g_iordache

Before I started reading the review, I cringed a bit at the thought of learning of a yet another “highly recommended” verdict. Very happy to see it was not that! Congratulations! Your review made me think of the Yamaha R-N803 as a mass market competitor to the NAD M10. Did you have the chance to listen to the R-N803? It’s not as good looking as the M10, but it can be linked to a TV, a subwoofer, or power two sets of speakers. At $1000, it’s a great deal cheaper, too. You had the guts to take on NAD and say that heir product is not truly “audiophile”, I’d love to learn what you think of mass products aimed at the low end of the audiophile range.

mav 52: You make the issue too general, and that allows you to apply GIGO as a way out... I provided as much clarity as I could about my circumstances (I am using good source material - flac files from my PC; I have good speakers - the Focals, etc), to prevent the discussion from going into such a direction. The forum helped me realize I have been exploring two aspects of the same question: how much DAC is enough? Here's my take: Based on my PC experience - where I was using a good DAC to start with (the Xonar audiocard), I discovered ( be it with a sample of one) that it was not worth upgrading to a 5 times more expensive (and 3 years newer) DAC, which was widely praised in the press. On the Mac (which is likely using a cheap DAC), I decided that the Apogee was not making an improvement worth the money - and I returned it. Based on these 2 instances, I think that a good/ basic DAC is all I need. I am trying to avoid spending another $2-3000 on a DAC only to find out that I should return it - hence my thought of starting this thread. I do not make any claim of running a controlled, scientific experiment here. One would need much more time and money that I had available... I am just surprised that with decent systems, I didn't see a dramatic improvement. G

I will address a few of the of the comments made so far: * All my music collection is saved as flac files, on my computer, using the Xonar Essence STX card from Asus. * When I tried the various DACs, I connected them to the PC via the USB port - as most reviewers recommend. * I only had about one week for each evaluation - and during the week I did mostly A vs. B tests, I didn't have time to get familiar with the sound of the DAC... * At the time I was using the MediaMonkey audio player on my PC (Moved to JRiver recently) and iTunes on the Mac. wgscott: I remember paying ~$200 for my Xonar card, which is a good card (made the CASH list on this very web site), so it might be that I was comparing a decent DAC with one four to five times more expensive - and saw no difference - in what the Audiolab was concerned. The Apogee sounded a bit better than the Mac, but the difference was not worth the money. audiojim / mav52 / Paul.Raulerson: The quote is from TAS #181, April 2008: Jean Poulin - the CEO - said "We were able to produce better music in our room using a laptop than using CDs in our own drives." I think that at that time a DAC would have been advertised as a major way of improving the sound… I don’t recall DACs being mentioned in the press until late 2009, so I think it’s safe to assume that the set-up was laptop to preamp/amp etc (although one cannot be 100% certain that this was the case). souptin: I had 3 criteria: 1/ I wanted a good system; I wanted the desktop to replace my main system - after realizing that I spend a lot of time at my desk. My main system has the Paradigm Refence 20s, ran through some vintage Rotel preamp/amp (gifted by a friend), the music being streamed from my PC through a Logitech Duet (when it works... - this is another story). Money was not really an issue (I would have spent double if I could have gotten the same sound from a smaller set-up, for example). 2/ I have done a lot of research and the more I've learned about active speakers, the more I liked them. I think the pro market is much more sensitive to "performance for the money" than the audiophile one (where, once again cost is at times a proxy for quality). Also, the set-up (nearfield listening) calls for a monitor... 3/ When I learned about the clean set-up afforded by an active speaker, there was no way turning back. ... all in all, the only beef I have with the Solo6s is that they are quite bulky.... but I love the sound. Thank you all for your comments, Gabriel

