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Auralic Vega: my review


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Current System description

 

DIY computer running Win 7/64 with an Asus Xonar Essence soundcard SPDIF output. JRiver 17 Media Player.

Moon 300D DAC connected via XLR to a ModWright LS100 pre amp connected via XLR to a ModWright KWA100SE amplifier. Speakers are Thiel CS2.4 The Vega’s Interconnects were RCAs. I’ll explain later why I did not use XLR interconnects with the Vega.

 

Power up the Vega and you get a nice little “welcome” message. The digital display screen is beautiful with its amber colored fonts. I won’t go through the interface as it’s really easy to learn. When I think of user friendly, this is what I usually imagine. You can navigate with either the big round dial on the Vega, or with the remote control that is provided. The later was what I used mostly. The display will show you the input selection (in my case USB) and sampling rate of the file currently playing. The display screen can be dimed or turned off if you prefer.

 

There are 4 clocks to choose from. Auto will let the Vega lock on the signal and choose the best possible clock. Coarse would be the best choice for jitter prone signals. Fine is the best option if your signal is not jitter prone. This was my standard, everyday choice. Exact was very drop off prone at any sampling rate greater than redbook CD (16/44). At this sampling rate though, it worked very well. The reason is found in the user manual: "For USB input, you will experience drop off on any computer without special optimization for music playback". My computer is used for many other applications than listening to music. I often surf the web or work during listening sessions. Could I hear a difference in sound quality between Fine and Exact? Not much, if at all.

 

Filters are a different game altogether and there are 4 for PCM files, apptly numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 and 2 for DSD file formats, you guessed it, named 5 & 6. For PCM, the difference between the filters is audible, although not that striking. After trying all the different modes with all kinds of music, I realized I prefered mode 1 over all the other ones for all types of music. A quick check of the user manual proved my ears weren't lying. As stated in the manual: "MODE 1 offers best measurement performance". For DSD, I prefered mode 5 over mode 6.

 

Listening:

In Vasily Petrenko & the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic performing Shostakovich Symphony #7 (FLAC 16/44), during the Allegretto, around the 7:15 mark, there is a very silent portion that lasts for about a minute: with the Moon, I was wondering if there was actually any music going on in the first 15 seconds. The Vega allowed me to hear all the detail, albeit in very low volume. I gave it good marks for dynamics. Symphonie n°7 Léningrad | Dmitry Shostakovich par Vasily Petrenko - Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

Robin Ticciati & the Scottish Chamber Orchestra performing Berloz's “Les nuits d'ete” (FLAC 24/192). On “Villanelle”, Karen Cargill's vois was rich and rounded, lacking the "shiny" edge the Moon gave it. The Vega really shined in presenting the Mezzo Soprano's voice. Linn Records - Berlioz: Les nuits d'ete

 

“Bye Bye Black Bird” from Patricia Barber's album “Night Club” (FLAC 16/44) is often heard at audio shows or whenever I go to local dealers to listen to demos. I had to try it with the Vega. Sure enough, the bass line that often gets muddled was very clearly defined and well sustained. Patricia's piano was very clear and a little more forward that what I remembered. Her voice was silky smooth and had an added liveliness and presence that I had never heard. https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?file=catalogdetail&valbum_code=099923573821

 

The percussions on “Ard El Salam” from Aziza Brahim's “Mabruk” (FLAC 24/44) album were just...oh wow! I felt like they were part of my listening room's natural accoustics. I could just reach out and touch them! Everything alse was very well placed in the soundstage, back front, left, right. Very impressive.Mabruk | Aziza Brahim - Télécharger et écouter l'album

“Country Boy” from John Lee Hooker's “It serve you right to suffer” (FLAC 24/96) album is often difficult for some systems that have trouble rendering some of the small details like the rythm guitar playing with the bass on the left hand side and some of the detail of Hooker's guitar. Here, I could grasp every subtle ittle detail. Hooker's guitar was also better defined than I've ever heard. I could sense his voice slightly moving further back as he sometimes moved away from the mic. https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?file=catalogdetail&valbum_code=HD00008811202521

 

Bat for Lashes “The Haunted Man” (FLAC 16/44) album was a surprise. What is a very digital sounding album, with edges of brightness in the high pitched notes became became excitingly organic. On the song “Lilies”, at approx the 45 second mark, there is a heavy synthetiser line that breaks in. With the Moon, it was just like another synthetiser adding in its part. With the Vega, the synthetiser just stormed in and added such texture and vibration to the song you wouldn't believe this is the same track. Wow! This is probably the best example of how alive the Vega makes the music feel. The Haunted Man | Bat For Lashes - Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

