Besides effortless, detailed musical sound, what is really neat about this box is that it is more of a comprehensive solution to connecting digital sources to your analog gear than just a magic box: it has two SPDIF inputs, 1 USB input and an attenuator to adjust the output. If you like to run a minimal system, you can plug this directly into your amplifier, without need of a preamplifier. Of course, you need to make sure that it will have enough gain and correct impedance to get the most fidelity out of your amp. But it sure was sweet driving the direct inputs on my Decware SE84CS. It really made me think about my pre-amp, which while very neutral and detailed, may not be necessary at all.
The difference could be heard from the bathtub…
The first week I had the Chime, I put it in my system and put on Radiohead ‘Kid A’. A friend was visiting at the time and responded immediately that the disc sounded amazingly good. The funny part was that she was in the bathtub in an adjacent room, and didn’t realize that I was using the Chime. I don’t have a fancy transport, nor have I listened to great CD players in my system, but the Chime did that special thing in my system that I heard from the Eastern Minimax player at a friends house: everything just gets so right and the speakers simply disappear in the music.
I primarily listen to my analog system when I want to listen seriously. I’ve had a Hagerman Cornet II phono pre-amp for a little while, and it does a great job at getting music from my LP’s. My stock Sony DVP685 CD/SACD/DVD multi disc player is, well, just convenient and not bad, but not great. The Chime proved it. Through the stock output, its tonality is right, but everything seems a bit flat and contained within the space of my room. A-B over to the Chime DAC processing from the same unit, same song while volume matched, and suddenly the music is more finely rendered, more energetic and realistic, more natural, and has a greater presence outside of the speakers and room. Although SACD’s on the stock unit yield a similar improvement over stock redbook playback, it is mainly in the resolution and air, not necessarily the midrange and bass. Note that the Chime does not decode SACD, but the music it makes from redbook CD’s was cleaner than the SACD output of my Sony unit, top to bottom. This meant a great deal in my system by maximizing the 1.8 watts of triode power. The Chime did the same thing in my systems that my Cornet II did—really open up the music.
Would I, could I, should I?
I really enjoyed the privilege to hear this unit and think it is an exceptional DAC, not to mention value since it can be built from 1/2 kit form for a substantial savings vs. having one prebuilt (about $800 vs. $1800). With formats wars ensuing, I'm glad that this unit does the redbook really well. I don't think I'd miss SACD and the like if I had one in my system. And there is potential that Hagtech could develop a different DAC daughter card to address future formats-the DAC processing happens to be on a card that plugs into the analog output stage. I'm probably the only person in the world to find this out because I plugged this unit into a multidisk unit as a transport: every time my machine would switch disks, there is an audible 'pop' like a needle hitting the record when the DAC recognized an acceptable format. When using my single disc player (Luxman DZ-111) there was no noise. But hey, it was kind of reminiscent of the multi-lp phonographs when the next record would drop. Although this unit offers a USB connection that Macs and PC's recognize, what might be really killer is a digital interface...hey, everybody will be wearing their Nano's around next month anyway (
http://www.tunebuckle.com ). Unfortunately, Apple doesn't offer access to the bits without going through an OS.
Double your pleasure…
There were many setups and comparisons that I went through to test the Chime, but one of the most notable things was when another Philadelphian came over with a Clarinet preamp. We were on a funk/hip hop kick, and were listening to A Tribe Called Quest’s ‘Low End Theory’ when I plugged the Clarinet into the mix. I swear that my little Decware amp sounded much more powerful on the acoustic bass and kick drum. Now back to that pre-amp thing—necessary? Yes, but only with the right one. This gear has me thinking about a few changes in the near future.
Associated Equipment:
Decware HDT speakers
Decware SE84CS amplification
Golden Tube Audio SEP-1SE preamp
Hagtech Cornet II phono preamp
Modified Thorens TD-160 turntable w/ Rega arm
Sony DVP685 CD/SACD/DVD
Luxman DZ-111 CDP
Yamaha T-1 tuner
Matt
