Finally: Home Audition of Non-Oversampling/Filterless DAC

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Finally: Home Audition of Non-Oversampling/Filterless DAC

Postby rtsyrtsy » Tue Apr 08, 2003 10:37 am

I'm posting here on General Audio and not yet on review for several reasons:

1--I've only had the Audoi Note CDT Zero and DAC One.1x for a night (recommended break in >300hrs)
2--I've only heard it on my headphone rig
3--Digital I/C is a temporary Ixos, not one of those reputed to mate well w/ this brand/model (thanks to a dear friend who sponsored this one!)

Some quibles:

Ergonomics on the transport sucks big time. No controls on the fascia. Two buttons serve as Open/Close and Play/Pause at the back and that's it!

The remote control's button layout is so unusual (it has zero where 1 is supposed to be and 4 in the middle keypad where 5 is normally is). The buttons are not illuminated/glow in the dark and are the same size so no way you'd operate this in the dark at least for the 1st several weeks.

The fascias are refreshingly minimalist despite lots of text printed on it, but only when turned off. When turned on, the big green display screen on the transport has so many indicators (time, track, calendar-format track display, repeat, etc.) it becomes bothersome in the dark (and I have a small room). At this price level, at least a display off switch on the transport and a phase inversion switch on the DAC should be included.

Some observations/questions:

One of the specs on the DAC is it's high 3.5v output. After adjusting to subjectively comparable volume levels vs. a typical source w/ 2V output, have you eliminated all unfair advantages of high output voltage?

I heard much better dynamics but I'm not sure if that's really an advantage of the DAC or just an advantage of the high output voltage. I relaize I'm not saying much since I'm comparing dynamics of a player 10 times the list price of the other.

Online reviews of the unit talk about rolled-off frequency extremes. One of the measurements (HFC I think) said 5db off at 20k kHz and 20Hz. Hypertriode said he heard this. For me, so far inconclusive. Maybe because I've used standmounts all my life and have not quite heard deep bass. But I think I hear bass via the Sennheiser HD600 and I actually felt deep bass was better on the AN, again, remember the price difference vs. the 502.

I can't comment on imaging yet (in this area, the AN gets mixed reviews online) as I've only used headphones so far. Remember though that AN UK's Peter Qvortrup claims that imaging/staging is of secondary importance to him. PQ prioritizes tonality and timing and further claims that pinpoint positioning in a stage is typically done via frequency shaping to enhance the ranges that give off spatial cues.

The transport's physical performance is very good. The tray opens and closes w/ authority. TOC reading is fast. But some tracks on some CD's skipped (not on my NAD 502) on no mroe than 5% of all tracks played but at this price range and for a dedicated transport, I'd expect flawless operation. Note though that I've never replicated the phenomenon on the same disc constantly for a demo. Ferdi says this may be due to a pretty long time in storage/display.

The rawness, palpability, and direct emotional connection I heard when I first auditioned this unit and confirmed when I heard Audio Note 2003's heavily modded DAC 3.1x are still there. If this transport/DAC were a sport, this is rugby, not the all padded and helmeted American football variety. Or this is Thai boxing as opposed to olympic boxing where fighters have all sorts of protective gear.

I'm not suggesting this a a rough, brute, uncivilized source as it is very, very well-behaved. In the Old England tradition, I liken this player's character to a knight. Fiercely efficient and fearsomely barbaric on the battlefield but inside the bloodied armor is the noblest of gentlemen.

In comparison with the Audio Analogue Paganini (at a comparable price range) or the Arcam CD72 (at around half the cost), these latter two would be much more polite than the A.N.

PRAT is an area this exels in straight out of the box. Mozilla was right on the money when he commented on Ferdi's AN stuff in Cebu as "fast." My wife stepped out of the bedroom a couple of times while I was hunkered down on our sofa listening and not just toe tapping but at times FOOT STOMPING.

I listened for a good 5 hours straight last night and felt no fatigue whatsoever. Note, it was hot and the HD600, though comfortable, cannot be considered "breathable" like Gore Tex. I think this says a lot about how this combo presents digital. I just put disc after disc after disc and only slept because I had work today.

One of the biggest attractions of single ended (the triode part is in my future but not yet) operation to me is the way lyrics are articulated. It has the fleshness of tongue, cheeks, and lips, a hint of wetness of saliva (Racio, get that smirk off your face!), and from singers with impeccable diction like Ella Fitzgerald or distinct inflections like Harry Belafonte, that defined, very human trait that makes them very unique.

That's it for now. As the combo breaks in (I'm at 5% todate!), I'll post more notes. Meanwhile, enjoy the music!
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Postby audionote2003 » Tue Apr 08, 2003 12:47 pm

Congratulations Rtsy!!!
Finally your search is over.
I'll help you with the mods especially purchasing the parts from AN.
Pwede mo rin canvass with pinoydiophiles member especially hypertriode.
For the meantime break-in mo muna
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Postby vintage_dog » Tue Apr 08, 2003 1:14 pm

Congrats!

