This one is beyond my means, but I have a Neve headphone amp and that thing is sweet. It looks like something an elderly fella would have his oxygen tank hooked up to...I love it
A Neve BCM10 loaded with eight 1073 modules cost $8000.00 in 1973. It had direct outs on every channel and seven 1272 amps in there for various things... even the talkback mic on those things were AKG's!
The ELAC DDP-2 is what I use. It is a DAC/pre-amp and has a headphone amp plus a remote. The design is by Peter Madnick. And it is less than half the cost of the Neve.
Im sorry for laughing but when you said it shouldn't ring like a bell I just thought how do you even do that? Lol your reviews are always well thought out and spot on. Thank you
Minus the transformer coupling and Neve signature this DAC shares a lot of similarities with the Mytek Manhattan II, pro audio roots, balanced, and analog inputs. The headphone amplifier is also pretty good and clean.
Since it looks like my old late 60's Sony alarm clock, it _still_ looks old. _Toggle switches?_ Check! _Lots of little blinking lights?_ Check! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@@slidetek It is almost identical to a control panel on my parents massage chair- right down to the walnut insert. Frighteningly similar. I think I will go with the Denafrips Terminator.
Rupert Neve makes some great stuff. The console at Sound City was famous for being able to push it into saturation (soft clipping?) which actually added sweet harmonics. Steve, when you say the "sound" of the DAC varied , did it vary with different source material, or did the sound vary while listening to a single piece of audio? (I could have said that better if I was a little more buzzed.)
@@stopthefomo The headphone section is his design... maybe he contributed to the analog output section of the DAC as well... but he is on record for saying is not really an expert on 'digital' so that is definitely the case.
Any chance you can review the RME ADI-2 FS DAC? It's a DAC and headphone amp combined and hugely tweakable. I'd love to know how you think it compares to this and other DACs.
Howard Haigh well if you go to AudioScienceReview where Amir actually tests things on a proper audio analyzer then you will find that it is amazing and will not need an entertaining but vacuous subjective review here.
Rupert's revered and legendary expertise is with respect to analog domain as Steve mentioned.. Without doubt RN's hand in the analog circuitry makes everything the better for it. But as a guy who already owns a decent preamp to switch sources and control levels, the higher end consumer DAC/Pres on the market waste money I'd rather put directly towards the DAC as a stand alone (e.g Denafrips). I certainly understand why people looking for a one box solution will find this feature set interesting but that's not me at least in my main rig. I wouldn't buy a box that expensive for desktop, but I understand the appeal of the format. Still, for all its differences the Neve will still be competing as a chip DAC against everybody else who makes a $5K and under desktop styled solution. A lot of competition in the segment.
So, just exactly what kind or topography are we talking about? Is this FPGA , R2R, a chip DAC or what is it, really? Looks like a Swiss Army Knife in a box to me. Never heard of this component before but it sure looks like 5K worth of snake oil to me.
For the price i prefer something else. Notice is a great product, but can´t afford it. And this is the time of hi fi audio gear at low cost. So, i would go with something totally different and don´t want to offend with a chinise product, but my future dac will be the smsl m500. Great review, thanks!!!!!!
I have the RNHP, which is an excellent headphone amp, but it has a problem which it shares with the Fidelice headphone amp. That is there is a serious turn on / turn off transient which requires you to disconnect your headphones before powering off or on. This is exacerbated by a serious snap when the headphone jack first touches the headphone socket on the RNHP. Serious enough that it makes me cringe and fear for the safety of my headphones. It seems that Neve's engineering doesn't extend beyond the amp circuitry to the human interface. Even the $100 Schiit Magni has a protective relay.
I don't know why either... their goal was to have as low of an output impedance as possible, and anything added to the circuit might add to that, I might imagine, but I don't know. IMO... I use one as well... put electric tape over the LEDs and just never turn it off. LOL
Steve just reads the specs on the box. No information about sound stage, or imaging. No noise analysis. COmpares it to another dac he "reviewed" for which he also didnt talk about any of those things. Very helpful. I know the price and that dave grohl made a documentary.
Zero difference in sound between the updated dac and original. Hence, no name change either. Just marginally improves on some specs, but gives a better remote control. Oh with no price change either!!!
@@nostro1001 "New model moves the AKM decoder silicon from AK4490 to AK4493 to net better SNR (up from 117dB to 120dB) and decreased distortion (down 10dB to -120dB)...The pricing remains the same as before". So no complains here :)
@@doriarama Definitely no complaints agreed. As per my original comments was all about the spec sheet and no audible sound difference. So anybody wanting the original at a discount if they can found one, wouldn't be doing too badly at all & wouldn't have to worry they have purchased an entirely inferior product. I personally really like the new remote, even though a logitech remote can be programmed and the new remote can be purchased separately. Last time I checked there was no pricing on just a remote. Cheers!!!
Speaking of expensive British-made stuff that I'll never be able to afford . . . when can we expect the review of those Tannoys you've been sitting on?
Looks like a toy and is expensive. Is the DAC a delta sigma based design or is it old tech R2R? For Five grand I can buy a Denafrips Terminator AND a Schiit headphone amp. This product is doomed IMO.
I take it you have not seen the series. Each show showcases the music history of a diffirent city and they record a song in a notable ( to them ) studio in that city. Sound city is the name of the last studio featured.
payed 120 euro for a FIIO K3 , i'm good 5000 euro is a bit much for the normal consumer my kiio k3 goes in to a SubPac M2X which are connected to HD 280 Pro sennheisers probably kids stuff for a guy like you , but it sounds good to me for now ... sound always changes and gets better , so we need to change with it
Overpriced. No treble no bass no equalizer minimal controls I’ll take my RME Adi-2-DAC which has all the above has XLR and two headphone output and costs 1k and sounds lovely
Steve, love your shows, love your music reviews. But DAC reviews? Not so much. These days a $100 DAC provides completely transparent analog sound. $5000 for a DAC? Insane waste of money. It's 'signature' is simply it's distortion profile. Suggest a you need a bit more science/'objectivism' when doing these DAC reviews.. Just suggesting :)
I'll go with the Denafrips Terminator you reviewed, which will be the last DAC i ever bought. Thanks Steve, but, i don't give a ratsass about Neve and his heritage. Heritage?!!? whytf would i care about heritage?!?! Solid engineering and sonic ecstasy is all that matters to me.
he makes the best preamp on the planet for professional use, your'e favourite music has been recorded using his gear,so heritage matters in that case but as a dac only you can't beat the terminator for the price .as a preamp you can't get close to neve for the price even ignoring the dac.
Here we go again. 5k? I don't want to be a party pooper, but comon sense tells me that this headphones amp is outrageously overprice. No matter how I look at it. No matter how good it sounds, no matter the construction quality, no matter the features, to me it's way way overpriced! You can tell this company reaches out to either very passionate in dept audiophiles (who are sometimes ready to be surrounded by ten of thousands of dollars of equipment but in a small appartment with barely a chair and a bed) but in most cases, very wealthy people who might not care about audio quality. Personnaly, even if I had the money, i'd look for something else. Not my kind of products at all.