Luxman DA-06 DSD DAC in for demo...

iamjaymo

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So my dealer lent me a Luxman DA-06 DAC for demo...ugh! Big mistake cuz now I just have to have it. This thing is fabulous. Never has music in my listening room sounded so good. I honestly did not think a DAC could make that much difference. Wrong! It is light-years ahead of my current DSD DAC, the Teac UD-501. The Teac is not even in the same league. Not the same hemisphere! Didn’t realize how fuzzy my digital sourced music was until the Lux lifted the veil.

Every professional review of the DA-06 is absolutely dead-on accurate - it is smooth, musical and luxurious sounding. Almost liquid-like. Everything is so clear yet smooth.

Great synergy with my Lux L-507u integrated; it seems like they were made for each other. In terms of cables, I have tried both unbalanced and balanced cables with little discernable difference. Maybe the balanced is slightly better but that may be a result to a slight increase in gain through the balanced outputs.

Very simple setup, nothing crazy...I am connected to the DAC via USB cable (Moon Audio Blue Dragon) from a Mac Mini running Audirvana in playlist mode (NOT using iTunes). I would say DSD128 is as close to vinyl as I have ever heard. I mean, this thing plays PCM incredibly well but DSD is just plain magnificent. I am hooked. Anyone else hear this thing or am I just enamored?









 
Update: I bought it. Got a good price on my week old "demo" so I jumped on it. The music has me smiling...


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Thanks for the comments on this - I had read a couple of professional reviews, but getting the impressions from a "real world" AKer is great :thmbsp:

And congratulations on the new acquisition.
 
Thanks Rich, I asked my dealer for the demo mostly out of curiosity as the professional reviews were so glowing. I had a tough time believing a DAC could be leaps and bounds better than another. I have had many other DACs in my system, my favorite being a Van Alstine tube DAC. But still, one did not blow any other out of the water. In fact, all the DACs I have tried pretty much sounded the same. Not this one.


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I bet this is a fantastic sounding DAC J - congratulations!.

I haven’t heard the DA-06 in my own system (I wish I could!) but did hear it in a few systems at last year’s TAVES show in Toronto and felt the Luxman (along with the ExaSound DACs) playing DSD were the highlights of the show.

Source was mostly 16/44 PCM and DSD64, some hi-res PCM and DSD128 with the real standouts for me being DSD128 (5.64) sourced from analog or DSD masters. Incredibly good was a vinyl rip played on the Luxman at DSD128 which really had me wondering what was possible with this format and a DAC of this caliber. The salesman couldn’t tell me where the rips came from (“somebody did these with some expensive table to DSD – don’t know the details…”) but they sounded like great analog off a very high-end table – a good thing for me.

I’ve been listening to DSD in the form of SACDs for years and now store all my SACDs as dsf files for streaming to a DSD capable DAC (Resonessence Concero HD). The real exciting part of this is how good this material – and especially good old 16/44 redbook wav – sounds converted to DSD128 on-the-fly with HQPlayer. It’s a tweaky, evolving thing right now and I’m finding software, players, network devices, power-supplies, etc. are all playing significant roles but the results are stunning when DSD gets to that DAC - and mine is not in the same league as the Luxman.

Someday I’d like to experience what the DA-06 can do in the mix.
 
It's a beauty that I would love to hear. Very impressed with the current Luxman offerings.
 
Congrats! A great DAC is a game changer. I felt the same way when I got my Chord Chordette DAC.
 
I bet this is a fantastic sounding DAC J - congratulations!.

I haven’t heard the DA-06 in my own system (I wish I could!) but did hear it in a few systems at last year’s TAVES show in Toronto and felt the Luxman (along with the ExaSound DACs) playing DSD were the highlights of the show.

Source was mostly 16/44 PCM and DSD64, some hi-res PCM and DSD128 with the real standouts for me being DSD128 (5.64) sourced from analog or DSD masters. Incredibly good was a vinyl rip played on the Luxman at DSD128 which really had me wondering what was possible with this format and a DAC of this caliber. The salesman couldn’t tell me where the rips came from (“somebody did these with some expensive table to DSD – don’t know the details…”) but they sounded like great analog off a very high-end table – a good thing for me.

