Auralic Vega: my review

[hifitubes]

I can't use USB--the Unitiserve doesn't have a USB output, so I'm using the coax. I don't have the Vega connected to a computer.

 

I am using balanced outputs on the Vega.

 

I haven't set the Vega gain at 100. I've tried it at 70-80 and then used the LS22 to make further adjustments. I'll check that out. Thanks for the advice.

 

I thought I saw USB output on the Naim but I guess that is just for external storage?

[Stebro]

The Naim has USB inputs for a keyboard, memory stick, etc. Outputs are only coax and optical.

[andyv]

I bought a Vega about ten days ago. It sounded great in the store. In my system, so far, it seems harsh, rough, hard. My system consists of Naim Unitiserve, Audio Research LS22 preamp, Audio Research VT 130SE amp and Proac Response 3.5 speakers. The Naim is connected to the Vega by coax cable (Nordost). I've been running the Vega night and day and it's now approaching 200 hours. Problem is that my dealer won't give me many more days to exchange it. I compared the Vega to an Arcam DAC (the $3100 one) and the Arcam sounded sweeter and less edgy. I may borrow a Cary 100t and/or a Naim V1 from the dealer for comparison. Unfortunately, I can't give the Vega too much more break in time unless I want to roll the dice and give up any chance to return it. Would appreciate any input, thoughts and advice. Thanks in advance.

 

If you have a look at the Streaming section of the naim forum you'll see that a fair few naim users have swapped their naim DACs for a Chord Hugo, and are very enthusiastic about the Hugo. So perhaps there is some synergy between the Hugo and naim equipment, or perhaps it is just a very good DAC - maybe you should try one before settling on the Vega? It's cheaper too!

 

I certainly wouldn't buy something I wasn't utterly delighted with. It's a lot of money, it should be fantastic out of the box and even more fantastic after a while. If otoh there are issues with your system, then trying other DACs will enable you to get a handle on them.

[One and a half]

If you have a look at the Streaming section of the naim forum you'll see that a fair few naim users have swapped their naim DACs for a Chord Hugo, and are very enthusiastic about the Hugo. So perhaps there is some synergy between the Hugo and naim equipment, or perhaps it is just a very good DAC - maybe you should try one before settling on the Vega? It's cheaper too!

 

I certainly wouldn't buy something I wasn't utterly delighted with. It's a lot of money, it should be fantastic out of the box and even more fantastic after a while. If otoh there are issues with your system, then trying other DACs will enable you to get a handle on them.

 

Oh, how patriotically English to do so as well.

[Stebro]

The Hugo reviews sound good. Not sure where it is sold in the US but I emailed the distributor. One problem: the dealer where I recently bought the Auralic won't give me a refund--only a credit towards another brand he stocks (minus a "restocking fee.") So I either have to buy a brand he sells

(Cary 100t or Naim V1) or sell the Auralic myself, assuming I decide not to keep it. My plan now is to continue burning in the Auralic and to borrow the Cary and possibly the Naim next Monday, do the comparison in my system and decide. The Auralic will have 2-300 hours by then. May not be totally burned in but that's all the time I have to return it. I haven't experimented yet with the Auralic adjustments for fear of getting further confused. By the way, I am a big fan of English equipmen and love the Naim Unitiserve t so maybe the Naim DAC wii be good. I'm open to any other suggestions.

[kennyb123]

I certainly wouldn't buy something I wasn't utterly delighted with. It's a lot of money, it should be fantastic out of the box and even more fantastic after a while. If otoh there are issues with your system, then trying other DACs will enable you to get a handle on them.

 

I think this is great advice - with one exception: I don't think a DAC should be judged right out of the box. I've yet to meet a DAC that gives a really good impression right out of the box of how it will sound after it has sufficiently burned in. It would be foolish, I think, to pass judgement on a DAC that doesn't sound fantastic right out of the box. I could be wrong.

[Mark Manner]

I bought a Vega about ten days ago. It sounded great in the store. In my system, so far, it seems harsh, rough, hard. My system consists of Naim Unitiserve, Audio Research LS22 preamp, Audio Research VT 130SE amp and Proac Response 3.5 speakers. The Naim is connected to the Vega by coax cable (Nordost). I've been running the Vega night and day and it's now approaching 200 hours. Problem is that my dealer won't give me many more days to exchange it. I compared the Vega to an Arcam DAC (the $3100 one) and the Arcam sounded sweeter and less edgy. I may borrow a Cary 100t and/or a Naim V1 from the dealer for comparison. Unfortunately, I can't give the Vega too much more break in time unless I want to roll the dice and give up any chance to return it. Would appreciate any input, thoughts and advice. Thanks in advance.

 

I know the dac decision is very personal and perhaps system specific. The Vega sounds great with my system, and did the first time I plugged it in. I would make sure that you have it set in a way that many find best, which is default all settings, then make sure clock is set to 'auto' and filter mode set to '4' (for pcm). Maybe your unit has been set to something else. May not help but won't hurt to check.

Mark

[hifitubes]

I know the dac decision is very personal and perhaps system specific. The Vega sounds great with my system, and did the first time I plugged it in. I would make sure that you have it set in a way that many find best, which is default all settings, then make sure clock is set to 'auto' and filter mode set to '4' (for pcm). Maybe your unit has been set to something else. May not help but won't hurt to check.

Mark

 

I have been upsampling all PCM (when not doing PCM2DSD) in JRiver. If you read the filter info from Auralic, performance of the DAC is exceptional with higher sample rates. it sounds great too!

