The new black DAC has arrived...

quote:

Is this better than ....

I'm sure they are all good products and no set-ups sound exactly the same .... the concept of best assumes there is some objective scale on which judgement can be made. IMHO there is no such scale.

The only way to decide which of two fine products is the one for you is to go and listen and check out the build, what connections it offers and so on ... if you can't do that because of where you live then rest assured that the Naim DAC is one of the finest piece of hi-fi equipment around especially when on a Fraim aspirated by a 555PS - I won't be changing mine. If some posters here prefer another DAC then it is a safe bet that too is a good product. I can tell you the Chord DAC is a superb product as well. So you have three to choose from - none is better (having not heard the Weiss; I'm assuming it is fine DAC), they are all very good and I'm absolutely delighted with my Naim DAC. There is the same debate in the Super-Line vs Urika thread and I bet the Rega IOS is first class too.

Is the Mac/Hi-Face better than the UnitiServe; haven't a clue. Mac/Hi-Face sounds just great to me, more enjoyable than I expected and I put this down to eliminating the Mac's horrible optical interface. Using the firewire port would also do this of course and is a plus point for Weiss.

So I would exercise caution when hoping to find the best product ..... just find one that suits you.

I also made my own hydra with 3 leads into a Furutech Rhodium plug, used for the Naim/NAPSC/Hicap.

I was not sure if it was OK to include a non-naim into a Hydra.

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:
Mac/Hi-Face sounds just great to me, more enjoyable than I expected and I put this down to eliminating the Mac's horrible optical interface. Using the firewire port would also do this of course and is a plus point for Weiss.

So I would exercise caution when hoping to find the best product ..... just find one that suits you.

Agreed. I have read many comments about bit perfect this or that, but I have never failed to gain improvement in my set-up over the optical output when using Hi Face or Firewire - no matter what DAC is involved. All of them measure bit perfect. Important to get the best feed you can out of any computer whatever DAC you use.

Joe

The biggest surprise so far is the quality of the headphone amplifier. This alone is worth at least a quarter of the cost of the unit. Headline+NAPSC just does not come close to this.

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I was not sure if it was OK to include a non-naim into a Hydra.

Its the signal to mains earth point (as does a Naim CD player) so benefits sitting in a hydra arrangement.

I've not tried the headphone side yet - sounds like i should !

James

quote:

I've not tried the headphone side yet - sounds like i should !

Yes you may be pleasantly surprised. Be mindful of the volume though since you may normal have it on full 0.0 dB. The head amp is very powerful depending on your coarse analogue setting.

JYOW

re Mains Cable - you may want to try a Rega cable or Mark Grant. I have the former and will try in with the 202 in a few weeks time.

Regards

Richard

Thanks Richard. By Rega cable to you mean the stock one? I wonder if I can find it in HK as Rega is kind of invisible in HK due to the "no advertising" policy.

James, one more Q to bug you if I may

Do you power the unit off or leave it on?

I left it on and turned the LCD backlight down to nothing.

It does get a little warm.

Its not the standard cable other than on ISIS/OSIRIS. But its quite cheap ~£90 - so worth a punt.

Possibly contact a UK dealer and they can help you out.

As I said; I hope to try out the combination so I you can hang on till the end of August I can give you some first hand experience.

Regards

Richard

Always on - like you i have the backlight off just coming on if i use the remote - agreed it does get a bit warm but nothing major, the DAC2 did as well. I'll give the phones a go

James.

Thanks Richard.

Just swapped the thick LoRad cable for the stock Naim cable. The stock cable seems to sound even better.

James, let me know how you did with your headphones. This has turned out to be one of the best audio purchases I ever did.

I'm at my favourite weekend coffee shop, plugged into the headphone jack of the 202. I'm listening to some hi-res material from Linn at 192/24, coming from my MacBook via firewire. The sound is amazing. I haven't done a comparison with the Naim DAC, as I don't plan on using the 202 in my main system. This DAC is definitely a keeper.

Why won't you use it in your main system it is much better than the Naim dac.

LOL

I wouldn't say it's better than the Naim DAC - it's different. I've also got a 555PS hooked up to the Naim unit, and the combination sounds great in my system.

So you have tried it in your main system?

Nope, haven't tried it in my system. Guess I can't really say exactly how it's different from the Naim DAC unless I do so. What I do know is that I enjoy the sound of my HDX with the nDAC & 555PS. Very musical. With regard to the 202, at half the size, it's a lot easier to lug around than the Naim unit & I don't feel quite as dumb plugging my rig in when I'm out for a morning of reading & music.

Somebody had mentioned that the power cable can interfere with the Firewire connector, which is located just below. Try using a right angle adapter - the power cable will then come up from the 202, and won't press on the Firewire cable.

Sensible. Let us know if you do. I understand the headphone out doesn't use the main dac but a seperate one. Nice feature for portability or pro use.

Docmark you really must try the 202 in your main rig, I have compared the two dacs and the Weiss in a completely different league.

Maybe I'll do that. What if I prefer it?!

Doc do you use Amarra or Pure Music with your mac,try the mac /Weiss compared to the hdx dac and 555ps and report back!

I've got both Pure Music and Amarra. Today, most of my listening has been with PM. I tried the latest version of Amarra, but haven't tweaked it yet & have been playing around with the parametric equalizer, which can really change the sound. Not sure that's necessarily a good thing.

Nothing can be in a completely different league unless it sounds completely different than the original. The Ndac is too good to be in completely different league from anything you may happen to prefer as we've compared analog master dubs played back through it. All are allowed to prefer what they like but get real.

Docmark, are you going to get the pci upgrade for the HDX? I hear it's very worthwhile.

quote:

I have compared the two dacs and the Weiss in a completely different league.

I probably wouldn't like it then if it artificially changes the way the music sounds - however, I didn't think Weiss products aimed to do that. Or have I misinterpreted and you just mean you prefer it?