On Kate Bush's 50 “Words for Snow” (FLAC 24/96) from the album of the same name, the percussions had lots of presence and the bass was lower and deeper than I have ever heard, all this, without loosing its detail & definition. On "Among Angels", the piano had wonderful impact and the decay was very lengthy. Kate's voice had a wondeful smoothness and a texture that was more "grainy" and less brilliant than her high pitched voice usually sounds like. https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?file=catalogdetail&valbum_code=HD045778718603

 

Stravinsky's “Histoire du soldat” (DSD 128) by Robert Mandell & Ars Nova is one of the most interesting sounding albums in my one terabyte collection. It's also my favorite music by the famous composer. It's a small scale classic piece that sounded wondeful and very airy and alive with a very well defined soundstage. Each intrument, was clearly located and the wind instruments so important in the piece, were perfectly recorded. Stravinsky-L'histoire Du Soldat / Respighi Rossiana 24/192 Resolution

 

Large orchestral works can often be difficult to reproduce. Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra's new album "Wagner Excerpts" (DSD 64) is very dense and loaded with large scale orchestrations. Quite a challenge for a DAC. Here, again, there was a smoothness and an easiness that made the Vega right at home reproducing all the details and giving some air around the usually dense wall of sound. This is only my second DSD album but from what I gather from forums around the web, the "air" around the instruments is a caracteristic of the DSD format. Wagner - Channel Classics Records

 

One thing never ceased to amaze me with the Vega. How it makes the redbook format (FLAC 16/44) sound so great. To the point it was often difficult to discern between HD files and redboook. I was in the purists camp of no oversampling. Keep the original signal as untouched as possible. The Vega changed my mind.

 

All in all, my experience with the Vega was great. The local dealer made me a good price on the demo unit he lended me. I'm impressed to the point I'll be keeping it. I was looking for a DAC in the $3-4K maximum range. I've listened to many DACs which I won't name as my objective is not to start a discussion on which is best. Many of them showed my Moon 300D had nothing to be ashamed of. Even after being on the market for almost 3 years, It still is a very good DAC amongst its peers. In fact, I could not find many DACs that sounded so much better as to justify the spending to replace it. However, there was one that outshined it, and the others in every aspect: the Auralic Vega.

 

CAUTION: The Vega's Balanced XLR outputs are very sensitive. My ModWright pre-amp's XLR inputs are NOT BALANCED. They are in fact single ended. When trying to use the Vega's XLR outputs with the ModWright, I might have damaged the balanced output stage. I have discussed with the dealer here and they will be checking it next week. If it's damaged, they have offered to send it back to Auralic for repairs. The only charge will be shipping to and from. They also offered my to exchange it for a brand new unit for the price difference with the demo. That's good customer care.

Win7/64 - JRiver 19 - Auralic Vega DAC - Classé CP800 pre-amp - Classé CA2300 amp - Thiel CS3.7 Speakers - Happy Ears :-)

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The Vega's Balanced XLR outputs are very sensitive. My ModWright pre-amp's XLR inputs are NOT BALANCED. They are in fact single ended. When trying to use the Vega's XLR outputs with the ModWright, I might have damaged the balanced output stage.

 

??? It shouldn't get damaged because of that. It is not customer care, it is design flaw.

http://www.premiermixing.com

 

SqueezeBox Touch / MacBook Pro -> Audirvana Plus -> Firewire -> Mytek Stereo192-DSD -> GAC1 Pro -> Luxman L-410 -> Rubicon RP63F

SqueezeBox Touch / MacBook Pro -> Audirvana Plus -> Firewire -> Mytek Stereo192-DSD -> GAC1 Pro -> DIY Headphone Amp -> Beyerdynamic T70 / AKG K500 / Sennheiser HD540 / Shure SRH840

Mac Pro -> Audirvana Plus -> Lynx AES16 -> Lynx CBL-AES1605 -> Lynx Aurora -> Mogami 2932 XLR -> M-Audio EX66

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Thanks Balis for the review. I'm taking from your review you did not try to go straight to your amp via balanced and try the unit as a pre?

