DAC - cannot decide between rDAC, MF M1, Rega and Wyred 4 Sound

El Hefe

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Hi all,

For my visit to the UK this Oct, if there is one item I would want to purchase is a new DAC. It must be a DAC season as a few models have just been launched recently. Most probably I will not be able to audition all the DACs while I am there and of course, it will not give me the actual sound improvement, given that my kit is in Malaysia. So, I am going for value for money and technical offerings to decide.

Not sure to purchase an ARCAM rDAC, MF M1, Rega and this Wyred 4 Sound DAC (I never heard of it before but somebody is selling this).

As for the Wyred 4 Sound, I was given the following details.

What do you guys think?

My main objective is to improve the sound on my old CDP Marantz CD6000. But interested to know if it can improve my MF X-RAY V3 as well.

Wyred 4 Sound DAC-2 32bit Multi-input DAC with volume control featuring 24/192 Asynchronous USB

One of the first commercially available DACs to deploy the exciting new ESS 32-bit flagship 'Sabre32' chip that set the DIY community alight almost two years ago, Wyred 4 Sound's all-new DAC1 and DAC2 are set to redefine the capability of sub-USD2K DACs.

The ES9018 chip at the heart of the new DAC1 and DAC2 is noted for it's astonishing dynamism and resolution: whereas most low-end digital-to-analog converters suffer from what has been described as 'conservative voicing', or a subjective sense of 'digital-ness', the DAC2 promises to open up a whole new world of vividly pure musical experience.

The DACs can process data streams up to 32bit, 200kHz via it's coaxial SPDIF input. To the DAC1's groundbreaking sonic quality, the DAC2 adds the convenience of a remote control and AES/EBU and HDMI digital inputs.

However, the DAC2 upgrade is more than window dressing: the bigger ticket price buys crucial upgrades to the power supply, including 88,000uF of Wyred 4 Sound's own ultra low ESR capacitors and a robust 35A Schottky bridge rectifier – both deployed in the superb STP preamp.

The DAC-2 also features an all-new proprietary 24-bit asynchronous USB implementation that handles sample rates up to 192Hz using Wyred 4 Sound drivers for Mac or Windows operating systems to put the DAC2 on a level playing field with devices like the Perfect Wave and Ayre converters.

The DAC2 is also more versatile, offering HT bypass and a defeatable onboard 32-bit digital attenuator, enabling power amplifiers to be driven directly from the converter (via remote control) for maximum transparency: no preamp or extra set of interconnects required.

The new DACs epitomise the W4S philosophy: visually, it's all business; no frills. Financially, it's all about delivering uncompromised specification to audiophiles without the loaded prices. We believe that Wyred 4 Sound products offer unparalleled value for money and simply cannot be bettered without spending much, much more.
We offer Malaysian customers a 'cheaper than import' price guarantee. We ensure that the price you pay is always less than the landed cost of direct private import.

EDITED BY MODS for copyright reasons


W4S DAC-2 Features:

* Decoder chip: ESS Reference Audio 32-bit Sabre32 ES9018
* LCD display for input and sample rate
* Automatic 500kHz oversampling with precise output filtering
* Defeatable 32-bit on-chip digital volume control for direct control of power amplifiiers
* Extremely low distortion
* Discrete discrete output stage offering exceptional sonics (no op-amps)
* ESS Time Domain Jitter Eliminator
* Fully balanced design
* Remote control
* Oversized toroidal transformer
* Upgraded 35A Schottky bridge rectifier (as used in the STP-SE preamp)
* 88,000uF of filtering using W4S ultra-low ESR capacitors (as used in the STP-SE preamp)
* Asynchronous 24 bit/192kHz USB input
* Proprietary drivers for 32bit/64bit Windows (XP, Vista, 7) and Mac OSX 10.4/10.5/10.6
* 1x RCA coaxial (SPDIF) input
* 1x BNC SPDIF input
* 2x optical (Toslink) inputs
* 1x AES/EBU digital input
* 1x Balanced I2S input via HDMI cable (not standard HDMI cable format)
* Size: 215mm (W) x 105mm (H) x 345mm (D)
* Weight: 7kg
* 230VAC
* Three year return to manufacturer warranty
 
Hi El Hefe

Rega's new DAC looks very promising at a projected RRP of £500.
emotion-1.gif
Other then this Chord Electronics new Chordette Peach DAC is also worth a look. The Peach is the one of finest DAC's i've heard.
emotion-2.gif


All the best

Rick @ Musicraft
 

El Hefe

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Hi Rick,

Found the spec sheet for Peach. I thinks its RRP is GBP 799. I might write to them and see whether I can purchase it straight from them since they are near Maidstone and my visit to the UK will be mostly in Brighton.
 

