Rega DAC
- Thread starter square_wave
- Start date
@square_wave
Sorry if this is not relevant. I don't have any listening experience but you may consider Audiolab 8200CD CD Player pushing your budget little more as this cd player double up as an external DAC with digital inputs and have very good reviews. You can see the rear pic of the cd player here with digital inputs.
Or if you have someone coming down from UK the Cambridge Audio 740C would be the best bet for 200 with digital inputs at the moment which is around 14500 INR. Most of the leftover stock they were selling would be ex display and customer returned ones. I have no idea if this line is getting discontinued but it has the same DAC as in DacMagic. The rear pic of the CA 740C is here which shows digital inputs.
longshanks
Well-Known Member
740C is 14500? really?
Edit : checked the link and it is 199 pounds,looks like a good deal
Excerpts about the Rega DAC from another forum I visit are below. I haven't listened to one myself,one of my friends has bought it as well(I think his turntable & amp are Rega as well). I don't even use any external DAC myself. I have a Beresford 7520 bought for using with my laptop/PC but use a early 80s Sony CD player 95% of the time now so may sell off the Beresford as it's not being used and buy another DAC when it's appropriate.
"I have now had a reasonably good listen and the DAC has certainly improved since my initial listen, which itself was hugely encouraging.
As mentioned above I have experience of the following front ends: - Benchmark DAC 1, Lavry DA10, Rega Saturn and Linn Ikemi.
At this point I feel fairly convinced that my system is now as consistently pleasing, across all types of music, as it has ever been. As you would expect there are certain areas of performance in which it excels and others where it is more "middle of the pack". Here are some of my observations.
Soundstage - Very wide with great spacing of instruments. As good as I can remember, particularly in terms of width, with sound sources seemingly extending well beyond the speakers.
Bass - Tuneful and tight, although not remarkably deep.
Rhythm and Drive - Excellent toe tapping goodness, only clearly bettered by the Ikemi. Dynamics are also excellent.
Detail - This is not it's strength, perhaps lacking the analytic detail of the DAC 1 or even the Saturn, but for me, this does not put a dampener on things at all. However, this could be a consideration for those who crave the last word in detail.
Overall - The Rega DAC is a cohesive performer that in my view is a spectacularly good value proposition. I think this might be "the one".
Admittedly it does not have all the bells and whistles of some of the competitors, but if this is not a problem, your "compensation" is that all of your money is directed towards sound quality. A final very minor negative, is the aesthetics. "
"I have now had a reasonably good listen and the DAC has certainly improved since my initial listen, which itself was hugely encouraging.
As mentioned above I have experience of the following front ends: - Benchmark DAC 1, Lavry DA10, Rega Saturn and Linn Ikemi.
At this point I feel fairly convinced that my system is now as consistently pleasing, across all types of music, as it has ever been. As you would expect there are certain areas of performance in which it excels and others where it is more "middle of the pack". Here are some of my observations.
Soundstage - Very wide with great spacing of instruments. As good as I can remember, particularly in terms of width, with sound sources seemingly extending well beyond the speakers.
Bass - Tuneful and tight, although not remarkably deep.
Rhythm and Drive - Excellent toe tapping goodness, only clearly bettered by the Ikemi. Dynamics are also excellent.
Detail - This is not it's strength, perhaps lacking the analytic detail of the DAC 1 or even the Saturn, but for me, this does not put a dampener on things at all. However, this could be a consideration for those who crave the last word in detail.
Overall - The Rega DAC is a cohesive performer that in my view is a spectacularly good value proposition. I think this might be "the one".
Admittedly it does not have all the bells and whistles of some of the competitors, but if this is not a problem, your "compensation" is that all of your money is directed towards sound quality. A final very minor negative, is the aesthetics. "
spirovious
Well-Known Member
sachi
Active Member
fwiw, i just brought home a loaner of the rega DAC from the local dealer. Listening to it right now and i will do a fairly thorough comparison against the Assemblage DACs that I have here. If it even usurps one of the assemblage DAcs this could be one bargain of a DAC
abhi_jollyguy
Active Member
Also Luk for Burson HA160D and if ur budget is good so Wyred4Sound DAC2, this DAC supports 24-bit 192kHz Asynchronous USB input also.
You can buy this directly from their website I guess:
http://www.wyred4sound.com/webapps/p/74030/117839/457975
You can buy this directly from their website I guess:
http://www.wyred4sound.com/webapps/p/74030/117839/457975
iaudio
Well-Known Member
CAp'n, I think it mean For Whatever It's Worth.
square_wave
Well-Known Member
The wyred4sound one is making waves in the market for dacs around 2 - 3 k$ and it costs 1.5 k $. These guys are OEMs for some biggies from what I hear. Somebody should buy one of these and check it out !
The ES9018 chip is nice
Hey Titus, that thread is languishing in the dark alley of HFV archives. Hence wanted to revive it.
Hey Titus, that thread is languishing in the dark alley of HFV archives. Hence wanted to revive it.
YDSS!!! for your collection Capn'!
Hi Stevieboy,
I wanted the abbreviations thread to be restored; not this one.
BTW, googled YDSS and guess what I got!! I'm listing ome interesting ones
Youth Development Specialist Services
York, Durham Sewer System
YDSS Interceptor Sewer.
Let me think
You Deserve Some Stuff.
You Do Some _____.
