2. digital
  3. 1325510087

Loss of inner detail

Greetings,
I've owned a Sony SCD-XA5400ES for 2 years now and really do love it. In my system it has out performed these CDPs:
Electrocompanient EMC-1UP
Linn Ikemi
Meridian 508.24
Accuphase DP-57
Resolution Audio Opus 21
Ayre CX-7e
Bel Canto CD-1

I got the OK from my wife to buy a "final" Transport - DAC (ie: spend a larger dollar amount, ha) that will give me the flexibility of having digital input for the possibility of adding a server at one point.

As I live in Minneapolis I thought I'd try the Bel Canto CD-2 and DAC 3 combo (used). Well, I got a good deal on a used DAC 3 and ran my Sony into the DAC using RCA spdif from the Sony into the DAC3. (I'm waiting to buy a used CD2, but they don't come up often)
ALL inner detail of songs has disappeared (I'm exaggerating a bit, but the difference is quite stark!). Music sounds FAR superior just using the Sony. Why is this?

I'm using a Black Cat Veloce digital cable.

Rest of my system:

Gamut CD-2r preamp
TAD-60 amp
Spendor S9 speakers
Analysis Plus interconnects and speaker cables

Please offer your thoughts as this is my first foray into a separate Transport & DAC

Thanks!
tgyeti
plato
1,543 posts
 
Good question... usually you get more detail when you go to separates. Maybe the new pieces don't like your old cables or you're not using any AC power conditioning.

And I don't know how good your digital cable is. I do know that DH Lab's Toslink optical digital cable gives a wealth of inner detail and is very musical. I believe a 1-meter length is only $45. I'd try one of those first if your gear provides a Toslink output and input. Good luck.
rdavwhitaker
173 posts
 
I wouldn't be too surprised to find out that Sony is using better DA converters than Bel Canto -- As Plato says, separates can be an improvement over integrated units, but that's because they frequently reflect better design and the use of higher quality parts. Based on my own limited, and unsatisfactory, experience with a Bel Canto amplifier -- which left me wondering about their design and production values for their entire product line -- I wouldn't be too surprised to find out that Sony's XA5400es has a better DAC built in than Bel Canto is offering separately. Sony, after all, has produced some of the best CD and SACD players ever made.

I have to say, personally, that while I have found separate preamps and power amps an improvement over most integrated amps, I have always been skeptical of the "separate transport and DAC" as an improvement over a top-quality integrated CD player like your Sony, but I recognize that YMMV.
chayro
2,926 posts
 
No way to really tell, but I'll take an uneducated guess, as long as you're asking. I've owned the Sony and while I think it's nice for the money, it's not what I would call "full" or "harmonically rich". In a system that is somewhat bass-heavy, this could be a blessing, as it thins out the midbass, giving the appearance of more clarity in the vocal range. I would do two things - first, give yourself at least a month to get used to things - you may find the DAC3 does things you much prefer to the Sony. The other thing is to try to lessen the midbass response by moving the speakers out a bit and perhaps putting some hard footers under the various components. Try the Yamamoto wooden cones. Nice and cheap from Venus Hifi. (No affiliation). Anyway - That's my guess and nothing more.
tgyeti OP
84 posts
 
Thanks to everyone for their responses so far. I may be using the phrase "inner detail" incorrectly. Here's what I mean .....
Artist: Marisa Monte
Album: Rose and Charcoal
Song: Maria de Verdade

As with a lot of Latin songs, there is a lot of percussion going on in this song. The primary percussive sounds I'm hearing up front are bass drum and maybe some deep floor toms. Deeper in the mix (lying more in the background) are some metallic "clanking" and bell like sounds. While playing this song on my Sony (NOT into the DAC3) , the background clanking and bell percussion is 15% of the audio "sonic picture" coming at me. (Please forgive me if I'm using novice descriptions for audio, but I hope you're following this). When I play this same song on the Sony as a transport into the Bel Canto DAC 3, that background percussion is now 5% of the audio "sonic picture" coming at me.
To me, that is not an improvement.
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