Perhaps this would be a good time to post my personal review of the DAC DAC, now that I feel like I've formed some opinions about it... And I would stress the "personal" part of all this, as we're starting to get into somewhat subjective territory.
For this review, I will be comparing the sound signature of the DAC DAC used with the Little Labs Monotor headphone amp and KRK KNS8600 headphones, against my previous setup of the Apogee One through the same KNS8600 headphones.
[Background]
The Apogee One can be describe as similar to the Apgoee Groove DAC that Amir has tested, except it's got some AD capabilities and even an omnidirectional mic, so it's billed as a complete portable studio interface. My aspirations lie in pro audio engineering, so I value a more "flat", "reference" sound signature as apposed to something that might sound more appealing (ex. More bass) from a subjective perspective. And also, I didn't have a lot of money to burn on the gear. So, I hope that explains my choice of an Apogee DAC and the KRK headphones.
Recently I started wondering if there was more out there, and that led me to acquire the Monotor headphone amp (which carries it's own aurora of being this revealing, magical headphone amp), but after realizing that my Apogee One doesn't play very well with an external amps due to grounding issues, I started my search for a balanced DAC that would work properly with the Monotor, which led me to the DAC DAC.
[Comparison vs Apogee One]
After a few days of listening to various material, here's my main take-aways:
- Overall, it feels like the sound signature on the One is either raised in the mid-high frequencies OR subdued in the mid-lower frequencies compared to the DAC DAC, whatever way you would want to describe it. I feel the latter description may be more apt, as it does feel like there's a lower octave of bass in the DAC DAC that's not as clear in the One. For example, I've noticed a few instances of male vocals that felt nasal/shrill on the One where switching to the DAC DAC brought out a nice lower mid range that made the voice feel a lot more rich and full.
- Perhaps on a related note, the bass on the DAC DAC feels very clear and focused, while on the One it feels more soft. So for example, on a hip hop track with a really bouncy bass groove, the DAC DAC gave a tight punchy representation of it, while the One felt relatively mushy and smeared in comparison. I would add that this was only apparent when there's that kind of bass in the music, so not as noticeable on some music.
- Overall, I feel like the DAC DAC has more "space". For example, you can hear reverb tails fade out a little better compared to the One. Also, when the music starts to get more complicated, it feels like the DAC DAC handles all the extra sound waves with ease while the One feels slightly crowded and congested in comparison. This actually felt more obvious with acoustic music.
At least based on these comparison, I would call the DAC DAC an improvement over the Apogee One, which may not be saying much but that's all I can say for now. The music I hear in my ears through the DAC DAC is truly beautiful, and I'm certainly satisfied with my purchase.
[Closing thoughts]
Well, of course I spent all this money on new gear, and so I dunno I can be perfectly objective here, and I can't hide the fact that I certainly WANTED to hear an improvement with the new setup. So, at first, I was somewhat disappointed that the differences weren't as eye-poppingly obvious than I had imagined. OTOH, I feel like I really learned a lot from taking the time to properly compare the two devices, and have a better sense of what I should be listening for. It was an expensive lesson, and it turns out the Apogee One wasn't that bad, but overall I'm happy with how this all turned out. It kinda makes me wonder what the cheaper and well-measuring Chinese DAC's would SOUND like, maybe I'll have a chance to find out one day.
Regarding the enclosure... I truly have no complaints after seeing it for a few days. The four lights on the front is power, 44.1/48kHz, 88.2/96kHz, 176.4/192kHz, in that order, and I find it's useful to make sure the DAC is setup the way you think, I kinda like the minimalism. The only thing I would have liked is L/R labels in the back XLR connectors, but one I have that figured out I don't have to worry about it much, so I'm OK. My litmus test for how much thought was put into a case is in the rubber feet on the bottom. The ones on the DAC DAC are these nice round soft feet that I can't recall seeing anywhere else. I hate cheap rubber feet tacked on with double sided tape that eventually fall off and leave a gross residue, and at least from what I can tell, the DAC DAC has proper feet that don't feel like they're going anywhere. So, no complaints for me!
Regarding a question asked earlier by
@graz_lag, why would anyone buy a device with some measured flaws for what seems like an exorbitant sticker cost when compared to some of the good-measuring Chi-Fi stuff out there? I've been pondering this question the last few weeks, and speaking for myself, my reasons were entirely personal. For one, I want to believe (somewhat irrationally) that there are these "diamond in the rough" devices out there made by small shops hiding in the outskirts of the internets, and I just need to search harder. The DAC DAC felt like one of these "magical" devices, and seeing a good price on a used one, I decided to give it a try. And like I said, after a few days with it, I'm very satisfied with my purchase. I consider my headphone amp to be another one of these "unicorn" devices, and now I'm curious/scared to have it measured by Amir...
Certainly I think higher of your product with your participation.
