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rega dac, cdq, young dac bake off

The inclusion of nasty PSUs in high end DACs is an ongoing mystery. Even if the PSU added £200 to the ticket price, the converter remains in the same price bracket, sounds much better, and makes more profit for the manufacturer. What's not to like?

Antelope's position on this was curious: some within the company claimed the SMPS shipped with the Plus didn't make any difference to the SQ, then released the Gold model with optional . . . huge, upgraded power supply.

Fortunately there are loads of well designed after-market audio-grade PSUs in 5V, 7.5V, 9V and 12V (KingRex, Teddy Pardo, etc). Not so many in higher voltages for use with the Zodiac or active speakers.

Useful tip, though: for less than the cost of a Russ Andrews wall-wart, we use this baby with everything - even the Zodiac: £70 plus VAT and shipping.
http://www.rapidonline.com/Electric...w/85-1705?source=googleps&utm_source=googleps
 
I believe that Rega went beyond the norm in the power supply that they equipped their Dac with. Maybe not Teddy Pardo or Supercap quality but a fair effort nevertheless.
 
Hope I'm not tooo much OT:

So, transports on the day, any favorites for SQ....

I know there was a lot of dac's to listen to, and I think you did really well picking a favorite, as my brain would have been mush after about 5 hours :-o

As far as I can remember, from reading, there was a laptop, SB, two audio pc's and a Meridian that were transports?

Totally understand if dac's is the only thing that can be remembered :)

Cheers
DC

As a USB transport, we compared the Stealth Mini and a standard laptop. No surprises there! For SPDIF output, the Stealth was configured using a KingRex UC192 converter on a linear power supply. Though I have every vested reason to deny it, the Meridian 500 is better than this combo. SPDIF is a big ask for a computer to do well.
 
I believe that Rega went beyond the norm in the power supply that they equipped their Dac with. Maybe not Teddy Pardo or Supercap quality but a fair effort nevertheless.

I don't know what PS it has in it, but the noise floor was conspicuously lower than any other DAC below £1K. Full marks for Rega on that score.
 
Let's get this in some perspective.

You guys are criticising a sub £1k dac for sounding better when fed 18v from a 10amp pure DC battery supply? Let's put this into perspective, the power supply I use day to day with the Young is a teddycap clone, but it uses more capacitance, lower ESR caps, and quieter diodes than teddy specs- and my battery supply sounds just a tiny bit better than that.

So yes, the Young sounds better with a DC power supply either of teddycap quality or better, what wouldn't? Just like my 840c was improved by removing the 317 regs inside and replacing them with Paul Hynes regs. I understand it's nice to have something to criticise but the Young sounds fantastic with it's supplied wall wart- sufficiently so that one of the guys from the bake off last week has already decided on one.

@Item:
The Rega is quieter than any other dac below 1k? Maybe you could point us towards the hissy sub 1k dacs you've been selling so we can avoid them. There's certainly no noise from the Young, even with volume at max it's utterly silent.
 
As a USB transport, we compared the Stealth Mini and a standard laptop. No surprises there! For SPDIF output, the Stealth was configured using a KingRex UC192 converter on a linear power supply. Though I have every vested reason to deny it, the Meridian 500 is better than this combo. SPDIF is a big ask for a computer to do well.

Cheers for your thoughts :)
 
bottleneck, I think it will sound great, they are a very fast, low output impedance, and decent current delivery design. I've use the 18v version of something very similar.
 
Let's get this in some perspective.

You guys are criticising a sub £1k dac for sounding better when fed 18v from a 10amp pure DC battery supply? Let's put this into perspective, the power supply I use day to day with the Young is a teddycap clone, but it uses more capacitance, lower ESR caps, and quieter diodes than teddy specs- and my battery supply sounds just a tiny bit better than that.

So yes, the Young sounds better with a DC power supply either of teddycap quality or better, what wouldn't? Just like my 840c was improved by removing the 317 regs inside and replacing them with Paul Hynes regs. I understand it's nice to have something to criticise but the Young sounds fantastic with it's supplied wall wart- sufficiently so that one of the guys from the bake off last week has already decided on one.

