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REVIEW: Stello DA100 Signature DAC Processors

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Model: DA100 Signature
Category: DAC Processors
Suggested Retail Price: $995
Description: Upsampling DAC
Manufacturer URL: Stello

Review by DAVID on August 23, 2009 at 17:44:02
IP Address: 209.193.10.234
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for the DA100 Signature


Out of the blue I decided to do a little review of my Stello DA100 Signature DAC. Last year it replaced my long time friend the Meridian 508.24 CD player. I was very curious as to how the new technology would stack up against an older but well respected player. I didn't do any serious listening till after about a week of playing music through it. I had traded in the Meridian in order to get this DAC so I wasn't able to side by side compare them but I knew my Meridian very well after owning it for almost exactly 10 years.

The Stello can upsample to either 96 or 192 or you can bypass the upsampling all together. It is fed by my Apple TV via a TOSLINK cable. I've also hooked it up to my iMac computer via the USB cable. The difference was very minor if any at all. The unit runs a little warm but not nearly as hot as the Apple TV.

When I sat down to really listen to it the most obvious difference over the Meridian was the improved bass. The attack, depth and strength were all noticeably better. This surprised me a bit. Inner detail was improved a little bit but nothing really noteworthy. The Meridian was quite good at this. What differences there was in the two units sound was always an improvement when listening to the Stello. Stello is known for giving a more neutral sound rather than a warm or bright sound. Good stuff sounds very good and crap sounds like...well...crap! My replacing of the Meridian with this DAC was a great choice. Glad I did it.

The most interesting part of this DAC is the upsampling. After some 10 months of owning it I have mixed feelings about it. My first reaction to listening to recordings via the two upsampling choices was that the difference between the bypass and the higher rates was fairly small. I was expecting quite a bit more of a difference. That has not been the case. Eventually I decided that the 192 setting was best. I've left it there ever since...until about a week ago. Over the last month I seem to have become somewhat less satisfied w/ the sound I was getting. Nothing big just a mild lack of interest in listening to my stereo. The sound seemed to be kinda bright with a little bit of a hardness to the music that I didn't like. Nothing big mind you just enough to be very mildly irritating. Well, I was plodding around the site here and read a couple of posts where the authors were saying how they much preferred their DACs sound when the upsampling was bypassed. So, I thought I'd give it a try. Lo and behold the bypass was more enjoyable. Geez, why didn't I think of this earlier on my own? I began comparing music using the three choices. The Stello allows you to switch between modes on the fly. Very helpful. Here's what I found. The two upsampling choices, 96 and 192, are very similar. The 192 seeming to be more of the same change. That change affected the upper frequencies the most. The soundstage did seem to raise further above the speakers using 192. The change to the upper frequencies manifested itself in the leading edge transients jumping out at you more. Giving them a little more sparkle...more excitement. In so doing it gives the impression of both greater detail retrieval and more front to back depth to the sound. I still use this mode when listening to rock. Rock should be a little edgier. The bypass mode on the other hand, when I listened very carefully, actually gives just as much detail it just doesn't jump out at you. The front to back depth is lessened a smidge though. But even so I still enjoyed the bypass mode more. Not only is that slight hardness/brightness gone it's downright sweet and entices me to listen to more. It's a more relaxed but more musical presentation. I'm not entirely sure what change took place for me to not like the upsampling more than the bypass as I did when I first got it. Maybe I hadn't broken the thing in enough. I don't know...I just prefer the bypass mode better now.

These are just my impressions on my system w/ my ears. Yours will probably differ. But either way, I highly recommend this DAC. Of all the choices out there I would recommend anyone looking for a real good DAC that's easy on the pocket book to be sure to put this one on your list. I've read from two different people who had the chance to listen to this DAC and to its bigger brother...the DA220 Mk. II and while they both found the big brother to be somewhat more refined they didn't feel it was enough of an improvement to justify spending the extra $700.


Product Weakness: In my system the upsampling can tend towards a slight brightness.
Product Strengths: Versatile wonderful sounding DAC that's easy on the wallet. In bypass mode it gives a natural, slightly sweet presentation.


Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: McCormack DNA 1 Rev. A
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Halcyon Passive dual mono preamp
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Apple TV
Speakers: B&W 802, VMPS Smaller Subwoofer
Cables/Interconnects: Straight Wire
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Jazz, world music, a little rock
Room Size (LxWxH): 12 x 8 x
Time Period/Length of Audition: 10 months
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




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Topic - REVIEW: Stello DA100 Signature DAC Processors - DAVID 17:44:02 08/23/09 ( 6)