No thoughts from anybody?
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Bringing this back to the top as looking for more information as plans and equipment have changed a fair bit, whats new!
I am looking for either a DAC that has 3 analog inputs( one pair balanced) OR a preamp that has a great DAC section .
I have a few in mind but know nothing of them and obviously there may be many more.
Mytek Manhattan
PS Audio Stellar Gain Cell
NAD M12
Simaudio 350 DP
Any others and has anybody direct experience with any of these?
Thank you |
@mesch
If you have any more questions or thoughts on the vault 2 feel free to email me directly.
After nearly a year of ownership and use I think I have a pretty good handle on what makes it tick by now.
Good luck |
@ptss
A little on the late side now....lol
Had the Exogal for a couple weeks now and very content indeed so far.
But thank you for the recommendations! |
@mesch
Absolutely none at all
Every single one including some pretty old well played ones.
Only "issue" was about 4 cds of very old and obscure British issue nature did not get correct metadata.
Easily and quickly fixed by accessing the vault hard drive from my pc and using mp3tag to fix.
That's it, takes about 7 minutes average to rip a CD to flac or wav files.
For my requirements it was the best solution and the sq via coax digital output with a Nordost silver shadow cable is better than the original CD.
I can give the unit a solid 100% recommendation. |
After a lot of hours of playtime I must report to being very happy with current setup.
Exogal Comet Plus dac/preamp
BAT VK600SE power amp
Bluesound Vault 2
Wilson Witt speakers
All analog interconnects are Nordost Heimdal
All digital interconnects are Nordost Silver Shadow
SR Black fuses in the power amp and Comet ps.
SQ? Very rich and detailed with tremendous mid bass energy and vocals to die for, just right for my rock music bent.
However I listened last night to Joe Bonamassa acoustic live at Carnegie Hall and it sent me to heaven, the strings were just liquid and the whole album passed without me moving an inch from my seating position!
Now finishing upgrading the vinyl side but that is dealt with elsewhere
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Just a quick update
Received my Exogal Comet Plus on Saturday which I stole for $1000 right here on Agon in as new condition, never even been plugged in!
So obviously it still needs a lot of burn in time but initial impressions are very favourable.
Using it right now as the main preamp in the system feeding the power amp direct and I like what I hear.
Mostly listened to Tidal and my own ripped music via the Vault 2 over digital coax and very good imaging and very tight bass control. One band in particular, A Perfect Circle, has some very deep, powerful bass lines and on the old combo I could not help but feel they came over as just a tad bloated. Not with this combo, very strong and deep but crisp and well defined.
To replace the phono section on the c48, I actually bought a used Cambridge Audio Azur 551 simply because it was for sale on my local CL...lol. However cheap maybe but even vinyl sounds improved being very well defined in the lower registers and excellent on piano and acoustic guitar and vocals.
As I said, early days but it is looking good so far. |
There was also a shout out for the Exogal Comet Plus which can be found used at a very fair price, reviews seem ok |
@hgeifman
At present I have a very short list of two, both from prior suggestions in this thread
One is the Benchmark dac3
the other is the Mytek Brooklyn.
Both are about $1995 brand new and with 30 day free trial.
Still looking and hearing opinions but it may boil down to one of those and give it an extended test run, not much to lose bar return shipping. |
I can believe that, just I need at least 2 non usb digital inputs for my requirements |
@hgeifman
Yeah I thought so pity.
I really need two digital inputs from my oppo and the vault and prefer them to both be coax but could be one coax, one optical. That is mostly because I have 2 fairly decent coax cables whereas my optical cables are just the ultra thin cheap giveaway stuff atm.
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The Ayre Codex does not have digital coax input though from what I read.
Mainly a usb DAC I think
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Some long thoughts ahead for sure
Benchmark
Mytek Brooklyn
Anybody have any good experience with Schiit? Seem to be seeing a lot of threads on them lately |
I was all set on an all in one box solution for sure.
