Wednesday evening the Minnesota Twins will play the New York Yankees in game one of the American League Division Series. This is Major League Baseball's first round of the 2010 playoffs. The reason I mention the Twins v. Yankees playoff series is because it has a direct parallel with my experience evaluating the Esoteric D-07 DAC. The New York Yankees are known as a team that seeks out the best players in baseball with great stats, high profiles, and high salaries. Over the years the Yankees have been incredibly successful using this all-star team approach. Once in awhile the Yankees stumble and lose to teams with less known players who come together as a team at the right time. This year the Minnesota Twins could be that low paid team built from within the organization's ranks to upset the Yankees. In high-end audio the Esoteric company is known for great specifications, components that support advanced technologies, and complete digital systems with fairly high price tags. For the most part this formula has worked very well for Esoteric and its legions of satisfied customers. The Esoteric D-07 sports 32-bit stereo DACs, dual mono design with 32bit resolution throughout the signal path, support for very high sample rates on most digital inputs, word clock in/output, a beautiful aluminum chassis, 32-bit digital attenuation, upsampling all the way to DSD, an apodizing filter, and a host of other great technical concepts. Unfortunately my experience using the D-07 DAC over the last several weeks has made it clear that the whole is not always greater than the sum of its parts and an all-
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Over the last couple years I’ve listened to people utter the phrase, “I’m waiting to see how it all shakes out." Without context it’s entirely appropriate to assume we were discussing the global economic meltdown. However these conversations revolved around music servers, interfaces, and differing computer audio technologies. People were frequently delaying the purchase of a new DAC because of their uncertainty about the future of the marketplace. Specifically uncertainty about interfaces such as USB, FireWire, Ethernet, AES/EBU, and S/PDIF. These interface options have caused serious hesitation from the same people who eagerly accepted Compact Disc technology as if it offered perfect sound forever. Equally hesitant are audiophiles feeling a bit burned by SACD and DVD-Audio. Audiophiles shouldn’t let the past halt their potential heightened enjoyment of this wonderful hobby. There’s no format war going on. Many different interfaces and technologies will flourish in the years to come. Falling victim to analysis paralysis or suffering from alligator arms are two easily curable conditions. Ambivalent audiophiles, It’s time to fish or cut bait.
Ah, the life of an audio writer. Receive the best components money can buy. Use the components for a couple months. Send aforementioned components back to manufacturer. Hang head low for a week while getting used to the real world again. I'm in the sulking phase right now as the dCS stack is in boxes awaiting pickup. The last several weeks were pure sonic bliss, as evidenced by my Twitter post from 11:22 PM November 12, 2009. "I've never had better sound in my listening room. Ever. I believe I've found a winning combination of components. Articles to follow :~)" It's finally time to spill the beans and let Computer Audiophile readers in on the best sound I've ever heard in my listening room. Here is my review of the dCS Paganini DAC, Paganini Upsampler, and Puccini U-Clock.
Over the last few months I've talked more about the Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC than perhaps any other product. The Alpha DAC appeared on the CASH List from the very beginning and has since been the subject of several reader discussions here on Computer Audiophile. Under normal circumstances I would be concerned as frequently discussed products often don't live up to the hype they've generated. This however is not a normal circumstance. The Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC is seriously out of this world. At $5k it's a relative bargain in high-end audio terms and there is nothing like it available today.
The Bryston BDA-1 external DAC has been one of the most highly anticipated products of 2008. I have received countless emails asking who, what, when, where, and why all related to the BDA-1. Many audiophiles have withheld DAC purchases for several months until the release and review(s) of the BDA-1. Fortunately those patient audiophiles will be very happy they waited for this DAC. Everything about the BDA-1 is first class. Computer Audiophile is honored to publish the very first official review, anywhere in the world, of the new Bryston BDA-1 external DAC.
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I've had my eye on the Stello DACs from April Music for some time now. When April released the Stello DA100 Signature DAC I knew it was time to get one in here for review. The Signature DAC is loaded with inputs. I love DACs that give audiophiles options via five different digital inputs. These options are critically important as people begin trying different methods of integrating computers into their audio systems. Along with the numerous input options, there is one feature that all the Computer Audiophile readers have been clamoring for, upsample bypass!
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