So when do we get to audition and A-B it? :D :D
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Postby rtsyrtsy » Tue Apr 08, 2003 1:19 pm

Thanks, audio note 2003. I wish you had a shorter nick. :lol:
Naks, nagreklamo sa hirap i-type na username si rtsyrtsy!

I know you had issues w/ your transport as well but that was mostly on CD-Rs, right?

I'm not that worried yet as my transport has been in storage for a while so I'm sure it'll take some while for the gears and motors inside to get up to snuff.

I have been dying to share some thoughts on the new babies since last night but I just kept on putting one disc after another. My wife in fact got mad at me this morning because I left the PC on all night and forgot to post what I had wanted to post. :P
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Postby audionote2003 » Tue Apr 08, 2003 2:07 pm

Sorry for the long monicker. Is there a way to change it?

I used to have problems reading CDR, however Hypertriode took only 10 mins to solve that.
Now everything is being read.
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Postby Racio » Wed Apr 09, 2003 1:17 am

When I saw those ANs (w/c you often talk about) at JR's, I kinda' sensed that your name was already written all over it. You were simply fiddling w/ time and testing fate's deliberate hands. Perchance 'twas love at first... er, "listen"? :wink:

Congratulations Russ! :D
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Love at First...

Postby rtsyrtsy » Wed Apr 09, 2003 11:13 am

Racio wrote:When I saw those ANs (w/c you often talk about) at JR's, I kinda' sensed that your name was already written all over it. You were simply fiddling w/ time and testing fate's deliberate hands. Perchance 'twas love at first... er, "listen"? :wink:

Congratulations Russ! :D


Thanks, Senor Racio! It wasn't quite "love at first...listen." In a way, it was love at first sight.

If you remember, I posted and talked about not being overly impressed with the Audio Note CDT Zero and DAC One.1x at JR's w/c I auditioned w/ both my headphone rig and a speaker set-up based on JR's Aleph 0 (he attempted to get as close to my system as possible perhaps) and Dynaudio Consequence (obviously, JR didn't try hard enough in understanding what I can and cannot afford!), and Transparent cabling.

I remember telling Hyperion that the AN is OK but not at that price.

What really turned the tide in the AN's favor as far as my digital search was concerned was Audio Note 2003's more broken in DAC 3.1x w/c at that time was disadvantaged by a non-AN transport and cabling. (He's since gone AN all the way, except for the room!) That was a set-up that moved me.

Then there was that brief chat w/ Ed Fausto at Francis' place where he expressed great interest in non oversampling/filterless and specifically AN's kit w/c he found so DIY firendly.

Even then though, I kept myself from purchasing an AN till I found a good deal price wise.

Which led me to the merry go round of CD players in the market. Among those I heard, I liked joe3rp's upsampling Ah! Njoe Tjoeb/Ike's Ah!, Rotel's RCD 1070 (Ed Fausto's choice), boghart's QDS15 (a.k.a. nOrh CD1), your MF A324, and Sonny's CAL Delta/Alpha.

Among those I didn't hear, I found the Hearts and Scott Nixon's TubeDAC most interesting.

I probably would've been happy w/ any of these and came so close to procuring Rene's last RCD1070 (this has Black Gates inside daw). However, when I heard myself ask Rene how the Rotel was as a tansport (to a future non-oversampling DAC), I realized that deep inside, I wanted something else.

I've practically heard everything that the local market had to offer: Audio Analogue Paganini, Arcam CD72/92, Musical Fidelity E624/A3/A324/X-DAC/X24k (thanks to you, Melvyn, and Rene), most of the Rotels (951?, 971, 991, 1070), Marantz, Sonny's Shanling, etc.

Then my recent trip came along. There was the chance to hear Joseph Ramon's SGD1.9k broken in CD2.1x in Singapore. Right before I left though, a brief text exchange with JR Pecaoco led to an offer that when I told my wife, she immediately responded with a "Happy 5th Wedding Anniversary, babes." (It was my wife that got struck w/ love at 1st sight w/the AN's "yabang" look. Those are her words, not mine.

And yes, my wife calls me "babe" just like the pig in the movie. :lol:

Last night after we put our baby to sleep, I came out of the shower and was treated to the sight of my wife relaxing in our sofa, my HD 600 on her head, and the AN's spinning her fave Martin Nievera album.

Lovely, just lovely! 8)
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Postby audionote2003 » Wed Apr 09, 2003 11:58 am

Kainggit ka naman Russ, your wife is into audio also.

Any chance I can change my monicker without new registration?
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