However even my stubbornness can see that while convenient it may not be the pinnacle of musical nirvana and it maybe time to consider changes.
I still think I would try a decent dac before the c48 and then sans c48 to see what I hear.
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Of course Dave, I have not totally ruled out replacing the OPPO with a modwright OPPO yet.
However that only has an effect on Redbook CD replay.
Moving to a better DAC should improve CD replay, my ripped collection and Tidal replay so in theory I should get a broader music improvement on spending money on a better DAC.
Mind it was a lot easier years ago when I was much poorer....lol.
That made choices easy.....if it wasn't broke then don't fix it! |
Dave
You are exactly right and that would be the plan. Fortunately the C48 has 2 pairs of xlr inputs so I can compare say the oppo dac signal to the c48 and the "whatever" dac signal to the c48 both via xlr.
And the same with the vault, compare single ended direct from the vault to the c48 and same with the "whatever" dac.
Then I can remove the c48 and try the " whatever" dac direct into my BAT.
I am blessed in that 2k is not a huge outlay at my stage of life and the mytek and benchmark have a 30 day free trial.
Plenty enough for me to a lot of serious comparisons.
Tbh it will take something special to make me part with the c48
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@shadorne
Just been researching the Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ which at $2195 seems like it may very well be a great replacement "all in one box" unit to the C48.
Heck if I buy one and it works out well I will even be in the black after the sale of the C48!
DECISIONS, DECISIONS! |
The Benchmark DAC3 with the analog inputs looks very interesting. In theory I could try without the C48 and run my vinyl through a phono preamp then into the analog input of the DAC3.
More food for thought
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@mr_m
It does not look like the codex supports digital coax inputs, just usb and an optical input so not going to work for my setup right now
@shadorne
I could try the Benchmark without the c48 but then I lose the analog input from my vinyl deck so not going to be a viable long term solution |
@mapman
I actually have a Benchmark DAC on my eBay watchlist..... Benchmark DAC2 DX at 1600
I do not know the model at all |
@marktomaras
I appreciate your reply which is very fair and actually good food for thought and future consideration.
Usually when I tell people I do not want to go the computer route they get all bent out of shape and holier than thou on me.
From the sounds of it they have made it easier for us mere mortals to setup and use, definitely something I will have to research a little more.
And yes the Bluesound while not the top dog in SQ by any means was and is a fantastic simple elegant solution and their customer support has been exemplary imho. |
Some nice suggestions, I did think along the lines of an older model with large power supplies like Esoteric or similr.
@marktomaras
One thing I steered way clear of when entering the digital realm, have a number of threads on this subject...lol, was total avoidance of ANY computer based music for a number of reasons for my situation.
My system needs to be fool proof to the extent that my wife and daughter can just come in and push a few buttons on the units and select the music they want from the Bluos app on their phones, iPad etc either from the vault direct or from Tidal via the Bluos app.
I appreciate there may be better SQ to be had going computer based but not going to happen in this household. |
@willemj
To answer the latter part first
I do not believe that the inbuilt DAC in either the vault or the oppo are the last word in DACs by far and if I prefer their sound to the DAC in the C48 then quite likely a true dedicated DAC could sound only better. To my ears in my system of course.
@mesch
Are they satisfactory?
Probably an impossible question to answer in our never ending struggle to gain improvement...lol.
Yes I prefer their sound but as above, is it possible even better results await with a separate dedicated DAC.
Like a Schiit or something.
I guess that is my problem to pondering any suggestions to ones to trial would be worthwhile. |
I just knew someone was going to ask that...lol. So much I was on the verge of editing to state that ALL inputs have been level matched with test tone and sound meter app on my phone. While the actual decibel might not be 100% correct it is good enough to use to set all inputs to at least be the same.
The difference I hear is not volume but depth of field, clarity of vocals, they seem more pronounced on analog. Acoustic guitar seems to have more "zest" for want of a better word.
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