I purchased the Tranquility DAC SE and Essential cable back in November and wrote some initial impressions at the time. From the moment I plugged it in, well before the the DAC was broken in, I was really impressed with the quality of the sound. As has been described before in this thread, the Tranquility SE has a relaxed but highly detailed sound. Over the last three months the sound has continued to improve. Today, it is the best digital front end that I have ever heard, and not by a small margin.
I ran across this thread on Audio Circle and followed it for a few weeks before I looked into ordering the unit. I made the decision to purchase the Tranquility after a 45 minute call with Eric Hider who took me through the design philosophy of the company and the DAC specifically. Eric could not have been more gracious and helpful throughout the process. I have since had two subsequent calls with him where he took me through all of the tweaks to optimize the sound coming out of the 2008 Mac Mini that I am using as the source.
I have since also purchased the Duo Filter power cord for the older Mini's which made significant further improvement to the sound.
Before I try to describe the sound, let me say that I have not heard many of the DAC's described in this thread, particularly some of the recently released products which have been highly regarded in this and other posts. My experience has been with the Musical Fidelity V-DAC8, the HRT Streamer Pro, the Wavelength Brick(asynchronous), and the Ayre QB-9. I have also listened extensively to the Audio Research DAC 5, though I have not owned that product. Of these, I found the Ayre provided the best overall sound, at least from a USB source.
As noted above, the essential sound of the Tranquility SE is a relaxed presentation, but one filled with detail that was simply not present in any other configuration that I have had previously. As the DAC has broken in, I have noticed the following improvements. The bass became fully developed over time. As the DAC got more hours under its belt, the bass continued to deepen and towards the end of the break-in period (after a couple hundred hours or so) the bass definition improved substantially. Bass instruments and drums are very clearly defined in space with really beautiful, rich timbre to the sound. The treble has also improved dramatically. Cymbals now hit with very fast transient attack and decay very naturally. Hearing this makes me realize that what I was hearing before was essentially white noise that approximated the sound of a cymbal. Which brings me to the most obvious character to the sound -- it just sounds like the real thing.
Vocals have a 3 dimensional presence to them -- the voice emerges from such a black background that you can either hear or maybe just perceive the physical presence of the person singing the words, not just the voice. It is a difficult thing to describe, but it is transformative to the quality of the music. A good recording no longer sounds like a recorded piece of music, the sonic illusion is completely convincing. Other instruments have a similar quality in that they are isolated in space, though incredibly life like and life size and resonate to fill the soundstage, which by the way is absolutely huge. It fills the room from ceiling to floor and several feet outside of the speakers. Also, sounds that were previously either totally inaudible or buried in the mix, are now crystal clear and distinct. Finally, the music just grooves. My wife, who has never gotten very excited about earlier improvements and tweaks, has noticed it too. There is something about the detail and interplay between the instruments that communicates more than just the sound. It draws you in emotionally to a degree that I have not experienced before. It is frequently a revelation to listen to old favorites -- songs that we have heard hundreds of times before sound totally different -- in addition to all sorts of new sounds and detail, there is an underlying beauty to the music that just grabs you.
At this point, you can surmise that I am extremely pleased both with the product and the service that I have received in my dealings with db Audio Labs. I have not participated in other threads, but felt compelled to write this review after my experience with this company.
I cannot recommend the Tranquility DAC SE and db Audio Labs highly enough. If you are using a computer as a source or looking to make the jump to a computer based music, I suggest that you give Eric a call. To get the most out of the product, I think you do need to use the Mac Mini as your source, but provided you have one, or are going to purchase one, the Tranquility SE is a remarkable product.
I do want to also call out one other product that I have been particularly pleased with, and which also seems to be a perfect complement to this DAC, at least in my configuration. I purchased Bruce Brisson's DIY Giant Killer speaker cables with the two upgrade modules (
www.diyaudiocable.com). The total price comes to about $1200, which is not especially cheap for wire, but as best I can tell, the DIY product is roughly equivalent to MIT's Magnum 1.3 retail product which sells for ~$4k. Whatever its retail equivalent, it absolutely blows away any other wire that I have used including mid-range Audioquest, Transparent and Kimber products that are all in the same price range. The assembly required is negligible and the sound quality delivered by these cables is absolutely fantastic.
System Components
Balanced Audio Vk-55SE
Audio Research LS-26
Magnepan 1.7's
Tranquility DAC and Essential USB
2008 Mac Mini with external firewire HD
Bruce Brisson DIY Giant Killer Speaker Cables
Audioquest Columbia interconnects
Entry level Shunyata Power cords
Shunyata Hydra 2 power conditioner
db Audio Labs Duo Power Filter Cord (to Mac)
