[miklorsmith]

Recently, thanks to the generosity of a certain Lone Wolf, I had the opportunity to borrow a couple of DACs.  These were a Turbomod Electrocompaniet ECD-1 from Empirical Audio and an MHDT Laboratory Paradisea, stock except for a Bendix 396 tube.  I also had my own DACs available, an Altmann Attraction with all the options and a Lessloss 2004.  For transports, I used a CEC TL-51X, modified Rega Planet, and an RWA-modded Squeezebox 3.  The CEC and modded Rega allow clock-linking with the Lessloss.

The rest of the system is a Lamm LL2 Deluxe, RWA Signature 70 amps, and Zu Definition Pro speakers.  Cables are mostly by Zu.

I didn't have any particular methodology for this comparison.  For probably 6 weeks, I spent roughly equal time with all four, changing every few days or so.  This was never intended to be a formal comparison but I thought it might be useful to have something written up since I don't know of any comparisons of these four music machines.

Just for fun, I'll list these in order from "most non-oversampling sound" to "most oversampling sound".

Paradisea

Out of these four, the Paradisea is about light touch.  It is nimble and evenhanded.  It makes “pretty” sound but isn’t mushy or overly tubey.

In my experience, NOS DACs can have weaknesses in:  dynamic contrast, frequency extension, instrumental separation, focus, and resolution.

Normal NOS strengths:  Singularity of voice, lyrical flow, un-digital presentation.

The Paradisea is good with frequency extension, instrumental separation, and focus.  I thought ultimate resolution was not as good as the other DACs here and dynamic contrast was a little flat.  It was excellent with all the usual strengths, sounding musical always without a hint of digital edge.  Midrange tonality is good, but maybe not quite as deeply saturated as the others.  I would not recommend this DAC for detail junkies or those that like energetic sounds.  It is a little polite, which could be good or bad, depending on system needs.

Attraction

This one has had quite a bit of virtual ink spilled over it.  I thought it was more resolved and dynamic than the Paradisea but less so than the oversampling units.  It has fewer compromises than any of the NOS DACs I’ve heard but maintains their strengths.  It still is not the rocker’s choice, as bass is lighter and less defined than with either the Lessloss or Empirical.  Treble extension is good but again, gives up something to the OS units. 

The Attraction pays dividends with excellent midrange tonality, a cohesive sonic fabric, clean and extended treble though not as airy as the oversampling units.  Overall, better than the Paradisea but also considerably more expensive.

Lessloss

I’m a little tired of writing about the Lessloss, as I’ve done a lot of it over the last few weeks.  Suffice to say that in my system, it is hugely dynamic, incredibly extended but still smooth, and provides outstanding separation without apparent artificial boundaries.  It is clean and clear, without any obvious weaknesses.  There is a touch of hardness in the treble but it is slight and to me a reasonable tradeoff for its outstanding resolution.

Empirical Electrocompaniet

The Empirical is a mutha.  It seems to be bent on excavating every single musical pit.  While I can’t say I heard anything more with this DAC than, say, the Lessloss, it seemed more obviously resolved.  Instrumental separation was complete and dynamics most impressive, especially in the bass.  There were times when bass transients had my mouth agape.  If you’re a bass junkie, I can’t imagine you could do better with an add-on DAC.  Midrange tone is complex and seemed accurate – certainly solid state in presentation (duh) but the rest of my gear is a bit warm and this was not a problem.

The penalties for such an assertive approach are more “digital” in the treble range and a seeming isolation between performers in the band.  I don’t want to overstate these criticisms, as they are minor.  My system is very dynamic and tends toward edgy.  These concerns would likely not even show up on a system with a mellower voice but the lively, resolved sound would be most welcome.

Conclusion

In my system, the clock-linked Lessloss is my favorite of these four.  In the good/bad ledger, it has almost no downsides.  Even without the clock-linking I like it a lot.  If my system were different, I might choose any of the other three.  With metal tweeters, either of the NOS DACs might win out and with mellower systems, the Empirical might prove best.  I just received a 1st generation pair of Omega’s Hemptone 8”ers that I dropped in my 45 liter bass reflex boxes and MAN, these are SWEET.  Treble is pretty laid back but their voice is punchy and cohesive.  I bet the Empirical to a good pre/amp would kick serious tail with these.  Alas, I don’t have it any more.

Thanks, Chris.  I had a lot of fun with these boxes and hope this short writeup gives some idea of their relative qualities.  Yep, I liked every one of them and could live with any in the long term.  Wishy washy me.

[lonewolfny42]

Your welcome Mike....

Thanks for posting your comparison results.

