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8.19.13.53
In Reply to: RE: got it ! posted by tketcham on January 13, 2015 at 10:40:26
Got the Rega yesterday. Played it for a while and i'm not sure what i think. Ran the digital and the rca's out of my Rotel so i was able to switch back and forth with my preamp sources for the comparison. To me it sounds only a bit better, with more air and more definition, but nothing to make me excited to sit down and listen to my collection to enjoy the new sound. It also sounded a bit brighter. I went thru the filters and none of them really jumped out as helping the sound any.
I was expecting a larger difference, one like I've heard in the past when comparing my existing player to a higher level one. Granted, the player that sounded substantially better was an Audio Research CD2, but I would think a 20 yr old $700 player would have given up much more to a newer $1k DAC. I'll listen some more this weekend.
On a side note, I hooked up my Audio Research VT 60 after it sat in my closet for 5+ years and it's not working. The power light comes on for a second, then goes off. The four large tubes turn on and of the three small tubes, the left/right ones light up but the center one does not. I'm hoping that middle tube is the issue, and i don't replace it and have the new one do the same thing. I really don't know anything about tubes, other than they get warm when they're working and the can sound good.
Follow Ups:
I listened to a particularly harsh CD tonight and it didn't surprise me but the DAC didn't help with a really bad recording. The CD is The Pretenders - "The Singles" and it's just plain awful. At least the songs produced by Chris Thomas; the songs from "Get Close" are listenable.
Tom
I love that album! Actually i have it on vinyl and recorded my favorite few songs from there and put 'em right into itunes. I would have thought that would be a decent recording. I'll admit, 75% of my cd collection is 80's music and relatively speaking, i'm thinking the recordings are average or below compared to something considered 'audiophile'. I do however have a handful of gems on vinyl from that era that sound wonderful.
I did notice on my Rega that they built it with the standard socket for the power cable, making it possible to upgrade. I have not seen that connection anywhere in pictures of used ones I've come across, or even pictures of new ones on dealer's websites.
I have their early albums on vinyl and they're pretty good recordings but something was lost in translation to CD. So I'm going to buy "Get Close" on vinyl and give "The Singles" CD away. For some reason that particular CD really aggravates my tinnitus.
Interesting about the power connection on the DAC you got; I bought a C5 adapter and use a good 15 amp power cord with mine.
Regards,
Tom
I'm not surprised that you didn't hear a big difference if the Rotel was already providing a fairly good sound. It was the same for the difference between the Rega Apollo's internal DAC and the external DAC; it's not a night and day change. But subtle differences can be important, depending on what you're listening for, or depending on what your ears can hear.
I don't notice much difference in most of the music I play but there are certain CDs that I use as benchmarks of irritating digital sound where the Rega DAC makes a difference I can really hear. It's those CDs that I wanted to listen to without the irritating harshness and the DAC makes just enough difference for me to do so. I'm also finding that overall there's been an improvement, but it's taking some time to hear the difference. It's subtle, but it's there once I recognized it.
Give the DAC some time and perhaps you'll begin to notice those important differences.
Tom
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