I meant to also say that at this level of gear it is difficult to justify cost or sound per dollar. The question might be for example, is the bass so many dollars better? Or something like that. The question at this level is: Could I give up this DAC and go back to the DAC I had? Probably not.
Aries-Cerat Helene Review
I have had this Helene for just a couple of days but I want to share my initial impressions before the newness wears off. The thing about this hobby, we get something new with great sound but in a few days that new sound becomes normal. Now, I'm not an equipment reviewer. I don't have the prose or creative skills to assess and communicate as well as professional reviewers. I'm a typical hobbyist who has gone over his head in high end equipment. Reference photos on my system page.
I do not rotate through gear very often. I used an Audio Research CD player for 15 years. Then three years ago I bought an Ayon Stealth Xs DAC and the Ayon CD-TII transport. Those devices rocked my world. I had no idea CDs contained so much music, detail and richness until I heard the Ayon gear. I enjoyed my Stealth DAC for almost 3 years until I did an upgrade to the Ayon Kronos DAC. It is a very nice DAC as well. It was a typical upgrade within the same brand/line- same basic sound but a little better in the bass and a little smoother highs. I could have been very happy with this DAC but it had a tube related problem and I ended sending it back to the dealer. R2R Ladder DACs had piqued my interest sometime back. With R2R DACs in the back of my mind and after suffering much agony over spending that much money on a DAC, my dealer graciously accepted back the Kronos and sold me the Helene DAC.
With little gear experience I can only compare the Helene to the Ayon gear and to my turntable- both of which are very fine. The Helene is a beast. It weighs some 85 lbs by itself. The wooden crate said 95 lbs on the shipping label. The UPS driver arrived none too happy about off loading this crate. He commented that he didn't understand how it was accepted for shipment by UPS. Oh well, it was finally in my hands. With considerable effort and help from my son we hoisted this thing onto my equipment rack. I installed the tubes, checked the bias and replaced the thick, very heavy steel lid with 10 screws. No chance of that lid flying off- screws or no.
Listening impressions: First, this DAC is dead quiet- total blackness. My previous DAC was quiet, or so I thought. Typically, on my previous DAC when streaming I would hear the noise floor raise up as a sort of prelude to the music when I hit play. With this DAC the noise floor is black as black and the music erupts from the black. I keep thinking the music isn't going to start when I hit play on my iPad but then it startles me when the music starts.
Everything about the sound is better with this DAC. Clarity, bass, the highs, the voices all sound better than before. It is as big a change from the Ayon gear as the Ayon gear was from my past CD player. It is musical with the right amount of detail so that it does not become so analytical. The biggest things are Cellos sound right. Piano is the best it has ever sounded on my system. Cymbals are so smooth, rich and full bodied. The Cymbals rival the best of the best of my vinyl on nearly every song. I think for the first time ever I got chills listening to a classical piece. Classical is so clear and spacious that it is the best ever that I have heard on my system. I'm not a big classical person but I can really enjoy it now.
Another thing about the clarity. Background vocals are so clear now that I can understand their words clearly where sometimes before they were not clear enough to understand. The bass violin on a jazz recording was so good I just wanted to hug myself. I'm going through another age of discovery with my music. Fun fun.
I believe this DAC has 16 channels of R2R Ladders. It uses a SET tube output and has a built in voltmeter for adjusting the bias. The DAC has just three inputs- USB, Coax and AES/EBU. This DAC also only accepts straight PCM- no DSD, no oversampling. That doesn't bother me because I found I used straight PCM into my other DAC 99% of the time. The USB is double re-clocked and the AES and Coax ports have the option of re-clocking. Output is either SE or XLR and it is a true balanced output. A ground lift switch on the back can be turned on for SE mode.
I will update in a few weeks after further listening. These are my initial impressions based on and compared to my previous DAC.
