Stan's New Dac - any reviews yet?

[tizer2000uk]

Stan I reckon having looked at the innards that the next step could be a seperate upgrade for the headphone amp along with some blackgates or nichicons and perhaps some burr browns in the sockets For the purposes of upgrading, are the socketed opamps feeding both the headphone and aux out?

I showed one of the guys at work a pic of the inside and he immediately caught sight of the opamps and remarked that it was a good design to make so much of an opamp considered by many to be the weak link, something he said was usuallly attributable to designers not designing the supporting circuit properly.

[tizer2000uk]

Would i be right in saying that most people seem to prefer the sound of the 7520 over the 7510 ?

If headphones are your priority then definately, the headphone amp on the 7510 pales in comparison. If however you prefer your speakers then the 7510 might well be adequate as the sound is still very good, slightly thinner sounding and with a little less bass weight which I think for some music and setups might be preferable. My wife actually prefers the 7510 on the system downstairs through the speakers but loves the sound of the 7520 through my Grado's. My setup downstairs is a very modest affair in terms of cost and resolution and so those with more revealing setups will likely prefer the 7520 as you literally get far more music for your money.

[Covenant]

Would i be right in saying that most people seem to prefer the sound of the 7520 over the 7510 ?

I dont agree with the comments that the 7510 'will be adequate for most people' argument. If your on this forum then you already think about how good your system is and what you can do to improve it. So getting the 7510 is going to leave you dissatisfied. As I have just proved the resale value of Stan's products is excellent so upgrading is cheap and easy.
Without detracting at all from the 7510 (which I had for a year and loved) if your an audiophile you should go straight for the best.

[Krisbee]

I've just been re-reading this thread while listening to this Thursday's BBC3 broadcast of Handel's Acis and Galatea on my three day old TC-7520. A 192 bitrate 44.1 kHz mp3 file which sounds pretty good to me over usb form my PC.

May be things have gone a bit quiet here after the first flush of enthusiasm, but I just wanted to say how refreshing it is to find a forum where a sensible and informed discussion of this DAC has flourished.

This is in sharp contrast to another forum where I posted a message about the TC-7520 and was meet with hostility and accusation. I sincerely hope this will never be allowed to happen at AOS.

PS Thanks to lwd for coming to my defence, if he reads this he will know what I mean.

Chris.

[StanleyB]

This is in sharp contrast to another forum where I posted a message about the TC-7520 and was meet with hostility and accusation. I sincerely hope this will never be allowed to happen at AOS.

PS Thanks to lwd for coming to my defence, if he reads this he will know what I mean.

Welcome to the Beresford effect. Every time I bring out a low cost solution I get attempts made to hack into my forum accounts and people posting as if they are me, my email account flooded with attacks etc., etc. I am accustomed to it by now.

Stan

[sanchezxxx]

Hi All,

I am new to the headphone / digital hobby and this forum. I posted the below review on headfi but it was deleted due to me being new. A real shame as I thought they would have most interest due to the context. Anyway hope it helps anyone considering this DAC…

I purchased the 7520 a week ago for use with my newly acquired AKG 701’s, I have now had a chance to spend some proper time listening so here are my impressions.

I was looking for a dac + headphone amp that I could use with my AKG’s to get some peace and quiet in the office. Nothing says leave me to get on with my work like wearing big AKG’s or Sennhieser’s 

Initial Product Search:
I was looking at budget products under £200 like Style Audio Carat Peridot, Zero Dac or the Zhalou as an all in one solution but couldn’t find anywhere to demo the units in London. Was also looking at combo’s like the Cambridge Audio Dac and Project Headbox but the price increase on the CA unit knocked this way out of my budget. Was just about to take a punt on a cheap Peridot on ebay when I noticed that there was a new USB all in one DAC / Headphone amp from Beresford. I was wary of this due to the controversy on most forums about the 7510, components used and sound quality and WHIFI 5* review. Also I couldn’t be bothered with the hassle of posting it back and waiting for a refund if I didn’t like it. After a few years in this hobby I have now learnt to trust nothing but my ears and the recommendation of a few who’s opinion I have faith in; great press reviews and forum hyperbole have lead me to previous dogs such as QED Silver Anniversary XT amongst others. Found out through reading the forums that Beresford was based in London so emailed them to see if I could come and try out the unit and let my ears be the judge. Received an email from Stan saying no problem….

Initial listen:
Went round Stan’s with my AKG and received a demo of a fresh 7520 straight out of the box. Initially it had a very digital/solid state/detailed sound that was very different to my current set up. I quite liked it but it was ever so slightly harsh. Stan assured me that it would burn in after 20 hours or so and deliver a smoother sound. What interested me much more was that the unit had no issue whatsoever driving my AKG’s to a level loud enough to cause a real headache and even not burnt in it was showing good potential in the bass department. At this stage I was convinced that the unit was worth taking home for a more detailed listen and handed over my £170.