Equipment:

Auralic Vega DAC, Auralic Taurus Preamp, KEF LS50 Speakers, Hypex Ncore400 monoblock amps, CAPs V3, Paul Hynes SR5 (12v and 9v rails), Audioquest King Cobra XLRs, Signal Cable speaker cable, Furutech power and USB cable

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In fact, yes I did. I should have covered that. The problem is it was so much better going through the pre-amp that I quickly stopped the listening sessions with the Vega direct to the amp. I have yet to hear to a DAC that would negate the need for a pre-amp.

Win7/64 - JRiver 19 - Auralic Vega DAC - Classé CP800 pre-amp - Classé CA2300 amp - Thiel CS3.7 Speakers - Happy Ears :-)

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They say that the Antelope Gold with Voltikus negates the preamp.

 

 

I have an MSB Diamond and "they" say it negates the preamp. Regardless of price I have yet to hear a DAC that sounds better direct than through a preamp. BUT, I guess it depends upon the preamp

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Agree. It must depend on the pre-amp. All I can say is with the ModWright LS100, it was a no contest.

Win7/64 - JRiver 19 - Auralic Vega DAC - Classé CP800 pre-amp - Classé CA2300 amp - Thiel CS3.7 Speakers - Happy Ears :-)

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I have an MSB Diamond and "they" say it negates the preamp. Regardless of price I have yet to hear a DAC that sounds better direct than through a preamp. BUT, I guess it depends upon the preamp

 

So have you tried the Antelope Gold with the preamp?

 

Ted has a Concert Fidelity, but despite this he rated the preamp function on the Gold as the best he ever had in a Dac and would have been happy living with it.

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Agree. It must depend on the pre-amp. All I can say is with the ModWright LS100, it was a no contest.
I will have to give it a go as a preamp first. I know in the John Darko review, he was quite happy with the Vega as a preamp only (as is the case with my dealer who talked me out of getting a Auralic Taurus Pre as he said it wasnt needed)... My guess is that the Vega implementation as a pre is very similar probably to the Invicta as a pre which I heard and was quite impressed with. I have no doubt though putting a fully balanced Class A preamp will help, just dont know how much. Interesting to hear your thoughts on night and day difference. I will share my thoughts when I get it as I will hook directly to my Bryston amp driving Audio Physic Virgo 25's... I may have to get a pre in the end but would like to try and keep my system simple if I can. I have been tempted on picking up a used Ayre pre and the itch may get the best of me :) Thanks again Balis for the very detailed review and comments...

Equipment:

Auralic Vega DAC, Auralic Taurus Preamp, KEF LS50 Speakers, Hypex Ncore400 monoblock amps, CAPs V3, Paul Hynes SR5 (12v and 9v rails), Audioquest King Cobra XLRs, Signal Cable speaker cable, Furutech power and USB cable

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Don't get me wrong, the Vega does a good job as a pre-amp. I would definitely try it before I commit to buying a pre. The ModWright LS100 is just one of the better sounding pre-amps I've ever heard, even compared to some that are more than twice its price. It was hard for the Vega to compete with that. I'm sure the Vega could compete with a lot of entry and mid-level pre-amps.

 

I also heard the Vega directly connected to active speakers (Arteluthe) and it was a really good match. In fact, Arteluthe are using the Vega when they do demos.

Win7/64 - JRiver 19 - Auralic Vega DAC - Classé CP800 pre-amp - Classé CA2300 amp - Thiel CS3.7 Speakers - Happy Ears :-)

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Given your experience with a lot of higher end DACs, how would you compare the Vega to the MSB Analog DAC or even the EMM DAC2X?

 

I really like it but have to pass on an answer as I am using it in a totally different system from the system I used the other DACs with. It is an amazingly good sounding DAC at any price but unfortunately I will not get a chance to compare as I am using it in my second home separated from my main home by 3500 miles.

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+1 regarding thirdcoastaudio. I think Dave Lalin at AudioDoctor.com is also selling the Vega. There may be one or two others in the USA, not sure.

 

Dave Lalin seems a bit over the top.

 

Nice as Auralic products may be, lack of a dealer network would likely be factored into a decision when buying a $3500 piece of equipment. Will there be any kind of service or upgrades in a couple years?

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Thanks for the review, Balis, and thanks for the helpful responses from other Vega owners. Before I proceed, it's important to note that the Auralic Vega has been given awards from AudioSream, 6Moons, CA, and probably others. Almost every aspect of this dac has been tested and reviewed, and passed with flying colors.

