Help with DAC follow up


Well here goes......I got my nice dealer to lend me the Classe DAC-1 for an in-home audition, and I must say I'm quite perplexed. There was quite a difference in the sound, but inexplicably to the worse side!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I tried balanced, unbalanced, and several different cables, all to the same effect. First of all, the sound through the DAC was somewhat muted! In the manual, it specifically states that you'd get a +6 dB gain if you were playing an HDCD. Even on HDCD (I tried a bunch), the volume actually decreased by several dBs. The soundstage was wider w/o it, and vocals were suspended in air with greater ease. The other really noticeable difference was that the music seemed much more 2 dimensional (flat, for lack of better words). I know the Rega Planet is a good CD player, but I must say I was fairly shocked. If any one out there has any ideas, shoot them out there. I'm going to try a single disc Onkyo basic 199.99 player I have in a bedroom just for the heck of it to see what happens there. If it doesn't clean up or do anything positive for the sound there, maybe there's something wrong with the unit, but I couldn't imagine what.
audioguy3107c96f

Showing 2 responses by joe_b

Hello Audioguy,
I was pressed for time for time (as usual) and left out some info in my earlier reply.
I have tried the Rega Planet as a transport and I think it is a better cd player than a transport. It sounded to me like you describe above. I was using it with a jitter reduction device so if you are using it without one, your results are probably going to be worse than what I heard.
While the Classe may be defective and I have never heard one, I remember reading that it is a very revealing dac. It may be revealing some things about the Rega as a transport that you do not want to hear.
If you're going to get into digital separates and you really want to beat the Rega then I think you may need to try some other dacs, try a jitter reduction device and even a different transport.
I did listen to the Rega as a cd player (at home) and it is very nice for the price.
However, it is not in same league as a properly set up dac like a Bel Canto.
I have an $90 Aiwa cd changer that I play around with that is a better transport than the Rega, but you would have to use a good jitter reduction device like the AA DTI Pro or better to duplicate my results.
Sugarbrie,
Some day I will connect with Stan Warren and get my Aiwa modified. He does not always seem to answer his phone and did not respond to a voicemail I left.