Rega DAC-R - what is your opinion?

[Rackon]

mcrowley, not sure of the answer to your question, but I intend to discuss this very thing with our local Rega dealer. We had a long listen to the Saturn through GodenEar Triton 3s while auditioning speakers a couple weeks ago - loved the sound. (Also heard the Apollo briefly.)  My guess is the Dac-R and the CD players share a very similar signature; the analogue-like Rega "house" sound . The descriptions of the Dac-R in this thread are the same characteristics we heard and liked with the Saturn. Our interest is mainly using this Dac with our existing transport but we will also be using the USB port via a MacBook Pro.

[rudy49]

has anyone tried the Rega AC power cord which you can buy separately for an additional $175.00, with this DAC over the stock cord?  also would like to know if anyone has tried the Rega power cord over the the stock power cord that comes with the Rega Brio mk3?

[Crimson69666]

On 2/8/2017 at 4:28 AM, mrcrowley said:

Hello everybody, someone can tell me if Dac-R sounds the same as Saturn-R with Usb input ???

I know that they have the same dac section, but I don't know if others details may change the sound.

 

Bye

 

Ok, first i am an electrical engineer who love HiFi / Audiophile gear since 1980.  Just think about it:  You have your wire running from your house power center through the walls to the AC outlet feeding your audio gear.  So, this copper electrical wire, which is fairly cheap, runs the longer portion of the 110v power before reaching the power supply inside you audio gear.

 

On top of that, the power supply should be designed to take into acount EMI and other factor.  Why in the world a "power cord" would do anything with audio quality in reality???  So if anyone can demonstrate otherwise with calculations and electrical theory, i'm willing to listen!!!  The last time i had this question asked to an "audiophile" salesperson he responded "i can't demonstrate anything nor explain it but it SURELY make a difference"... well all right man, that's ok, don't waste your time with me...

 

Debunking myths about audio cables

Myths and Snake OIL

 

So not rocket science en certainly not worth the ridiculous prices i see... Let alone power cables for line level gear!

 

And for the haters of what i just said (mostly the ones that make great money selling those "super high audio quality" stuff, all rants going to /dev/null...

[Thibaw]

On 9/14/2018 at 10:56 PM, Crimson69666 said:

 

Ok, first i am an electrical engineer who love HiFi / Audiophile gear since 1980.  Just think about it:  You have your wire running from your house power center through the walls to the AC outlet feeding your audio gear.  So, this copper electrical wire, which is fairly cheap, runs the longer portion of the 110v power before reaching the power supply inside you audio gear.

 

On top of that, the power supply should be designed to take into acount EMI and other factor.  Why in the world a "power cord" would do anything with audio quality in reality???  So if anyone can demonstrate otherwise with calculations and electrical theory, i'm willing to listen!!!  The last time i had this question asked to an "audiophile" salesperson he responded "i can't demonstrate anything nor explain it but it SURELY make a difference"... well all right man, that's ok, don't waste your time with me...

 

Debunking myths about audio cables

Myths and Snake OIL

 

So not rocket science en certainly not worth the ridiculous prices i see... Let alone power cables for line level gear!

 

And for the haters of what i just said (mostly the ones that make great money selling those "super high audio quality" stuff, all rants going to /dev/null...

Well thats all very interesting. I’m sure mrcrowley will be delighted to get a belated answer to a question he didn’t ask over a year ago. 

[AmosM]

My DAC-R performed well enough I took a year to decide whether to upgrade to Yggy. As it turned out it was the right choice, but then of course the Yggy costs more than twice the Rega.

 

I enjoyed the combination of detail and soundstage the Rega offers as well as the sweet liquid midrange. Mine is still sitting on my rack, powered down. I hate to box it up and ship it away, but I’ll be doing so soon.

[mkrzych]

I have as you know DAC-R for quite some time and I am very happy with it. Using know USB input from Mac and A+ where I can feed it with up to 24/192kHz and IMHO it is more than enough in PCM. Regarding cabling, what I've done was DIY shielded cable using LAPP Cable LAPP Kabel OLFLEX 110CY: https://mkrzych.wordpress.com/2013/11/02/experience-from-my-home-hifi-equipment-upgrade/. Don't really know if any significant change in the sound, but I decided that's the right move and replaced all my PSU cables with shielded wires.

[thunderdomme]

On 9/20/2018 at 8:00 AM, mkrzych said:

I have as you know DAC-R for quite some time and I am very happy with it. Using know USB input from Mac and A+ where I can feed it with up to 24/192kHz and IMHO it is more than enough in PCM. Regarding cabling, what I've done was DIY shielded cable using LAPP Cable LAPP Kabel OLFLEX 110CY: https://mkrzych.wordpress.com/2013/11/02/experience-from-my-home-hifi-equipment-upgrade/. Don't really know if any significant change in the sound, but I decided that's the right move and replaced all my PSU cables with shielded wires.

 

Hi, I´m an owner of Rega DAC-R since two years.

I´m using the LAPP 110CY DIY  since long time  with all my digital sources and I can confirm this too. 

It´s a marvelous combination and the cheapest good sounding cable you can try. The results with the Rega are outstanding and the synergy between them is guaranteed.

 

In fact, Rega sells a cable that is physically the same as this 110cy.  I wonder if it´s really a rebranded Lapp.

 

Another key with this wire: pay attention to the plugs too. This Lapp 110 "doesn´t like" gold plated plugs since they put a layer of added warmth that it could be too much, and it can sound a bit dull and overdamped.

 

I terminate the lapp cables with Martin kaiser IEC silver plated and Bals "Monster"  european Schuko (very cheap plugs, too, around 25€ the combo), so in the end try to use mains /iec plug terminated with nickel, silver or (best) rhodium plated contacts with this wire and you will be rewarded with sound that beats easily any of  stock cables and other cables much more costly.  Try it and listen. 

 

About fuses: I`ve tried a lot of fuses: synergistic research (red,black)furutech, padis, AMR gold plated, bussman ceramic fuses... 

I´ve read here much praise about the furutech ones with the Rega.

In my experience, the furutech/padis gives you a very smooth sound with superb and  extended highs, very "hifi" no doubt, but they suffer from something important: lacking bass. These fues rob bass and makes the rega sound a bit thin, clearly the opposite of its famous sound signature.

 

My advise is  stay with the stock glass fuse. This rega was tuned with the stock fuse installed and when you change it  for other "audiophile" fuse you are modifying its virtues too, and it doesn´t mean it will sound better.

 

Simply do a DIY power cord from lapp 110cy and enjoy.

 

 

[Panelhead]

  Maybe I need a Dac-R and some LAPP cable. Where do you order the shielded LAPP cabling?