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RE: REVIEW- Rega DAC vs. W4S & CD players

Posted by barrows (A) on November 7, 2011 at 07:46:44

In Reply to: RE: REVIEW- Rega DAC vs. W4S & CD players posted by steveassante@comcast.net on November 7, 2011 at 06:11:14:

Thanks for posting your impressions. Here are my observations on these, and a couple of comments.
Testing a single box CDP vs a DAC via SPDIF input is really an apples to oranges comparison. The SPDIF input of the DAC is going to comromise its performance vs any competantly designed single box player, which is not hampered by the (poor) SPDIF interface standard.
The W4S, for example, will perform best when used with either its USB input, or its I2S input, despite the fact that the ESS 9018 has a pretty good SPDIF receiver.
I disagree with the common perception that digital sources are so similar (well accept maybe in comparison to speakers). Sure, when comparing digital sources at very similar, mid level, price points, they often do sound similar, but try a comparison of some of the higher priced DACs which are not hampered by SPDIF inputs (which use async USB, or well implemented I2S inputs) and you might find the differences bigger. Also, even in a comparison of DACs at similar price points; while I do agree that the differences are often small in scale, I would submit that these small differences are often very musically significant; eventhough the sonic change may seem small at first, longer term listening often leads to a clear preference of one DAC over another in terms of musical involvement. I find digital is "funny" this way, getting it "right" such that one can appreciate the music often seems dependent on seemingly tiny differences.

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