Cary Audio DMS-500

[ahwelch]

I recently purchased the DMS-500 and have enjoyed how it has taken my system to the next level. My prior system was a NAD M51 with Audiophilleo2 SPIDF converter, had excellent sound but couldn't play DSD. I have the DMS directly connected to my MacMini with a CAT8 cable, no switch involved - only the Macmini is connected to the router. When I did the direct ethernet connection by bridging the ethernet ports full internet access was still maintained by both the Mac and the DMS; I also noticed a jump in sound quality. The DMS also upsamples to DSD256 and plays native DSD512. I find the DSD256 files upsampled by the DMS to sound better than DSD512 upsampled by ROON. Add to that the DMS app that streams Spotify, Tidal etc.

 

After months of looking at various configurations involving NAAs, fiber optic converters etc;  this has proven to be much simpler and sounds great. Even the Absolute Sound has recently made the DMS-500 an Editor's choice. 

 

 

[ahwelch]

@GUTB: the Maggies are not known to have a great soundstage due to their planar bipolar design which creates a tight sweetspot.   I do find that both the soundstage & even the VG imaging improve with higher resolution files and tweaks which reduce the background EMI/RFI. Currently I rate the 1.7 soundstage as good and the imaging as VG to near excellent. Check out forums such as AudioAsylum which deal extensively on how to improve the Maggies - tweaking your listening room setup is critical. Search for Jonathan Valin's review on the Absolute Sound also. Beyond that let's keep additional comments to the Cary DMS-500 which I consider a winner for its price,  network performance and flexibility.

[ahwelch]

@slingshotI saw that same comment on the Cary website so I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that DSD512 files upsampled by Roon could be played by the DMS-500. Make sure that Roon dsp "parallelize sigma delta modulator" is enabled so multiple cores are used, otherwise Roon chokes on anything above DSD64, at least on my Mac mini. 

[ahwelch]

So far the DMS has been playing DSD512 or upsampling files to DSD256 without any issues. The Cary support has also been excellent with their responses to my queries. I was also looking at the new Vega G2 - appears to be an elegant DAC/streamer which I'm sure will sound great, just pricey at $2k more than what the DMS-500 can be purchased for with the mfr discount. The G2 also doesn't upsample or play MQA like the the DMS. I'm sure the Auralic solution with digital processing separates will yield fantastic sound similar to the DCS approach but at a cost; currently more than my budget.

[ahwelch]

@bunno77Can't compare the DMS to other DACs other than my NAD M51 which sounded excellent with an Audiophilleo spdif converter. Haven't had the opportunity to listen to other newer DACs but the DMS has taken my listening to another level with its hirez file playback capability. Neil Gaber did a very favorable review in the recent Oct issue of the Absolute Sound - TAS also gave it an Editors Choice award. 

 

No click, pops, etc while playing back files up to DSD256 whether upsampled  by Roon or the DMS. Only issue that just popped up was that last week I had Roon upsampling to DSD512 on my Mac mini and the DMS successfully playing the files even tho Cary Audio has stated that the DMS can't do this in Roon/Mac OS due to a buffering incompatibility. The DSD512 files now start stuttering and then just stop, perhaps one of my recent system setting changes caused this ? I hope to figure this out soon cause my system has already demonstrated that it can successfully play DSD512. Bright side is my girlfriend & I both thought that the DMS files upsampled to DSD256 sounded better than The Roon DSD512 files. 

 

Works well as a preamp, in fact both balanced & unbalanced outputs work simultaneously so I can feed my Woo headphone amp at same time as the primary system. 

 

 

[ahwelch]

@bunno77  Great news! The DSD512 playback problem was due to a mid-Oct Roon update. The latest Roon update implemented today re-enabled successful DSD512 playback which I'm listening to right now with pleasure. So far I think that the DMS upsampling is superior to Roon upsampling but I have them both at DSD512 for comparative listening. Hopefully a subsequent Roon update doesn't break this again. Cheers!

[ahwelch]

The DMS 500 does not have a separate subwoofer output but I send the unbalanced outputs to 2 JLAudio E110 subwoofers which have builtin crossovers, sounds great with my Maggies.  

[ahwelch]

@thyname : another approach to utilizing subwoofers with the DMS is to use the unused outputs as both balanced & unbalanced outlets are simultaneously active. Your subwoofers will need their own crossover and achieving proper frequency balance may be a bit more challenging.