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New Aqua Formula DAC (Multibit R2R)


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On 12/15/2018 at 11:29 AM, Kimo said:

Actually, it was JA.  It was stated that Herb's finding would be coming in 2019.  Not sure what review you read, but I wouldn't call JA's unfavorable.  

 

Well actually, I'm reading directly out of the January 2019 Stereophile, which was the entire point of my post.  Thanks for "correcting" me though.

 

"Aqua Acoustic quality's Formula xHD processor sounded as smooth and warm and enjoyable as Jason and Mr. O suggested, but I don't regard it as a pleasure machine, nor do I see it as a cure for systems that sound too bright.  In my system, the Formula xHD was simply too opaque for a perfectionist DAC at any price.  My head is shaking in disbelief." -- Herb Reichert

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When I checked online per the date of your original post, all I saw was JA's comment and a reference to Herb's to come in 2019.  I see there is a link there now.  Perhaps, I missed it, or it wasn't posted yet. 

 

Like I said, I wasn't sure.  Not correcting anything.

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4 hours ago, jacques_racine said:

Guys, I have waited way too long to chime in here.

 

I have had the Formula since launch, and the xHD since launch too.

I do not recognize my dac in these reviews.

Big sound, transparency, wall of sound.... I am a very experienced audiophile.

This DAC is used at many shows in many of the best sounding systems.

Did they listen with the "phase" switch in the wrong position?

I did my research and spoke with people very close to the company. I have yet to reach out to yeti designer.

I have been told that, unrelated with the Stereophile review, there will be a analogic board upgrade available in 2019.

 

Aqua is great company with great people. They deserve a fair review.

 

If you are considering this DAC please take a listen.  

 

I have owned 2 versions of the LaScala, both of which should have sound more opaque or thick, perhaps, due to the tubed output.  Of course, neither did.

 

I suspect Herb's opinion was based more on his failure to ingest his daily dose of Ex-lax, rather than any careful listening.  

 

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54 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

@Kimo Stop concluding things about people and posting personal comments. 

So, it is okay to jump in, attack a product out of nowhere,  improperly state what has been said, but not okay to draw conclusions and comment?  I get it, but then again I don't. 

 

Guys like emcdade and SJK simply go about ruining  the flow of a thread with their nonsense, but any comment that might be considered too personal has to be deleted?  

 

When you invite incivility in, you should not complain about what walks through the door.

 

 

 

 

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32 minutes ago, Kimo said:

So, it is okay to jump in, attack a product out of nowhere,  improperly state what has been said, but not okay to draw conclusions and comment?  I get it, but then again I don't. 

 

Guys like emcdade and SJK simply go about ruining  the flow of a thread with their nonsense, but any comment that might be considered too personal has to be deleted?  

 

When you invite incivility in, you should not complain about what walks through the door.

 

 

 

 

People can complain about products all day long. So be it. People can disagree with the comments all day long as well. 

 

Just don’t make it personal. That’s all. 

Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems AudiophileStyleStickerWhite2.0.png AudiophileStyleStickerWhite7.1.4.png

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I have 1 Formula XHD up for Sale in the forum section, I think its an excellent DAC, We Dropped Distribution simply because Aqua sales in Indonesia was not working out and Aqua wanted more sales from here which we just could not do. Bringing new Brand to this market segment is a nightmare it takes time to settle in with the audiophiles they want to be reassured 100 times. All the audiophiles with that type of budget are above 40ish and weary with new Electronic brands, Anyway if this was not the case i think with more time it would have proved it self against other brands being marketed here. Aqua dont seem to be patient enough!


I found The Formula to be the least Fatiguing DAC and we compared it to Rocka Wave condcting an A/B test at a potential Clients house for hours. The Aqua Formula was smoother & less mechanical sounding and portrayed a larger sound stage with a better sense of PRAT. Overall it was musically more satisfying. 

 

Saying that i think the Formula Xhd is an excellent DAC and can stack up to dacs costing many thousands more, one could live with for years due to its Modular approach on upgrades,

 

 People need to take reviews these days with a grain of salt and just listen for your self. Reviewers can also be biased and i wont point fingers but it does exist in this industry. Personally the Aqua Formula XHD sounds nothing like how the review painted the picture.