I’ve been listening to DSD in the form of SACDs for years and now store all my SACDs as dsf files for streaming to a DSD capable DAC (Resonessence Concero HD). The real exciting part of this is how good this material – and especially good old 16/44 redbook wav – sounds converted to DSD128 on-the-fly with HQPlayer. It’s a tweaky, evolving thing right now and I’m finding software, players, network devices, power-supplies, etc. are all playing significant roles but the results are stunning when DSD gets to that DAC - and mine is not in the same league as the Luxman.

Someday I’d like to experience what the DA-06 can do in the mix.

I agree with your observations. I do think DSD is a potential game-changer from what I have heard with my own ears.

I have a bunch of needle-drops provided from my buddy who has a nice VPI table/cart combo and uses Korg (don't know specifics) to do the conversion. Those NDs are exquisite sounding.

I would say I still prefer vinyl, maybe more for the whole experience of handling the record, watching it spin and the sound. I have soooo much digital music however, and now with the DA-06 being so close, combined with the high cost of good quality new vinyl, I think I'm at a fork in the road. The DA-06 has made my choice of which direction to go a little easier.
 
I’m in the same boat with vinyl, it just sounds ‘right’ to me (as it remained all through the digital revolution that spun around me) and it sure isn’t leaving my system. But like you said, there is SO much digital out there that it’s damn exciting when a vinyl guy starts (finally!) getting the same enjoyment out of digital that I get when spinning an LP.

I don’t know what the ‘secret sauce’ has been for me but I suspect it is DSD. I liked it in the form of SACDs and I love it now that I’m converting all digital to DSD128. I’ve had some decent PCM DACs in my system (with my favorite being an AudioNote) but I really think I’m finding that a DAC focused on DSD conversion, HQPlayer doing the heavy digital lifting elsewhere and feeding that DAC DSD128, is the path for me. I haven’t used the AudioNote in weeks. :)

Game-changer is probably what I’d call this too. I always went for the vinyl option on new buys but availability, cost & quality risk have made that less and less desirable. I now consider DSD downloads, SACDs & CDs right in there with vinyl and don’t concern myself with media so much anymore. I had completely ruled out buying used vinyl after having been burned on bad quality so often but with CDs, not an issue and there are LOTS of them out there. This is all very refreshing.

Now if I could just figure out a way to get 320k streams to go through HQPlayer and DSD…
 
I’m in the same boat with vinyl, it just sounds ‘right’ to me (as it remained all through the digital revolution that spun around me) and it sure isn’t leaving my system. But like you said, there is SO much digital out there that it’s damn exciting when a vinyl guy starts (finally!) getting the same enjoyment out of digital that I get when spinning an LP.

I don’t know what the ‘secret sauce’ has been for me but I suspect it is DSD. I liked it in the form of SACDs and I love it now that I’m converting all digital to DSD128. I’ve had some decent PCM DACs in my system (with my favorite being an AudioNote) but I really think I’m finding that a DAC focused on DSD conversion, HQPlayer doing the heavy digital lifting elsewhere and feeding that DAC DSD128, is the path for me. I haven’t used the AudioNote in weeks. :)

Game-changer is probably what I’d call this too. I always went for the vinyl option on new buys but availability, cost & quality risk have made that less and less desirable. I now consider DSD downloads, SACDs & CDs right in there with vinyl and don’t concern myself with media so much anymore. I had completely ruled out buying used vinyl after having been burned on bad quality so often but with CDs, not an issue and there are LOTS of them out there. This is all very refreshing.

Now if I could just figure out a way to get 320k streams to go through HQPlayer and DSD…

I am not trying to derail the OP's thread, but do you prefer HQPlayer to JRiver?
 
On a strictly sonic basis - yes, I much prefer HQPlayer.

