jaudere
Well-Known Member
Hello friends,
Today I received my Pure Piper DAC A1. The link to the web site is:
Google Translate
I bought it from Forum member Roseboy24. It was pleasure to deal with him.
The first thing I did was to open it and see in side.The build quality is excellent and it has a nice metal body. It did look exactly like the snaps on the web site. Very neatly made circuits indeed. I confirmed the presence of CS4398 chip in place because that was the main reason that fascinated me.
I know that the implementation is also important but this was a point which attracted my attention.
Testing rig:
Marantz DVD player analogue out through MX cable>>> Marantz pm 6002 amp>>> Ventronics speakers
Marantz DVD player>>> coaxial out(locally made cable)>>> Purepiper: locally made cable>>>Marantz pm6002>>>Ventronics speakers
Test tracks
Eric Clapton unpluggeg: Layla, Alberta, Old love
Dil Chahta hai: Title song, Kaisi hai yeh rut
What's your Rashi: Jaao na
Unfaithful by Rihanna
Have you ever really loved a woman: Bryan Adams.
A-B test was simple. The source was same. I just had to change the input on the amp with remote.
Did the DAC make a difference?
Well, it did.
Actually I expected things like "I could hear instruments which I had never heard before" or "Much better thump" etc. But it did not happen.These things were good even with the DVDP working as DAC. The thump was good with both. The highs were good with both (except in Kaisi hai yeh rut from Dil chahta hai where the cymbal appeared to be more crisp through DAC. But this finding was not consistent across all songs so I may be imagining it.). It did not do anything to the instrumental (with probable exception of Piano sounding more rich)
Instead it was doing something interesting to the vocals, may be slight change in timbre or something. The vocals were appearing more upfront and alive. They were separate from rest of the music but still coherent and more enjoyable. During comparison , the vocals through DVDpalyer appeared as if the singer's mic is given less importance than the instruments and it was getting too much mixed with rest of the rest of the things.
The DAC , in addition, was giving a nice fullness/body to the music without overshadowing the highs.The DVD player, in comparison was sounding thin (I might have missed this finding but the ease of changing amplifier inputs with click of remote made it prominent)
I did try the USB-S/Pdif converter that came with it. I used my netbook as source and VLC media player . The files were same songs in .wav(ripped from my own CDs). Frankly speaking, I did not like the sound.It was too thin. In addition, the netbook started acting funny within 15 minutes. So I disconnected it. May be I should try it with Foobar.
So overall, I am content about the purchase. I think Roseboy did not use it much so it is not burnt in adequately. I will give it some time before I compare further. It is definitely an upgrade over sound of Marantz DV 4001 dvd player.
It is retailing at 200$ at present. So for all those who are planning to go for a CDP but already have a DVDP, this may a worthwhile option to consider being cheaper and giving more flexibility.It has a co-axial and an optical input.
It does not come with other frills like headphone amp/gain control etc. I think it is a good thing that all the money being paid is utilized for the DAC itself and nothing else. Lesser the components in the circuit, cleaner the sound.
Comments are welcome.
Today I received my Pure Piper DAC A1. The link to the web site is:
Google Translate
I bought it from Forum member Roseboy24. It was pleasure to deal with him.
The first thing I did was to open it and see in side.The build quality is excellent and it has a nice metal body. It did look exactly like the snaps on the web site. Very neatly made circuits indeed. I confirmed the presence of CS4398 chip in place because that was the main reason that fascinated me.
I know that the implementation is also important but this was a point which attracted my attention.
Testing rig:
Marantz DVD player analogue out through MX cable>>> Marantz pm 6002 amp>>> Ventronics speakers
Marantz DVD player>>> coaxial out(locally made cable)>>> Purepiper: locally made cable>>>Marantz pm6002>>>Ventronics speakers
Test tracks
Eric Clapton unpluggeg: Layla, Alberta, Old love
Dil Chahta hai: Title song, Kaisi hai yeh rut
What's your Rashi: Jaao na
Unfaithful by Rihanna
Have you ever really loved a woman: Bryan Adams.
A-B test was simple. The source was same. I just had to change the input on the amp with remote.
Did the DAC make a difference?
Well, it did.
Actually I expected things like "I could hear instruments which I had never heard before" or "Much better thump" etc. But it did not happen.These things were good even with the DVDP working as DAC. The thump was good with both. The highs were good with both (except in Kaisi hai yeh rut from Dil chahta hai where the cymbal appeared to be more crisp through DAC. But this finding was not consistent across all songs so I may be imagining it.). It did not do anything to the instrumental (with probable exception of Piano sounding more rich)
Instead it was doing something interesting to the vocals, may be slight change in timbre or something. The vocals were appearing more upfront and alive. They were separate from rest of the music but still coherent and more enjoyable. During comparison , the vocals through DVDpalyer appeared as if the singer's mic is given less importance than the instruments and it was getting too much mixed with rest of the rest of the things.
The DAC , in addition, was giving a nice fullness/body to the music without overshadowing the highs.The DVD player, in comparison was sounding thin (I might have missed this finding but the ease of changing amplifier inputs with click of remote made it prominent)
I did try the USB-S/Pdif converter that came with it. I used my netbook as source and VLC media player . The files were same songs in .wav(ripped from my own CDs). Frankly speaking, I did not like the sound.It was too thin. In addition, the netbook started acting funny within 15 minutes. So I disconnected it. May be I should try it with Foobar.
So overall, I am content about the purchase. I think Roseboy did not use it much so it is not burnt in adequately. I will give it some time before I compare further. It is definitely an upgrade over sound of Marantz DV 4001 dvd player.
It is retailing at 200$ at present. So for all those who are planning to go for a CDP but already have a DVDP, this may a worthwhile option to consider being cheaper and giving more flexibility.It has a co-axial and an optical input.
It does not come with other frills like headphone amp/gain control etc. I think it is a good thing that all the money being paid is utilized for the DAC itself and nothing else. Lesser the components in the circuit, cleaner the sound.
Comments are welcome.
