Should I buy a weiss dac 2

Hi quietman - This is a tough call to make for someone I don't even know! I can tell you the Weiss and Berkeley Audio Design products are in another league. The Weiss DAC2 will allow you to play all the current sample rates in their native resolution from 16/44.1 to 24/192. In the world of digital audio Daniel Weiss is one of the best and his products show that.

I don't know if this helps but I have heard Kent Poon's Audiophile Jazz 3 album, at all the different resolutions he has available on his DVD, from 16/44.1, 24/96 to 24/192.

I heard them from a Macbook Pro, via firewire into the Weiss DAC 2 with the volume control software update to a Conrad Johnson amp into some large Quad speakers with Nordost cabling.

At each step going from 16.44.1 the sound improved and became more life like, with the female vocal gaining more body at each step.

So try that experiment on your own system, buy the Kent Poon CD/DVD pack and give it a go. Then track down a store selling the Weiss DAC 2 and try the same experiment and see if you can tell the difference. Although the best test would be if you can have a home loan of a DAC 2 to make the comparison.

Hi Blu - Great example and something every reader can try for themselves. The Kent Poon album and the DAC2 connected to the equipment you mentioned must have lead to a very enjoyable listening session.

Yes Chris I heard this test at my local HiFi shop, and the sound was very life like. Once you have heard 24/192 played through a high resolution system that presents you with a life like musical presentation, it is hard to go back.

But it does present you with a dilemma, doesn't it, it's like the occasions I have been able to secure a loan of equipment from the HiFi shop to hear in my own system and end up spending more money as in most cases it is an improvement to the sound, and I don't want to live without it and so the bank balance drops or the credit card bill gets a hit.
Blu

Quietman Hi, it really is best if you can hear the equipment in your system before you make a decision, ask a local dealer for a loan, if you are in the UK I will send you a DACII for evaluation, it is a very good dac, a UK magazine, HiFi News just reviewed it and compared it favourably with the DCS Scarlatti! Keith.

"Hi ,I have a level 3 modded ps audio dac 3.
I am using a new mac mini as the music server and it sounds wonderful....if I sold the ps audio dac..."

-- Do those two statements work welll together? I'm just sayin...

Tim

Hi Tim - I'll play Devil's advocate here. A system that sounds wonderful can be improved. Wonderful sound and wanting an upgrade to improve that sound are not mutually exclusive :~)

I decided on my Weiss DAC2 in a flash!...it really is quite a bargain...personally sounds much better with the mac mini than anything i've owned from esoteric, dCS, Res Audio...its funny following this post I too have CJ valve pre/power and Quad 2805's...although not Nordost cables!

I just think that there is a tendency in this hobby to upgrade just because that's what we do, even when we are perfectly happy with what we've got. Selling something that "sounds wonderful" is something that deserves second thought. Could you gain some improvement by upgrading? Perhaps. Would you get more from it than keeping that which sounds wonderful and spending the extra money on new music. Perhaps not.

Tim

"Quietman": I sold a PS Audio DAC III (unmodified) to help with the purchase of a Weiss DAC2. The sound is, to my ears, qualitatively better, but trying to express that in audiophile lingo can easily lead more or less to nonsense, so I'll pass on that. You can either gamble, as I did, based on the opinions of others (not very clever of me) or try to find a dealer. The only DAC2 dealer in the US is Vintage King Audio, in Detroit; Weiss Minerva dealers are more abundant. At 60% of the price of the Minerva and identical sound, the DAC2, in its pro audio version is more cost effective, but it is expensive. I will hazard the guess, though, that unless you have an SACD player, the DAC2 will outperform your CD player at virtually any price point. So, you can sell your CD player, which will be redundant, to help fund the DAC2. The Berkeley has received rave reviews too, but if you have a Macbook or Macbook Pro, then you have to figure out how to get an AES interface to the Berkeley with another component (a Weiss AFI1, let's say, but that adds a lot of cost). Even if you have a PC or Mac tower you need a sound card like the Lynx, and that adds cost and complexity. So, for me the decision was clear: and I got the DAC2. The sound is phenomenally good.

I am from the UK but now live in the USA, but I really appreciate Keiths generous offer.
I know my post above sounds contradictory but the sound from the modded dac 3 is wonderful but Im curious as to just how good the sound can get.

I have downloaded a few 24/96khz albums and love them. I am aware i could buy a lot of music for the price difference between the two dacs. That makes the decision more difficult.

I have contacted vintage audio to see If I can arrange an in home audition. If not I will try a minerva dealer.

Thanks for all the honest and insightful replies.

thequietman

Thequietman, you can always buy me a DAC2 and I will let you know if it's worth the purchase, ;). Joking. Remember you aren't crazy, you are an audiophile (another word for crazy). Seriously though I hope you are able to audition it soon. Keep us posted on your adventure. Take care.

Hi quietman - you may want to contact Daniel Weiss directly if you can't arrange an audition. He may be able to help.

The end goal is audiophile music.

Music is the issue not the money.

Go spend and help the economy!

A friend of mine had a Weiss Minerva and we compared it to my Playback Designs MPS-5 and it held up very favorably. We felt that the Playback Designs was better, but at 3X the price, it had better be. It wasn't shamed though.

Regards,
Bruce

What's the street price? I can't find it anywhere.

I believe the best price you'll find will be $4500

Regards,

I think these are the list prices

What about the Vesta? What's the street price on that?

