Re: Customer Reviews
Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 5:05 pm
I've been enjoying the balanced D100 mk2 for a bit more of a couple of busy weeks at my place, part of the European Loan Program which so kindly Neko Audio set up. I've used all this time a pair of Stax 009 headphones with a SRM-717 amplifier. I didn't have much time to try other headphones and amps in my stash, other than the Sennheiser HD800 with the Luxman P-1 amplifier.
All I can say is this DAC is an outstanding performer. It has a sweet balance from resolution, detail and stage spatial recreation, through musicality, warmth and "enjoyability". As FJV says, maybe it's not the ultimate DAC for metal and (macro)dynamically challenging material, but that doesn't mean this DAC doesn't have the guts to make a Mahler or Beethoven's symphony dynamically believable, while keeping every orchestral section and instrument well defined, timbrically correct and natural.
Its detail retrieval deserves a separate mention. I've noticed, not sure if due to its extreme background astonishing silence, or other technical features beyond my limited electronics knowledge, that the D100 can resolve minute details, tape hiss, noises, etc with absolute clarity and perfect space positioning. It's not that you notice something in the background, it's that you clearly know what it is and where it came from. That's not a very common feature on similarly priced devices.
Overall there's not much I've missed in this DAC compared to others I've used or I'm using. If anything, it'd be great it sported a USB input, so it could be used with a PC music server, and it could have nicer looks (sorry Wesley). Besides that, it's a wonderful DAC, which gets right a lot of very important things for the music lover, specially if you like acoustic instruments based music.
Thanks a lot for giving me this chance to try and enjoy the D100. I felt really sad when I had to ship it to the next loan program participant.
All I can say is this DAC is an outstanding performer. It has a sweet balance from resolution, detail and stage spatial recreation, through musicality, warmth and "enjoyability". As FJV says, maybe it's not the ultimate DAC for metal and (macro)dynamically challenging material, but that doesn't mean this DAC doesn't have the guts to make a Mahler or Beethoven's symphony dynamically believable, while keeping every orchestral section and instrument well defined, timbrically correct and natural.
Its detail retrieval deserves a separate mention. I've noticed, not sure if due to its extreme background astonishing silence, or other technical features beyond my limited electronics knowledge, that the D100 can resolve minute details, tape hiss, noises, etc with absolute clarity and perfect space positioning. It's not that you notice something in the background, it's that you clearly know what it is and where it came from. That's not a very common feature on similarly priced devices.
Overall there's not much I've missed in this DAC compared to others I've used or I'm using. If anything, it'd be great it sported a USB input, so it could be used with a PC music server, and it could have nicer looks (sorry Wesley). Besides that, it's a wonderful DAC, which gets right a lot of very important things for the music lover, specially if you like acoustic instruments based music.
Thanks a lot for giving me this chance to try and enjoy the D100. I felt really sad when I had to ship it to the next loan program participant.