I know the fan club gets mad when the Young is criticised, but there's nothing here to get twitchy about: EVERY converter is only as good as its power supply section. And, as we said, even the £1.8K Zodiac can be improved. We plugged the Young earlier in the thread: Chris bought it because it fit his USB requirements at that price point. Rest easy: it's a nice DAC!

@Item:
The Rega is quieter than any other dac below 1k? Maybe you could point us towards the hissy sub 1k dacs you've been selling so we can avoid them. There's certainly no noise from the Young, even with volume at max it's utterly silent.

'Hiss' is not the point. The Rega sounds freer than most from the full spectrum of PS artefaction. I've no vested interest in saying so, it's just true.

In fact, within minutes, I was having a conversation with Dave (Audio Warehouse) about whether we could resell it. Unfortunately, you have to carry the whole Rega range to be a stockist, and we'd only really be interested in the DAC. Solid £500 buy, though.
 
Hi Sq

I read about the battery power supply with interest.

If you get opportunity, I'd be fascinated to hear how you make one, perhaps with a photo?

I'd like to try this at some point, and if I could do so without re-inventing the wheel, so much the better :)

My favourite thing about the Young is that it effectively comes with a free ''m2 tech hi-face'' in it. For USB Dac people this has to make it an extra bargain.. loving it.. it sounds great just with simple red-book. Really looking forward to hearing some higher resolution music through it.
 
I know the fan club gets mad when the Young is criticised, but there's nothing here to get twitchy about: EVERY converter is only as good as its power supply section. And, as we said, even the £1.8K Zodiac can be improved. We plugged the Young earlier in the thread: Chris bought it because it fit his USB requirements at that price point. Rest easy: it's a nice DAC!



'Hiss' is not the point. The Rega sounds freer than most from the full spectrum of PS artefaction. I've no vested interest in saying so, it's just true.

In fact, within minutes, I was having a conversation with Dave (Audio Warehouse) about whether we could resell it. Unfortunately, you have to carry the whole Rega range to be a stockist, and we'd only really be interested in the DAC. Solid £500 buy, though.

Hi all

It appears to be a good DAC but, IMO, it's a shame Rega have provided 16-20-24-bit at 32kHz to 192kHz digital to analogue conversion for the co-axial and optical inputs but only 16bit 44.1/48kHz for USB.

That rules it out for me as I am looking for the higher bitrate and sample rate capability using USB but could happily live with the limited 16bit 44.1/48kHz using co-axial and optical as that is fine for my CD player, PVR etc. and I'm unlikely to benefit from any higher bitrate/sample rate.

Have I missed something or is this a bad decision by Rega?
 
Hi all

It appears to be a good DAC but, IMO, it's a shame Rega have provided 16-20-24-bit at 32kHz to 192kHz digital to analogue conversion for the co-axial and optical inputs but only 16bit 44.1/48kHz for USB.

That rules it out for me as I am looking for the higher bitrate and sample rate capability using USB but could happily live with the limited 16bit 44.1/48kHz using co-axial and optical as that is fine for my CD player, PVR etc. and I'm unlikely to benefit from any higher bitrate/sample rate.

Have I missed something or is this a bad decision by Rega?

I thought about this before I bought the rega but I connect via a Squeeze Duet using a coax and the Squeeze in turn is connected to the router via ethernet. I beleive the Squeeze is limited but as most of my listening these days is 90% Spotify or my own meagre CD collection then it is not an issue.

I have looked at several high def sites and read a little bit about it and there is nothing at the moment that makes me want to purchase any high def content. I believe that some of the so called high def content is just up sampled and there isn't any real benefit in that so i'm told. At present its a bit like that Alexander Graham Bell joke "Yippee I've invented the first telephone now who shall I call?"
 
I don't know what PS it has in it, but the noise floor was conspicuously lower than any other DAC below £1K. Full marks for Rega on that score.

Well it seemed pretty obvious that what you were referring to was 'noise floor', that was the exact turn of phrase you used after all. There was no mention of it sounding 'freer' when I posted my comment. My apologies for not being able to predict what you'll change your mind to mean when later challenged on an earlier post.

I'm not in the least bit 'anything' that the Young is being criticised, I'm merely pointing out that people are unfairly criticising a product for being able to sound better when powered from a near 'perfect' power supply- seems a little churlish.

