Yulong DA8 a Good Buy

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Turk

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Yulong DA8 a Good Buy
« on: 20 Aug 2013, 10:31 pm »
This is about a very good DAC with unexpectedly good service.

After hearing Mike Galusha's Auralic Vega I was smitten by the overall sound quality of the DAC, particularly on DSD.  I have been using a Lindemann 24/192 DAC, and it is, for the money, a very good sounding DAC, particularly after tossing the supplied wall wart and using a quality LPS.  However, I could not get the wonderful sound of the best DSD played on Mike's Auralic out of my head...audionervosa at its finest.

I could not afford the Auralic, which would have been my first choice as I believe it to be an outstanding DAC, period.  I followed the experiences of many of you in this Circle in the search for a DSD DAC that would not break the bank.  After listening to the Teac UD-501 and Mytek DSD DAC, I took a leap of faith and bought the new Yulong DA8.  As it was $500 under my budget and was a a Sabre DAC, my preference. So  I thought I would share my initial experience (not a review) with this nice piece of kit.

I ordered a silver one through Grant Fidelity and then wondered whether my granddaughter would be driving before I received it....she is 4.  To my surprise it came the same week!  Mike Galusha stopped by to downloaded the drivers for Windows and make sure it was set up properly.  Mike is one hell of a nice guy and a genuine DIY wiz kid. 

As it turned out Mike has the same high end analyzer that Yulong uses to measure the DAC'S published specs. Now I was going to see if the very fine specs published on the site came even close....now I had Yulong set up for a fall. :icon_twisted:   Mike took the DAC to measure it.  Okay, wrong again, Mike's measurements with the analyzer were almost identical overlays.  A $1299 DAC from another country that didn't have Lewis Hamilton as a native son, or produced his FI car or introduce the world to "you meet the nicest people on a ....."  and meets specs was quite amazing.

 I planned to let it burn in for a few days.  I did something I have never done which is to plug it into the wall instead of the power conditioner :duh:

I have back problems and while under the assault of sciatica simply did not want to crawl on all fours to plug it into the conditioner.  And voila!  Rolling brown outs and the Yulong was no longer Yulonging.  Back to Mike's for a diagnosis, (I stopped my pain medication and prednisone for my back just to punish myself).

Mike's testing lead him to believe it was the USB Board.  Of course this was not the ubiquitous XMOS, but an Italian board made by Amanero in Italy.  OK, finally I have a problem that will not lend itself to a quick resolution.  I am eight thousand miles away, and knowing Mr. Yulong's English exceeds my Chinese by orders of magnitude and the part originates in Italy (Ducati owners you know the fear), I figure I have finally hit an impasse.

Snark,snark, exactly why would they rush to the aid of a customer without a warranty claim, (yes, I maintain a semblance of integrity) and if so when would I get the board and how badly was I to be taken to the cleaners?   If you haven't  caught on by now I have become cynical in my old age.   Wrong again :oops:

One week later a new board shows up DHL for what is essentially a wholesale price with $10 DHL shipping cost.  Unbelievable!!!!!!!  I install it, and all is well.  Into the conditioner and ready to go.

The point of all this is merely to illustrate the following; chauvinism is not a virtue, honest people of integrity exist everywhere and the DAC has 300 hours on it and performs flawlessly.  This is a top notch company I would do business with again in a heart beat.  I'll follow up with how it sounds after a bit.

DaveC113

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Re: Yulong DA8 a Good Buy
« Reply #1 on: 20 Aug 2013, 11:56 pm »
Nice review!

I also heard Mike's Auralic and it was very impressive. I have a Schiit Bifrost Uber w/ Gen 2 USB and wanted to see how it compared. Long story short, it didn't. It's not a bad sounding DAC but the Auralic is in another league in all ways... soundstage, dynamics, tone... the Auralic crushed the Bifrost. I was hoping the Bifrost would be much closer in performace so I wouldn't worry about upgrading, but after hearing the difference a DAC may be my next upgrade... it's either that or a couple of 12" sealed subs.

We also listened to the Teac and HiFace DACs, I didn't like the Teac at all... it sounded smooth, fat and slow. The HiFace was better and almost as good as the Bifrost, quite a good DAC for $300! It lacked some of the detail a drive in the Bifrost, but that's really nit-picking. They were much closer to each other than the Auralic.

That said, Mike did say the Yulong is much closer to the Auralic than the Teac so I may go for one of those, but I am waiting to see what Schiit comes out with for their high end DAC. It was supposed to be out nearly a year ago and is still on the way. I'm rooting for Schiit because they are made in the USA and sell direct to the consumer.

