I love this DAC

[DSJR]

Still very tempted by the Rega DAC.

Nearly all of the reviews I've seen mention that it sounds analogue, and has 'that Rega sound', which is contradictory of your own opinion (not implying anything here, just an observation!).

How does Pink Floyd sound on it?

Rega hated "Red Book Digital" with a vengeance back in the 80's and it took a lot of hard work and very careful design to come up with the original and dear little "Planet" CD player, which involved the listener so well and at a very modest price. Even the top-loading gave the user a bit more tactile involvement,although the AV boom (literally) in the early 90's put the UK Arcam players back in the running with their Diva range (the CD82 wasn't a bad player at all IMO).

The "thing" about Rega and Roy Gandy's sensibilities is broadly this, in my understanding... To make the very best, you can throw as much money as you like at a problem in an effort to "solve it" on the one hand. This is shown so much in audio, the limited numbers made and the extreme eye candy bling cases finishing these confections off (and sometimes disguising real rubbish underneath too). Alternatively, the designer can go back to basics and find novel and inexpensive ways round the problem with very careful economic design. This is how Rega have worked over the last 40 years or so, and with much success I think.

I suspect the Rega DAC will, if better than the DAC/output in the Saturn player which sounded so good to me, be a wonderful and simple solution to digital Red-Book replay for many of us. It should be reliable and of course Rega offer excellent service backup should it ever be needed.

Onward and Upward

[worrasf]

How does Pink Floyd sound on it?

Funny you should ask Ross as I've just finished listening to Pulse (both discs).

Put simply it sounds stunning. Comfortably Numb (final track disc 2) sounds better than I have ever heard before on CD - huge, soaring, detailed, emotional - makes your spine tingle and to get out your air guitar and drum kit

24 hours on and the REGA has really opened up - almost like a switch being thrown this morning. All the previous good points still present but the soundstage had opened up and presentation is more dynamic but no change in stereo imaging ie has not become "in your face".

I've experimented a little with the filters and for me filter 1 (linear phase half-band) sounds best - some reviewers seem to prefer filter 4 (linear phase apodising) but in my system it muddies up the mid-low frequencies and gives an artificial sounding bass - bit reminiscent of a "loudness" switch but I guess it's system and personal preference dependent.

Steve

[Marco]

Marco where have you been for the last 12 months?
This is the Prince of Darkness himself aka Mr "screw the NHS" Andrew Lansley

Lol - thanks for that, Steve. I wouldn't know, as I don't follow politics

Marco.

[StanleyB]

Hi Steve, since you have both the Gatorized Caiman and the Rega DAC, what about a litttle comparison between the two? It might help me to fine tune the TC-7510 replacement. High time my giant killer is given a completely new set of teeth .

[worrasf]

Hi Steve, since you have both the Gatorized Caiman and the Rega DAC, what about a litttle comparison between the two? It might help me to fine tune the TC-7510 replacement. High time my giant killer is given a completely new set of teeth .

Hi Stan - OK I'll do my best.

Both dacs have coaxial, optical and USB inputs. The REGA has 2 optical inputs the Beresford has 1. The Beresford has an integral high quality headphone amp, the REGA has no headphone amp. The REGA has an internal PSU the Beresford uses an external psu which allows for upgrades in this area.
The REGA has 5 selectable filters the Beresford has none.

My comparison is between the REGA dac with filter 1 engaged (48 hours old - the sound of the REGA is still evolving/maturing as it gets burned in) and the Beresford Caiman+Gator board+Teddy Pardo psu. inputs were mainly Cyrus CD Xt se/PSxR but also iPod via Wadia 170i (Audiocom signature upgrade) + Teddy Pardo psu using the coax inputs only. I have no experience of the USB inputs on either dac. I do not use the optical inputs as I have found previously that I prefer the sound from the Cyrus using it's coax output as opposed to its optical output.

Price wise the REGA is about £100 more expensive than the Gatorized Caiman plus Teddy Pardo psu (£500 v about £400)

From my previous posts it will be recalled that prior to using the Caiman+Gator+Pardo (CGP) I had been using a Benchmark DAC 1 but the CGP impressed so much I sold the Benchmark so my comments should be taken with this in mind. My preference at the time for the CGP was that it had much more of an "analogue/vinyl" sound the Benchmark being a bit bright and "HiFi" to my ears.

