Beresford TC-7520 Review (DAC)

[amirm]

I wonder what value [if any] there is in measuring any DAC that's 12 years old or older. On the one hand, it is good to know the performance of legacy gear. On the other, it is very easy to predict that a DAC that's 12 years old will under-perform compared to something modern, cheap and properly designed.

It doesn't have to be this bad for that age. Here is my Mark Levinson DAC from 22 years ago! https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/mark-levinson-no-360s-dac-review.10842/

Granted, it cost a few thousand dollars . But still, you could do much better than this one 10 years ago.

 

[amirm]

Sleep is optional when the APX 555 calls.

Damn box is too slow for my pace!!! I need a turbo charged version that goes faster....

 

[JohnYang1997]

And UD501 2013
PCM1795 is released in 2009
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ern-dacs-smsl-su-8-d50s-etc.13509/post-409391

 

[Robin L]

It doesn't have to be this bad for that age. Here is my Mark Levinson DAC from 22 years ago! https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/mark-levinson-no-360s-dac-review.10842/

Granted, it cost a few thousand dollars . But still, you could do much better than this one 10 years ago.

Thanks to you, I wound up with this:

Something like $140 with tax when I bought it. It's probably past the limits of my perception. I can't think of any reason to upgrade, and i'M KiNdA TWITCHY.

 

[beeface]

I owned one of these devices over a decade ago (or one similar to it from the same company).

I was an impressionable teenager who didn't know any better so I tried willing myself to believe the hype surrounding this was real.

But deep down I never truly believed that the sound from this was much better than the sound I was getting from my motherboard's outputs, despite those on Head-Fi who claimed the Beresford was on an entirely different level.

 

[Francis Vaughan]

Something like $140 with tax when I bought it. It's probably past the limits of my perception. I can't think of any reason to upgrade, and i'M KiNdA TWITCHY.

Tell you what, I'll start selling really cool CNC cut boxes with ultra high end bling cosmetics. Send me a pic and dimensions of your current DAC and I'll custom configure the box to hold it. When you get bored with that one I'll sell you a new front panel with a new version engraved on it. You can choose from "Pro", Turbo", "Evo", "GTS", "Extreme", "Signature Edition". A special red "Limited Edition" will cost double.
Matching power cords start at $250 and go up.

 

[Robin L]

Tell you what, I'll start selling really cool CNC cut boxes with ultra high end bling cosmetics. Send me a pic and dimensions of your current DAC and I'll custom configure the box to hold it. When you get bored with that one I'll sell you a new front panel with a new version engraved on it. You can choose from "Pro", Turbo", "Evo", "GTS", "Extreme", "Signature Edition". A special red "Limited Edition" will cost double.
Matching power cords start at $250 and go up.

 

[virtua]

I owned one of these devices over a decade ago (or one similar to it from the same company).

I was an impressionable teenager who didn't know any better so I tried willing myself to believe the hype surrounding this was real.

But deep down I never truly believed that the sound from this was much better than the sound I was getting from my motherboard's outputs, despite those on Head-Fi who claimed the Beresford was on an entirely different level.

You could have done worse, I fell for the AudioGD train back then lol. Though to be fair I actually enjoyed that setup a lot and felt it definitely was better than my motherboards outputs at the time (even if it probably wasn't, outside of just being able to give the headphones more power).

Though I do look back to those times and have a greater appreciation of how easy it is to get good DACs and amps now, with all the audibly transparent choices around its trivial compared to picking gear back then.

 

[Frank Dernie]

With a SINAD that misses the 16 bit mark

Bigger problem that there is no DAC which can play 24 bit.
So you cannot listen to Hi-Res music.

Luckily no music is 24-bit, or IME 16-bit so the reason nobody can listen to high res music anyway is two fold, firstly no music I know of has a dynamic range needing 24-bit dynamic range, secondly nobody apart from a few children can hear frequencies above 22.05kHz

I know that greater than 16 bits is required to encompass all sound levels but the only device for which it would be necessary is one with no level control and nobody would be daft enough to make such a thing.

 

[Willem]

I wonder if the problem is specific to the usb port. The original TC 7510 version only had optical and coaxial ports, and was dirt cheap at a time before the arrival of cheap Chinese DACs with volume control from the likes of Topping. I bought one for my son as a DAC/preamp and, to be honest, I do not hear anything untoward.

 

[Purité Audio]

The 7510 was made if I recollect correctly by ‘Jet electronics’ in again I believe Taiwan, they made a whole range but Stan had an agreement to be the sole U.k. supplier of the 7510 I corresponded with the company at the time.
Keith

 

[AnalogSteph]

I wonder if the problem is specific to the usb port.

In fact, I would bet my behind on it.

When the ODAC came out in 2011/12 (so some time after this), availability of USB audio controllers still was a huge contention point in DIY circles. Basically, either you were stuck with the 16/48 oldies or you had to sign some NDA BS. These days I guess you may be able to roll your own based on a micro if so desired.

In any case, any smaller DAC maker in 2009 would probably be stuck with a 16/48 capable USB chip, so it's not a huge surprise that the TC-7520 would be suffering from the same restrictions.

 

[JWAmerica]

I wish Amir had finished the testing despite the inherent design flaw. I own a Beresford 7510 and still wonder how it measures so I can decide whether to use my sound card's analog outs or the Beresford DAC, or simply upgrade.

 

[amirm]

There is nothing to finish. The dashboard already gives you a broad picture of the performance.

 

[JWAmerica]

There is nothing to finish. The dashboard already gives you a broad picture of the performance.

I was hoping to see the IMD and linearity measurements. Oh well.

 

[guenthi_r]

Yes, I remember coming across quite a few Beresford modding articles a while back: https://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?3058-Collection-of-mods-for-Beresford-TC-7520

It would be interesting to measure the effects of some of the popular mods floating around the forums to see if they have any appreciable effect. I suspect a fair few hobbyists don't have access to sophisticated measuring equipment and swap out components "blind", simply exchanging capacitors, resistors and op amps more expensive parts of equivalent value.

Nonsense. The PCM1716 (from 1997!) already has an opamp builtin. So, "modding" is senseless (i had such a device over 20 years ago, MSB Link DAC from 1999).
It "works", but nothing more.
The "hype" was only marketing.

 

[JeyElDee]

The 7510 was made if I recollect correctly by ‘Jet electronics’ in again I believe Taiwan, they made a whole range but Stan had an agreement to be the sole U.k. supplier of the 7510 I corresponded with the company at the time.
Keith

Correct. I still own two of these Beresford Dac's, one of them upgraded with other opamps. They did perform well as an external soundcard.
I once went to Stan on the outskirts of London to get two more of them for friends. At the price these were a no-brainer.

 

[JeyElDee]

I wish Amir had finished the testing despite the inherent design flaw. I own a Beresford 7510 and still wonder how it measures so I can decide whether to use my sound card's analog outs or the Beresford DAC, or simply upgrade.

Use the Beresford, it works well - even as headphone amp. Though a new Topping would be way better ;-)

 

[Willem]

It is probably fine on the optical and coaxial inputs and for 16/44. See here for another test: https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/beresford-tc-7520-dac-amplifier-review.html

 

[NiagaraPete]

I've sent Amir a new TC-7535 SEG 50 (newest chip) and a Dorado 3 for testing so a review should be forthcoming.