 

When used as a preamp, the Vega's volume control has raised some concern with some reviewers regarding degradation of sound quality at low volume levels. Regarding the use of the Vega as a preamp, especially regarding the volume control, here is what I've culled from online reviews:

 

In general, here is what is at stake according to Srajan Ebaen, 6Moons: "If the Vega's subtext had escaped your attention, let's make it plain. Good riddance preamps! The Vega wants to be your link between magnetic or optical digital transport and power amp/s. Vintage audiophiles will shudder. First the modernization police lobbied against their treasured LP and CD players. Now the same swines would have 'em dump their beloved exotic linestages with gleaming triodes and outboard power supplies. How could this be progress? Weren't digital volume controls evil? Didn't DACs lack proper grunt to be allowed anywhere near amplifiers? Surely this was but another fashionable ploy only greenhorns would buy into and a surefire recipe for lean whitish sound bereft of dynamics, resolution and body. But was it really? Or could it be 21st-century smarts that netted better sound for less coin and lower complexity? That's exactly what I meant to find out."

 

Among many other questions, Ebaen posed this question to Auralic: "Relative to digital volume, could you explain what exactly happens with your 1.5MHz upsampler and 32-bit bit-depth expansion? How does this eliminate resolution decimation, bit stripping and compression of dynamic range at high attenuation rates? How much attenuation is possible before resolution suffers?"

 

Xuanqian Wang, Auralic founder, replied: "The ES9018 is a true 32-bit DAC with true 32-bit volume control. It won't compromise dynamic range like the earlier generations of digital volume controls did. Mark Mallinson already gave a detailed explanation of it in your prior Invicta review but I'll add a few things. First, to fully use the ESS volume control, the analog power supply of the chip must be an ultra low-noise design or the chip itself won't exhibit ultra-low noise. That degrades dynamic range. That's why we revised the DAC's analog power supply five times. Only the final version exhibited the extremely low noise which met our requirements. Such low-noise circuit design is very costly. Second, the post-DAC analog circuit too must be an ultra low-noise design or dynamic range in the preceding DAC is compromised yet again. To meet this requirement we changed the I/V and low-pass filter opamps from LM4562 to OPA1612. The latter's price duly tripled. In the final analysis I don't believe that current digital volume, even ours, compares to high-end analog types. But it's already superior to most ordinary preamps. If you're seeking true high-end sound or very steep attenuation rates, you're still better served with a well-designed analog preamp. Our Vega/Merak combo is deliberately based on the simpler-is-better paradigm for the highest possible value."

 

Here is Ebaen's account of his experience with the volume control: "Digital/analog volume. To create a best-case scenario for digital volume, I connected the Vega to the Thrax Audio Heros monos set to 4V input sensitivity. Those connected to 88dB Aries Cerat Stentor speakers with 30-part precision crossovers as my least efficient most reactive load in the house. This setup had standard listening levels between 50 and 60 on the Vega's 100-max display. I thus invoked between 40 and 50dB of signal cut in the digital domain. Swapping in my new Nagra Jazz preamp in 0dB gain mode with the Vega back at 100 became decidedly more dimensional, billowy, fluid and embodied. This demonstrated in completely unambiguous terms how despite fancy numbers magic, a truly superior preamp still retained a very significant advantage. At even lower levels (-70 to -80dB) the contrast was painful. Going DAC-direct sounded stripped, stark and flat. Audible space and all its connective tissue had collapsed and all prior tonal and textural elegance abandoned. Whilst theory would beg to differ, the age of preamps hasn't expired yet though digital converters with analog volume controls like Nagra's forthcoming 384kHz DSD-ready machine should arguably ring in the death knell."

 

Ebaen clarified this statement in Letters/Feedback, 6Moons, so as not to be misunderstood:

 

"Srajan, there is an ambiguity with this review. I assume the sound of the AURALiC Vega in this review is based on the addition of the Nagra Jazz preamp, which isn't explicitly explained. In fact you say the sound of the Vega direct..."sounded stripped, stark and flat. Audible space and all its connective tissue had collapsed and all prior tonal and textural elegance abandoned." From what I can see, this rave review is based on the inclusion of a $10K+ preamplifier.

Jeff

 

That quote is out of context and culled from the paragraph on running the Vega as a preamp at very low volumes. I clearly stated that normal room volumes meant the display sat between 50 and 60 to imply -40 to -50dB of signal cut. Your quote now pertains to listening well below that. That's when adding an expensive preamp was significantly better just as AURALiC themselves predicted. I don't think there's anything ambiguous about that. Steep digital attenuation to the tune of -70dB or -80dB just doesn't sound as good as doing it in the analog domain regardless of whether with a cheap or expensive analog preamp.

