So the big question is it an improvement? and was it worth $208? well $240 with Tax and international shipping
Yes it is an improvement, the only word I can use is Smooth, which I can only assume really means less distortion than the Xonar DG.
It is still amazing how shockingly good Xonar DG is to this considering the huge price difference. I did test the onboard asus crystal sound 2 and the DAC / AMP sounded way better night and day difference. Offcourse the xonar DG being a dedicated sound card is going to sound really good. The good news is I could tell the difference between both in a blind test.
Adele and Lana Del Rey never sounded this good but Adele is the real star of the show. Switching back and forth as quickly as I could with the xonar DG I could tell how the music had less fatigue with the Spark and d30. The xonar dg would sound more harsh and hurt my ear drum quicker. Who knows why..... While you can listen to the spark without ever stopping cause everything is just so incredibly smooth
The difference and improvement over the xonar DG is about 25% or so. Space Electronic music sounds better on the DAC AMP you can tell how the DG sounded more distorted with all the million and 1 instruments playing in those space electronic / Chill Relax music where as the D30 and Spark destroys any song you throw at it, with relative ease also.
Songs with any sort of bass sounds like if the bass is extended on this new amp and dac, not sure how that is even possible.
Probably NOT worth $208 IMO for that little extra sound quality but who knows maybe after a couple weeks when I switch back to have a listen I will find this new setup to sound way better
But I don't think I will bother sending this back cause it looks very sexy on my desk and I finally have a volume knob at my side and this way I will know that I am at the limit of human hearing and nothing will ever sound better than this so my quest in audiophile is over. Already have the best DAC,AMP and Headphones, I found out what I wanted to find out for over 10 years and I have what I always wanted to have even if its not night and day difference, the improvement is still Solid and that is good enough for me.
On a side note this AMP and DAC sounds noticeably better than a SMSL SD II DAC/AMP I once had years ago for $65 USD
Yes it is an improvement, the only word I can use is Smooth, which I can only assume really means less distortion than the Xonar DG.
It is still amazing how shockingly good Xonar DG is to this considering the huge price difference. I did test the onboard asus crystal sound 2 and the DAC / AMP sounded way better night and day difference. Offcourse the xonar DG being a dedicated sound card is going to sound really good. The good news is I could tell the difference between both in a blind test.
Adele and Lana Del Rey never sounded this good but Adele is the real star of the show. Switching back and forth as quickly as I could with the xonar DG I could tell how the music had less fatigue with the Spark and d30. The xonar dg would sound more harsh and hurt my ear drum quicker. Who knows why..... While you can listen to the spark without ever stopping cause everything is just so incredibly smooth
The difference and improvement over the xonar DG is about 25% or so. Space Electronic music sounds better on the DAC AMP you can tell how the DG sounded more distorted with all the million and 1 instruments playing in those space electronic / Chill Relax music where as the D30 and Spark destroys any song you throw at it, with relative ease also.
Songs with any sort of bass sounds like if the bass is extended on this new amp and dac, not sure how that is even possible.
Probably NOT worth $208 IMO for that little extra sound quality but who knows maybe after a couple weeks when I switch back to have a listen I will find this new setup to sound way better
But I don't think I will bother sending this back cause it looks very sexy on my desk and I finally have a volume knob at my side and this way I will know that I am at the limit of human hearing and nothing will ever sound better than this so my quest in audiophile is over. Already have the best DAC,AMP and Headphones, I found out what I wanted to find out for over 10 years and I have what I always wanted to have even if its not night and day difference, the improvement is still Solid and that is good enough for me.
On a side note this AMP and DAC sounds noticeably better than a SMSL SD II DAC/AMP I once had years ago for $65 USD
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