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I'm not a heavy headphone user and put them on mostly to assess the recording quality of albums with different versions or to discover new music on my desktop PC before selecting what I'll listen to on my speakers. With recordings that have too much stereo effect, headphones can be a little disconcerting, and I generally prefer the dynamics and sense of space for offered by speakers. 

 

Anyway, your point is interesting and should be kept in mind. 

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can i ask, what is better to use with fractal dac intona or another usb isolator, just being curious, as i compared the fractal dac wih intona isolator industrial version and regular version, the industrial version had more dynamics. But it made the sound a bit warmer with the fractal dac on my intel nuc using lush 3 usb cable. I have the harbeth slh 5 40th anniversary and Avid Hifi integra amp. I am using roon, The difference was quite big between intona industrial version and regular version, but each had its own thing I liked, so maybe there is something better than intona

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6 minutes ago, hopkins said:

OK, that explains the lack of dynamics with headphones. The powerDAC has veru different specs. 

no no no, I used the powerdac to just test it with headphones, which I got to test and returned, its not mine

 

while the DA96 I bought and is used in my home system, not used with headphones, so the question about usb isolators is to improve my dac in my home system. With my headphone set up I do not use the DA96, I use my ifi pro dsd as a dac and violectric 590 as an amp. I was able to loan the powerdac and it was not great with my headphones at all. 

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I'm having a lot of fun listening to Qobuz on my desktop PC connected to the U192, with the powerDAC and my Beyerdynamic DT990. You can really appreciate good masterings on older records. 

 

This for example: https://play.qobuz.com/album/3448960200325

 

I assume that if you love classical music, for example, you'll find also that older recordings really come to life. 

The sound is really good with the PowerDAC.

 

Its also a very useful way of evaluating the sound quality of various Qobuz releases.

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On 7/2/2021 at 8:29 PM, hykbooks said:

no no no, I used the powerdac to just test it with headphones, which I got to test and returned, its not mine

 

while the DA96 I bought and is used in my home system, not used with headphones, so the question about usb isolators is to improve my dac in my home system. With my headphone set up I do not use the DA96, I use my ifi pro dsd as a dac and violectric 590 as an amp. I was able to loan the powerdac and it was not great with my headphones at all. 

 

You have Intona 7054-X which is the industrial version, the other model that you tested is 7055-C.

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On 6/24/2021 at 3:29 PM, uber2 said:

I got interested in the powerdac after hearing the Mosaic UV. Sold my Qutest for the PD. 

 

Both UV and PD feels a bit lean/low slam in the lower registers. Its an initial observation.

 

So I tend to agree with this statement.

I have the PD connected via toslink from the Aries femto for the moment.

 

With that said I prefer my PD!

What was source and what amp / preamp did you use with the PD . Were  the same source and amp / preamp were used with Chord quetest DAC to evaluate both dacs ?

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On 7/2/2021 at 8:34 PM, hopkins said:

OK thanks, understood. And you did not test it with your speakers? 

I tested the powerdac a bit on my home system, its a good dac, I still like my DA96 though in my system. Evaluating dacs takes alot time which I did not have with the powerdac, as i got it as a loan to be returned next morning, and at night i usually do not listen to speakers, so i invested my time using different headphones to test with the powerdac, and what i wrote above was my conclusion. I am more of headphone person, coming from susvara and lcd4 and some other dynamic headphones as denon 9200.

 

But on the positive side both dacs whether powerdac or DA96 are dam amazing dacs period

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8 hours ago, Jacob said:

What words to use or how good your vocabulary should be to describe PERFECTION?

 

I was (ré)reading yesterday an essay by Arthur Salvatore on the popular opposition between "musical" and "accurate": http://www.high-endaudio.com/philos.html#Two

 

I know many people who call themselves audiophiles and still believe that there is a trade-off between accuracy and "musicality".  This is probably the result of listening exclusively  to inferior products that offer compromises and tradeoffs. 

 

These people should listen to the powerDAC as it is the definitive proof (provided one is not deaf) of what Salvatore concludes:  "My own conviction is simple: A component is "Musical" ONLY IF and BECAUSE it is also "Accurate"."

 

With the PowerDAC I feel we finally have an accurate DAC to demonstrate this. Listening with headphones, without any of the distortion involved with (even the best) amplifiers and speakers, makes it all the more obvious. 

 

Thanks for your very nice review! 

 

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4 hours ago, hopkins said:

 

I was (ré)reading yesterday an essay by Arthur Salvatore on the popular opposition between "musical" and "accurate": http://www.high-endaudio.com/philos.html#Two

 

I know many people who call themselves audiophiles and still believe that there is a trade-off between accuracy and "musicality".  This is probably the result of listening exclusively  to inferior products that offer compromises and tradeoffs. 

 

These people should listen to the powerDAC as it is the definitive proof (provided one is not deaf) of what Salvatore concludes:  "My own conviction is simple: A component is "Musical" ONLY IF and BECAUSE it is also "Accurate"."

 

With the PowerDAC I feel we finally have an accurate DAC to demonstrate this. Listening with headphones, without any of the distortion involved with (even the best) amplifiers and speakers, makes it all the more obvious. 

 

Thanks for your very nice review! 

 

I can not agree more!!!
this DAC is totaly demonstrate the BEST sound and how it should have been.

Finaly i can hear the difference..

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The source matter too !!
Im waiting for my USB to Toslink unit to arrive so i can do a comparison with all the possible options.
but for now  - the QLS QA390 as PURE WAV player perfeom the best.
Tried to use AUNE X5s player with optical out  - not even close ... sounds like a digital brick..

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1 hour ago, Jacob said:

The source matter too !!
Im waiting for my USB to Toslink unit to arrive so i can do a comparison with all the possible options.
but for now  - the QLS QA390 as PURE WAV player perfeom the best.
Tried to use AUNE X5s player with optical out  - not even close ... sounds like a digital brick..

 

I am still surprised by these "source immunity" results. Playing from my Android tablet on USB Audio Pro, whether with local files (on the tablet's internal storage) or through Qobuz, the results are excellent and no different than playing from any other source (UPL, laptop...).

I could be completly biased :) It is a little frustrating not to be able to compare this "live" with others. 

 

The possible explanations are:

- jitter still has an impact (i.e. source immunity is not perfect) ?

- some kind of DSP active in various players (I have all tested mine to be bit-perfect, with ECD's bit perfect tester) ?

- RF/EMI from the source (mine are always placed at a distance) ?

- source power supply interferences with the rest of the system ? This is not relevant, of course, if the source is powered by a battery (off-grid) 

 

In spite of all this, I think it is not so hard for everyone to find the source that will please them, without going into insane solutions...

 

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2 hours ago, hopkins said:

Perhaps someone could take me out of my misery and try an android tablet (or phone) with USB Audio Pro connected to the ECD UT96 (USB->Optical) ? It's easy to set up, if you have an android device.

When my USb interface will arrive i can do this  - i have 2 same S10e phones just to do the comparisons and have a very good USB C cable 

 

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On 7/1/2021 at 4:01 PM, bodiebill said:

 

Interesting indeed.

Looking forward to a listening session with ATC SCM19(A) en SCM40(A) passive en active versions coming Monday.

Thanks!

Hi @bodiebill : I would personnaly love to listen to the Spatial Audio M3 Sapphires (and X5 models). They have an official dealer in Netherlands whom can be contacted at :

Cor van Empel ([email protected])

Here is a great review of the loudspeakers (with measurments !) : 

 

Open Baffle seem to perform excellent when they are well designed !

All the best,

Benoît

 

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