audio mirror dac

Just received my D1 today and let it play for eight hours before I sat down for good listen. I’ve got a smile on my face. First impression of build quality seems very good. As someone mentioned earlier, it’s ashamed that the digital in RCA was not of the same quality as the output RCA’s. I guess for this price, it’s hard to really complain. I contemplated modifying my Marantz SA14 or adding a DAC and I think I made the right decision. I guess I can still have the mod done at a later date. I’ve been very happy with my CDP which I’ve had in my system for going on three years but after reading all the threads of incredible performance upgrades with the flurry of recent inexpensive DAC’s and mods, I caught a bit of the upgrade bug. I always felt the Marantz had very good redbook performance with decent bass, and a smooth midrange but I always felt that I was missing some upper frequency range. The Audio Mirror D1 does what it’s supposed to do with redbook playback. It brings bass to another level and now I have the highs I always felt that I was missing. I hoping that with a few days of break-in, the mids will warm up a bit. If things don’t improve, I’d still be extremely happy with my $500 investment.

I have over 200 hours on my D1. Prior to the Audio Mirror, I felt that Redbook performance on my Marantz SA14 was very good. SACD was better in my opinion but not by a significant margin. My prior CDP player was a Cal Delta transport and Cal Alpha Tube DAC. I thought the Marantz was superior in every way to the Cal setup. The improvement with the Audio Mirror when added to my system using the Marantz as a transport is significant once the D1 was broken in. SACD is not superior to Redbook through the D1. In fact, I think I may prefer the sound of Redbook through the D1 than the Marantz SA14’s SACD. SACD now almost seems a bit too laid back.

The Audio Mirror D1 produces a real bottom end. Its bass presentation is not just weighted but also has definition as I can hear and feel defined bass that I really never heard before through the Marantz. A detailed treble that I thought was only possible on my best vinyl recording is now present on good CD’s. The mid range was a bit rough and harsh until the DAC was fully broken in at 100 hours plus. Once broken in, music through this DAC never sounds harsh in any way. If this DAC has a weakness in my opinion it is a minor one and could be inherent to my system but some recordings may seem a tiny bit fat or maybe a little too warm. I think I’m going to try some tweaking with difference isolation devices on my amps and transport. The soundstage is now approximately 25% larger with all instruments having greater detail and pin point imaging. Even during very complex musical passages, all instrument and vocals are distinct and well defined.

The end result is that this is the best $500 I’ve ever invested in my audio system. I’m thinking of possible replacing my SA14 with a true stand alone transport so see if I can squeeze a bit more realism out of my Thiel’s.