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RE: Berkeley Alpha DAC-2

Posted by Bromo33333 (A) on June 3, 2012 at 09:14:17

In Reply to: RE: Berkeley Alpha DAC-2 posted by dvb on June 2, 2012 at 11:11:23:

After about 24 hours of being on - it seems to have a very coherent, organic sound slightly more realistic than upon first turn on. THe box is warm to the touch, so I suspect its clocks have reached thermal equilibrium, etc The sound - it's hard to describe - it certainly isn't adding any color - but the typical "digititis" that is present to a degree or another simply isn't there - and the treble is there at natural levels and doesn't offer "excitement" of too much - it is smooth, detailed, and realistic.

I am using the SPDIF connection for my comparisons. I also have listened to th TOSLINK through a Sonos component, too.

I have compared it to informally to:

1. Rega DAC
2. Schiit Bifrost
3. TEAC UD-H01
4. Ayre C-5xeMP
5. Wadia 121
6. Esoteric K-03
7. Weiss 202

I own 1-4, I have "demoed" 5-7 for an hour or two in a local shop.

It plays closest to 6 and 7. While there is nothing in the list that sounds "bad" ... I'd say I'd rank the Berkeley Audio as slightly better than the Esoteric (though it doesn't have SACD, of course) in rhythm and drive, and slightly better than the Weiss in the treble. But they are all pretty close. The Ayre playing SACD vs. Berkeley Alpha playing HDTrack 24/96, they are a dead heat. But in the CD realm, the Alpha is better in the upper midrange and treble - more air, sense of extension, and naturalness. The Ayre isn't going anywhere as it sounds spectacular - but it isn't quite in the same league as Berkeley.

I'd say the Rega and Wadia are in the same league (but with different presentations). Where the Rega has a warmth and smoothness it seems missing the detail, treble and extension of the Berkeley. The Wadia is a bit cooler in the setup I heard (and cute as a button!) and has detail and the extension, there is a slight veiling in the treble I suspect was done to "hide" hardness in the treble. Great player, and I think you'd be hard pressed to find better in the $1-2k price range. Between the Rega and Wadia ... if you prefer Vinyl I could say to grab the Rega. If you like more neutrality and detail - and became an audiophile from a CD/SACD background, the Wadia will equal a high end SACD/CD player. But ... I'd say that with the Berkeley, Ayre, Weiss and Esoteric you won't be making that kind of trade off - you will get "it all" and the main diferences are in the realm of presenting the full treble and the detail without any sort of hardness.

I think next on down would be Schiit and Teac. Teac tonally is fantastic, but lacks detail - but does not have hardness in the treble. The Schiit has all the detail, but lets a touch of that hardness come through which means you have to do all kinds of system matching to do. Also ... both are very sensitive to the type of SPDIF cable - and you will need a high quality cable especially as much here as a poor choice will make the sound simply awful - the people that knock the Schiit I am thinking that they haven't used a true 75 Ohm cable or a poorly designed one.

Now, a "knock" on the Berkeley is it does not offer a USB interface out of the box. They have "fixed" this by offering an outboard box for $1800. I understand it is probably one of the best out there - and since I tend to use SPDIF it doens't matter so much to me, but it might mater to someone else.

Having said that if you get both the total cost is under $7k, and the Weiss 202 is $7k appx, the Esoteric is $9-10k, and the Ayre is $6k (and only plays discs, you'd need to get the QB-9 for $2.5k and it "only" offers a USB interface), so it isn't a rip off or anything compared to its competition in its price class - just something to note.
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"You are precisely as big as what you love and precisely as small as what you allow to annoy you." ~ R A Wilson

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