When I went over to Mantisory’s place I had the benefit of hearing the DAC 100 for the first time on his system. We played several of the pieces mentioned in Byron’s excellent review and I concur with his observations. The DAC sounded very open and airy especially in the midrange but for reasons unclear the bass seemed less resolving or immediate. Whether it was his system or the DAC wasn’t clear so I was anxious to install it at home. However an eight day business trip to Shanghai meant I had time to install the DAC but not hear it until last week.
I recently sold my Benchmark USB pre so I did not have the benefit of doing a side by side comparison though after a 8 months of listening I’m climatized to its sound. Right away I liked what I was hearing compared to the Benchmark. The highs did not seem as etched, had more air while the mids were pleasant, almost tube like.
The huge dynamic range on the 24/176.4 hirez version of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Dance of the Tumblers” came through loud and clear from my MacMini via optical connection. Its an excellent test piece and interestingly I did not detect the anemic bass that I heard on Mantisory’s system. A bit rounded and less detailed perhaps but with plenty of impact. All the air and spaciousness could be heard with violins, cymbals, horns and tympani clearly on a holographic soundstage. It sounded more easygoing and smoother than I remembered on the Benchmark. I’m going to venture out on a limb and suggest that what I was hearing had less jitter than the supposed jitter-free Benchmark USB but that statement is conjecture on my part.
To further test the low frequency performance I next played Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Tin Pan Alley”, a terrific steady blues number with powerful electric bass setting the stage for some of Stevie’s most delicate guitar work. Once again the bass and kickdrum was there, though not as detailed or”fast”. It was pleasant enough though more rounded and lingering than I have heard on this track. Balancing that was the excellent midrange, vocal and guitar reproduction.
Next, I wanted to hear just how good the DAC was at reproducing air and spaciousness. Out came Arturo Delmoni’s redbook version of “Meditiation of Thias” . The poignancy of the violin and gentle cello came through very well. With eyes closed I could easily imagine Arturo playing his violin in front of my fireplace. This piece has a romantic warmth which seemed more intimate than what I had heard on the Benchmark.
On to female vocals and another bass performance redbook track with Patricia Barber’s lusty and seductive version of The Door’s “Light My Fire”. Here my impressions were again confirmed with the vocals and midrange sounding natural and warm but with the bass again lingering. The other female vocal track I tested was the 24/96 high rez recording of Marta Gomez’s “Lucia”. The Neko did a wonderful job reproducing this track, again showing great air and spaciousness in her voice and acoustic guitar.
My next session with the Neko had it up against a Weiss DAC2 and for this one I invited a couple of friends over. The Weiss implements a different technology which I won’t go into here but its worth mentioning that through its firewire implementation, the Weiss DAC2 controls the data flow not the computer. We played all of the above mentioned tracks with both firewire and SPDIF connections. It was unanimous that the Weiss produced a more detailed, textured transparent sound especially from drums and standup and electric bass. However, for 3X the price it should. What was interesting was how well the Neko reproduced the mids and it took several tracks before it was evident that the Weiss mids were a tad more transparent. Cymbals also had more clarity with the Weiss which again I attribute to its superior handling of jitter compared to the Neko.
So my take is its no contest comparing the Neko to the Benchmark USB. At nearly similar prices, the Niko is my clear favourite. For those wishing to spend at that price point, its my current recommendation. But for audiophiles with deeper pockets there are better performing choices like the Weiss, though on some tracks I admit to straining to hear a difference. Thanks for letting me demo this excellent DAC, Wes
.
My System:
Pre-amp: McIntosh c220
Amplifier: McIntosh MC2102
Digital: MacMini, NAD M5 SACD, Squeezebox Duet
Speakers: Verity Audio Sarastros
Speaker Cables: DIY biwired 16/4 inwall with Nakamichi connectors
Interconnects: Neutrik-Canare XLR, Blue Jeans Low Capacitance, Mantisory Special Twisted Cat5
Vinyl: VPI Scout with Soundsmith “The Voice” cartridge
John
by paulg30 on Sun Sep 13, 2009 9:59 pm 