After burn in:
I left the 7520 connected to my laptop and Akg’s for 20 hours or so burn in and then re-evaluated. I was not so sure about the concept of burn in so did not have the headphones on my head during this time to ensure if I noticed a difference it was not just me readjusting to a new sound. There was a clear difference, the harshness had gone but the 7520 still retained good detail for my liking and was very musical. Bass on the AKG’s had also improved a lot. They sound great with both female vocals and electronica which are the main types of music I listen too, totally acceptable with hip hop too. I would say this combo is a must hear for any Kraftwerk, Massive attack and Air fans listening to their music in Flac or Lossless. Great dynamics and a deep but not overpowering bass. The 7520 does also make lower bitrate songs and internet radio sound better as per previous reports but the AKG’s can still be a little fussy.

With Creative Aurvana/Denon D1000:
I also have some Creative Aurvana headphones that are a Denon D1000 clone and would also highly recommend the 7520 for owners of either of these headphones. I never would have thought that such a cheap headphone could sound so good. The bass is immense and has that slam missing with the AKG’s for all bass heads out there. A good combo for anyone looking for a great cheap headphone setup that is happy playing any type of music at most bitrates.

Against other combos and through main rig:
I haven’t tested hundreds of competing products but can say this is much better than any creative / M-audio sound cards in the £80-150 range I have tried plugged into a range of headphones or my Musical Fidelity X-A1 / Tannoy R3’s. It also easily beats the sound of my Marantz CD6000KI player into hifi or headphones and this was a £600 player in its time with upgraded toroidal transformer and decent headphone out. While it can make the AKG’s go loud it doesn’t have anywhere near the control or bass that the 7520 delivers. Power and bass are much more greater than on the Pro-ject headbox which at £90 for the amp section only I feel is a fair product to compare to. Both DAC and headphone out is also better than my £1000 or so Pioneer VSX-AX5Ai-S. I apologise I do not have a more comprehensive list of products to compare it to.

Conclusion:
I am not so good or a major fan of the audiophile dictionary but can say I am very happy with the sound of the 7520 and would definitely recommend it, even more so for AKG and other headphone owners. To my ears it is detailed but still fun and musical with great bass and a powerful headphone amp.

What I love about this amp is its versatility. I have my DVD(2 channel setup with MF and Tannoy, not main AV rig with Pioneer), freeview box and laptop plugged into it and it gives me a major improvement in sound for all 3 sources. The SQ is great and I don’t think there is anything like it for those looking for a USB DAC + headphone amp with loads of inputs at anywhere near the price.

Also I would urge anyone considering the 7520 to ignore the reviews and controversy and just go and listen to the 7520 so you can make your decision on SQ alone. I nearly didn’t even demo it because of the controversy but I think anyone who chats to Stan for a few mins will realise he is passionate about hifi, his product and is clearly the designer. Although he is just one guy with no big marketing/pr dept. I am not one for politics but I have heard comments in other forums of people knocking the unit for various reasons and saying he is not the designer etc... I say forget these and just trust your ears.

[theone999]

May be things have gone a bit quiet here after the first flush of enthusiasm, but I just wanted to say how refreshing it is to find a forum where a sensible and informed discussion of this DAC has flourished.

Perhaps its all the happy owners who's posted intial impressions then just sat back and enjoyed it? If something was wrong with the DAC, then the post count would at least double lol, people tend to complain more.

[Krisbee]

A poor choice of opening words on my earlier post. You are absolutely right, just sit back and enjoy it.

An excellent, fair and balanced review by Sanchez.

[kbuech]

UPDATE TO MY PREVIOUS REVIEW

Hello all,

I was one of the first to review the TC-7520 on this forum, but my review was lost when the forums all crashed recently.

My 1st (of the 4 I eventually purchased) 7520 has been playing round-the-clock for over 200 hours hooked-up to my Mac computer in my office system.

I'm so impressed with this kit! I have been able to listen to digital music for hours on end now without fatiguing of the sound. Sort of like using my Linn LP12 turntable to listen to analog audio but not having to keep getting up to change the albums!

With my 7520 units in my bedroom system and HT systems, I have to be careful about the volume at which I'm listening. You see, I have VERY powerful and clean amplification in these systems and I think the 7520 is so low in distortion that I don't realize how loud it is until someone comes into the room and tries to talk to me, or I turn off the Hi-Fi and my ears are beginning to ring!

And the quality of reproduction of 128 kbps tracks I listen to at Pandora.com is astounding to me. I'm listening right now to Cat Stevens' "Peacetrain" at work (system 1 below) on my pandora.com "James Taylor" station, and it's just so very detailed and enjoyable to hear.

I'm a very satisfied customer.

Hope those comments help.

Kurt

[Krisbee]

UPDATE TO MY PREVIOUS REVIEW
I'm so impressed with this kit! I have been able to listen to digital music for hours on end now without fatiguing of the sound. Sort of like using my Linn LP12 turntable to listen to analog audio but not having to keep getting up to change the albums!

Kurt

Kurt,

Very interesting to hear the opinion of someone whose is using the TC-7520 in conjunction with powerful and quality amplification. Are you using anything special in the way of power sources for the TC-7520, or just the standard power plugs supplied by Mr.B?