Turk

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Re: Yulong DA8 a Good Buy
« Reply #2 on: 21 Aug 2013, 02:10 pm »
There are more and more affordable DSD DACs.  It is really remarkable that a DAC like the Auralic can be purchased with a sound that 5 years ago you couldn't purchase if you had $15K.  I was also, and probably still am, interested in the Schiit.  If I had not read the problems in getting their top model to market I would love to have heard it.  I may still do so.

But good DSD was so enthralling I wanted to get something affordable and listen because this technology can only improve.  Six months from now I can make a change without going into cardiac arrest.

I think of the Yulong as the Auralic with somewhat less refinement of everything but bass.  But still having a very nice signature.  The treble region of the Auralic, IMO, is just exceptional. The Yulong so far has been very good in that respect, but clearly is not on par with the Auralic.  However, on a price basis I find both DACs to deliver a lot for your money.

Noseyears

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Re: Yulong DA8 a Good Buy
« Reply #3 on: 26 Aug 2013, 07:18 pm »
Thanks for the detailed review Turk,

Does using an expensive Usb interface (Hiface, Hydra X) improves the sound of it? i see they took special attention to the usb implementation/design.

Turk

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Re: Yulong DA8 a Good Buy
« Reply #4 on: 26 Aug 2013, 09:10 pm »
Honestly, I have not tried one with it.  Maybe Mike Galusha will chime in, he may have.

mgalusha

Re: Yulong DA8 a Good Buy
« Reply #5 on: 26 Aug 2013, 09:25 pm »
Honestly, I have not tried one with it.  Maybe Mike Galusha will chime in, he may have.

I have not but the Amanero USB interface seems to perform well.

I will say that visiting Jerry over the weekend, that the system was as good as I've ever heard it, most enjoyable.

*Scotty*

Re: Yulong DA8 a Good Buy
« Reply #6 on: 26 Aug 2013, 09:39 pm »
Mike, what chip was used in the Amanero USB interface?
Scotty

mgalusha

Re: Yulong DA8 a Good Buy
« Reply #7 on: 27 Aug 2013, 03:44 am »
Scotty, the schematic on the Amanero site shows "ATSAM3U1CA-AU" for the USB input. I have not searched for it yet. The schematic is on the home page. http://amanero.com/

Supposedly Yulong uses customized firmware but that is just what I've read.

I need to slightly alter my earlier statement, I used the S/PDIF input for measuring but the USB for listening.

*Scotty*

Re: Yulong DA8 a Good Buy
« Reply #8 on: 27 Aug 2013, 11:48 am »
Thanks Mike, I was curious about the asynchronous implementation, the chip itself is limited to sample rates of
96kHz which kind of surprised me.
What with the marketing imphasis on 192 kHz or even higher being the norm these days.
Scotty

*Scotty*

Re: Yulong DA8 a Good Buy
« Reply #9 on: 27 Aug 2013, 12:00 pm »
Ignore me, I was trying read the data sheet on a smart phone.
The chip runs at 96mHz.
Scotty

Andrew_WOT

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Re: Yulong DA8 a Good Buy
« Reply #10 on: 7 Oct 2013, 05:52 pm »
I am seriously considering this DAC as one box headphone rig for office use.
I've tried Burson Conductor before that and really didn't like its DAC section, too raspy and bright to my ears.
Wondering if anyone had a chance compare Yulong against Burson and if they sound alike at all?

My two other reference DACs are Chord DAC64 and AURALiC Vega. Slightly different presentations with Vega more in your face but both are very, very competent and smooth.

jackman

Re: Yulong DA8 a Good Buy
« Reply #11 on: 8 Nov 2013, 08:07 pm »
Does anyone have a DA8 in the Chicago area?  I should say, does anyone in the Chicago area have one they would let me check out?  Thanks!

parr3n1

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Re: Yulong DA8 a Good Buy
« Reply #12 on: 8 Nov 2013, 10:52 pm »
Has anyone tried the Resonessence Concero ? Wondering how it compares. It is
my first dac and I don't hear anything offensive about it but then I have not compared
it to any others. thanks

GreatDane

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Re: Yulong DA8 a Good Buy
« Reply #13 on: 14 Aug 2015, 01:47 pm »
I spent some time with the DA8 recently. It is an excellent DAC, in my opinion. I wrote about it here:

http://audioreview.ca/default.aspx?pagename=review&reviewID=7656

jonbee

Re: Yulong DA8 a Good Buy
« Reply #14 on: 14 Aug 2015, 02:27 pm »
I agree with the reviews here. I've used it in my office system for over a year, where it replaced a modded Minimax DAC plus and it is more open and less colored, but also offers terrific features, connectivity and flexibility in use. I've used it sometimes as just a dac, sometimes a preamp, sometimes as a HP amp, using an array of inputs, sometimes balanced or single ended outs. A really well designed and built product for the $.