Srajan

 

The 6Moons review was followed by another very positive review by Michael Lavorgna, AudioStream. Here is the relavent discussion following the review, with Michael responding to questions I raised based on my reading of Ebaen's review: "I can say for certain that the Vega mates very well with my Pass INT-30A. Seeing as the Vega's preamp works so well, I'd suggest the single-ended Pass amp (XA.5) would make a fine pairing...I enjoyed listening to the Vega using its volume control instead of the Pass' which is how I used it for the entirety of this review. But I can certainly see how adding a $12,000+ preamp may improve things, especially at lower levels ;-) But if we're talking about spending $15,000+ on aDAC/preamp solution, there may be more effective ways to skin that cat. When it comes to questions like these, specifics matter in terms of system context, cost, and ultimately ones preferences."

 

I don't know if Michael did any listening at low volumes.

 

John Darko of Digital Audio Review, published a very favorable 3-part review of the Vega. Here's the relevant quote: "I should say something at this juncture about the Vega’s turn as digitally-attenuating pre-amplifier. I ran the NAKSA 80 with pot open wide into the 47Labs Lens. Alas, the Vega sounded closed in, devoid of musical shimmer and flair with its own volume dropped below 50 or 60. Anything higher was plainly too LOUD. Returning to NAKSA volume control re-instated all that I love sonically about this unit – even at low NAKSA volumes. This isn’t meant to sound dismissive, just that as a digital pre-amplifier, in this one setting it was more miss than hit."

 

Wolfgang Kemper, HiFi Statement, had this to say at the end of a glowing review (rough translation): " After a long time playing music from the Vega through my preamplifier , I gave it the chance to distinguish itself as a preamplifier. And it did convincingly. It joined now freed from the character of the tube preamp and showed its skills with more coolness, which I liked very well. [reviewer’s preamp: T + A P-10 with Audioplan Sicomin tube dampers]

 

I don't know if Mr. Kemper did any listening at low volume levels.

 

And finally this from the Audiohead review: "The Vega can also be used as a preamp…. I connected the Vega directly to a pair of Wyred 4 Sound mAMP monoblocks to see how it would fair. The volume adjustment is controlled on the digital side of things. I didn’t notice a significant sound degradation from the full output (100) of the Vega when using the Burson Conductor as a preamp. In fact, at times I preferred sound of the more expensive Vega running directly to the mAMPs over the Burson pre amp at the same (normal to loud) volume listening level. Where things got a little more indecisive were really low levels on the Vega (8 or lower). So if you are plugging the Vega directly into a really powerful amplifier with extremely efficient loudspeakers and planning on listening at a whisper level, you may get better results with a separate pre amp. All in all, in some setups the Vega sounded better by itself and on a few a separate pre amp worked out better. My own experimentation with the Vega as a pre amp didn’t provide any conclusive results… and in this case its probably something that you will need to check out within the constrains of your own system."

 

So this is really a great dac and a real value at its price. It does almost everything very well. But I have the impression that since I do a fair amount of low volume listening near-field, and don't presently have a preamp, I'm going to have to be careful about sorting this out if I want to purchase the Auralic Vega. And I do want to purchase one!

 

It is also important to note that this particular issue will be a non-issue for some, maybe even for most?

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Thanks everyone for sharing the experience with VEGA. Since there are a lot of discussion about the volume control, I would like to make some future explanation to help yours.

 

The volume control inside VEGA is from Sabre ES9018 which we have tested to be dynamic loss free under certain situation:

 

1, the analog power supply of ES9018 should be deadly quite that allow both noise floor and signal level to be attenuated.

2, no aggressive attenuation setting!

 

The volume setting of VEGA is from 0 to 100 with 0.5dB each step. Based on my personal experience, if you are working with volume above 60, it is almost as perfect as 100. Settings somewhat between 40 to 60 are also OK without significant effect on sound quality. However if you are running mostly below 30 for serious listening, I would recommend a high quality pre-amplifier.

 

So, it is completely depend on the matching with power amplifier, the loudspeakers and your room size...

 

PS: Please also don't forgot the Johnson-Nyquist Noise generated by a resistor of the typical analog attenuation inside a pre amp(unless you are using high-end pre amp using R2R ladder attenuation). If they are 100K type, it is just generate much more noise at worst case then you would like to see.