 

I have had MSB, PlaybackDesigns, Terminator DAC, Chord, Lampizator, AudioGD, PSaudio, Schitt and many more in my Room. With a very transparent system at hand. So i am talking from personal experience and the fact i have lived with many of Auqa Acoustics DACs.

 

The Online review baffles me completely. 

 

 

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Once again, another essential condemnation of the effort of a Stereophile reviewer by someone who has actually heard the product.  It is almost as if they all just dialed in the review, touching upon all the sins of filter free reproduction, without really spending any time listening. 

 

 

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This is why i never believe in online reviews and after reading Stereophile  review i new their are other factors in play.

 

Anyway dont let it get to you. This has been a common thing in the industry and it has been going on for a long time. Audiophiles must learn to trust their own ears.

 

 

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A possible problem with the review is that the DAC was not completed burned in. My Aqua Formula took more than 500 h to play in high level.

 

I was very upset before the burn in was completed, I thought I made a  mistake buying the Formula. I couldn't be happier today. 

Before I had a Lampizator Big 7.

 

 

Audio system: APL Streamer-> APL DSD-MR MK2 DAC -> Audiopax Maggiore L50 Pre and M100 Monoblocks -> Tidal Contriva G2 speakers

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On 1/2/2019 at 4:44 AM, dragon_vibe said:

I have had MSB, PlaybackDesigns, Terminator DAC, Chord, Lampizator, AudioGD, PSaudio, Schitt and many more in my Room.

 

That's quite the DACs you had owned. Did you ever post your views on all them? Would love to hear brief reviews from someone who owned so many high end DACs.

 

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I dont post much on forums or on social media. My Audio memory is vague with most but i have enjoyed nearly all of them. Each dac has its pros and cons nothing was perfect.

 

I still use the Schitt for my office together with Quested Studio Monitors simply because its inexpensive. The others have all been sold.

 

 

Look at my older post their is comments on here for MSB and Playback Design,

 

The Terminator, Chord and PS Audio did not stay for long.

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@Joaovieira

 

Very interesting data point, thank you.  I too think there may be something to the burn-in of this DAC.  I demo'd it for about 3 weeks, and while it had moments of brilliance in my systems, I found it's high level of detail oddly lacking the last bit of coherence, which over the course of a couple hour listening session, resulted in an unsettling fatigue of sorts.  You could hear EVERYTHING going on within the soundstage, but for whatever reason they felt like individual pieces, rather than a musically coherent presentation.  It turned out to be distracting rather than relaxing.  I find odd cohesion to be a regular bi-product of incomplete burn-in in many new high-end, detailed devices, and I asked the dealer about how many hours the DAC had on it.  He assured me it was burned in, although I got the sense from his answer that I was one of only the first 2-3 to have demo'd that particular unit.  Over a week or two it got a little better, but only slightly, with probably an additional 50 hours on it from me.  It never got to a point where I felt it had the right synergy with my systems.

 

I didn't ultimately buy it given that experience and just assumed it was a great product that didn't have full synergy with my system choices.  But later I also wondered/suspected it never reached a fully burned in state, as I read so many stellar reviews of it before and after those 3 weeks.  Your feedback makes me wonder that further now.

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On 1/12/2019 at 3:41 PM, jay said:

@Joaovieira

 

Very interesting data point, thank you.  I too think there may be something to the burn-in of this DAC.  I demo'd it for about 3 weeks, and while it had moments of brilliance in my systems, I found it's high level of detail oddly lacking the last bit of coherence, which over the course of a couple hour listening session, resulted in an unsettling fatigue of sorts.  You could hear EVERYTHING going on within the soundstage, but for whatever reason they felt like individual pieces, rather than a musically coherent presentation.  It turned out to be distracting rather than relaxing.  I find odd cohesion to be a regular bi-product of incomplete burn-in in many new high-end, detailed devices, and I asked the dealer about how many hours the DAC had on it.  He assured me it was burned in, although I got the sense from his answer that I was one of only the first 2-3 to have demo'd that particular unit.  Over a week or two it got a little better, but only slightly, with probably an additional 50 hours on it from me.  It never got to a point where I felt it had the right synergy with my systems.

