CJROSS
09-04-2002, 1:44 PM
Guys thought I would post this review (from the Hifi-Choice forum) here for any people thinking of adding a DAC to their DVD-V players for improved stereo playback.
I’ve came at this review with the thought of my old X-24K DAC as a standard point as comparison but when doing this over the weekend - I felt that going back to the no DAC option just listening to the DVD-V player on its own then I could give a real justifcation to the sound differences that each DAC gave the Pioneer – or to be precise the performance of each DAC as a ‘Source’. The differences between the DAC is noticeable but they have different qulaities – excuse the english dudes but I’ll try my best at mag review wording – no s******ing at the back !!
I used the same discs in each case for the comparison including a DAD 24/96 & HDCD encoded CD’s. I used the DAD 24-96 in direct comparison with its CD version from a Chesky compilation. I also compared HDCDs v CD’s with the same tracks. All CD tested were mostly AAD’s and there was’nt a bad recording amongst them IMO.
Pioneer DV-717 : First of all no DAC in place and surprsingly the DVD-V players sounds very acceptable, has a nice degree of separation and the only real drawbacks I found is that its bass sounded a little uncontrolled & it lacked warmth – the music was being played but it was painted in swathed brush strokes. But not the dire sound the hifi mags portray I have to add.
Musical Fidelity X-24K DAC : adding the X-24K to the Pioneer changed the whole package to what I would call ‘music’ with articulate bass & very good separational qualities, most notable was the complex nature of some recordings I felt the X-24K really got into them and deciphered whats was happening, at the same time the foot was tapping so the music was coming through. Bass performance is the most notable improvement over the DVD player - bass now came from the speakers with good depth but also a very nice rate of ‘attack’. Midrange & treble performance in complex mixes were evident – so on the whole a very good upgrade to a medium priced CD or DVD player. (BTW the DAD 24/96 when played increased bass performance to a higher level – ie more bass & control, over its CD counterpart)
TAG McLaren DAC 20 : slotted into the system, the first difference I noticed to be honest made me feel I was listening to my LP12, from the way the cymbals shimmered on drums, the warmth of the DAC was a real surprise to me to be honest, there is no doubt that I’m listening to a digital system but I could’nt stop cranking the volume up as high as it would go and finding myself smiling with what this DAC could. What it seems to do is really separate all the component parts and play them back in a really smooth manner with real vigour – the mix is still very coherent and no harshness evident. Again as I said a totally different character to the X-24K. I felt that the HDCD’s were again more detailed and smoother than the exact same recording on normal CD. Saying that I found a couple tracks I’ve liked previously on the X-24K (Turin Breaks to be precise) the singer has developed a sibilance not evident before in his phrasing – still sounds excellent though. So the DAC 20 does impose its character on the music being played.
These views are of course in context to my system are also ………………….. IMHO dudes.
Tracks used
Dave’s Trues Stories “Sex Without Bodies” DAD 24/96 & CD
Bryan Ferry “Oh Yeah” & “Avalon” HDCD & CD
Sting All This Time “Fragile” & “Shape of my heart” CD
B52’s “Good Stuff” & “Revolution Earth”
Turin Breaks “Save Me”
There are more reviews on the DAC 20 here from other guys who've bought it :
http://www.futureforums.co.uk/hifichoice/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3285&FORUM_ID=4&CAT_ID=3&Topic_Title=The+Tag+DAC&Forum_Title=Reviews
I’ve came at this review with the thought of my old X-24K DAC as a standard point as comparison but when doing this over the weekend - I felt that going back to the no DAC option just listening to the DVD-V player on its own then I could give a real justifcation to the sound differences that each DAC gave the Pioneer – or to be precise the performance of each DAC as a ‘Source’. The differences between the DAC is noticeable but they have different qulaities – excuse the english dudes but I’ll try my best at mag review wording – no s******ing at the back !!
I used the same discs in each case for the comparison including a DAD 24/96 & HDCD encoded CD’s. I used the DAD 24-96 in direct comparison with its CD version from a Chesky compilation. I also compared HDCDs v CD’s with the same tracks. All CD tested were mostly AAD’s and there was’nt a bad recording amongst them IMO.
Pioneer DV-717 : First of all no DAC in place and surprsingly the DVD-V players sounds very acceptable, has a nice degree of separation and the only real drawbacks I found is that its bass sounded a little uncontrolled & it lacked warmth – the music was being played but it was painted in swathed brush strokes. But not the dire sound the hifi mags portray I have to add.
Musical Fidelity X-24K DAC : adding the X-24K to the Pioneer changed the whole package to what I would call ‘music’ with articulate bass & very good separational qualities, most notable was the complex nature of some recordings I felt the X-24K really got into them and deciphered whats was happening, at the same time the foot was tapping so the music was coming through. Bass performance is the most notable improvement over the DVD player - bass now came from the speakers with good depth but also a very nice rate of ‘attack’. Midrange & treble performance in complex mixes were evident – so on the whole a very good upgrade to a medium priced CD or DVD player. (BTW the DAD 24/96 when played increased bass performance to a higher level – ie more bass & control, over its CD counterpart)
TAG McLaren DAC 20 : slotted into the system, the first difference I noticed to be honest made me feel I was listening to my LP12, from the way the cymbals shimmered on drums, the warmth of the DAC was a real surprise to me to be honest, there is no doubt that I’m listening to a digital system but I could’nt stop cranking the volume up as high as it would go and finding myself smiling with what this DAC could. What it seems to do is really separate all the component parts and play them back in a really smooth manner with real vigour – the mix is still very coherent and no harshness evident. Again as I said a totally different character to the X-24K. I felt that the HDCD’s were again more detailed and smoother than the exact same recording on normal CD. Saying that I found a couple tracks I’ve liked previously on the X-24K (Turin Breaks to be precise) the singer has developed a sibilance not evident before in his phrasing – still sounds excellent though. So the DAC 20 does impose its character on the music being played.
These views are of course in context to my system are also ………………….. IMHO dudes.
Tracks used
Dave’s Trues Stories “Sex Without Bodies” DAD 24/96 & CD
Bryan Ferry “Oh Yeah” & “Avalon” HDCD & CD
Sting All This Time “Fragile” & “Shape of my heart” CD
B52’s “Good Stuff” & “Revolution Earth”
Turin Breaks “Save Me”
There are more reviews on the DAC 20 here from other guys who've bought it :
http://www.futureforums.co.uk/hifichoice/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3285&FORUM_ID=4&CAT_ID=3&Topic_Title=The+Tag+DAC&Forum_Title=Reviews