Bottleneck, it's just a 4 x 18650 LIfePo batteries is a plastic moulded case. It's actually the battery pack for the MTB front light, a custom 3700lux LED affair.
 
Hi all

It appears to be a good DAC but, IMO, it's a shame Rega have provided 16-20-24-bit at 32kHz to 192kHz digital to analogue conversion for the co-axial and optical inputs but only 16bit 44.1/48kHz for USB.

That rules it out for me as I am looking for the higher bitrate and sample rate capability using USB but could happily live with the limited 16bit 44.1/48kHz using co-axial and optical as that is fine for my CD player, PVR etc. and I'm unlikely to benefit from any higher bitrate/sample rate.

Have I missed something or is this a bad decision by Rega?

I am more disappointed by the fact that the SPDIF input on the Rega sounds considerably better than the USB input. The bake-off indicated this is probably also true for the Audiolab DAC too (I may be wrong here; someone please correct me if so). In my opinion, this rules out the USB input on the Rega for serious listening, and so makes its limited input range irrelevant.

Andy
 
I thought about this before I bought the rega but I connect via a Squeeze Duet using a coax and the Squeeze in turn is connected to the router via ethernet. I beleive the Squeeze is limited but as most of my listening these days is 90% Spotify or my own meagre CD collection then it is not an issue.

I have looked at several high def sites and read a little bit about it and there is nothing at the moment that makes me want to purchase any high def content. I believe that some of the so called high def content is just up sampled and there isn't any real benefit in that so i'm told. At present its a bit like that Alexander Graham Bell joke "Yippee I've invented the first telephone now who shall I call?"

Hi Pete

Is the Rega your first external DAC?

If so, I can see where you are coming from.

But, if like me, you already have a DAC you are happy with not really much point in considering 'upgrading' to a DAC with potentially very little improvement to offer.

The Young DAC arguably has the best USB implementation but is a non starter for me as, in addition to USB, I need at least two optical inputs.

My DAC has no problem being connected via a 5meter USB2 cable.

The Emotiva XDA-1's User Manual under USB states ' NOTE: Do not exceed 2 meters in cable length' so that's ruled out.

Some people have reported 'skipping' when using the Audiolab's USB connection so again ruled out unless/until it can work reliably at the maximum USB2 cable length of 5meters.

In addition to the minimum connections mentioned above, I would be looking for a choice of filters, XLR and RCA output and don't need a volume control/pre amp or headphone amp/output.

Any recommendations up to around £500?

Would consider spending more if justified.
 
I am more disappointed by the fact that the SPDIF input on the Rega sounds considerably better than the USB input. The bake-off indicated this is probably also true for the Audiolab DAC too (I may be wrong here; someone please correct me if so). In my opinion, this rules out the USB input on the Rega for serious listening, and so makes its limited input range irrelevant.

Andy

I think this has been said before, but if it had a better USB input it would not be a sub £500 DAC. The money was spent where it was and if USB is so important it ain't the DAC for you.

I don't care about USB but if I did I wouldn't have bought a Rega.
 
I think this has been said before, but if it had a better USB input it would not be a sub £500 DAC. The money was spent where it was and if USB is so important it ain't the DAC for you.

I don't care about USB but if I did I wouldn't have bought a Rega.

Hi hugh

I agree, it ain't the DAC for me.

Out of interest, what do you connect to the non-USB inputs that make use of the higher bit rate/sampling rate?
 
Hi Pete

Is the Rega your first external DAC?

If so, I can see where you are coming from.

But, if like me, you already have a DAC you are happy with not really much point in considering 'upgrading' to a DAC with potentially very little improvement to offer.

I previously had the Dacmagic and had the itch to see what better solutions were out there. Trouble was once I heard the Rega in the shop and more importantly at home I had to have it.
I had seriously considered the Young Dac and maybe the future Audiolab standalone Dac. However with the obvious quality control issues that both of these products have been experiencing I opted for the Ford rather than the Ferrari as I didn't want to spend all my time in the garage. Thats not to say when these 2 products have got their quality issues well and truly sorted I will give them a good listen to.
 


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