 

I didn't ultimately buy it given that experience and just assumed it was a great product that didn't have full synergy with my system choices.  But later I also wondered/suspected it never reached a fully burned in state, as I read so many stellar reviews of it before and after those 3 weeks.  Your feedback makes me wonder that further now.

I think your right, System Synergy and of course it has to be burned it, One of my clients reported the unit should be kept on 24/7 however the unit never ran hot, my concern was it may overheat but this was not the case. He used to own the Chord DAVE and preferred the Formula.

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The RCA seemed to have a drop in volume over the XLR. Iv only used the USB Input.

 

Overall i preferred the XLR and many others did too. However this DAD is notorious in break in period it takes along time to settle down but once it does settle down its a musical joy to listen too overall i found the Formula more smoother and transparent than the La Scala which was surprising as the La Scala has a tube output stage. The DAC should be remained switched on as reported by one of our clients. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I use the RCA inputs. 

And it sounds great. No regrets moving from Lampi to Aqua.

My Aqua is on 24/7, my pre amplifier too.

all SS gear should be left on 24/7  to have best performance.

Audio system: APL Streamer-> APL DSD-MR MK2 DAC -> Audiopax Maggiore L50 Pre and M100 Monoblocks -> Tidal Contriva G2 speakers

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I leave on my Aqua 24x7 also. However, I found after shutting off my system while on vacation that it takes about  a full day after being turned on to sound its best.

 

 

Also, here's another review that I agree with the reviewer - https://www.aquahifi.com/file/reviews/SoundstageAustalia_Formula_xHD_2019.pdf

 

4x20A circuits | Shunyata Triton + Typhon | Source 1: HDPlex HD100 PSU -> OCX clock + EtherRegen -> Paul Hynes SR4T + HDPlex HD500 PSUs -> Music PC w/JCAT XE nic, HQPlayer, Roon, Tidal / Qobuz |  TotalDAC D1 Twelve DAC + Mk II Streamer | Source 2: Acoustic Signature Ascona with Kuzma 4 Point tonearm | Koetsu Rosewood Signature cart | Pass XP-15 phono pre | Audionet Pre G2 preamp | Audionet Max mono blocks | Vivid Audio Giya Spirits |  4 JL Audio Fathom subs | Echole ICs /SCs / Siltech King jumpers, Shunyata/Audioquest PCs / Eth. Cs | Critical Mass CS2s -> components, Isoacoustics -> speakers + subs | Adona Eris II rack w/ Herbie's titanium footers | Fully treated and dedicated 2 channel room

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5 hours ago, sb6 said:

I leave on my Aqua 24x7 also. However, I found after shutting off my system while on vacation that it takes about  a full day after being turned on to sound its best.

 

 

Also, here's another review that I agree with the reviewer - https://www.aquahifi.com/file/reviews/SoundstageAustalia_Formula_xHD_2019.pdf

 

I agree with this review, The DAC is a master of Acoustic Space, Massive Sound Stage and a smooth Delivery. 

 

When comparing the La Scala and the Formula something i found rather confusing. The La Scala Sounded more SS and the Formula sounded more like it has a Tube output stage. The Formula was smoother , Faster and more transparent.

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On 2/1/2019 at 4:56 AM, rafa said:

Can you describe differences between them?

 

Hi Rafa. Sorry for the delay in answering.

The main differences in my opinion are that the Aqua is more precise, it has the most beautifull mids I’ve heard in my system, and is more transparent (dangerous word...).

 

The Lampizator looks more "soft" but less interesting, real and correct (more or less like many typical single-ended).

Of course IMHO.

Audio system: APL Streamer-> APL DSD-MR MK2 DAC -> Audiopax Maggiore L50 Pre and M100 Monoblocks -> Tidal Contriva G2 speakers

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