Chord Dac still on top?

gregvet

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The best digital source I have heard is the Chord QBD76. It has since been my dream Dac, and I am sure that when I find one at a price I can afford I will buy it.

Its a few years old now tho, and I keep reading rave reviews about significantly cheaper dacs. Can anyone who has heard offer some insight into whether the rega or audiolab dacs can compete? What about the naim? Technology moves on after all!

As an aside, how much would I need to spend to improve on the dacs built into my arcam av9 (as in my main system my primary surce if currently sonos feeding the arcam directly). I am keen to get a separate dac so that the arcam can be in direct stereo mode, as this is when is sounds best apparently, but not really sure whether there is any point getting a middle of the range dac now, or wait for the chord. I could probably get the naim sooner, but can't help feeling that it might not gel so well with the arcam av9 p7 combo.

Anyones thoughts greatfuly received. I know I should demo, the problem is finding somewhere with the arcam equipment I have for comparisons. My local naim dealer doesn't do arcam, and I don't think I can lug my equipment to him on a whim! Other decent dacs for demo are very thin on the ground.
 

Craig M.

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i could tell you how the qbd compares to the dac that is in the avi adm9.1t. but then i'd have to kill you. :)

i wouldn't spend that much on a dac if i was doing it again. looks amazing though, especially the polished finish.
 

Craig M.

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CnoEvil said:
You might also like to consider this: http://www.whathifi.com/review/arcam-fmj-d33

£2k?! it's just a ******* dac! i don't care how much pixie dust they have pumped into it. you don't even get a decent remote*. they really are taking the proverbial.

*better than none though, chord!
 

SteveR750

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Craig M. said:
CnoEvil said:
You might also like to consider this: http://www.whathifi.com/review/arcam-fmj-d33

£2k?! it's just a ******* dac! i don't care how much pixie dust they have pumped into it. you don't even get a decent remote*. they really are taking the proverbial.

*better than none though, chord!

The Chord is £3k!
 

gregvet

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Craig M. said:
i could tell you how the qbd compares to the dac that is in the avi adm9.1t. but then i'd have to kill you. :)

i wouldn't spend that much on a dac if i was doing it again. looks amazing though, especially the polished finish.

Unless the avi's can output an analogue signal (allowing me to bypass the speaker and amp components) they are no use to me in this instance. Even then I think I would struggle to explain why I needed another pair of speakers in the living room. Not sure the other half would accept 'it's ok I'm just using them as a dac' as an argument lol

Yes the chord looks great, but my interest is due to the fact that it also sounds better than any other source I have heard.

For some reason I had discounted the arcam dac. I should demo it, and the chance is it will gel very well with my exiting setup. I worry that it wil sound the same as what I already have , I guess.
 

CnoEvil

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Craig M. said:
CnoEvil said:
You might also like to consider this: http://www.whathifi.com/review/arcam-fmj-d33

£2k?! it's just a ******* dac! i don't care how much pixie dust they have pumped into it. you don't even get a decent remote*. they really are taking the proverbial.

*better than none though, chord!

It may be £2k, but it's still £1.6k cheaper than the Chord and would fit in nicely with his other Arcam kit.

I must be one of the few people who don't like the QBD 76 and would take the D33 over it without hesitation. :)
 

Craig M.

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SteveR750 said:
Craig M. said:
CnoEvil said:
You might also like to consider this: http://www.whathifi.com/review/arcam-fmj-d33

£2k?! it's just a ******* dac! i don't care how much pixie dust they have pumped into it. you don't even get a decent remote*. they really are taking the proverbial.

*better than none though, chord!

The Chord is £3k!

yes, but at least they aren't just using off the shelf bits that cost peanuts. i would guess that the fpga took a bit of time to program. and i wouldn't buy a qbd again either.
 

CnoEvil

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gregvet said:
For some reason I had discounted the arcam dac. I should demo it, and the chance is it will gel very well with my exiting setup. I worry that it wil sound the same as what I already have , I guess.

I would be very surprised if that was the case.
 

gregvet

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I'm sure you are right Cno. I should listen to one.

The arcam gets described as laid back (well it is arcam so it would wouldn't it!), and not timing as well as it could (by what Hifi at least), what are your thoughts on these points (assuming you have heard one of course). I wouldn't mind a bit more oomph with electronic music sometimes, one of the reasons for wanting a dac in the first place.
 

CnoEvil

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gregvet said:
I'm sure you are right Cno. I should listen to one.

The arcam gets described as laid back (well it is arcam so it would wouldn't it!), and not timing as well as it could (by what Hifi at least), what are your thoughts on these points (assuming you have heard one of course). I wouldn't mind a bit more oomph with electronic music sometimes, one of the reasons for wanting a dac in the first place.