Has anyone tried it with a PS DLIII?

In the UK we are sellng the DACII for £1800, I can check on the prices of other Weiss equipment if you like? Keith.

Vintage Audio is allowing me to demo the weiss dac 2 in my own home.

I will use my new mac mini and firewire, I need a firewire recommendation.

I will compare the weiss to the ps audio with flac 16/44.1 and the new 24/96 khz files, I also have a few 24/192 demo files.

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions.

thequietman

I use the Belkin Pure AV Silver Series 6-pin to 6-pin firewire cable. Found it online for around $26 shipped. It's well made, has gold plated contacts and will last a good while.

thequietman,

Any updates? how did it go?

I'd get it if I have the cash. I am happy with my dac1 pre now, but Weiss dac2 is my target for future upgrade to 24/192 music.

Howard.

Hi,

Can anyone tell if there's any difference (beside the looks) between the DAC2 and the Minerva?
I got the impression that there is a minor difference - can you confirm / prove me wrong?

Thanks,

Lior./

Yes they use the same electric components. Some minor difference.

The weiss dac 2 is a real improvement over the ps audio III but the Ps audio cullen modded does holds its head high.
I had an intermittent problem with the dac 2 on the optical input syncing with the mac mini. My weiss dac 2 is being replaced.

The sound over firewire is magnificent, sate of the art. Higher rate files especially are everything that audiophiles talk about, transparency etc. For my part, I find the music more like music, It relaxes you or animates you depending on the genre. The instruments have better focus, voices more contained.
I agree with some other members who asked for a better manual. I think a" weiss dac 2 for dummies" is needed. The screen shots on this and other forums of the weiss software for example is now out of date. There are options available that I would love to understand.

I am looking forward to the new sonic studios amarra software that will enable automatic rate changes in itunes .

Hi,

Could you specify what is that minor difference between the two?

Thanks,

Lior./

The differences between the DAC2 and Minerva are in the chassis, some treatments inside (not specified) box and manual. The electronic circuit is the same.
If you search in this frum Daniel Weiss wrote about differences between the two dac's.

Just finished first night listening to my new Weiss DAC 2. Amazing!
DAC2 > Decware CSP2 pre > HD600 headphones

Got this for my office setup and cannot wait until it is complete. Judging from what I heard tonight I am in for a treat. Office setup will be NAS > Toshiba > DAC2 > Decware Mini Torii SE > Decware HDT

I never knew how good even my redbook cd's could sound. Really impressed. Better than my older Theta Pro Gen Va.

Chris--you seem to be very taken with high-rez listening and to favor DACs, like the Berkeley and the Weiss, that, as you say, "allow you to play all the current sample rates in their native resolution from 16/44.1 to 24/192." I do not doubt that the hi-rez material sounds great. But I don't foresee high-rez taking off the way CDs did in the 80s.

Do you really think that there are market forces to drive high-rez music? Frankly, I am not going to listen much to Kent Poons even if he moves a Bosendorfer literally into my listening room.

Do you think that all music will be released in hi-rez formats in the foreseeable future?

Most of the music I buy these days is from very small jazz labels--outfits so small that the owners of the companies themselves were sitting at tables, peddling their wares, at Vision Jazz Festival in New York last month. I mentioned hi-rez recordings to a couple of them, and they knew what I was talking about, but it clearly did figure in their business plans, and they had no sense that it should.

Abstraction, I would suggest that you take a look at recordings available from Chesky Records, and Chesky's download site as well: hdtracks.com. They offer some jazz, in both 24/192 (wav files, distributed on DVD) and 24/96.
IMO opinion it will take awhile for large quantities of material to be available in high resolutions, but I do believe it can happen. The distribution of music is eventually going to shift to mostly downloading, and it will be easy enough for companies to offer music in various file formats and price levels: mp3, 16/44.1, 24/88.2, 24/96. The fact that recordings are made in high resolution in the first place, and that transfers from analog are also done in high resolution, allows for relatively easy distribution of high resolution music via download, this will take awhile to catch on, as most of the record companies are slow learners.
In any case, I already have a fair amount of music I like in higher resolution, so I have to have a system that can convert high res files, and I am hopeful that more high res music will be available in the future.
I think you should consider encouraging the small jazz labels to offer their music in higher resolution, if they are not interested in setting up their own download sites, perhaps HDtracks might be interested in distributing the music via their site; HDtracks does distribute music from a number of different record companies.

Hi abstraction - I can say that the biggest record companies in the world are archiving their collections at 24/96 or higher. This is a good sign for the expansion of high resolution audio. Also small companies are putting out high resolution as one can view at HDtracks.com.

The future is bright for great sound!

I have a couple of Chesky lps, which sound good, but there is a lot of music on my to-buy list before I'd get to anything among Chesky's offerings. I like Lee Konitz a lot and have probably 20 recordings on vinyl or disk by him, but there are several CDs from the period when he was doing more important work that I would rather hear than the Chesky recording.

My present DAC is limited to 16/44, and although it is old (Timbre tt-1 w/ Off-Ramp), I have had enough other DACs in my system to convince myself that I'd have to go to something like the Berkeley or the Wavelength Crimson to make a significant improvement, and that would be a stretch for the budget, especially until there a significant amount of music out there that I want to hear in high-rez.

Chris, it would be interesting to know when the recording companies started archiving hi-rez recordings.