Naim DAC versus Resolution Audio Cantata Music Center
Posted by: John R. on 02 September 2010
Fascinated by the idea of having an asyncronous USB streaming option, a CD player and a pre amp with true analog volume control in just one box I demoed the Resolution Audio Cantata Music Server against CDX2-2/DC 1/Naim DAC in a system with 282, HiCap, 250 and the new B&W 802: In order to keep the demo as simple as possible I only demoed the Resolution Audio with CDs. To make the demo as fair as possible all of the above mentioned components were placed on a Fraim, used a Powerigel (über Hydra using original Naim power cables) and Hi-Lines (DIN-DIN for the DAC and RCA-DIN for the Resolution Audio). To cut a long story short: The CDX2-2/DC 1/Naim DAC was way much better than the Resolution Audio in every aspect (PRaT, tonality, soundstage, details). We were three listeners and all of us agreed with this result. The Resolution Audio just got a great review in the German magazine AUDIO where it placed higher than the Naim DAC - a result that I can not understand at all. The Resolution Audio is a graet audio component, but in my oppinion by far not as good as the Naim combination. This was very obvious with piano recordings or Naims great and very purely recorded True Stereo sampler. Besides that we listened to pop and jazz. This just proved how good Naim is and even better: Today I read about the NDX which most likely will be my streaming solution for the future...
Taking even into consideration that the Resolution Audio is supposed to sound slightly better via USB than via its inbuilt CD drive I still can not imagine that it will outperform the Naim combination since the difference was too big.
Taking even into consideration that the Resolution Audio is supposed to sound slightly better via USB than via its inbuilt CD drive I still can not imagine that it will outperform the Naim combination since the difference was too big.