I don't want to derail J's thread on this killer DAC (sorry J) but did start discussing HQPlayer here and here.
 
Oh my GO$H!!!


This brings up a point...a buddy says to me, "I can't BELIEVE you spent that much on a DAC". This coming from a person who has a 10K vinyl rig and God know how much in vinyl. Don't know how what I spend is dumb if that is my primary source??? And not that it's any of his or anyones business what I do with my cash, but I didn't pay anywhere near retail. Sorry, venting!

Ooops, I think I thread-jacked my own thread.


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One of the systems I heard the DA-06 in would have been north of $50k (no turntable), and I thought the DA-06 fed by a laptop represented a kind of surprising front-end bargain. There where a lot of systems I heard that day with vinyl front-ends 10x the price of the DA-06/laptop that didn't sound as good.

I remember running the numbers in my head after that show. I have a lot in my vinyl front-end, love the results and don't regret where I've gone but if starting all over and knowing what DSD playback is capable of, I might consider the DA-06 as the starting point for a source option that outperforms vinyl dollar-for-dollar.
 
I agree...and I love vinyl. Your point is well taken, especially when you look at the numbers - the Luxman is a bargain.


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I agree...and I love vinyl. Your point is well taken, especially when you look at the numbers - the Luxman is a bargain.


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It really is a bargain when one considers how much one would have to spend in analog gear to equal the Luxman's performance.
 
This brings up a point...a buddy says to me, "I can't BELIEVE you spent that much on a DAC". This coming from a person who has a 10K vinyl rig and God know how much in vinyl. Don't know how what I spend is dumb if that is my primary source??? And not that it's any of his or anyones business what I do with my cash, but I didn't pay anywhere near retail. Sorry, venting!

Ooops, I think I thread-jacked my own thread.


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Don't ever feel compelled to explain why you spent a certain amount on anything...especially on a Forum like thi$! Why anyone else would concern themselves about your personal finances is also odd, either in the real world, or again, on a site like this! I spend no where near what you and many others have spent, yet I have had a family member not just concerned, but who actually become angry that I bought another piece of gear. Really...

Also, that is an interesting point comparing the total cost of hi end vinyl systems including the vinyl. That really does add up!
 
So my dealer lent me a Luxman DA-06 DAC for demo...ugh! Big mistake cuz now I just have to have it. This thing is fabulous. Never has music in my listening room sounded so good. I honestly did not think a DAC could make that much difference. Wrong! It is light-years ahead of my current DSD DAC, the Teac UD-501. The Teac is not even in the same league. Not the same hemisphere! Didn’t realize how fuzzy my digital sourced music was until the Lux lifted the veil.

Every professional review of the DA-06 is absolutely dead-on accurate - it is smooth, musical and luxurious sounding. Almost liquid-like. Everything is so clear yet smooth.

Great synergy with my Lux L-507u integrated; it seems like they were made for each other. In terms of cables, I have tried both unbalanced and balanced cables with little discernable difference. Maybe the balanced is slightly better but that may be a result to a slight increase in gain through the balanced outputs.

Very simple setup, nothing crazy...I am connected to the DAC via USB cable (Moon Audio Blue Dragon) from a Mac Mini running Audirvana in playlist mode (NOT using iTunes). I would say DSD128 is as close to vinyl as I have ever heard. I mean, this thing plays PCM incredibly well but DSD is just plain magnificent. I am hooked. Anyone else hear this thing or am I just enamored?









:drool:wow:drool: what a lovely combination. You mentioned there is a negligible difference from the balanced to unbalanced IC's, just curious, what cable length are you running? Are you continuing to hear any differences with it running in now? Thanks, what an awesome set up you have!
 
Thanks Impeculies - balanced cable length was 1 meter. I notice most improvement in PCM playback from other DACs. I have only directly compared my Teac UD-501 and the DA-06 is leaps better...resolution, dynamics, smoothness. Listening to the Lux seems to get me the same "emotional" connection to the music - much like listening to vinyl. Haven't really been listening to my vinyl rig at all lately.
 
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