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Rega Saturn / Rega Dac dem.

Folkman

Folkman

pfm Member
Had a dem yesterday at Basically Sound & Vision of the Rega Dac.

The only thing i was interested in was if it could improve on the Saturn. Having heard the Isis i was very tempted with that but resisted till the dac appeared , and pleased that i did.

Its a very obvious improvement straight from the word go. Silences are darker , much larger but firmer defined images with better depth location . A live recording [which i was at when recorded] had a lot more small but important detail easily heard. The ambiance of the venue was not very apparant with the Saturn , add the Dac and i could have been back at that concert.

I would say the Dac improves the Saturn in all the same ways i found the Isis to be superior to the Saturn. Obviously i am not saying its as good [no Isis available for comparison] but its a major step up for the Saturn. Better than i had thought possible for £500. Needless to say my order is in.

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hifi_dave said:
The DAC is a definite improvement on the Saturn's DAC but it's no Isis.
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I've not heard the Isis, but I agree with the "live" and ambience observations above. While the Saturn helped CDs sounds "more like an analog recording" the DAC makes me feel like I'm in the studio space.

However, there's a lot of hyperbole surrounding the product. The Saturn is better at some things, notably insight and analytics. The DAC, while lovely, doesn't do everything the Saturn does, and vice versa!

They are in the same class, in other words. If I owned a Saturn not sure i'd "upgrade" it with this unless I was just looking for a new approach. And they are indeed very different.

Blows away the Apollo and all that came before, however. Finally the Jupiter 2000's bass weight and impact but with clarity, drive, presence, and definition. The Planet's ease of listening and analog nature (it is extremely non-digital sounding) combined with most (but not all) of the Saturn's insightfulness.
 
P.s. Anyone else puzzled by the Tone Audio "review". It's definitely a nice DAC. But not in any way "lean" sounding as described by Jeff Dorgay. There is tremendous bass definition here. Unless thats what he means by "lean"?
 
The Saturn and Dac are not at all 'different'.

I do own a Saturn and have heard an Isis. The Dac improves the Saturn by no small amount.
 
What about Macbook Pro into the Rega DAC, or even through a Airport Express into the DAC? Would that also better the Saturn? If so, that would make high quality mac and dac hi-fi very accessible.
 
Folkman said:
The Saturn and Dac are not at all 'different'.

I do own a Saturn and have heard an Isis. The Dac improves the Saturn by no small amount.
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Well, I just don't want to kick the Saturn to the curb because the "next great thing" is here. Folks should listen to both, as they are both excellent and go about things a bit differently.

I've only owned mine for 24 hours but I'm sure I've listened to it in my all-Rega system more than you did in your demo... On my gear in my room. Same space and gear where I have listened to my Saturn for several years.

DAC isn't a Saturn Plus. There are some slight tradeoffs that become apparent after the "holy crap" impression that it does make (initially) and I highly suggest in home demo if possible.

DAC has more slam, more body, more presence, and sounds even more "analog" than the Saturn without any *initially* apparent tradeoffs. In fact, it has an "organic" quality about it.... A very "live" and natural sound with extraordinary depth. Air around bass and kick drums contribute greatly to the "live" sonics.

The Saturn wasn't always that, and these are the things you'll first notice.

But the Saturn is an excellent "revealer of detail" without any (or much) harsh glare typically associated with revealing CDPs. Some of those "little details" the Saturn would call attention to (usually in upper registers) have given way a bit to the DAC's more insightful nature in the lower.

It's why I say they are different... The Saturn is still world class and has its benefits. People owning Saturns can rest assured they still have a Class A CDP and that's not changing with the DAC's introduction. Those considering the Saturn should still consider the Saturn after listening to both and determining what is truly "better" for them and their system's needs.

However.... saying all that!.... I'm keeping the DAC and selling the Saturn, so clearly I prefer the DAC and it only took me a day to determine this preference.

However, some may still prefer the Saturn. It is in no way "outclassed" by the DAC, especially if top-end detail is your thing.

The Apollo, on the other hand, yes let's kick to the curb now. I'd rather run this with a cheap transport than own the Apollo again. No contest.
 
Elephantears said:
What about Macbook Pro into the Rega DAC, or even through a Airport Express into the DAC? Would that also better the Saturn? If so, that would make high quality mac and dac hi-fi very accessible.
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I'm evaluating this now. I'm running the DAC with a Saturn as Transport and comparing against my MacBook Pro. So far I'm not hearing any difference between Saturn as transport and MacBook BUT very important to ensure Audio MIDI is set to proper frequency. DONT let the Mac or iTunes upsample.... Everything collapses.

Haven't tried USB yet, but will.
 
Thanks for the write up, folkman. The best insight into it's sound I've heard yet. Can't wait to get one home. Hopefully Tuesday, as us guys in the US and outside of Dallas, TX (the distributor's home) have to wait for shipment.

Edit - Meant to thank FatElvis for his write up.

Edit again - Meant to thank you both.
 
Elephantears said:
What about Macbook Pro into the Rega DAC, or even through a Airport Express into the DAC? Would that also better the Saturn? If so, that would make high quality mac and dac hi-fi very accessible.
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Or maybe the Apple TV?
I think the Airport downsamples....
 
kristoffer said:
Or maybe the Apple TV?
I think the Airport downsamples....
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Yes, I thought that, but I can't seem to verify it anywhere. There have been about 127 threads on pfm about computer audio, mac and dac solutions etc, but there are still quite a few things I'm unclear about. I did consider Apple TV until I realized it bound you to iTunes.
 
Hello!
My Rega DAC will arrive at late February, my current player is the Arcam CD36. It will be the transport for the DAC, of course.
I have a van den Hul The First Ultimate interconnect and I`ll try to use it as a digital cable.
Though, in the future I want to use a better dedicated digital cable. Any recommendations for my setup?
Thank you!
 
Great to see the iTunes / AirPort comments here guys, I'm using AirPort Express with a DacMagic at the moment and hoping the Rega DAC is a worthwhile upgrade.

To clarify: AirPort Express is purely a 16/44.1 device. iTunes will convert non-44.1 source files on the fly before transmitting. It's a simple, reliable way to get bit-perfect CD audio playback and you don't have to muck around with Audio MIDI Setup.

I'm not sure about the old AppleTV, but the new one only outputs at 48kHz, even when playing 44.1 files. That was a real disappointment when I found out... thought I could replace the Express with the TV but now I'm running both. One for music, the other for movies.

Here's hoping that the Rega DAC isn't hampered by the high jitter on an AirPort Express toslink.
 
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