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Lend me your ears...

I'm hoping to get some buying advice. I live in an area where it isn't possible to audition a variety of products. If you have experience with any of the digital sources I'm considering, your impressions would be most helpful. 

I'm choosing from; Cary DMS 800; Aurender A30; Antipodes K50 with a Benchmark DAC3 HGC; Baetis Reference with the Benchmark DAC. 

Suggestions? Cautionary tales? 

ott
bslon's avatar
bslon
2,033 posts
 

I have a Cary DMS 700. It sounds very analog like, no digital sounding fatigue but also no rolled off highs or loss of detail. It sounds wonderful. I like the Cary App, that it’s set up for Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect, Qobuz, internet radio, AirPlay, and Wi-Fi. It’s an attractive unit with a nice display and the menu is easy to navigate. I don’t use the supplied remote, except for set-up.
If you have questions or problems Cary answers their phone and responds promptly to emails and they’re an American company.
The unit is sold at CaryDirect at a discount, and currently their digital units are on sale. Mine came well packaged and double boxed, no issues.
I realize you were considering the DMS 800, the next step up. If it sounds even better than the 700, it must be fantastic.

ott OP
37 posts
 

Thanks. I have a Cary SLP 98 and that's why I'm considering the DMS 800. If the 800 is as good as the 98, it's delicious. Would you say the sound is tube-like as I suspect it is? Warm, neutral, cool, reticent, assertive? I'm a fan of Henry Threadgill's, especially "In For a Penny..." Are you perchance familiar? 

bslon's avatar
bslon
2,033 posts
 

I had not heard “In For A Penny…” but just streamed it and it’s delightful, interesting music. I can’t say if it’s tube-like or not, but the instruments sound very detailed, assertive, more neutral than cool or warm. Great imaging and quite engaging, thank you!

I streamed it on Tidal (16/44 only) and Qobuz (24/96 native) and Qobuz is much better sounding. Tidal didn’t have a MQA version, I would like to have compared that. The Cary can upsample up to DSD but to me the native stream is generally the best sounding.

I hope this is helpful. BTW, I don’t use Roon but I sometimes AirPlay CD rips from my iPad and they sound very good also.

 

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,103 posts
 

I owned Benchmark DAC 3 HGC driven by a Lumin U1 Mini. It was pretty good but I upgraded to Bricasti M3 with a built in Network player and after extensive comparison between the Bricasti Network player and the Lumin U1 Mini I ended up preferring the Bricasti. I use Roon to stream from Tidal, Qobuz and a music library on a HDD. You can use MConnect if you do not want/need Roon. 

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