You should give Andy Moore of Arcam a ring....I believe he is very proud of this particular product. Apparently, playing around with the digital filters can give considerable extra "bite" to the sound.

IMO This is the direction you should focus your attention.
 

gregvet

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CnoEvil said:
You should give Andy Moore of Arcam a ring....I believe he is very proud of this particular product. Apparently, playing around with the digital filters can give considerable extra "bite" to the sound.

IMO This is the direction you should focus your attention.

Must admit I hadn't considered speaking to anyone at arcam. Must be my cynical self assuming they would 'bigup' their own products lol

Quite happy to have a demo and see what I think. Just got to find one on demo now, ideally with a chord for comparison. Anyone know where I can find both in the southeast?

On the other hand maybe I shouldn't demo, I will only want to buy then :wall:
 

CustomCable

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The qbd76 and hd are very good but many prefered the overall presentation of the 64. If i was spending £3k plus i would grab the Resonessence Invicta. Walks over the chord in my opinion.

Regards
 

CnoEvil

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gregvet said:
Must admit I hadn't considered speaking to anyone at arcam. Must be my cynical self assuming they would 'bigup' their own products lol

The guys at Arcam are straightforward, knowledgeable and helpful, so always worth a call......they will be able to give a good idea of the differences you can expect.

Recently they have come up with some amazing products, and it wasn't the sound quality that let them down.
 

gregvet

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CustomCable said:
The qbd76 and hd are very good but many prefered the overall presentation of the 64. If i was spending £3k plus i would grab the Resonessence Invicta. Walks over the chord in my opinion. Regards

Hadnt heard of that one, looks like a lovely bit of kit. The manual advises to use straight into power amps tho rather than a preamp as I would be using it. Do you have any first hand experience of using it with an integrated or pre amp?

Also, where would I demo one?
 

WinterRacer

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gregvet said:
I'm sure you are right Cno. I should listen to one.

The arcam gets described as laid back (well it is arcam so it would wouldn't it!), and not timing as well as it could (by what Hifi at least), what are your thoughts on these points (assuming you have heard one of course). I wouldn't mind a bit more oomph with electronic music sometimes, one of the reasons for wanting a dac in the first place.

It's beyond me how a DAC can have bad timing, any ideas?

I've read a few reviews of DACs where blind testing was used (hi-fi choice for example) and they heard very little (or no) difference between a wide variety of models - caveat emptor.
 

gregvet

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CnoEvil said:
The guys at Arcam are straightforward, knowledgeable and helpful, so always worth a call......they will be able to give a good idea of the differences you can expect.

Recently they have come up with some amazing products, and it wasn't the sound quality that let them down.

Fair enough, I will give them a call. Andy was it? Assume the numbers on the website?

I must admit I love the arcam kit, so I'm not against the sound style in general. Its just that my other system is Cyrus based, and for two channel there are certain qualities there I would like a bit more of with the main system, if that makes sense!
 

CustomCable

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gregvet said:
CustomCable said:
The qbd76 and hd are very good but many prefered the overall presentation of the 64. If i was spending £3k plus i would grab the Resonessence Invicta. Walks over the chord in my opinion. Regards

Hadnt heard of that one, looks like a lovely bit of kit. The manual advises to use straight into power amps tho rather than a preamp as I would be using it. Do you have any first hand experience of using it with an integrated or pre amp?

Also, where would I demo one?

Yes i have ALOT of first hand experience running it into an integrated. The unit can be set to turn on at a specified db level. I have found -8db to be fine when using this as just a source. The added sd card is great too and hdmi output for album art etc is a great touch. To hear one just call one of their dealers. http://www.resonessence.co.uk/dealers.html Regards Phil
 

CnoEvil

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gregvet said:
Fair enough, I will give them a call. Andy was it? Assume the numbers on the website?

I'm not sure it's still listed on their website, but try this: http://www.ribaproductselector.com/a-r-cambridge-ltd-ta-arcam/8/overview.aspx

Report back on how you get on.
 

busb

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Craig M. said:
CnoEvil said:
You might also like to consider this: http://www.whathifi.com/review/arcam-fmj-d33

£2k?! it's just a ******* dac! i don't care how much pixie dust they have pumped into it. you don't even get a decent remote*. they really are taking the proverbial.

*better than none though, chord!

Rather damned by faint praise in that review. Makes the audiolab seem like a bargain - great build quality; decent headphone amp; fixed & digitally controlled volume out; good display that can show CD track time & number etc, can drive a power amp directly (if appropreiate to one's needs) & amazing SQ for £599. Are there better DACs? You bet but possibly not that Arcam.
 

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