                      Chris

[miklorsmith]

I just realized I didn't write it before - the biggest surprise out of the bunch was the Paradisea which I really liked.  It was at a significant disadvantage, costing literally a third of the next cheapest DAC.  In the comparison, it was not totally outclassed and I can sure see why it's gotten all the positive comments.

[TheChairGuy]

wow - that's great stuff, Mike

Steve Nugent/Empirical Audio loves dynamics - no surprise his DAC should have the biggest thump of all of them.

Would be interesting if you got to compare oneof Frank van Alstine's DAC's, which are 16 bit (not sure it is NOS), but with tightly regulated power supplies to supply dynamics in spades.  Regulated power supplies, the tighter the better, seems to supply a degree of thwack in any component it's used in.

Not sure if there is any downside is resolution, imaging, etc. with it's use.

[spud]

I just realized I didn't write it before - the biggest surprise out of the bunch was the Paradisea which I really liked.  It was at a significant disadvantage, costing literally a third of the next cheapest DAC.  In the comparison, it was not totally outclassed and I can sure see why it's gotten all the positive comments.

 

Very well done Sir. Have you tried the modified Zhalo DAc from Oritek? Price is right, performance is class "B" at least. If you better the power supply [ Outboard] its a killer. Its an OS though.

spud

[miklorsmith]

I haven't, but comments on both have been great.  The best new audio technology will be a transporter that allows me to zap from place to place to hear everything I want in an afternoon.  The amount of gears I've been able to hear is way less than what I have.  Road tours perhaps?   

[tanchiro58]

I have nothing to do with Promitheus Audio. But you should have listened to Promitheus DAC which have a reasonable price (see in audiogon) but it can be sonically compared up against more expensive DACs. 

[miklorsmith]

I listened to what I had available.  I have no doubts there are lots of great DACs out there that I haven't heard.

[lonewolfny42]

I have nothing to do with Promitheus Audio. But you should have listened to Promitheus DAC which have a reasonable price (see in audiogon) but it can be sonically compared up against more expensive DACs. 

tanchiro58....
Maybe you could "loan" your DAC to Mike for a listen....he's just north of you...

[Scott F.]

I just realized I didn't write it before - the biggest surprise out of the bunch was the Paradisea which I really liked.  It was at a significant disadvantage, costing literally a third of the next cheapest DAC.  In the comparison, it was not totally outclassed and I can sure see why it's gotten all the positive comments.

 

Hey Mike, which tubes did you try in it during your brief stay? Not that it makes a huge difference but depending on the voicing of your system, they can help to fine tune things more to a persons preference.

...and you are exactly right, in a forward system, the Paradisea can be just the thing to tame it. As you mentioned, same applies the other direction too. Got a laid back system? You will probably like an upsampled sound. Its all about system matching and personal preference.

Nice job

[miklorsmith]

The Paradisea had the Bendix 396 in it, I didn't have any others.

Thanks!

[anubisgrau]

cool test, miklorsmith, thanks for that! to be frank this is a sort of stuff i sometimes prefer to read over the "official" stuff from the big names of audio press. it is nice to see what other experienced members of our community value, what are their sonic preferences? and everybody can be a critic, not only these who established themselves.

i am altmann's DAC user and i am very much aware of its virtues that can be considered as good sides for some people and bad sides for others. i also used to like a stock EC DAC a lot back in the days when i had EC 4.7 preamp in my system. it's just a course of destiny that i found a better preamp for me so i gave up on EC house sound. otherwise i am very familiar with their attempt to make a big, rock-solid sound somewhere on no-one's land between SS and tubes.

FWIW, i have to say that i still haven't heard a DAC that can beat altmann on a sheer beauty of tone and overall presentation of music. i liked how miklorsmith said that it is the least NOS-sounding of all NOS DACs - true, in comparison with euphonic 1541 DACs it is so damn neutral and non-coloured that it hurts, but still i can understand that no lover of detail supremacy of certain upsampling DACs would turn his head on altmann.

thanks again for the test....

[nicksgem10s]

Hi Mike,

Great write up of some very nice dacs.

I will throw in my .02 cents since I am interested in all these pieces and will share my experience.

I owned the Paradisea+ and at first was attracted to is smooth overall presentation.  Once I rolled all the NOS tubes I could get my hands on I did some comparisons with other digital gear consisting of the following:

Paradisea+:  smooth overall presentation but lacked extension in lows and highs.  Nice sounding and convenient with built in USB but ultimately lacked the refinement and detail all the other sources I compared it with.

Consonance CD120 modified:  this cd player has been my reference since I heard it.  It replaced Northstar digital separates in my system about 1.5 years ago.  I owned both the model 192 dac & also the extremo along with the northstar transport.  The CD120 provided all the dynamics and details anyone could ask for.  I found it to reveal all the warts and digititis on poorly recorded works.  It still had a little of the "digital" sound so to speak.  Overall it is still one of the best values available period.