 

Cheers

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John Darko of Digital Audio Review, published a very favorable 3-part review of the Vega. Here's the relevant quote: "I should say something at this juncture about the Vega’s turn as digitally-attenuating pre-amplifier. I ran the NAKSA 80 with pot open wide into the 47Labs Lens. Alas, the Vega sounded closed in, devoid of musical shimmer and flair with its own volume dropped below 50 or 60. Anything higher was plainly too LOUD. Returning to NAKSA volume control re-instated all that I love sonically about this unit – even at low NAKSA volumes. This isn’t meant to sound dismissive, just that as a digital pre-amplifier, in this one setting it was more miss than hit."

 

 

 

Christopher, THanks for the research.... On the Darko review, he seemed to completely change is opionion as a preamp on Part 3 of his review and also made some comments in the follow-up questions... Just FYI...

Equipment:

Auralic Vega DAC, Auralic Taurus Preamp, KEF LS50 Speakers, Hypex Ncore400 monoblock amps, CAPs V3, Paul Hynes SR5 (12v and 9v rails), Audioquest King Cobra XLRs, Signal Cable speaker cable, Furutech power and USB cable

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Christopher, THanks for the research.... On the Darko review, he seemed to completely change is opionion as a preamp on Part 3 of his review and also made some comments in the follow-up questions... Just FYI...

 

Thanks ejn1. That is significant!

 

Most relevant quote from Mr. Darko is this: " If you need a digital pre-amp, the Vega is your guy. I think I’d (previously) underrated its ability to satisfy in this regard. Having recently fed its output into an ME 550 power amplifier I found myself wanting for very little and managed to eek a consistently impressive performance out of the Magnepan MMGs."

 

In the comments John receives this question: "Hey John – with regard to the volume control, did you tend to have it operating in a higher range (less attenuation) with the ME? Wondering if your previous (lower) opinion of this part of its functionality could be related to the amount of attenuation or if it’s just a system synergy thing with some amps."

 

His response: "Not at all. Running in the 30-50 range with the ME. Sounded terrific!"

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Thanks everyone for sharing the experience with VEGA. Since there are a lot of discussion about the volume control, I would like to make some future explanation to help yours.

 

The volume control inside VEGA is from Sabre ES9018 which we have tested to be dynamic loss free under certain situation:

 

1, the analog power supply of ES9018 should be deadly quite that allow both noise floor and signal level to be attenuated.

2, no aggressive attenuation setting!

 

The volume setting of VEGA is from 0 to 100 with 0.5dB each step. Based on my personal experience, if you are working with volume above 60, it is almost as perfect as 100. Settings somewhat between 40 to 60 are also OK without significant effect on sound quality. However if you are running mostly below 30 for serious listening, I would recommend a high quality pre-amplifier.

 

So, it is completely depend on the matching with power amplifier, the loudspeakers and your room size...

 

PS: Please also don't forgot the Johnson-Nyquist Noise generated by a resistor of the typical analog attenuation inside a pre amp(unless you are using high-end pre amp using R2R ladder attenuation). If they are 100K type, it is just generate much more noise at worst case then you would like to see.

 

Cheers

 

Thankyou very much for your participation here and for this quite helpful response!

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This is about the most clear, helpful, and honest response I've seen regarding digital volume control. Good job!

 

The volume setting of VEGA is from 0 to 100 with 0.5dB each step. Based on my personal experience, if you are working with volume above 60, it is almost as perfect as 100. Settings somewhat between 40 to 60 are also OK without significant effect on sound quality. However if you are running mostly below 30 for serious listening, I would recommend a high quality pre-amplifier.

A Digital Audio Converter connected to my Home Computer taking me into the Future

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Don't get me wrong, the Vega does a good job as a pre-amp. I would definitely try it before I commit to buying a pre. The ModWright LS100 is just one of the better sounding pre-amps I've ever heard, even compared to some that are more than twice its price. It was hard for the Vega to compete with that. I'm sure the Vega could compete with a lot of entry and mid-level pre-amps..

 

Balis, how is the sound quality with the LS100 at low volume? At what point does it start to get truncated? Do you know anything about the design of its volume control? Sure looks like a more affordable solution than what I've been looking at.

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Why doesn't someone make a no compromise volume control using 64 or 80 bit DSP?

I'm not sure... But at low volumes wouldn't the same problems still occur?

Eloise

---

...in my opinion / experience...

While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing.

And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism.

keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out.

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