1. It's an DAC that can keep up with other good gear. Coupled to the right amp (like the XPA-1) you get large amounts of detail. A very solid tone on acoustic instruments. That dual mono fully balanced architecture just works. With the UPA-2 I had the sound was still very enjoyable but the big boy XPA-1 had more detail and dynamic delivery to deliver what the DC_1 was able to do. So what the DC-1 can do that some cheaper buts till good DACs had trouble with was: The mid-range had more power in it while say the XDA-1 was a little bit thinner in presence. The tone is better. Things feel more "right". The treble is delicious but on weaker amps may sound the teeniest bit laid back. The instruments can have a 3 dimensional body. But also the bigger difference especially with the XPA-1 is that on recordings that were recording in an acoustic space ... like say a large room or church you could actually hear the space of that recording in your living room. And then you can place the isntruments in that space more transparently. It feels more holographic. Now I acheieved this effect only when I went with an XPA-1 gen 2. So YMMV. On the UPA-2 I also managed to hear details I hadn't heard before. For instance in Glee, Rachel sang the song make you feel my love. You could hear her breath and where the singing was coming from. Like when she was ending a line she started out in the throat closed her mouth and you could hear the singing shift and come through her nasasl cavity. That's an extreme example. But it's able to do that. There is another recording by Francisco Guerrero where it was a choir. And I felt like I could hear the choir on risers as they extended out on either side of hte speakers. I was able to differnetiate many voices too. I do plan to upgrade someday. When I do it's going to be to the $2300 multi bit closed form filter with quad $100 DACs - the mighty Schiit Ygdrassil. But the Schiit requries a preamp. Which the DC-1 could do. But I'll be going with either the Audio GD Master 1 or the Audio GD HE-1 which is also 2k. So that's a good indicator about what I think about the capabilities of this DAC if I am looking at such pricey components to get a leg up on the DC-1 audio wise  |
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Post by rtg97229 on Feb 24, 2016 0:59:49 GMT -5
For instance the DC-1 has more resolving power than the ( really good) XSP-1. With the XSP-1 very surprisingly mudding the bass and treble slightly when compared. My ears can't hear that difference. To me the DC-1 and XSP-1 sound the same when used as a volume control. I do plan to upgrade someday. When I do it's going to be to the $2300 multi bit closed form filter with quad $100 DACs - the mighty Schiit Ygdrassil. But the Schiit requries a preamp. Which the DC-1 could do. But I'll be going with either the Audio GD Master 1 or the Audio GD HE-1 which is also 2k. So that's a good indicator about what I think about the capabilities of this DAC if I am looking at such pricey components to get a leg up on the DC-1 audio wise When that day come please let us know how the Ygdrassil sounds. I have been tempted to try some Schiit for a while now but their products seem a bit expensive to me for a bang for the buck company. |
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Post by garbulky on Feb 24, 2016 1:44:24 GMT -5
For instance the DC-1 has more resolving power than the ( really good) XSP-1. With the XSP-1 very surprisingly mudding the bass and treble slightly when compared. My ears can't hear that difference. To me the DC-1 and XSP-1 sound the same when used as a volume control. I do plan to upgrade someday. When I do it's going to be to the $2300 multi bit closed form filter with quad $100 DACs - the mighty Schiit Ygdrassil. But the Schiit requries a preamp. Which the DC-1 could do. But I'll be going with either the Audio GD Master 1 or the Audio GD HE-1 which is also 2k. So that's a good indicator about what I think about the capabilities of this DAC if I am looking at such pricey components to get a leg up on the DC-1 audio wise When that day come please let us know how the Ygdrassil sounds. I have been tempted to try some Schiit for a while now but their products seem a bit expensive to me for a bang for the buck company. If I ever do get it, I shall make sure to let y'all know. Knowing me it would be something quite giddy.  Do you mean using the DC-1 versus the XSP-1 as volume control only? Like as preamp function only? Or you mean running the DC-1 analog out to the XSP-1 and comparing that versus DC-1 direct to amp? I didn't test the two head to head on regarding their preamp only functionality. I felt (when I tested with the UPA-2) that the DC-1 sounded more straight wire plus gain. While the XSP-1 instead sounded simply very musical and good. Honestly I hesitate to say the XSP-1 was worse as the DC-1 so far hasn't played great connected direct to preamps. Maybe it's simply better resolving or it could also be just some wierd synergy thing with the preamps I've tried it with. I assume it was never designed to be hooked up to a preamp in a pro setting so I don't know. Heck it could just have been my speaker positioning. But that's what I heard. Whatever it was it doesn't detract from how good the XSP-1 is though. When I had it in my system with a different combination it sounded really good. It just wasn't a great combo in my current setup. |
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Post by copperpipe on Feb 24, 2016 8:57:30 GMT -5
For instance the DC-1 has more resolving power than the ( really good) XSP-1. With the XSP-1 very surprisingly mudding the bass and treble slightly when compared. My ears can't hear that difference. To me the DC-1 and XSP-1 sound the same when used as a volume control. I do plan to upgrade someday. When I do it's going to be to the $2300 multi bit closed form filter with quad $100 DACs - the mighty Schiit Ygdrassil. But the Schiit requries a preamp. Which the DC-1 could do. But I'll be going with either the Audio GD Master 1 or the Audio GD HE-1 which is also 2k. So that's a good indicator about what I think about the capabilities of this DAC if I am looking at such pricey components to get a leg up on the DC-1 audio wise When that day come please let us know how the Ygdrassil sounds. I have been tempted to try some Schiit for a while now but their products seem a bit expensive to me for a bang for the buck company. If you're ears are not golden then my suggestion would be the Emotiva Big Ego, save's you money and sounds really great. |
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Post by rockman85 on Feb 25, 2016 11:33:00 GMT -5
I own both the AudioEngine D1 and the Stealth DC-1.
This is just my experience, for headphones (Denon AH D600), I found the difference to be negligible. However, when routing the sound to my home theater system with hi-fi speakers, I noticed a significant difference. Now I actually have 2 home theater systems, a budget system using the Pioneer Andrew Jones speaker series, and another system using Canton (ridiculously expensive) speakers. (These speakers were actually given to me by one of my father's clients 20 years ago, lucky me). So yeah, they are vintage Cantons but they are hi-fi speakers and they still sound amazing. With the Canton speakers I could hear a noticeable difference right away. With the pioneer series, I was struggling to hear the improvement of the DC-1 vs the D1.
So, my conclusion is that if you are going to use your DAC/AMP for easy to drive headphones like the Denon D600, or you are just using some self powered monitors, (which you are) the D1 will probably meet or exceed your expectations. If you are gonna hook this thing up to a multi thousand dollar system or use some more difficult to drive headphones then go with the DC-1.
Hope this helps.
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Do you mean using the DC-1 versus the XSP-1 as volume control only? Like as preamp function only? Or you mean running the DC-1 analog out to the XSP-1 and comparing that versus DC-1 direct to amp? 
