IlkoAlexandrov
AVForums Veteran
This is a review of particular DAC - you reading tis all certainly now which one I'm referring to by the name DTwo
Here it goes ..
I thought that i was getting there - once i acquired the Jadis, then when i completely changed how it works (no changes to design) - and getting it to become a triode and cleaning its signal path wherever i believed to be beneficial and later - confirmed it beneficial. Hell, i even lifted its first gain stage and used it like this as a pure / dedicated PA, fed by "the only" AR LS5 ..
Then came the day when the first external DAC arrived and which virtually, well, not destroyed, but almost disgraced a trusted valve CDP on certain material. Something was not right though ..
Roll forward to this week .. An impulsive purchase of although well investigated DAC concludes somewhere in the east rand and i unpack a rather beautiful looking, with soon to be confirmed having a skew mounted selector - piece of a DAC ! The DTwo .. The skew sector knob was fixed today within 10 minutes and now it is love from first sight again and every time.
Where does the DTwo excel over the previous DAC ? Was it worth the R3700 ? Other alternatives with only few ZAR more ?
I let it run day and night in order to burn it in, as suggested by many - it probably ran for over 40 hrs until today. Today was a revelation .. Whatever i threw at it, it handled it with such honesty and analogousness, it simply exceeded my expectations of this purchase. 14/44, or 24/96, Jazz e.g. PMG, or prig rock, e.g. Focus, Genesis or King Crimoson, french pop, e.g. Benjamin Biloay, Jane B, or even Vanessa Paradis - it handled it with such tour de force while ever so gentle on the upper highs, and textures, that i often had to go and sit in front, after entering a state of disbelief in the other room, listening to details which were not there before .. from the other room, and we are talking ESL 57s singing !
So, here are the main areas of improvement, upgrade of magic, seriously leaning towards a top rate TT / analogue reproduction below - in order of perceived change - improvement.
1. Soundstage. Both in width and depth. Stereo is stereo again
2. Air around instrument, instrument separation. Clearly audible .. Instrument are now "staged and not massed"
3. High frequency / upper high frequency detail, decay, texture and sibilance. All improved ! To such an extent that I'm questioning the value of the Townshend tweeters - had to already turn them down to 3. Warm highs ! The way i always wanted them
4. Detail and micro detail. Coming to the fore in all instruments. Confirmed with music i know well too well - it's like a thick curtain has been lifted
5. Listening fatigue. If there was any before with prolonged listening, now it feels as if it is all gone !
6. Low frequency. They feel tightened up with some nice texture i thought i intercepted in a particular recording of DMB. Beginning to question the need for sub upgrade - this is how better it sounds now ..
These above are the key changes after few days with the DTwo.. Your mileage ay vary and it may be all way too dependent on the rest of the rig. And here I'm going to reveal my current rig, in detail :
Shunyata power cord to Shunyata Hydra II into Mac Mini, OSX 10.6.8, Audirvana > Synergistic Research powered USB wire > DTwo > VDH The First Ultimate > Jadis Orchestra (totally modified, key here : strapped triode / 0 NFB / NOS tubes) > VDH Revelation speaker wire > ESL57 w/ Townshend Tweeters, XOTs, and B&W AS5 sub. Feet under Jadis, and Mac Mini. All other power cords - solid core and shielded wire
Will i buy it again ? I'l pay even more for it today ! Can i get the same from alternative brands ? Im sure i can but for an ever increasing price tag, ye, and then wait and wait for something to arrive in one piece .. What i actually like most about this change and the DTwo is that my hidden / secret worries that the limiting factor is my amp, or speakers, is completely trashed as of now - it turned out the rest of rig is quite capable of much more to what it was delivering and getting falsely blamed for.
The End
Thank you for reading this review.
Regards,
Ilko
Here it goes ..
I thought that i was getting there - once i acquired the Jadis, then when i completely changed how it works (no changes to design) - and getting it to become a triode and cleaning its signal path wherever i believed to be beneficial and later - confirmed it beneficial. Hell, i even lifted its first gain stage and used it like this as a pure / dedicated PA, fed by "the only" AR LS5 ..
Then came the day when the first external DAC arrived and which virtually, well, not destroyed, but almost disgraced a trusted valve CDP on certain material. Something was not right though ..
Roll forward to this week .. An impulsive purchase of although well investigated DAC concludes somewhere in the east rand and i unpack a rather beautiful looking, with soon to be confirmed having a skew mounted selector - piece of a DAC ! The DTwo .. The skew sector knob was fixed today within 10 minutes and now it is love from first sight again and every time.
Where does the DTwo excel over the previous DAC ? Was it worth the R3700 ? Other alternatives with only few ZAR more ?
I let it run day and night in order to burn it in, as suggested by many - it probably ran for over 40 hrs until today. Today was a revelation .. Whatever i threw at it, it handled it with such honesty and analogousness, it simply exceeded my expectations of this purchase. 14/44, or 24/96, Jazz e.g. PMG, or prig rock, e.g. Focus, Genesis or King Crimoson, french pop, e.g. Benjamin Biloay, Jane B, or even Vanessa Paradis - it handled it with such tour de force while ever so gentle on the upper highs, and textures, that i often had to go and sit in front, after entering a state of disbelief in the other room, listening to details which were not there before .. from the other room, and we are talking ESL 57s singing !
So, here are the main areas of improvement, upgrade of magic, seriously leaning towards a top rate TT / analogue reproduction below - in order of perceived change - improvement.
1. Soundstage. Both in width and depth. Stereo is stereo again
2. Air around instrument, instrument separation. Clearly audible .. Instrument are now "staged and not massed"
3. High frequency / upper high frequency detail, decay, texture and sibilance. All improved ! To such an extent that I'm questioning the value of the Townshend tweeters - had to already turn them down to 3. Warm highs ! The way i always wanted them
4. Detail and micro detail. Coming to the fore in all instruments. Confirmed with music i know well too well - it's like a thick curtain has been lifted
5. Listening fatigue. If there was any before with prolonged listening, now it feels as if it is all gone !
6. Low frequency. They feel tightened up with some nice texture i thought i intercepted in a particular recording of DMB. Beginning to question the need for sub upgrade - this is how better it sounds now ..
These above are the key changes after few days with the DTwo.. Your mileage ay vary and it may be all way too dependent on the rest of the rig. And here I'm going to reveal my current rig, in detail :
Shunyata power cord to Shunyata Hydra II into Mac Mini, OSX 10.6.8, Audirvana > Synergistic Research powered USB wire > DTwo > VDH The First Ultimate > Jadis Orchestra (totally modified, key here : strapped triode / 0 NFB / NOS tubes) > VDH Revelation speaker wire > ESL57 w/ Townshend Tweeters, XOTs, and B&W AS5 sub. Feet under Jadis, and Mac Mini. All other power cords - solid core and shielded wire
Will i buy it again ? I'l pay even more for it today ! Can i get the same from alternative brands ? Im sure i can but for an ever increasing price tag, ye, and then wait and wait for something to arrive in one piece .. What i actually like most about this change and the DTwo is that my hidden / secret worries that the limiting factor is my amp, or speakers, is completely trashed as of now - it turned out the rest of rig is quite capable of much more to what it was delivering and getting falsely blamed for.
The End
Thank you for reading this review.
Regards,
Ilko