Showing 12 responses by tonywinga
Hi @tomic601, good question since it is difficult to find much information on this DAC on the internet. Regarding USB input, which I use with my Roon based music server, the Helene accepts bit perfect PCM, all multiples of 44.1kHz and 48 kHz up to 32 bit. In fact, I played a DSD file today that I have on my music server. Roon converted it to 384kHz/32bit PCM and it sounded fantastic. I’m looking at the owners manual. It says that USB is always double re-clocked- no options. The other two digital inputs (AES and Coax) can be double re-clocked too as an option. But re-clocking on these inputs is for multiples of 44.1kHz only. It doesn’t say it but the manual implies that these inputs can also accept multiples of 48kHz as long as re-clocking is not selected. I am using an AES cable from my CD transport to the DAC. The transport is 44.1kHz/16 output in this mode. This Transport has upsampling to DSD128 capability through I2S, but that is not possible with this DAC. But I played a CD using the AES cable and it sounds as good as the FLAC file on my music server. That was a quick sample of one. I will do more comparisons later. |
One more comment regarding the output. When I was researching this DAC it was difficult to get a clear understanding of the output level. It looks like older versions had just one gain setting which looked to be 20 volts. But my dealer told me that the importer for North America specified a 10 volt output for our market. And then they also added -6dB gain switches to reduce the output some more. This DAC does not have a volume control and so it must be used with a preamp. I guess if you are brave enough you could connect direct to an amp and use the Roon based volume control. (Yikes!) I set the gain at -6dB and I find the volume settings on my preamp match almost exactly the volume settings I used on my previous DAC. I was glad to see that. I did not need more gain going into my preamp. |
Congratulations to you too. I bet your system will sound musical. That will be an amazing system, I just know it from hearing this Helena DAC. I'm listening right now and loving it. I keep trying to shut my system down but I can't walk away. I had my finger on the preamp power button for a few seconds once a couple of hours ago. I might need counseling. This DAC has a crazy amount of energy storage. It has 6 large transformers plus one large toroidal transformer. That's probably a lot of the 85 lbs. The Kassandra 2 DAC probably has even more. The first time I shut this DAC down I thought the power switch was broken. Nothing happened for several seconds and then the bias voltmeter started to dim and went out. It took a good half a minute for all of the LEDs on the circuit boards to finally extinguish. Won't be poking my finger around in there. The dealer told me it is recommended to leave the DAC on. The owner's manual has no specs. So I don't know the power consumption. I just note that this DAC does not get very warm. I will leave it powered up unless I plan to not listen for more than a couple of days. Even then the tubes, excepting the Rectifier tube, will last many years, they say. |
As a follow-up I have had the Hele'ne for seven weeks now. It has performed flawlessly and I have heard changes through the first month as it went through break-in. The changes were subtle, basically just more of everything I posted originally. The clarity and resolution are remarkable but it is also a blessing and a curse. I hear more flaws in recordings which can be distracting. I can hear microphone overload distortion on more recordings now. Not a lot- so far about three songs out of hundreds. But despite that all digital grain, glare whatever it is called is gone. I find that as I improved the sound of digital I can turn up the volume. Now, I have to make myself turn the volume down. It sounds so good I turn up the volume to increase my pleasure. It is so smooth that I don't realize just how loud I have it sometimes. I have mixed things up a bit because I bought a new music server. I brought in an Antipodes K50 music server 12 days ago. It is still breaking in but I intend to review it as well once it is a month old. But I can say now that the Hele'ne and the K50 paired together is an amazing combination for a source. The rhythm and pace of the music just flows like analog. Unless you have heard good analog- tape or vinyl, you might not realize that digital can be off a bit with regards to rhythm and pace. I noticed it in the past with my old DAC/server after a couple of days listening to vinyl. But more on that later. What prompted me to go for a new music server was an evening listening to my CD Transport through the Hele'ne. I was spellbound by the music. I listened to 5 CDs, never skipped a track. The next day I wondered what was different vs. listening to those same CDs via FLAC files on my NUC based music server? I tried A/B between CD Transport and Music server. I even had my son listen and compare. Back to back we could hear no difference. But just sit down and listen and I found the music was free flowing when played through the transport. So I decided to try a music server commensurate to the Hele'ne. (Less inheritance for my kids.) I get a 30 day trial so it is pretty risk free. And an in- home audition is the best kind. Spoiler alert- the K50 is not going back. |
