Another (Cheaper) DAC
This is probably going to be a truly excellent 'budget' DAC - budget in terms of cost but likely not in performance. It has at it's core the Asus Xonar card that is also found in the reputedly excellent NVA TFS, made by occasional poster & resident genius Jason (Figlet 108). Both Mervyn & Ben are big fans of his work, and others who have heard it have nothing but praise for it.
It will be priced above £300 which puts it against the newly revised DACMagic plus, but the Asus has a tiger on the top. The Cambridge Audio does not.
The internals look, well, electronic to me, but it does feature a proper internal transformer. It looks like a serious piece of kit for not a lot of money, and depending on who they got to design the output section, it might just sound something like it's carefully implemented cousins.
http://www.asus.com/Multimedia/Audio_Cards/Xonar_Essence_One/
It will be priced above £300 which puts it against the newly revised DACMagic plus, but the Asus has a tiger on the top. The Cambridge Audio does not.
The internals look, well, electronic to me, but it does feature a proper internal transformer. It looks like a serious piece of kit for not a lot of money, and depending on who they got to design the output section, it might just sound something like it's carefully implemented cousins.
http://www.asus.com/Multimedia/Audio_Cards/Xonar_Essence_One/
Comments
Have you been attending night classes Al...?
;-)
Seriously, it sounds interesting and seems well priced. If the Xonar card has much to do with the TFS' sound I look forward to reading report.
Are you lining up a purchase...?
I don't think I want one, there are two criteria I have for replacing the Young (if at all).
- It has to be at least as good, which I believe is a tall order. The Asus may be so, but I do not know.
- It needs a proper dithered volume in the software, and a remote - which the Asus doesn't.
But it does have a tiger. On top./:-)
But the tiger...?!
When was the last time you saw a nematode on a hifi fascia? And they wonder why the industry is in trouble... Sheesh.
If Naim had started engraving woodlice, whelks or even earth worms on their products they would not have have found themselves in the position of having to jump into bed with the French.
Chris Connaker has just reviewed the tiger on Computer Audiophile.
Nice to see it do rather well at it's price point.
There is also a link to a CA discussion of the asus DAC, in which there is also division. This is a strange one, because users of the asus soundcard rate it highly. When the manufacturers themselves bring out a flagship implementation of their device, one might expect more. Consider, for example, the feted Resonessence labs Invicta DAC at £3.5k, and the reception it has had (these are the guys behind the ESS Sabre DAC chips).
Perhaps this can be added to the argument that HiFi equipment is not simply about 'competent implementation / design', but that critical listening and a love for music must figure strongly in the design process?
I have one of these DACs to use with my hifi/HT-PC system.
Before it, I ran a very old AVI S2000 DAC from the early 90's. It sounds good, and had two very desirable traits that got me a nice price on the resale value:
1. Highly regarded TDA1541A S2 DAC
2. Fully discrete output stage
Since it was so old, I decided I'd have a change... I'd already used (And still do) Asus soundcards and really rate them. So, when they announced a standalone version I snapped one up as soon as funds permitted
The sound via toslink was a bit disappointing - thin and weak sounding. But, once I hooked it up via the a-synch USB connection and got ASIO running via foobar things improvement. It was a little lean compared to the old AVI DAC, but presented more detail and clarity. A compromise in some ways, an improvement in others... I've had it for a few months now and don't regret it.
Now, here's the thing that none of the big hifi reviews (CA, WHF etc..) have bothered to make a big deal out of: All the op-amps inside the DAC (I/V stage, LPF and output stage) are adaptor mounted and swappable. I did a bit of research, sent a few quid to a gent in NY via eBay for some LME9720HAs and waited.
A week or so later, they arrived and it took no more than half an hour all in all to swap the humble (rather crap) opamps that came as stock with these ones. Immediately, the DAC sounded much better! More bass, a stronger mid-range presence and less of the "eager" treble I'd become accustomed too. It's by no means the best DAC out there, but with a quick and cheap upgrade punches well above it's weight.
Funnily enough, a friend of mine brought over his (battery powered) Young DAC recently to compare. A/Bing on a few familiar tracks the Young was easily identifiable by it's very revealing character. It certainly tops the E1 for outright resolution and detail, but apart from that there was not a whole in it... Considering the Asus can be bought for 1/3rd of the Young's current UK price, it's an excellent deal. The inbuilt transformer is a nice addition too as is the headphone amp.
That's a cracking result you've had there! A satisfying upgrade as well, I would imagine.
Tell me, just how important has the tiger - the gold tiger (on top) - come to be in your system? For sure, if I had anything remotely so glorious as that on top of my DAC I would be set for life. As it is, I have a small model boat on my DAC, it's good. But it's no tiger.
FWIW, I agree with you about the identifiable character of the Young DAC, I have come to see it as a desirable quality rather than a lack of transparency though. It ha a 'live' presentation, sort of front row rather than further back in the concert venue. It adds a sense of fun, Vivace!
The Asus is obviously very good value indeed, but Youngs are now available second hand for little money (around £500 if you're lucky). If I were buying new, I think I'd be looking toward the MDAC,or if I was wanting to go left-field, the new Resonessence labs Concero for £600.
That ESS Sabre based Concero is just the kind of thing I'm looking for, were I to replace the E1... I only require a USB input so that sort of minimalism would be no problem. Shame about the price though considering it's footprint/feature set - ouch!
P.S Oh yeah, that tiger is truly is the icing on the cake. Especially when I'm eating frosties and blasting out this at breakfast:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=btPJPFnesV4
Chris
The MDAC is just like the Young, but Young is more exciting.
I have heard the same thing as Alan... The Young DAC / M-DAC have a similar presentation... Would probably be quite the sidegrade swapping between the too.
In your shoes I would probably try a JK DAC if the limited connectivity is not an issue.
TBH, the improved MDAC is very nice, but I still prefer the Young. The thing is, they are so similar that to go from one to the other is a sidestep, not an improvement. The JK32, on the other hand, is reputed to be rather special on the end of a fettled computer.
It is so tiny though, yet so capable. I think Col has really addressed something fundamental with it.