CH Precision C1

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
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Dear LL21,
i see you have Wilson X1
My 2 best friends living both 5 minutes from my home have
one with X1 with Mark Levinson 30.5 31.5 32 33
other with Alexandria with Viva preamp and mono Viva Aurora

Regards
Gianluigi

Interesting...i know of a 'Friederich' who owns X1 with ML 32, 33 and (i think) 30.5/31.5. There may be more than one owner with such a setup, but i actually have his posts saved somewhere because he bi-wired his X1s which was quite unusual.

Your neighborhood seems to be a center of big audiophiles!
 

gian60

Well-Known Member
Apr 17, 2016
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We are 6 friends near maximo 10 minutes
Other 3 have
Vivaldi pre Aloia( italian tube ) Viola Bravo Coincident speakers the biggest
dcs puccini pre Aria Viola Bravo Coincident speaker smaller
Audio note M10 amp Gakuho Kageki Kegon to triamp western electric

Other 5 friends near 60 km has similar system,we are a good group.
italy is small so we are near,not like USA
 

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
14,411
2,509
1,448
We are 6 friends near maximo 10 minutes
Other 3 have
Vivaldi pre Aloia( italian tube ) Viola Bravo Coincident speakers the biggest
dcs puccini pre Aria Viola Bravo Coincident speaker smaller
Audio note M10 amp Gakuho Kageki Kegon to triamp western electric

Other 5 friends near 60 km has similar system,we are a good group.
italy is small so we are near,not like USA

Great group! Enjoy!
 

Legolas

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Dec 27, 2015
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I had a full day demo with the C1 a few weeks back. It was on my Stax 009s and KGSShv Carbon amp. It is a great DAC and has super detail and a wide soundstage with full bass and good vocals. I was pretty sold on it for an hour or so playing around 10 favourite tracks inc some Trance, Beyonce and Rammstein. But it started to slide the rest of my time with it trying tracks of less well mastered material such as Cranberries and Evanescence which are bright recordings and can test a digital front end. Then it became fatiguing and very digital sounding. It had a pre-ring or post ring I am convinced, I am not sure. But the treble on less well recoded material had a viscous ring and edge to it.

The Stax 009 headphones fed by the Carbon are very transparent and fast but have NO distortions. But if there is a treble coldness or harshness it becomes fairly obvious. To be honest I was very disappointed. I really loved the build of the C1 and the architecture and engineering gone into it. It is an R-2R but oddly oversampled everything, and I presume has a filter? Regardless it was almost perfect on superb recordings but I couldn't live with it in the end as more than half my Redbook catalogue isn't that good, thus I was clock watching at the end of the demo.

Back to my existing Audio Note DAC 5 Special (with some upgrades) the exact same Stax system sounds, well, as good as the C1 but has none of the treble harshness I discovered. The DAC 5 also sounds fabulous through my Zingali Client Name EVO 1.2 I also use as well as the Stax 009s.

My thoughts were is the USB in the C1 a weak point? I was using that fed by my optimised Mac Mini (SSD, 8gig ram, 12V DC linear supply, fan removal) and Audirvana+ ver 2 asyncronious and with the TotalDAC USB filter/cable, the same as I use into my Audio Note.

It would be interesting to hear the C1 again but through the ethernet board option, as it did have a great soundstage width and probably a bit faster than my Audio Note. BTW I run my Audio Note through a passive so but like the C1 i.e. no pre-amplifier in the chain.

With high end digital there is no free lunch I guess, more detail and speed brings problems. Really well recorded material sounds superb, less well recorded material almost unlistenable. My Audio Note is slightly coloured, a warm sounding DAC I admit. I have tweaked the coupling caps in it and the tubes to bring it to 'my perfect ideal'. It has oodles of detail and pace but I don't seem to pay the price for that in listening fatigue. The DAC 5 is so old now, a design almost unchanged since 2008 for the V2 version I have.

Anyway, I haven't given up on the C1 and will get another demo with the Ethernet option. I don't want or have the budget for the D1, and I find that crazy to have to buy that at the cost. A DAC costing as much as the C1 should not require that iMO.

In the meantime I am going to try Rednet by Focusrite for an Ethernet music feed into my DAC 5. It is supposed to beat USB and can be had for 1K USD.
 

jep123

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Dec 23, 2012
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I have used the C1 a few weeks now, USB and coaxial. Without mentioning the brand name of the dac I used before I can say that the C1 is the most honest piece of audio equipment I have ever owned. My previous dac was very organic sounding, but also coloured in comparison with the C1. It all sounded organic, but too much so. To " sweet", everything sounded this way. It was a USD 10.000,- dac.

Personally I like equipment that is neutral. Bad recordings can sound bad, but that is the way they are recorded or produced. The music can be very good anyway, I have lot of music that sounds less than optimal. I am still listening to it.

But the C 1 needs at least 250 hours before it start sounding good. In the beginning it will sound harder and edgy, more digital if you like. After burn-in it sounds natural, dynamic and very transparent. At least in my room and with my equipment.

