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Balis

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  1. I had the same issue last week. I bought an album years ago on Qobuz (before the eclassical website). It is from BIS and was originally only available in 16/44 on Qobuz. A couple of weeks ago it became available in 24/96, so I took advantage of the "upgrade to studio master quality" on Qobuz and bought the 24/96 version. After double checking the eclassical website, the album there is only available in 24/44. I left a message to Qobuz a week ago and am still waiting for an answer. Heitor Villa-lobos : Floresta do Amazonas | Compositeurs Divers par John Neschling*– Télécharger et écouter l'album eClassical - Villa-Lobos ? Floresta do Amazonas BTW, it is an excellent album. I am a big supporter of eclassical: best price/quality ratio in the business, especially now that they have more and more content with higher sampling rates (24/96) ;-)
  2. Depending on your system, the Vega might not be a good match. Effectively, it's very "in your face". I don't think more burn-in time will change that.
  3. I'm a real sucker for Tchaikovsky's 4th, so I've downloaded this as soon as it came out. Forget this one. In fact, all 3 interpretations are so-so in my opinion, plus the sound quality is...forgetable. My favorite Tchaikovsky 4th is the Ivan Fischer/Budapest Festival Orchestra from Channel Classics, that you can find both on HDTracks and on Channel Classics web sites.
  4. I would not know the technicalities. Lets just say I think it works well at low volumes. If 6 o'clock is the "0", I often listen to music at the 7 o'clock position, no problem...and the majority of my listening happens between the 8 & 9 o'clock positions. Rarely over 10 o'clock.To burn in my amp, I set the volume so low I had to stick my ear to my speakers to make sure there was sound getting to them.
  5. It depends on your system, you digital files and your room. I could hear the difference between some of these DACs and my Moon 300D, however, those differences were not very big, so I decided to keep my Moon 300D...until I heard the Vega. If you like what you heard already, I would go with the lowest priced alternative as the Vega should be a bit more expensive than the DACs you have listed... Though I'm pretty sure you will hear a much bigger difference when you try the Vega.
  6. Don't get me wrong, the Vega does a good job as a pre-amp. I would definitely try it before I commit to buying a pre. The ModWright LS100 is just one of the better sounding pre-amps I've ever heard, even compared to some that are more than twice its price. It was hard for the Vega to compete with that. I'm sure the Vega could compete with a lot of entry and mid-level pre-amps. I also heard the Vega directly connected to active speakers (Arteluthe) and it was a really good match. In fact, Arteluthe are using the Vega when they do demos.
  7. Agree. It must depend on the pre-amp. All I can say is with the ModWright LS100, it was a no contest.
  8. In fact, yes I did. I should have covered that. The problem is it was so much better going through the pre-amp that I quickly stopped the listening sessions with the Vega direct to the amp. I have yet to hear to a DAC that would negate the need for a pre-amp.
  9. Current System description DIY computer running Win 7/64 with an Asus Xonar Essence soundcard SPDIF output. JRiver 17 Media Player. Moon 300D DAC connected via XLR to a ModWright LS100 pre amp connected via XLR to a ModWright KWA100SE amplifier. Speakers are Thiel CS2.4 The Vega’s Interconnects were RCAs. I’ll explain later why I did not use XLR interconnects with the Vega. Power up the Vega and you get a nice little “welcome” message. The digital display screen is beautiful with its amber colored fonts. I won’t go through the interface as it’s really easy to learn. When I think of user friendly, this is what I usually imagine. You can navigate with either the big round dial on the Vega, or with the remote control that is provided. The later was what I used mostly. The display will show you the input selection (in my case USB) and sampling rate of the file currently playing. The display screen can be dimed or turned off if you prefer. There are 4 clocks to choose from. Auto will let the Vega lock on the signal and choose the best possible clock. Coarse would be the best choice for jitter prone signals. Fine is the best option if your signal is not jitter prone. This was my standard, everyday choice. Exact was very drop off prone at any sampling rate greater than redbook CD (16/44). At this sampling rate though, it worked very well. The reason is found in the user manual: "For USB input, you will experience drop off on any computer without special optimization for music playback". My computer is used for many other applications than listening to music. I often surf the web or work during listening sessions. Could I hear a difference in sound quality between Fine and Exact? Not much, if at all. Filters are a different game altogether and there are 4 for PCM files, apptly numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 and 2 for DSD file formats, you guessed it, named 5 & 6. For PCM, the difference between the filters is audible, although not that striking. After trying all the different modes with all kinds of music, I realized I prefered mode 1 over all the other ones for all types of music. A quick check of the user manual proved my ears weren't lying. As stated in the manual: "MODE 1 offers best measurement performance". For DSD, I prefered mode 5 over mode 6. Listening: In Vasily Petrenko & the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic performing Shostakovich Symphony #7 (FLAC 16/44), during the Allegretto, around the 7:15 mark, there is a very silent portion that lasts for about a minute: with the Moon, I was wondering if there was actually any music going on in the first 15 seconds. The Vega allowed me to hear all the detail, albeit in very low volume. I gave it good marks for dynamics. Symphonie n°7 Léningrad | Dmitry Shostakovich par Vasily Petrenko - Télécharger et écouter l'album Robin Ticciati & the Scottish Chamber Orchestra performing Berloz's “Les nuits d'ete” (FLAC 24/192). On “Villanelle”, Karen Cargill's vois was rich and rounded, lacking the "shiny" edge the Moon gave it. The Vega really shined in presenting the Mezzo Soprano's voice. Linn Records - Berlioz: Les nuits d'ete “Bye Bye Black Bird” from Patricia Barber's album “Night Club” (FLAC 16/44) is often heard at audio shows or whenever I go to local dealers to listen to demos. I had to try it with the Vega. Sure enough, the bass line that often gets