Well IMHO the REGA has the same attributes but more so. Now I know Ross (Yoga) in a previous post in this thread was confused by my comments but I see no confusion/contradiction in what I posted earlier and other's referring to a "REGA sound" which I take to mean "vinyl" - I had an RP3/R100 in days gone by before moving onto LP12/Ittok/Troika and from memory the latter was not so very different to the RP3 just more detail and dynamic but the "tone" was the same. This is what I meant when I posted that the REGA dac had a similar difference to when I added a Troika - I was meaning to emphasise the essentially vinyl sounding nature of the REGA. But I digress

In comparison to the CGP the REGA has a bigger soundstage - slightly more forward presentation but the music feels "larger" - it "blooms" a bit like the difference between Mullard ECC83's and Telefunken 12AX7's if that makes any sense but it does not loose out on high frequency detail like the Mullards do against the TFK's. I'm trying to paint a picture using sonic characteristics of other well known electronics to describe what I am hearing (and probably failing )

There seems to be no over-emphasis on one instrument/vocal in a mix - this makes close miked vocals easier to follow and distinguish - for example on Robert Plant's Band of Joy track 4 (Silver Rider) it is much easier to hear/follow the female vocalist and the female backing vocals singing along with Plant - they have a definite separation in space (a bit to the right and lower) - with the CGP they tend to merge and are not so obviously separate.

The REGA seems to extract a bit more detail than the CGP again making vocals clearer - a good example is where in complex vocals where sometimes one struggles to hear the last consonant of a word (is it a T or a D?) or even pick out feint voices clearly - Dark Side of The Moon being a good example here where with the REGA the "airport announcement" is much clearer than with the CGP

The music seems to rise and fall and flow easier - there's somehow more "air" or "space" in and around the performers and everything just seems more relaxed and effortless - that should not be taken to mean it's somehow "laid back" in presentation in the way the "Quad sound" is laid back - far from it. As the REGA warmed up and burned in then it became more dynamic and foot tapping than the CGP but it never got ragged (neither did the CGP).

Bass is full and controlled - seems to go a bit lower than the CGP and there is more detail/clarity - bass guitar backing lines are easier to follow - and indeed make their presence felt for the first time on occasion. Again there is a little more "warmth" to strummed guitar strings - ?better harmonics - just sounds more involving somehow.

The real killer was when I was listening to Banco de Gaia's Songs from the Silk Road (see previous post) on the iPod - for the first time you really could "see" that this was recorded from a big stage in an open air concert somewhere and you were about halfway back in the middle - I've never heard that sonic clue in a recording before - it really adds to the "believability" of the music being played.

I think that last comment sums up the difference between the 2 dacs and at the risk of a really naff hifi cliche the REGA gets you (well me anyway) closer to the live music sound. Now it may well be of course that this is just a "system synergy" thing and the REGA just works better with my other kit.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Caiman+Gator dac - it's fantastic but all I can say is the REGA sounds "better" in my system now whether it will in other systems I have no idea.

Steve

[Alex_UK]

Thanks for taking the time to write your review Steve, very interesting and enjoyable.

[Tim]

Thanks for taking the time to write your review Steve, very interesting and enjoyable.

Indeed, I think I'm going to have to try this DAC out - thanks Steve

[oldson]

have just read the rega uses a similar dac to my stagedac (wm8742 and 8741)
technically i dont know how they compare.
i feel a home trial coming on!

[Yoga]

Thanks Steve. I might have to get one of these to test against the Burson 160D.

Thanks for the info Dave, very interesting.

[kininigin]

Hi Steve, since you have both the Gatorized Caiman and the Rega DAC, what about a litttle comparison between the two? It might help me to fine tune the TC-7510 replacement. High time my giant killer is given a completely new set of teeth .

Hi stan,this might be a stupid question but are you replacing just the TC-7510? I recently sold my TC-7520 with gator to fund a trip,but i now need a new dac so any details you can give about your new dac would be appreciated