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Digital Drive: REVIEW: Bel Canto Design DAC2 DAC Processors by Jasper T

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REVIEW: Bel Canto Design DAC2 DAC Processors

144.139.166.12


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Model: DAC2
Category: DAC Processors
Suggested Retail Price: $1395
Description: Upsampling 24/192 DAC2
Manufacturer URL: Bel Canto Design
Model Picture: View

Review by Jasper T ( A ) on December 22, 2003 at 02:04:13
IP Address: 144.139.166.12
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for the DAC2


Having upgraded my amp,speakers ,cables and added a Rega P3 over the last 16 months, i thought it was time to retire my Marantz CD67SE by adding a universal player to the mix. I was hoping Denon DVD 2900 would fit the bill and concurrently allow me entry into the 2 channel SACD world. But I am disappointed on both counts. I was expecting more dynamic range and more air and detail from the Denon SACD playback but it's kind of underwhelming and with the dearth of good playback material in Melbourne,Australia , i was forced to look at improving my redbook player after a few months. My main gripe with my old Marantz CD67 SE is the harsh edgy high and the somewhat lack of soundstage depth. A single box CD player was not considered at the time as i have 2 potential transports now and thought i could spend all my money on the best DAC i could afford.

Musical Fidelity A324 DAC caught my attention first due to the positive Stereophile review , its hefty built and my own general fondness for MF products, being a happy owner of the discontinued MF A300 integrated amplifier. But an acquitance advised me to give Bel Canto a try as he feels it might fit my need better. I was somewhat hesitant initially as Bel Canto has virtually no presence in Australia but i managed to find a local store who carries both MF and Bel Canto DACs and were willing to set up a side by side demo for me.
On the day, they used a Krell CD player as Transport to Krell intergrated amp via a Glass Toslink and JMlabs ?Alto Utopia speaker. Way way out of the league of my humble setup at home i know but what the hack.
It was a spine tingling experience all right,especially with Jordi Savall's early music CD from Aliavox and there wasn't a lot to pick between the 2 unit on most material but what clinched it for me in the end was how my demo violin sonata sounded more "real", dare i say , more analogue and the high sounded less edged/digital on most material via the Bel Canto. Musical Fidelity sounded more exciting first up but i feel it may still pose the same problem with the high frequency area in my setup , abeit probably to a lesser degree and with more detail and soundstage when compared with my old Marantz.

Having a DAC for the first time, i needed a decent digital cable so i'd trialled a few including DH labs D-75 coaxial, Supra Trico coax and a Glass Toslink.Of these i like the Glass the best and DH labs the least.
I thought i could retire the old Marantz and use the Denon DVD 2900 as the sole transport but after a lot of to and fro, i found myself liking the Marantz better as it gives a bigger soundstage and i like the midrange better, a bit coloured perhaps but more to my liking.
Replacing the stock power cord with Chris Venhaus Flavour 1 PC 3 weeks ago has brought an increment in improvement in soundstage and the background sounds a bit darker, fairly subtle but worth the reasonable cost involved i think.

After 4 months, i'm really happy with my decision to go with the DAC2.It has addressed my primary complaint with my old CD player by giving me a more open and detailed CD playback without the nasty high of old , better soundstage and it's a lot easier to follow the individual instrumentation in more complex classical musical passage.In fact,I have gone through quite a few much neglected old CDs in my colleciton just to see how this new DAC would play them.

Of late, I haven't felt the need to go around looking for those elusive and expensive SACDs. The only problem now is the old Marantz is starting to hum when switched on and starting to skip tracks periodically.Grrrr.


Product Weakness: Brick size built and the opposing input and output layout makes placement on a hi fi rack somewhat awkward.
Product Strengths: soundstaging, smoother high, nice midrange in comparison to my old CD player.


Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: Musical Fidelity A300
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): None
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Marantz CD 67SE, Denon DVD 2900
Speakers: Dynaudio Audience 52
Cables/Interconnects: Glass Toslink ,DH labs D75 ,Kimber KCAG
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Classical music, early music, Rock
Room Size (LxWxH): 8M x 5M x 3M
Room Comments/Treatments: acoustic foam panel
Time Period/Length of Audition: 4months
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): Chris Venhaus Flavour 1 pwer cord
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




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Topic - REVIEW: Bel Canto Design DAC2 DAC Processors - Jasper T 02:04:13 12/22/03 ( 2)