I recently returned to the world of high end audio after a 12 year hiatus. The reason I stayed away for so long was, simply, poverty. I had an excellent system many years ago, but had to go off to grad school (and then post-grad training), and could not afford to keep my equipment. A few months ago, I was looking at new cars, and had it narrowed down to 2 nice models. Both are considered very nice, but for whatever reason, neither moved me. By accident, I noticed a stereo store not too far from where I live. I stopped by to hear their wares, and within 24 hours I had abandoned the car and was whole hog back into high end. Because I had literally no stereo equipment besides what was in my old car, I had the opportunity to build a system de novo. System details will follow at the end of the post, but I chose the Empirical Audio Overdrive DAC after selecting the rest of my system because I bought into Steve Nugent's design philosophy and, based on the reviews, it probably did not suck.
I set up the system and ran it for a few hundred hours. It sounded very good, but I still was not sure about the digital front end. Empirical is well regarded, but so are many other products. Thus, a couple of weeks ago I got my hands on two other DACs so that I could compare them to the OD. The following is a comparison of the EA Overdrive Sig, the Weiss DAC2, and the Wadia 521 w/GNSC mods. I will not pretend to be an experienced critical listener (though the friend w/the Wadia is), and this is my first review of anything, so here are the few things I listen for: transparency, imaging, dynamics, transients, and general musicality. I will also comment on the design of the products.
Transparency (tonal accuracy): the Weiss is hyper-detailed, and in my system seemed 'too real', sort of like what one can get w/a TV if one adjusts the contrast and tone controls; it looks cool, but it's not normal. The Weiss was quickly fatiguing. The Wadia was spectacular in terms of rendering the sounds accurately and in the proper position. In fact, it was superior to the Empirical, which was very good, but clearly not as good as the Wadia. On acoustic albums like Norah Jones "Come away with me" and Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest, the Wadia nailed it.
Imaging: the Weiss projects a very defined, but somewhat narrow soundstage. The Wadia's sound goes far beyond and outside the speakers, and is excellent. The Overdrive, though, exceeded the Wadia in that the soundstage seemed more "real". I'm not sure what that means, but in this category I preferred the OD.
Dynamics: for this, I refer to electronic albums such as Portishead "Portishead", Massive Attack's "Mezzanine", and various other trip-hop bands. The Weiss seemed to struggle with the large dynamic swings compared to the other two DACs in that the crescendo-decrescendos seemed more stepped and less fluid. The Wadia again nailed the musical movement, and provides a very smooth experience. As with the imaging category above, I preferred the OD because it seemed more real.
Transients: on acoustic recordings like the ones above as well as Dave Brubeck's "Time Out" the crash of cymbals and the snap of a snare drum were most adequately conveyed by the Wadia. The OD seemed somewhat veiled in comparison. All of the information seemed to be there w/the OD, but it was not rendered as accurately. The Weiss seems to emphasize transients - not a natural phenomenon, and not what I was looking for, but this may be good for some systems.
Musicality: to me, this is the opposite of fatiguing. The most musical systems are ones I can sit in front of and chillax and just enjoy the music. The OD was clearly the winner in this field. The Weiss was extremely fatiguing, and the Wadia, while excellent in all ways, produced sound that seemed processed when compared to the OD.
Design: this only refers to how the box looks. The Wadia is solid, shiny, and cool looking. The OD is two black boxes that could have been put together in someone's garage, which gives it some DIY cachet. The Weiss looks like a professional's box which is what it is.
In sum, the OD edged out the Wadia in my system by virtue of projecting a more "natural" soundfield. I am not certain why this would be, since on paper the Wadia should trounce the other DACs. I suspect there is greater synergy between the preamp side of the OD and my amps than there is for the Wadia, which helped the overall impression. In my system, the Weiss was inferior in to the OD and Wadia in all ways. However, I suspect certain people will enjoy the hyper-detailed, ultra-pure sound of the Weiss.
The system is: Macbook Pro w/SSD and Amarra --->DACs-----> Morrow MA6 ICs-----> Pass Lab XA200.5---->Proac Speaker cable---->Proac Carbon 8's. Power is from dedicated 20 amp digital/analog lines to Oyaide R1's to Lessloss DFPC's.
The OD was supplied by a Belkin pro USB cable into its USB input, the Weiss via Firewire, and the Wadia was USB to SPDIF from a Hagtech USB converter.
One last note, Empirical's website states that the OD, by virtue of its various power supplies and power substation, does not require any special power considerations. Initially, I had all of the wallwarts shoved into the R1's, but during the DAC-off, I moved them to a PS audio juice bar run from a Lessloss PC. I did not expect any difference at all, but the improvement was immediate and shocking. During the first rounds of the DACathon, the Wadia was crushing the competition, and I was contemplating killing my friend and taking his DAC. After the Lessloss was introduced ahead of the OD power supplies, night became day, and OD really shone. Without adding the Lessloss, there is no way the OD could have hung with the Wadia. Afterwards, I (and my buddy) preferred the OD.
Many thanks to Steve N for developing this excellent product. Sincerely,
Giri Swamy
