The Insight DAC was waiting for me when I got home from work yesterday. And while I was eager to take it out, hook it up, and start throwing my music collection at it--I had to get my kids to bed. That was a hard few hours... I'll just post a few of reactions and reflections of the product for those who may be interested.
My first impression was to appreciate the packing and attention to detail. The packing is well designed and engineered, and the DAC made it to my doorstep without incident.
It was then that I realized that I should have asked Frank to sign the faceplate. (Kind of like the Carver Signature Series. How cool would have that been? For a second, I contemplated sending it back w/ this special request. Yeah--only for a second.)
My first reaction to the DAC itself was to realize that AVA gear has had a chassis upgrade relative to my models. Don't get me wrong--my (older) chassis are perfectly fine--and I think, attractive. However, the new chassis line seems to be a bit beefier--but not overdone. A subtle change and subtle improvement, I think. The finish on the hood seems different from the older gear--and I liked it.
Now--for a bit of background. I'm an asst. professor of speech science, which makes me both empirical and cynical. I find the audio industry quite hysterical for it's snake oil, pseudosciene, and marketing based principles such as "cognitive dissonance" and the insecurity / ignorance of the buyers. I sold mid-fi while in college, which gave me an over-exposure to the mid- in mid-fi. So after my shifts were over, I'd head over to the higher-end salons to listen and learn what I could. (As well as secretly scoff at the magical mystery products.)
Finally--I follow the Dave Ramsey perspective to personal and family finance. No debt, live beneath your means, increase one's security through savings. As a result, my system may be meager compared to others--but I'm quite satisfied w/ it, and it fits within my fiscal and family values. I'm using a pair of Acoustat 2+2 (electrostatic) speakers. Their positioned fairly well--but not *perfectly* optimal. When there's the combination of high voltage and a 2 year old child, one makes compromises; as a result, they're currently behind baby-gates. I'm driving them w/ Frank's SS gear; the 440HC and the SL pre-amp. (Older, smaller chassis.) My source was actually an Alpine DVA-9860 DVD player. It's got a pretty darn sensitive tuner, and the specs on the DVD player look good on paper at least. And it's quite convenient to put an artist's library (or multiple albums) on a single DVD. The Alpine uses TosLink--so after consulting w/ Frank, I just went to Walmart and picked up a Phillips DVD player w/ coax digital out (and w/ USB input). (I hope to get an external hard drive and just put my library on that. Hopefully, the unit will play uncompressed (.aiff?) format from USB.) Speaker wire is just run of the mill Parts Express brand 12 gauge; interconnects Monster 401 w/ PartsExpress connectors. (They had a deal-of-the-day about 11 years ago; 50 feet for like 30 bucks. I've probably still got about 30 feet...)
I didn't know what to expect, so I was pretty excited to listen for a difference...
My initial (and immediate) impression is that the Insight DAC had more "punch" than I was used to. (I guess others might call this "bass attack".) Then my analytical side kicked in and thought that the Insight was probably louder than my other source, and this was a trick of psychoacoustics. So to test this theory, I did some AB w/ the Alpine--and realized that the Alpine was a good decibel or so *louder* than the Insight DAC. (i.e., The Insight's "punch" was present in a softer overall volume.) This difference was easily noticeable with even a minimal amount of attention. I'm pretty confident I could consistently identify it in a blind AB test.
My next impression is hard to describe. "More." Or maybe better described as "More Complete." Again--difficult to express. "More Natural" may also be a good way of describing it. My personal benchmarks for critical listening include: (1) the male voice; (2) a piano; (3) an acoustic guitar. So while playing a male vocalist, even my wife (a disinterested party, albeit with a good ear--she played in the symphony for a major metropolitan area as early as High School) commented that the vocalist was more "natural sounding" than before. I'm not exactly sure what or why this would be--other than to suggest that the harmonic structure is better intact. And or what it's worth, this phenomenon remained consistent across the board--such as in acoustic guitar, piano, violin, etc...
I kept on listening after the wife and kids were in bed--probably a little too late to be honest. What can I say?--it was just a lot of fun to throw any number of CDs at it. Time seemed to fly by.
Another interesting observation is that the Insight DAC seemed to make my crappily recorded / engineered discs sound better than before. More tolerable / less annoying. I haven't a clue why this is the case, but I'm exceedingly confident that it is indeed the case. If anyone can explain this to me--I'd love to know why.
So once I settled down for a bit, I did begin to pick up new details that I hadn't heard before. Subtle--yes. But definitely present with even minimal directed attention.
I'd like to end this by complimenting Frank on his engineering, and for producing (yet another) excellent product. I'd also like to thank him for his generosity and his profound taste in product names.
I probably never would have shelled out the money for a DAC due to my fiscal and family values--but now that I'm listening to one, I can certainly vouch for its merits. I can also see product upgrades in my future, albeit after tenure.
I certainly wouldn't suggest starting off a system w/ a DAC; that just wouldn't make sense at all. But once you've got a good set of well-positioned speakers, with a good amp and pre-amp... along with well recorded and engineered CDs, I can definitely see how a DAC (specifically, an Insight DAC) is an asset to your system. No doubt about it, in my experience.
I plan on listening to the Insight DAC exclusively in the coming weeks, and then switch back to the old source to see what I notice. If there's any interest, I'll post my experience.
In short--it's made my music collection more interesting. This, in turn, makes life more interesting. Well done, Mr. Van Alstine.