muddled was very clearly defined and well sustained. Patricia's piano was very clear and a little more forward that what I remembered. Her voice was silky smooth and had an added liveliness and presence that I had never heard. https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?file=catalogdetail&valbum_code=099923573821 The percussions on “Ard El Salam” from Aziza Brahim's “Mabruk” (FLAC 24/44) album were just...oh wow! I felt like they were part of my listening room's natural accoustics. I could just reach out and touch them! Everything alse was very well placed in the soundstage, back front, left, right. Very impressive.Mabruk | Aziza Brahim - Télécharger et écouter l'album “Country Boy” from John Lee Hooker's “It serve you right to suffer” (FLAC 24/96) album is often difficult for some systems that have trouble rendering some of the small details like the rythm guitar playing with the bass on the left hand side and some of the detail of Hooker's guitar. Here, I could grasp every subtle ittle detail. Hooker's guitar was also better defined than I've ever heard. I could sense his voice slightly moving further back as he sometimes moved away from the mic. https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?file=catalogdetail&valbum_code=HD00008811202521 Bat for Lashes “The Haunted Man” (FLAC 16/44) album was a surprise. What is a very digital sounding album, with edges of brightness in the high pitched notes became became excitingly organic. On the song “Lilies”, at approx the 45 second mark, there is a heavy synthetiser line that breaks in. With the Moon, it was just like another synthetiser adding in its part. With the Vega, the synthetiser just stormed in and added such texture and vibration to the song you wouldn't believe this is the same track. Wow! This is probably the best example of how alive the Vega makes the music feel. The Haunted Man | Bat For Lashes - Télécharger et écouter l'album On Kate Bush's 50 “Words for Snow” (FLAC 24/96) from the album of the same name, the percussions had lots of presence and the bass was lower and deeper than I have ever heard, all this, without loosing its detail & definition. On "Among Angels", the piano had wonderful impact and the decay was very lengthy. Kate's voice had a wondeful smoothness and a texture that was more "grainy" and less brilliant than her high pitched voice usually sounds like. https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?file=catalogdetail&valbum_code=HD045778718603 Stravinsky's “Histoire du soldat” (DSD 128) by Robert Mandell & Ars Nova is one of the most interesting sounding albums in my one terabyte collection. It's also my favorite music by the famous composer. It's a small scale classic piece that sounded wondeful and very airy and alive with a very well defined soundstage. Each intrument, was clearly located and the wind instruments so important in the piece, were perfectly recorded. Stravinsky-L'histoire Du Soldat / Respighi Rossiana 24/192 Resolution Large orchestral works can often be difficult to reproduce. Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra's new album "Wagner Excerpts" (DSD 64) is very dense and loaded with large scale orchestrations. Quite a challenge for a DAC. Here, again, there was a smoothness and an easiness that made the Vega right at home reproducing all the details and giving some air around the usually dense wall of sound. This is only my second DSD album but from what I gather from forums around the web, the "air" around the instruments is a caracteristic of the DSD format. Wagner - Channel Classics Records One thing never ceased to amaze me with the Vega. How it makes the redbook format (FLAC 16/44) sound so great. To the point it was often difficult to discern between HD files and redboook. I was in the purists camp of no oversampling. Keep the original signal as untouched as possible. The Vega changed my mind. All in all, my experience with the Vega was great. The local dealer made me a good price on the demo unit he lended me. I'm impressed to the point I'll be keeping it. I was looking for a DAC in the $3-4K maximum range. I've listened to many DACs which I won't name as my objective is not to start a discussion on which is best. Many of them showed my Moon 300D had nothing to be ashamed of. Even after being on the market for almost 3 years, It still is a very good DAC amongst its peers. In fact, I could not find many DACs that sounded so much better as to justify the spending to replace it. However, there was one that outshined it, and the others in every aspect: the Auralic Vega. CAUTION: The Vega's Balanced XLR outputs are very sensitive. My ModWright pre-amp's XLR inputs are NOT BALANCED. They are in fact single ended. When trying to use the Vega's XLR outputs with the ModWright, I might have damaged the balanced output stage. I have discussed with the dealer here and they will be checking it next week. If it's damaged, they have offered to send it back to Auralic for repairs. The only charge will be shipping to and from. They also offered my to exchange it for a brand new unit for the price difference with the demo. That's good customer care.
  10. Not using it as a pre. Will start doing some serious listening in a day or 2. First thoughts are petty positive though ;-)
  11. Rave reviews for the Auralic Vega: AURALiC Vega Digital Audio Processor | AudioStream 6moons audio reviews: AURALiC Vega Anybody tried it yet? I'm having one on loan this week. Demo from a local dealer. Eager to hear it. Will post thoughts at the end of the week.
  12. Thanks for the review. From what I understand the sound differences are not that big with the Invicta. More like they just sharpened all of the elements. I like the fact the sound stage seems deeper. I'd like to do an A/B with an Auralic Vega as they are very similar in their approach to treating the DACs. BTW, have you tried DSD with the Mirus?
  13. I had the chance to listen to the Hex over the weekend and was very impressed. It has the kind of sound I like very much. Laid back, round with no sharp edges but still with all the details you need presented in a soundstage that has a good amound of depth. Very analogic sounding. All this at a very reasonable price. The only negative about it is it does not do DSD.
  14. Wow...not run in and already hearing "not slight" improvements! You got me interested!
  15. I can confirm: the French word "deception" translates into the English word "disapointment". I live in the Montreal area but work for a large US corporation. Some of my staff often go through "diplomatic" incidents due to language/translation misinterpretations.
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