I don’t mind at all. I love the open discussion. I have only interacted with my dealer, Scott and he has been great to work with. As for an update- it is a cozy, rainy Saturday morning here and I have been listening to music guilt free. Sure, I could go to the gym but sometimes it is great to just savor the moment. I have had the Hele’ne for just over three months now and the Antipodes K50 music server/player just shy of two months. First thing to note is that I have not played a record in three months. It has been strictly digital listening and that has never, ever happened before. I keep telling myself that I need to turn on the phono preamp to at least keep the capacitors formed and to also get a fresh frame of reference. I just can’t stop listening to this DAC and Server combo. Foremost in my mind listening to this combo is the clarity and the rhythm and pace of the music. For me, the last bastion of vinyl was rhythm and pace. It took me a few years some decades back to get that right with my vinyl rig. I could hear a difference in rhythm and pace back in the 80s and 90s with different stereo systems and turntables but I didn’t know what it was until a hifi buddy came over in the mid 90s to hear my system. He told me my system lacked rhythm and pace. I felt like telling him his mother was ugly but he was my friend and I was about to learn something. Only it took me about 7 years to finally figure it out. I was thrilled when my system started to click. I think that is why I could never listen to a CD for very long. In addition to the rhythm and pace, the clarity of this combo is remarkable. It can be a large concert or an intimate setting where it feels like the musicians are just a couple of yards away. But the clarity comes with no penalties such as harshness, glare or sibilance. That is the most amazing thing listening to this system now. One of my favorite things right now is hearing guitars. I can feel the pressure of the fingers pulling on the strings. The plucks of the strings are so delicate and at the same time can be so powerful, full and rich. The imaging feels so real. The guitar has a body to it. And in many cases the singer’s voice is a couple of feet above the guitar. I don’t know how my system does that. This detail applies to other instruments too but I just have never heard guitars in so many songs feel so real. The Hele’ne and the Antipodes K50 are a great team- a fantastic musical team. One can’t excel without the other- for streaming. My CD transport combined with the Hele’ne also has that magic- the rhythm and pace that can make the music spellbinding. Another interesting thing is that the Hele’ne lacks DSD. It is strictly a PCM DAC but can operate at all of the sampling rates when using a USB cable. My previous DAC had DSD256 capability. Do I miss that? Not at all. I am still using Roon on the K50 server side and so Roon converts my DSD files to a high rate PCM. My DSD files have never sounded better. (I am using Squeeze on the player side of the K50). This digital combo still thrills and astonishes me after three months. Streaming, CD or FLAC all sound amazing. My listening sessions always last several hours. It is hard to pull myself away. I’m done with worrying over network switches, ethernet power supplies and modems. I’m still using audio grade network switches but I doubt they impact the K50 as much as they did my previous NUC based music server. The K50 has a double isolated ethernet plug. It’s like I found an oasis in the desert. This oasis has everything I need; a pool of sparkling clear water, shade, dates to eat, etc. Perhaps an even better oasis lies over the next hill of the desert. I’m too happy right now to care about that. |
I got around to playing some vinyl. It is just as enjoyable and satisfying as the digital rig. I think the rhythm and pace has much to do with the satisfaction of the music- both vinyl and digital are comparable now. The bass is comparable now as well. I think the bass on vinyl was a bit better before as compared to my previous digital rig. Now they are about the same. Soundstage and imaging are very close. My vinyl rig is a Sota Nova VI with vacuum, Eclipse Motor and magnetic bearing, SME 309 tonearm and a Soundsmith Zephyr phono cartridge feeding an ARC Ref 2SE Phono Preamp. |
Thank you for that insight phantom_av. I find the Helene and the Antipodes K50 to be a powerful, musical combination. On my system at least the sound of digital and the sound of vinyl have converged. When I play a record now I am surprised how much it sounds like my DAC and how much my DAC sounds like I‘m playing a record. I suppose that is how it should be. In the past I would play a CD to hear some new music but then switch to vinyl. My ears would immediately relax hearing the needle trace the record grooves. Vinyl was so much more musical. I know it is an age old cliche‘ now to say that a DAC has an analog feel; but for me it is finally true. I can listen and relax to the sound of the Helene. |