I recently had the pleasure of auditioning the Neko Audio D100 Mk2 during the demo tour this little DAC is making, thanks to Wesley Maw for making this tour possible.
The System My music source is a basic
CAPS low power computer without the SOtM tX-USB card. I use Windows 7 and the Foobar2000 player with Mike Galusha's excellent FlacWaveLoader as the front end. The FlacWaveLoader expands Flac files into WAV and loads the files into memory for flawless playback.
The electronics are a Van Alstine Insight+ pre-amp and 440+ double die amp with Straight Wire Encore cables, KingRex UC192 USB converter, DH Labs SPDIF cable and a generic USB cable. Speakers are the revealing and neutral Salk HT2-TL with the RAAL tweeter. I used the Neko Audio RCA to XLR interconnects for the audition.
The ReviewThe Neko DAC has been getting favorable reviews for a few years and I looked forward to hearing what it could do. The D100 Mk2 has a smooth grain free presentation that was relaxing and engaging at the same time. Stereo separation, imaging and depth of field was very good at this price point. Tonally the D100 has a slightly warm non-oversampling sound, almost tube like. The Mk2 version has plenty of gain, compared to the AVA Insight+ DAC the volume was exactly the same making an A-B comparison as easy as switching the SPDIF cable. Bass was generous and plentiful, bass freaks will not be disappointed. Highs are clear and tame the digital nasties that plague many recordings.
The best nutshell description of the D100 Mk2 would be always musical with a terrific natural midrange.
The ComparisonThe AVA Insight+ DAC and the D100 have been around since 2009 at the $900-$1495 mid-range price point with the Neko using the Burr-Brown PCM1794A DAC chips enabling it to play high-resolution 24-bit/192kHz recordings. The Insight+ is stuck at 16-bit/44.1. I don't have any high-resolution recordings so the comparison was done using Redbook recordings ripped to flac and wav.
It took a little while to get a handle on the differences between the two DAC's, at first they sounded very similar and it took quite a few back and forths before the changes became obvious. I warmed up both players with "Keith Don't Go" by Nils Lofgren, some Gillian Welch from
The Harrow and the Harvest, and of course some Norah Jones from
The Fall.
Next up was Norah Jone's latest album
Little Broken HeartsLittle Broken Hearts is produced by Danger Mouse so the album has a different feel from anything Norah has done before. The synth bass is deep and powerful with Norah's voice soaring above, at least that is the way it is supposed to sound. The slightly warm flavor of the Neko was a bit too much muddying up the vocals. The bass tracks also revealed the D100's bass was not as tight and controlled as the Insight+.
This is Happening by LCD Soundsystem also has electronic bass beats. The Insight+ consistently produced cleaner and deeper bass tracks.
The album also has wide dynamic swings which were not as bold as when I switched to the AVA DAC, this may be because the D100 uses output transformers instead of opamps. Whatever the reason the D100 Mk2 has less of a jump factor.
Keith Richards's 1988 solo effort
Talk is Cheap is a great rocker backed up by the X-Pensive Winos and a who's who list of contributing artists. The album is a classic with raw rock-n-roll as it should be played.
I noticed less air with the Neko and hand claps on "You Don't Move Me Anymore" were slightly muted. The album was not brash enough, like Keith was tamed and didn't want to offend.
Paul Simon's
So Beautiful or So What has a lot going on.
A good song to check out imaging is "Rewrite" which has a finger picked acoustic guitar, a West African kora, a djembe drum, and a wildebeest. The D100 Mk2 sounds just a little more homogenized on this cut; when listening to the Insight+ individual instruments have more space around them and are easier to pin point in the mix.
The ConclusionSystem synergy can make a stereo soar or just sound average. AVA electronics and Salk speakers have synergy so it is hard for another brand jump in and sound just right, it can be done but as some here can attest it can take a lot of experimenting.
The Neko Audio D100 Mk2 is an excellent smooth sounding DAC with a killer mid-range, great imaging and depth. If your system is on the cool side with tweeters that can be bright or you would like to move your sound stage from the first row to the 10th row then the Neko is just what you need. Many affordable speakers need a little help in the bass region, the D100 will give you the bass performance you crave. And if your musical tastes lean toward small groups and vocals the Neko DAC will put the performers in the room with you; imagine a little candle light, some wine with Barry White playing in the background through the Neko Audio D100 Mk2 and magic will happen.
Give it a listen, you won't be disappointed.
Wayne