Berkeley vs. Simaudio


Anyone ever compare a Berkeley DAC to a Simaudio DAC? If so, how did they comare sonically? Do they have each have a different sound?

I guess the Simaudio 380, 650D or 750D would be the most comparable DACs to the Bekeley Alpha DAC 2.
camb

Showing 4 responses by hifimaniac

Haven't heard the Simaudio, but the Berkeley Alpha DAC 2 is excellent sounding and great value for the money. I could easily live with the Alpha DAC 2.
The sound was effortless, smooth top to bottom and without the typical mechanical electronic haze some digital can have. All the designers are from Pacific Microsonics who developed HDCD and have done an excellent job with this product.
No, only the S/PDIF. Very musical, natural sounding. I have heard the Reference is even better and hope to hear it someday. I worked a room at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest last year and this was the DAC we used with the Baetis Revolution II Music Server so had the opportunity to listen to virtually every genre of music over three days and it never ceased to amaze me.
Sabai, yes, there are two pieces of equipment I bought based on reviews from professional reviewers and from members here at Audiogon and I frankly was very surprised when I experienced it. This is no slam on Pass Lab; Nelson Pass has proved himself to be one of the finest designers in audio and also one of the most generous with his willingness to release his early designs to those that build from scratch, but I bought a brand new 350.5x amplifier to try in my system and it sound dreadful! I allowed it to break in over two months hoping to hear the described Pass musicality and smoothness and it was for me the worst sounding amplifier I had ever purchased in my several year audio passion! I quickly sold it and tried the 100.5 XA, I think the model was, and this provided me with a glimpse of the magic of a Pass Lab amp. The XA is pure class A design and runs hot but sounded very musical. I could have lived with that amp and the reviews on that one were correct. I ended up going back to VAC tube amps and for me, I have never had better sounding amplification and pre amplification in any of my past systems. VAC is musical and effortless and has allowed me to just enjoy music. Again, the Signature 2a line stage from VAC has been reviewed favorably and describes this masterpiece accurately and without any additional hype. So occasionally reviews do hype a product too much. The only other piece I owned that received glowing reviews from professionals and members here that I didn't care for in my system was the Audio Research REF 5! Compared to the VAC Signature 2a it sounded sterile, flat, without much meat and body on the notes. It was clear and had good imaging but to my ears sounded hifi and not very engaging. If you like detail, you might like it, but I want detail that also sounds like music!