JP
 

Legolas

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Dec 27, 2015
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I have used the C1 a few weeks now, USB and coaxial. Without mentioning the brand name of the dac I used before I can say that the C1 is the most honest piece of audio equipment I have ever owned. My previous dac was very organic sounding, but also coloured in comparison with the C1. It all sounded organic, but too much so. To " sweet", everything sounded this way. It was a USD 10.000,- dac.

Personally I like equipment that is neutral. Bad recordings can sound bad, but that is the way they are recorded or produced. The music can be very good anyway, I have lot of music that sounds less than optimal. I am still listening to it.

But the C 1 needs at least 250 hours before it start sounding good. In the beginning it will sound harder and edgy, more digital if you like. After burn-in it sounds natural, dynamic and very transparent. At least in my room and with my equipment.

JP

Interesting. You feeding your C1 via the Aurender via Coax SPDIF. That avoids USB. My point is USB is holding this DAC back IMO. The treble via USB was too course for me on a 25K DAC, and I returned right away to the 4K AMR DP-777 which sounded better, smoother and still as detailed. Yes soundstage not as wide or bass as strong, but that treble edge was gone. The AMR was fed via M2Tech EVO stack to Coax BNC - SPDIF input on the AMR. Maybe the USB on the C1 is a matter of convenience. I think the dealers say go for Ethernet with it. I am next going to experiment with Rednet to see if I can go another level up.
 

jep123

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Dec 23, 2012
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Interesting. You feeding your C1 via the Aurender via Coax SPDIF. That avoids USB. My point is USB is holding this DAC back IMO. The treble via USB was too course for me on a 25K DAC, and I returned right away to the 4K AMR DP-777 which sounded better, smoother and still as detailed. Yes soundstage not as wide or bass as strong, but that treble edge was gone. The AMR was fed via M2Tech EVO stack to Coax BNC - SPDIF input on the AMR. Maybe the USB on the C1 is a matter of convenience. I think the dealers say go for Ethernet with it. I am next going to experiment with Rednet to see if I can go another level up.

Hi.
I use the Aurender with USB, The CEC belt drive transport with Coax. I am now waiting for the CH X1 power supply which is supposed to make an impact on the sound with ref. to many X1 users on this forum. I am very happy with the C1 as it is, but I am going all out this time :).

Rgds
JP
 

Legolas

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D1 and X1 power supply now on order. Will report back after a few weeks of use. Good times ahead!

Congrats! I heard the C1 a few weeks back and compared it to my Audio Note DAC 5 Special. It is very good, but the USB was weak making it peaky and too sharp for my ears.
Having moved onto Ethernet with RedNet 3, I believe the C1 needs the Ethernet port on it's own, or the D1 to shine. I think you will find this to be the case and it will be world class.
 

jep123

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Dec 23, 2012
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Congrats! I heard the C1 a few weeks back and compared it to my Audio Note DAC 5 Special. It is very good, but the USB was weak making it peaky and too sharp for my ears.
Having moved onto Ethernet with RedNet 3, I believe the C1 needs the Ethernet port on it's own, or the D1 to shine. I think you will find this to be the case and it will be world class.

Thanks. Regarding the USB; I think it sounds great also with this option. The USB cable has a lot to say though. But the C1 needs at least 250-300 hours of break-in time. During this period it can sound a little "edgy" and cold. But after.....!
When this upgrade is complete there is not much more to be done regarding my source imo. Endstation, if there is such a thing in audio:).
 

Legolas

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Dec 27, 2015
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Thanks. Regarding the USB; I think it sounds great also with this option. The USB cable has a lot to say though. But the C1 needs at least 250-300 hours of break-in time. During this period it can sound a little "edgy" and cold. But after.....!
When this upgrade is complete there is not much more to be done regarding my source imo. Endstation, if there is such a thing in audio:).

The C1 I had on a day long demo was already broken in and ran for 7 hours flat. It was slightly more detailed and transparent than my Audio Note DAC 5, and great on well recoded material but I found it suffered on many female vocal material and also less smooth / well recoded tracks. It was peaky and has a treble edge / shriek with T's and S's being over emphasised. I am convinced it was the USB input. I ran it out of the same music server as my Audio Note.

Since then I have invested in a RedNet 3 AOIP and that has taken my Audio Note to another level. Thus I am convinced getting rid of USB in the chain is the thing to do to remove the 'digital' sound of the music, sort out the treble coldness and issue, and you are left with what sounds to me on my Audio Note - a true Master tape source i.e. dead smooth and totally realistic in every way.

Post back once you get the D1 and PS. USB is dead IMO not good enough for the upper audio gear to show it's best.
 

jep123

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Dec 23, 2012
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I will report back when everything has settled in. Of course you might be correct regarding the USB issues, but I am using the Aurender (very happily) and that is a USB device.
 

gian60

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Apr 17, 2016
2,503
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Today arrived P1 in my system.
I have L1 and X1 with 2 boards to connect L1 and P1
Sound is really incredible.
I have Kondo GE1 and MC trans Silvercore MC PRo,so very good,but P1 is better in everything.
Regards
 

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