Scott Nixon USB tube dac (ufo) with external power supply:  a buddy brought this dac over for an extended listening session.  This dac doesn't look all that substantial and doesn't weigh much.  It is a very nice tube dac that was definitely a step up in resolution and dynamics over the Paradisea+ in my system and IMHO.  I preferred the CD120 since the sound had more weight and overall dynamics.

Altmann Attraction:  the same buddy also brought his newly acquired Altmann Attraction dac over for an extended listening session.  This dac also doesn't look like your typical audio jewelry.  About 1 minute into listening to the Attraction I was floored     This dac had a sound that was very different than any of the other sources we listened to.  He wasn't sold on the Altmann Attraction being better than his Scott Nixon USB or the other sources.  I knew right away that the Altmann had some very special qualities that I have only heard in cost no object digital such as the Reimyo cd player.  My friend later decided that the Altmann was really special.

I was so lucky to have read about the Altmann Attraction on AC and other audio sites.  What was even luckier was having a chance to hear it when a buddy brought it over to hear in my own system.  Needless to say I started planning on getting an Altmann after the first night I listened to it.

I sold my other digital gear and am now using the Altmann Attraction as my only digital source.  I have to admit I can't leave well enough alone and am planning on modifying the Altmann based on some things I have been told about being able to improve upon the stock dacs incredible performance.  I don't know what to expect from the mods as it already has the most natural and moving performance of any digital I have heard.  It doesn't sound tubey or solid state.  I just feel like this dac presents the entire musical landscape and doesn't highlight artificial details or frequencies in the music.  I am glad to have found it.  It is so engaging it has me questioning my future plans of a reference analog setup. 

Thanks for sharing,

Nick

[miklorsmith]

Great stuff guys, thanks fer addin' on!

Yep, the Altmann's special, no doubt.  It isn't much to look at and lots of folks can't justify the parts cost/unit cost.  Just based on sound though, it's tough to beat.

[ferenc_k]

Seconded, after living with an Altmann Attraction DAC more than one and a half year ago, I am not forced to try or look for another DAC. Perfectly suites to my taste.

[anthony a.]

is there an option available with altmann to run on 120v, as opposed to battery?  also, i think this dac would sell more if it was in a box.  having the cables plugged in from the top is a neusance.  i wonder if it can be done?

[miklorsmith]

Paul Hynes Design makes supposedly great AC supplies for the Altmann:

http://www.paulhynesdesign.com/page7.html

Do a search here, the folks that have them like them a lot.

Could it be put in a case?  I'm sure it could.  If you peruse Altmann's website, it becomes obvious Charles didn't select the minimalist design just for cost savings.  He thinks having the connections mounted straight to the board and not having a metal case contribute to the sound quality.  Based on the final result, I'm not inclined to doubt him.

The RCA connections on top do compromise the unit's shelf space friendliness.

[Turnandcough]

I have nothing to do with Promitheus Audio. But you should have listened to Promitheus DAC which have a reasonable price (see in audiogon) but it can be sonically compared up against more expensive DACs. 

A bit off topic here but I would appreciate some feedback on the following -
I notice in your signature that you have both modded SB and DACs. Is your SB with digital or analog mods? I've noticed a few people, here and in other forums, that are using DACs with modded SBs.  I sold my Paradisea a few months ago and am now wondering if I should get analog mods for my SB or get another DAC and maybe have digital only mods done on my SB3.
Also - Do you find the Promitheus is in the same league as the Altmann? The Altmann with extras is a bit out of my price range for now.
Thanks

[tanchiro58]

is there an option available with altmann to run on 120v, as opposed to battery?  also, i think this dac would sell more if it was in a box.  having the cables plugged in from the top is a neusance.  i wonder if it can be done?

I am using RWA SLA/SMART battery charger for both Attraction DAC and BYOB amp. This is already good enough for both Altmann gears and at the same price (USD) with Paul Hynes PS for DAC only. 

I notice in your signature that you have both modded SB and DACs. Is your SB with digital or analog mods? I've noticed a few people, here and in other forums, that are using DACs with modded SBs.  I sold my Paradisea a few months ago and am now wondering if I should get analog mods for my SB or get another DAC and maybe have digital only mods done on my SB3.
Also - Do you find the Promitheus is in the same league as the Altmann? The Altmann with extras is a bit out of my price range for now.

Both of my SB2 and SB3 are modified with pulse transformers. They are sounding best with my Attraction DAC and Promitheus DAC. I do not find modded analog stage of SB3 or SB2 would not help to satisfy my ears.

IMO Promitheus DAC sounds best with my set up with tube amp and almost the same to the Altmann gears in my other system.

[srayle]

Miklor,

Any thoughts in retrospect?

steve