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V-DAC owners: What are its sonics like?

192.5.202.6
Posted on October 21, 2009 at 05:47:56
jult52
Audiophile

Posts: 169
Location: Philadelphia
Joined: May 27, 2009
 I've been reading raves about the Musical Fidelity V-Dac, both from reviewers and online. It's apparently a spectacular bargain. But I'm not finding a lot of description of its sonic signature and its strengths and weaknesses? Also, what sort of system does it integrate well with.

Any of you who have heard the unit, please provide your evaluation. Thanks.

I find it very musical., posted on October 30, 2009 at 09:14:55
hukkfinn
Audiophile

Posts: 2835
Location: East Coast
Joined: July 19, 2002
 It's very hard to describe the sound of the VDAC.

I like it a lot. It's not "stunning"; i.e., it doesn't provide tons of new musical information that you've never heard before. It just presents the music in a warm, full, clear manner that sounds very correct and does not annoy you with excess digititis.

It shows the quality of your transport though. With my crappy Toshiba DVD player as transport, the VDAC did not produce magic (although it improved on the sound of the Toshiba alone). With a Pioneer PD64, known as a good transport, the VDAC kicked some real ass: made things really musical, toe-tapping, tuneful, with deep growling bass and natural sounding mids and highs.

Hope this helps.
Hukk

RE: I find it very musical., posted on November 1, 2009 at 10:09:47
PhilB
Audiophile

Posts: 14
Location: Central Illinois
Joined: May 22, 2007
 The V-DAC sounds quite nice on my Panasonic BD-30 Blu-ray player, of all things. A bit soft, but very pleasant-sounding in sort of a Marantz kind of way. However,the load times were irritatingly slow, so I gave up on that idea.

RE: V-DAC owners: What are its sonics like?, posted on October 22, 2009 at 12:21:07
PhilB
Audiophile

Posts: 14
Location: Central Illinois
Joined: May 22, 2007
 I'm using my V-DAC with a Rotel CD-1072 as a transport. The DAC has a silky-smooth midrange and powerful, extended bass. It's one of the best audio purchases I've ever made. Highly recommended.

RE: V-DAC owners: What are its sonics like?, posted on October 21, 2009 at 14:49:00
mgm
Audiophile

Posts: 19
Joined: February 10, 2009
 I have used one for the past 4 months in a very mid fi system. I bought it as an upgrade for using a stand alone oppo 970. Relative to the oppo it is much more open while taming some forwardness. I use the usb input only for streaming live classical concerts and pandora. I do prefer to run it on a sla battery over the wallwart. Depending on your system and music preferences it may work. keep in mind descriptions of sound can be tricky business. Check out headfi.org for about 7 pages of user feedback.

RE: V-DAC owners: What are its sonics like?, posted on October 22, 2009 at 07:26:18
jult52
Audiophile

Posts: 169
Location: Philadelphia
Joined: May 27, 2009
 Here's a long dsicussion on Head Fi that contains plenty of information on the V-DAC's sound.

RE: V-DAC owners: What are its sonics like?, posted on October 21, 2009 at 06:39:10
paa
Audiophile

Posts: 11
Joined: February 7, 2003
 I have one for several months now. It is connected to a squeezebox 3, Ella amp with golden dragon KT 88 valves, and Quad ESL 63 speakers.

In my system, the sound does not have the "typical" MF signature, which I do not like (overly aggressive). In fact, I do not find any signature in the v-dac. The middles are detailed, but not analytic/dry. There is also good treble and bass extension (consider the other components, of course). Compared to other dacs I've used, I find it projects a much wider and taller stage. Being able to differentiate the height of instruments in the soundstage is something I was not used to.

I have a custom power supply, but did not find any significant differences to the standard one. One huge difference, however, concerns the digital link. I am using a nordost coaxial and it makes a clear difference when compared to a stock digital optical.

Best regards.
RE: V-DAC owners: What are its sonics like? vs Rotel, posted on November 1, 2009 at 09:44:06
gripweed44
Audiophile

Posts: 8
Location: Pac NW
Joined: December 7, 2008
 Hi

I am using my vdac with my squeezebox duet. It sounds great. I did a A/B comparison against a $1500 MF CD player at the Audio shop and found no difference in the sound.

I also have a Rotel rcd 1072. I have not run the vdac in line with this component. It sounds like you found the vdac superior to the internal dac in the Rotel. Could you comment more on the differences you found?

Thanks

John

RE: V-DAC owners: What are its sonics like? vs Rotel, posted on November 1, 2009 at 09:54:06
PhilB
Audiophile

Posts: 14
Location: Central Illinois
Joined: May 22, 2007
 The Rotel has an excellent on-board DAC, I could easily live with it as is. However, the V-DAC has a much more supple, liquid midrange and the bass is considerably more tactile. I find it more engaging overall - it has that PRAT (pace, rhythm, and timing) thing going for it.

RE: V-DAC owners: What are its sonics like? vs Rotel, posted on November 1, 2009 at 10:06:32
gripweed44
Audiophile

Posts: 8
Location: Pac NW
Joined: December 7, 2008
 Thanks Phil B

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