This likely goes against the flow, but after listening to two DACs (the Apogee Duet on a MAC and the Audiolab M-DAC on my Windows 7 PC), I did not find a good reason to keep either product - despite excellent reviews from the press... I wanted to hear a dramatic improvement in sound, but it was not there. After these experiences I see three possible explanations: my system's quality is too low, or my hearing is unable to pick the subtle differences, etc., etc., etc., or the emperor is naked; let's agree to move on with our lives. Before you reach for pitchforks, tar and feathers, let me address each of the above points: 1/ System quality: My PC system: Windows 7 64 bits, Asus Xonar Essence STX, Focal Solo6 Be, stock cables throughout The Mac: MacBook Pro, Focal CMS 50s. While not bleeding edge, I think that both systems are adequate for music enjoyment (performance wise) 2/ My hearing: I am in the mid 40s, my hearing is likely not as good as 25 years ago, but subjectively... I feel I'm OK. Also, I should say (if it's not clear from 1 above) that I did not hear any difference in my system when using somewhat pricier cables... 3/ The emperor is naked. We know that (to a certain degree) the industry is built around perceptions. We further know that how much one pays has a positive influence on how much one enjoys the product, so at a minimum , I think we can agree that there are incentives in promoting yet another miracle product... In TAS, a few years ago, the CEO of Simaudio (a company which at the time was selling a CD player for $12,000) innocently stated that at CES, they used a laptop for playback - because the PC sounded better. We can argue about someone's opinion vs. facts, about the progress made in the last 5 years, etc., but still... Nearly every reviewer (few exceptions, for particular products) notices a dramatic improvement when a new DAC is inserted in their system... Really? reliable bang for the buck, as long as you're willing to spend anything from $100 to $40,000? Better dynamics, better soundstage, better definition, better everything? Now, if the emperor is naked, I think it's time to move on: go back to enjoying the music: I have great news for you: there's no need to spend the extra money on a DAC. Give that $1,000 you saved to the needy - you will feel better afterwards. Please keep your comments polite: I am trying to figure out this paradox, and we all can benefit from an intelligent discussion.

The Solos are better than the CMS 50s, there's no doubt about it. Cleaner, fuller sound (the Be tweeter and bigger woofer both help the Solos), however I was surprised to see that the difference was not that great! I think one can definitely point to the law of diminishing returns kicking in. When I purchased the Solos, my dealer gave me a pair of CMS 65s for evaluation as well, and the main reason for my deciding to go with the Solos was the better tweeter (but it was a close call). I am very happy with the CMS 50s. The build quality is exceptional. As a matter of fact, I think that the future belongs to metal cabinets. I would trade the MDF cabinet of the Solo6 for an Aluminium one any time. I think that the CMS cabinets are better, and I'll bet a beer that the next generation of the Solos will use an Aluminium cabinet. If I didn't have the Solos, I could happily live with the CMS50s - and enjoy the extra space...

Hi there, I am using a Focal Solo6 Be for my desktop, and I am happy with the sound. For my son I bought the CMS 50 (the 65 is too big, the 40 is cute, but the sound is not powerful enough). The situation you describe calls for a monitor - this is exactly the way sound engineers listen to music. Further, I believe your assumption about more money going into the speaker than into the amp is wrong. You are dealing with two different markets: - the audiophile market - where to a certain extent the price is used as a proxy for quality - hence, when it comes to costs - the sky is the limit... - the pro market - where audio professionals need the high quality tools, that are not expensive. The Solo6 Be has a beryllium tweeter and uses the same technology (not the latest and greatest, as the Solos were designed a few years ago) as the Focal Electra 1008 Be. The Electras will set you back $5,000 + the cost of the amp+cables. The Solo6 Be are yours for around $2,500. You also get a much cleaner set-up - no amps, no cables.... Consider them.

A pair of Focal Solo 6 Be. Good sound. Reliable. They are a bit big for my desk, but that's OK...

I've been in love with the Focal sound for a few years now, and this year I purchased their Solo 6 Be, and have been very happy with my decision. I use them for near-field listening - as PC speakers. <br /> <br /> They sound good, are very good looking (I decided against the Twins because I think that the Solos look much better), and offer good value for the money. I also like how clean the set-up is - just my PC and the active speakers... nothing else. <br /> <br /> <br />

Hi, On this website, the only recommend soundcard is the Lynx Studio Technology AES16/e. Can you recommend any other card? I have three concerns: 1/ the card seems to be old (we are talking PC gear), 2/ the price is too high for me (alternatively one can say that the card offers too much) 3/ I am a plug and play person, and the back of the card doesn't have the usual connectors for either speakers (I have a Klipsch 5.1 set, and I'm using it in 2.1 configuration), or a headset (I want a microphone jack too - I am using the PC for Rosetta Stone). I've been on the web over the past few days, and found: 1/ Creative's PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series at $160, and 2/ ASUS Xonar Essence STX Virtual 7.1 Channels PCI Express Interface 124 dB SNR / Headphone AMP Card at $200... Both cards seem to still offer more than I need (I'm after a good stereo card, with a headphone amp (ideally), and a microphone jack). Need I say that I would mainly use the card for music? Thank you for your help, Gabriel PS: I am using Windows 7/64 bit (Family), and both Creative and Asus seem to have the drivers for this OS.