 

I am using EXACT clock.

[bmoura]

I know the dac decision is very personal and perhaps system specific. The Vega sounds great with my system, and did the first time I plugged it in.

 

Mark

 

The Vega was getting praise at The Show in Newport Beach over the last weekend. More so, in fact, than the Aries streamer they came to demo!

[esimms86]

That obviously speaks well for the sound quality through the ARIES.

 

Esau

[bmoura]

That obviously speaks well for the sound quality through the ARIES.

 

Esau

 

True - the combination was a sonic winner. No doubt about that.

[MikeJazz]

True - the combination was a sonic winner. No doubt about that.

 

I expect functionality, and not sonic signature, on a streamer...

For that reason I am very curious to learn about possible differences between Aries LE and Aries...

[esimms86]

I expect functionality, and not sonic signature, on a streamer...

For that reason I am very curious to learn about possible differences between Aries LE and Aries...

 

I agree that no logical consumer buys a streamer if the functionality doesn't meet their needs but sound is still a primary consideration when you're talking about a device that streams hi res files. The femto clock in the ARIES LE should also theoretically give you at least the potential for better sound quality. I, for one, would love to hear that ARIES is jriver/j remote meets audiophile optimizer.

[wisnon]

Somehow the volume control in Windows Sound control was down to 71. This breaks DSD since it is attempting DSP I guess.

 

Why is this even possible with the Vega?

 

Yup, the Sabre Chip does NOT play back DSD natively. Very few Dacs out there do. Wink, wink.

Go with (some) Cirrus 1 bit Logic chips, Meitner/EMM/PBD, Lampi chipless (multi-stage low pass filtration), or go home. Even the Direct Stream is NOT "native" DSD as it converts to 24bits/28mhz.

 

This is not to say that the good Dacs like the Hugo/DirectStream, etc dont sound good playing back DSD…its just that I and a few others like Bruce Brown think that native is STILL better!

[bibo01]

Yup, the Sabre Chip does NOT play back DSD natively. Very few Dacs out there do. Wink, wink.

Go with (some) Cirrus 1 bit Logic chips, Meitner/EMM/PBD, Lampi chipless (multi-stage low pass filtration), or go home. Even the Direct Stream is NOT "native" DSD as it converts to 24bits/28mhz.

 

This is not to say that the good Dacs like the Hugo/DirectStream, etc dont sound good playing back DSD…its just that I and a few others like Bruce Brown think that native is STILL better!

Do you have something to back-up that claim (highlighted) or is it just a supposition?

[Audio_ELF]

Do you have something to back-up that claim (highlighted) or is it just a supposition?

It depends on your definition of "native DSD".

 

Most DACs convert both DSD and PCM to a multi-bit version of SDM.

[Hiro]

It depends on your definition of "native DSD".

 

Most DACs convert both DSD and PCM to a multi-bit version of SDM.

 

From Andreas Koch's explanation of DSD:

 

"Delta-Sigma modulation: the analog signal is converted directly to DSD with a very high sampling rate. Various algorithms are in use depending on the application and required fidelity. They can generate 1-bit DSD or multibit DSD oversampled at 64x or 128x compared to regular CD rate."

[Audio_ELF]

"Delta-Sigma modulation: the analog signal is converted directly to DSD with a very high sampling rate. Various algorithms are in use depending on the application and required fidelity. They can generate 1-bit DSD or multibit DSD oversampled at 64x or 128x compared to regular CD rate."

So this supports the assertion that conversion to multi-bit SDM (or multi-bit DSD if you prefer) is still native DSD?

[Hiro]

So this supports the assertion that conversion to multi-bit SDM is still native DSD?

 

Yup.

[wisnon]

DSD is ONLY single bit. It is partly a marketing term. Multi-bit is Delta sigma modulation, ie Pulse density modulation.

 

I cant recall where I saw the sabre chip info, but it cretainly does NOT stay in the 1 bit domain and infact does some DSP inside as well. To me NOTHING beats the LPF approach to DSD. Ted Smith tends to agree as well, but of course this does not work for PCM input at all, which is why the DirectStream does what it does, ie 30/28mhz conversion. Hugo takes the other approach and converst all to 2048fs PCM. Both reportedly are fine sounding Dacs. However, for PURE DSD, I tip my hat to LPF.

[Hiro]

DSD is ONLY single bit. It is partly a marketing term. Multi-bit is Delta sigma modulation, ie Pulse density modulation.

 

Wisnon, see Andreas Koch's explanation above. DSD can be multibit.

 

Yes, Andreas Koch is one of the developers of DSD and is rather well versed in what constitutes DSD technology.

[Audio_ELF]

I tip my hat to LPF.

LPF??? Is that the Lothian Pension Fund?

[gvb]

I have a couple of questions for the Auralic Vega owners. I understand that there are standby and sleep modes. If you switch the unit from power-on to standby, when you switch to power-on again, will it come back to the same settings as before (input selected, volume level, display settings, etc.) ? Also, the same question when switching to sleep.

 

Your help is much appreciated.

 

Gerson

[wisnon]

Eloise,

No, MID-Lothian, like HEARTS. LoL

 

Low pass filtration.

[wisnon]

Wisnon, see Andreas Koch's explanation above. DSD can be multibit.

 

Yes, Andreas Koch is one of the developers of DSD and is rather well versed in what constitutes DSD technology.

 

Its a Sony Marketing term. i know who Andreas is and yes, he is a pioneer.

 

LPF avoids ANY conversion and as such is more elegant if done right and the SQ benefits is there to be heard.