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Digital Drive: REVIEW: Bel Canto Design DAC2 DAC Processors by bullethead

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REVIEW: Bel Canto Design DAC2 DAC Processors

68.174.20.225


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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 bullethead ( A ) on September 15, 2004 at 08:20:37
IP Address: 68.174.20.225
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for the DAC2


I was always appreciative of good sound. I don't know why I have never considered getting a DAC before now. Perhaps I didn't really know about what these devices actually were and I was always a little "happy" with my CD Players built in DAC (although the convenience of having one built into a cd player actually made me even more ignorant).

Being a 26 year old it's hard to mingle with the Audiophile crowd. I attended the Stereophile Hi-Fi expo around 2002 (when I was 23) at the Hilton Hotel in New York City and was overwhelmed by the amount of people who share the same appreciation for music as much as I do. It was there that I met some of my audio dealers face to face and had the opportunity to listen to some of the most expensive and "nich" audio products in the world. This show in 2002 actually sold me on two fronts. It reinforced the appreciation I have for my main dealer's knowledge about quality (The dealer is an Online merchant), and also the brand of speaker I have been using since I was about 16 or 17 years old.

This experience permanently embedded in my mind that High Quality audio equipment is not about playing games, it's about taking care of your cherished love for music. While everyone has their differences in music likes and dislikes, everyone appreciates a really "nice" stereo.

I picked up a Bel Canto DAC2 recently from the online merchant and decided to try it out (I did have 30 days to "audition" in my home). What I can tell you about this is that it is a HUGE upgrade to my current audio source.

I use a Musical Fidelity A3 cd player which has a pretty good built in DAC. Supposodely this device "upsamples" the signal to 24 bits. This was an enormous improvement over my first cd player which was a mass produced JVC model. When bypassing the built in MF DAC with the Bel Canto, I felt like I was getting a new cd player. That's how much difference I have heard since the upgrade. Let me explain a little more:

I put on "Plasticman - Closer" and listened to the opening track. Plasticman is an electronic project that mainly focuses on experimental atmospheres. The music seems to create a sense of being in outer space and being completely disconnected from your body. With the older entry level setup I heard nothing but the singer mumbling during the first track. As low and as distorted as the introductional vocals seemed, I could never make out what the hell the artist was saying. After the new DAC upgrade, I heard every nuance and every detail in each word and was able to make out the opening sentences which set the tone for the album. In comparison, listening to this opening passage from the living room Phillips dvd player linked to a Denon receiver produces nothing but silence.

The connection to the DAC is Analysis Plus Digital Oval (1 meter) RCA type connection. Since I have been using Analysis plus Oval 12 speaker wire I decided they know what they are doing, and Analysis plus wires have shown an improvement over the popular "Monster" cable.

Getting into something even more complicated than the techno artist Plasticman I decided to put in "Ulver - Silencing the Singing EP". This is a short album with tracks lasting about 15 minutes each. The music takes a strange form (again rather experimental and electronic in nature). During the first track I was able to hear the "noise" frequencies shift around and move toward and away from me. The machine like sound then centered itself on top of my subwoofer and again moved toward and away from me. I guess you can call this 3D imaging. I could almost "See" the music as this happened. The speakers completely disappeared and I was left with a semi-psychedelic experience.

Radiohead (probably a band some of you might be familiar with unlike the other two) has some great albums out there. For my first test with these guys I put in "Radiohead - Amnesiac", and played "Pyramid Song". I thought this track would be interesting because of the piano opening and then shortly after some nice drumming. I definitely heard a difference in this one, but it seems that the Bel Canto while making up for the lost nuances seemed to take away all of the digital "edgyness". This could be a good thing for some albums (The previous two were enhanced by this upgrade), but bad for others. After about 2 minutes into "Pyramid Song" the drumming kicks in and it didn't sound as real as the Musical Fidelity A3's built in DAC. This probably will be fixed after some long term use, but I was clearly amazed that this warmness overshadowed the digital aliveness of that Particular Radiohead track. The piano is there and the bass is nicely defined and definitey more detailed, but the sharpness isn't there for some reason. On to the final experience I will talk about:

Banco de Gaia's album "You Are Here" was the first album I tested after plugging in the Bel Canto DAC2. I immediately put on my favorite track "Grey over Grey" which has a female vocalist singing her heart out over some mellow electronic vibes. This is why I am keeping the Bel Canto DAC2. The vocals blended into the background melody with such a wonderful warm feeling. I immediately felt a nice meditative euphoria which is the reason why I listen to music so much (and the reason why I usually listen to these obscure bands). Her voice was there with me in the room. Every breath of air, every gasp for air and every beautiful hum came out of her mouth and lungs. The atmosphere was completely transformed for those 12 minutes. I can't explain the sound any more than this, most of you know what I am talking about. The sense of well being and interconnectness with the music was overwhelmingly welcomed.

So this DAC has some nice qualities to it. The built in upsampling in my mind does wonders for the otherwise harshness that digital sources usually produce. This upgrade has eliminated some fatigue I get when listening to Compact Disks. I haven't compared this DAC to any others except the one built into the CD player. This was a well worth it upgrade. If you have a "pretty good" cd player you can make it a "very good" one with this upgrade.


Product Weakness: For some recordings the warmth overshadows the sometimes needed "edgyness"
Product Strengths: Ability to express musical nuances


Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: Musical Fidelity A300 Dual Mono Integrated Amp
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): None
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Musical Fidelity A3 CD Player
Speakers: Polk Audio LSi 15, Polk Audio PSW650 Subwoofer
Cables/Interconnects: Analysis Plus, Audioquest
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Electronica / Plasticman - Closer, Ulver - Silencing the Singing EP, Radiohead - Amnesiac, Banco De Gaia- You are Here
Room Size (LxWxH): 20 x 20 x 8
Room Comments/Treatments: Carpeting
Time Period/Length of Audition: 3 Days
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




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Topic - REVIEW: Bel Canto Design DAC2 DAC Processors - bullethead 08:20:37 09/15/04 ( 7)