Fill in the blank please.
sachi
Active Member
oky..some impressions after comparing the Rega to my assemblage:
At first, it appeared like the Rega out did the Assemblage.
This was my first impression. But then again we know how first impressions go when it comes to audio gear, you get easily enamoured.
The comparisons are mainly with respect to the DAC 2.7
The Rega's strengths lie in the fact that it is rather close to the Assemblage in dynamics, midrange and even bass.
Where it edges out the Assemblage clearly is the detail retrieval and is a tad more clearer in the highs. This is thanks to the upsampling etc etc available in the newer generation of sources. The Rega is definitely an airy machine.
However, the more i listened the more it became apparent that my Assemblage was tonally accurate while the rega wasn't.
The Rega was sibilant with a few tracks (loreena mckennit and margo from cowboy Junkies and even Regina Spektor).
The midrange while close to the Assemblage, the Rega couldn't quite match the prowess of the Assemblage for midrange involvement factor.
Its hard to put my finger on it, but the Assemblage just felt more natural with more weight in the midrange and bass. Rachel Yamagata sounded like she does when you hear her live, that raspy nasal voice that makes your hair stand up on your back.
Coming to the bass, I am very impressed with the Rega's performance as it was right up there with the Assemblage. My DAC 2.7 had a more quantity and fuller bass while the Rega was a little less bass while being quick and tight. The Assemblage just sounded more tactile.
What got me though finally was the presentation. There was a distince difference between the two and I preferred the Assemblage in my system. The Rega is still tempting for use in a headphone rig around the LCD-2 (depending on what amp you use..course Cavalli Audio's the best ever with LCD-2s) as it would probably not sound sibilant (Which along with tonal accuracy was my main issue) or shouty like it came off at times in the midrange on my magnepans.
For now, it feels like the Rega is more a sideways move than an upwards path and the Assemblage still keeps putting more smiles on my face than any other source I have heard till date.
Overall, the Rega is a brilliant DAC, for the money and the CRAZY input options, it would hands down be my first choice for a new age DAC in the 1-2k region.
At first, it appeared like the Rega out did the Assemblage.
This was my first impression. But then again we know how first impressions go when it comes to audio gear, you get easily enamoured.
The comparisons are mainly with respect to the DAC 2.7
The Rega's strengths lie in the fact that it is rather close to the Assemblage in dynamics, midrange and even bass.
Where it edges out the Assemblage clearly is the detail retrieval and is a tad more clearer in the highs. This is thanks to the upsampling etc etc available in the newer generation of sources. The Rega is definitely an airy machine.
However, the more i listened the more it became apparent that my Assemblage was tonally accurate while the rega wasn't.
The Rega was sibilant with a few tracks (loreena mckennit and margo from cowboy Junkies and even Regina Spektor).
The midrange while close to the Assemblage, the Rega couldn't quite match the prowess of the Assemblage for midrange involvement factor.
Its hard to put my finger on it, but the Assemblage just felt more natural with more weight in the midrange and bass. Rachel Yamagata sounded like she does when you hear her live, that raspy nasal voice that makes your hair stand up on your back.
Coming to the bass, I am very impressed with the Rega's performance as it was right up there with the Assemblage. My DAC 2.7 had a more quantity and fuller bass while the Rega was a little less bass while being quick and tight. The Assemblage just sounded more tactile.
What got me though finally was the presentation. There was a distince difference between the two and I preferred the Assemblage in my system. The Rega is still tempting for use in a headphone rig around the LCD-2 (depending on what amp you use..course Cavalli Audio's the best ever with LCD-2s) as it would probably not sound sibilant (Which along with tonal accuracy was my main issue) or shouty like it came off at times in the midrange on my magnepans.
For now, it feels like the Rega is more a sideways move than an upwards path and the Assemblage still keeps putting more smiles on my face than any other source I have heard till date.
Overall, the Rega is a brilliant DAC, for the money and the CRAZY input options, it would hands down be my first choice for a new age DAC in the 1-2k region.
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gnanasekhar
Active Member
Is there any dealer for REGA in INDIA now?
soulforged
Well-Known Member
Hifimart has Rega...
Edit: whoops! looks like I spoke a bit too soon...a quick look at the website shows no Rega products...my bad...sorry!
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reignofchaos
Well-Known Member
Nope the rega distributor has stopped importing rega now.
The wyred4sound one is making waves in the market for dacs around 2 - 3 k$ and it costs 1.5 k $. These guys are OEMs for some biggies from what I hear. Somebody should buy one of these and check it out !
The ES9018 chip is nice
Square_wave - Please consider Audio-GD. They offer very good quality, most of their DACs are dual-chip designs, their mid range and upwards DACs all have discrete high quality components, are fully balanced designs, and have good power supplies and good analog volume control implementation. Overall, they are hard to beat in their price points,
I am listening to their entry level NFB-15.32 which I am using as a DAC and preamp. Even their entry level is very sweet sounding, and the preamp section walks all over my Emotiva preamp. It has a high gain and low gain setting which pairs well with my power amp, has settings to control the oversampling rate, and has dual WM8741 chips that support 32bit audio over USB at 384K (although I am using optical).
If you are looking at ES9018 based DACs, you can look at NFB-1P for example at $500, or NFB-10 ES3 which is at $630 but has volume control and you can use it as a preamp.
Then, they have their Reference and Master series of DACs if you want to look at high end offerings.
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