El Hefe

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I emailed audio-t in brighton and it seems that rega has delayed the launch of the dac till end of Nov. The local Arcam dealer is also waiting for the first shipment of rDac. But i managed to get a hold of chordette peach for a few days. It was a display set and the local distributor is reluctant to sell it. I enjoyed usimg it with both marantz cd6000 and MF Xray v3. i was all set to purchase it in the UK. But today, the local MF dealer has just received 6 units of m1 from UK. I immediately requested for a demo. So this evening i was listening to the shop's set up. MF A3.5 CdP and A5.5 amp i think with dynaaudio floorstanders. It blew me away. The unit is similar size to the xray v3. I immediately purchased it and got a special price of GBP 380. Save me the trouble of carrying it back with me from the UK.

Hook it up to my xray and marantz once arrive home. A bit harsh to begin with. Let it run in for 2 hrs with diana krall cd running. Now the sound is more luscious and bass is more defined. Upsampling to 192 kHz really made the improvement especially from the marantz.

There was a personalized letter in the package. MF will be releasing another DAC soon to cover wireless music and internet radio. Cool ey? Will put up picture soon.
 
A

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Glad you like your M1. I'm thinking about maybe getting one myself after christmas.
 

mitch65

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james_LR90:Glad you like your M1. I'm thinking about maybe getting one myself after christmas.

Go for it, I had some reservations but my dealer gave me a 10 day sale or return and so far 'it just ain't gonna happen'. It has injected life into my streamer (which I thought was pretty good anyway) giving a bigger soundstage and retrieving so much more detail in the process. I am going to switch over to my CD player this weekend to see what it can do for that, although I think that might be a little more difficult as it's a fine CD player in it's own right.
 

Scissor_digits

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Thanks for that mini-review of the M1 mitch. I'm having a Logitech Squeezebox Touch delivered on Monday and I've been busy ripping my CD's to FLAC onto my NAS in preparation. While the DAC on the Touch has been generally well received I have been researching which standalone DAC may improve the situation and the M1 is currently top of my list to demo closely followed by the rDAC, but I may also consider the Audiolab 8200CD if I have second thoughts about ditching a CD player completely.
 

El Hefe

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After overnight running the DAC with diana krall on repeat, this whole day I spent comparing the sound between:

1. Xray v3 + x10v3
2. Xray v3 + M1DAC
3. Marantz cd6000 + M1DAC

I tested all combos at a 10 o'clock volume.

Combo 1 gave me some sort of an amplified sound and at times sound treble dominated but overall soundstaging was definitely warm sounding.
Combo 2 gave me a lower volume output eventhough the volume knob is at 10 o'clock as well. Bass however is very defined and very controlled.
Combo 3 gave me the most improved sound. This DAC definitely balanced out all marantz shortcomings.

A very good piece of DAC it is. I personally like the switchable digital inputs. Have yet to test the usb and balanced digital input.

I have a question though. What are the sources that provides the different sampling rate?

44 khz is CD. How about 48, 96 and 192 khz?
 

gvlada

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Nice in did. You have CD6000 so what do you think will M1 go together with Marantz PM7001 KI, CD5001 and Monitor Audio RX2?
 

El Hefe

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gvlada:Nice in did. You have CD6000 so what do you think will M1 go together with Marantz PM7001 KI, CD5001 and Monitor Audio RX2?

gvlda,

Sorry I didnt realise there was posting on this.

I reckon the M1 will definitely inject changes to CD5001, mainly due to the upsampling to 192kHz.
Notice I mentioned changes and not improvement as you may not like the new sound.

After a couple of months usage, the M1 now is connected to my MD and Xray V3 CDP. The CD6000 is now connected to ARCAM rDAC in my 2nd system.
 

El Hefe

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I tested the MF M1 with my laptop. It definitely brighten things up for lossless files. Definitely at par with playing with CDs or streaming through AE. However, for low quality MP3s, it gave a shot on more bass on the overall sound. And its also giving a clicking sound when tracks are changed on iTunes.
 

gvlada

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Thanks for reply. I was planing to get M1 but local distributor here (BM in Serbia) never got it. Don't know why cause he has a lot of other MF stuff. Now I am waiting for something else, maybe 8200CD. If nothing else it has more inputs and better usb, all with ess.
 

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