Very good review from Hifi+ about the Nagra HD Dac. Does anyone compared it to Dcs Vivaldi or Rossini ?
Nagra HD Dac
- Thread starter Rotatoubib
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I got to hear the Nagra HD next to a dCS Scarlatti a few weeks ago. The Nagra is VERY good. It wasn't an exhaustive listening session so I don't want to pontificate which is better and why and why not. I will say the Nagra is competitive with the very best and well worth anyone putting it on their short list for DACs in this price category. The fact that it has a real (tube based) analog preamp vs a digital volume control makes it interesting for a digital only system without a stand alone preamp.
A Nagra HD DAC with a Nagra Classic amp is a killer combination that frankly would surprise many folks on the sound quality. Typical swiss - extreme high quality and simple to implement - one set of interconnects (to amp), speaker cables and two power cords for something around the top of the heap sound wise available.
I would have spend more time with it...but since I already have a dCS Vivaldi, just wasn't going to consider the Nagra HD. I'm a HUGE Nagra fan...really great gear.
Thanks jfrech. Dcs Rossini is interesting because it can stream over Ethernet from a NAS or online music servers, and its an upsampling and CD player in a single unit. If i buy the Nagra, i will have to buy a server as an Aurender. Total price will be the same ( around 26 000 euros in France), but without CD player. But Nagra DAC is top of line, Rossini is second one...
Today, with my BHSE tube amp + Stax SR009, I compared quite intensively the dCS Rossini DAC and the NAGRA HD DAC.
The NAGRA HD DAC with my BHSE was by far the most involving and enjoyable ! It provided a lot of saoul & spirit into my music
! Much more than with TotalDAC, DAVE or Rossini, all 3 being very precise and detailed but... NOT very exciting ( to my ears) :-(
Until I heard the HD DAC, I had the feeling that all those high-end DAC sounded almost the same, but with HD DAC there is something more, some emotion I did not get with the other DACs
I wonder if the Classic DAC will bring the same magic or if I really need to get the HD to get this feeling ?
The NAGRA HD DAC with my BHSE was by far the most involving and enjoyable ! It provided a lot of saoul & spirit into my music
! Much more than with TotalDAC, DAVE or Rossini, all 3 being very precise and detailed but... NOT very exciting ( to my ears) :-(Until I heard the HD DAC, I had the feeling that all those high-end DAC sounded almost the same, but with HD DAC there is something more, some emotion I did not get with the other DACs
I wonder if the Classic DAC will bring the same magic or if I really need to get the HD to get this feeling ?
I have never heard the famous ACCUPHASE sound !
I recently tested carefully 4 very high-End DACs with my BHSE amp +STAX SR009 headphone : NAGRA HD DAC, TotalDAC, dCS Rossiini & DAVE
The NAGRA HD DAC was by far the most involving and enjoyable ! It provided a lot of saoul & spirit into my music ! Much more than with TotalDAC, DAVE or Rossini, all 3 being very precise and detailed but... NOT very exciting ( to my ears)
Until I heard the NAGRA HD DAC, I had the feeling that all those high-end DAC sounded almost the same, but with NAGRA there is something more, some emotion I did not get with the other DACs
So... since ACCUPHASE DP-950 + DC-950 is at the same price than the NAGRA HD DAC + NAGRA CD player, I wonder if ACCUPHASE in the same emotional territory than NAGRA ? A unique and NON_Digital sound signature like NAGRA ?
I recently tested carefully 4 very high-End DACs with my BHSE amp +STAX SR009 headphone : NAGRA HD DAC, TotalDAC, dCS Rossiini & DAVE
The NAGRA HD DAC was by far the most involving and enjoyable ! It provided a lot of saoul & spirit into my music
! Much more than with TotalDAC, DAVE or Rossini, all 3 being very precise and detailed but... NOT very exciting ( to my ears) Until I heard the NAGRA HD DAC, I had the feeling that all those high-end DAC sounded almost the same, but with NAGRA there is something more, some emotion I did not get with the other DACs
So... since ACCUPHASE DP-950 + DC-950 is at the same price than the NAGRA HD DAC + NAGRA CD player, I wonder if ACCUPHASE in the same emotional territory than NAGRA ? A unique and NON_Digital sound signature like NAGRA ?
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I am planning to do a between the Nagra HD and the Lampi GG in Jan. If it happens will update
I have never heard the famous ACCUPHASE sound !
I recently tested carefully 4 very high-End DACs with my BHSE amp +STAX SR009 headphone : NAGRA HD DAC, TotalDAC, dCS Rossiini & DAVE
The NAGRA HD DAC was by far the most involving and enjoyable ! It provided a lot of saoul & spirit into my music
Until I heard the NAGRA HD DAC, I had the feeling that all those high-end DAC sounded almost the same, but with NAGRA there is something more, some emotion I did not get with the other DACs
So... since ACCUPHASE DP-950 + DC-950 is at the same price than the NAGRA HD DAC + NAGRA CD player, I wonder if ACCUPHASE in the same emotional territory than NAGRA ? A unique and NON_Digital sound signature like NAGRA ?
Surprised by your findings of the Totaldac.. Which Totaldac are you referring to? I wouldn't put my Totaldac in the same playing field as a DAVE..... For precisely the reasons you describe about the Nagra. Totaldac is the only digital that has ever moved me.
Well it is an "old" D1-dual (not upgraded since a while). So may be I should listen to a recent D1-Dual or even their new D1-Six ?
Nagra HD with the optional output transformers - Wow
2 months ago we heard a Nagra HD with the optional output transforms hooked up to a Nagra Jazz Preamp. The sound from PCM 16 /44 being up sampled to DSD 128 using HQ Player running on the Sound Galleries Music Server was so good, we felt we need to order one as well !
With the holiday delays we only received the unit and the output transformers yesterday, and we had to do the transformer install job ourselves. It did give us an opportunity to look inside. Here you see the standard output PCB
That comes out, and this board goes in
The resulting sound is hauntingly beautiful. There is a sonic transparency, clarity and coherence delivered which one usually associates with the finest vinyl rigs. IMHO anyone who is seeking to assemble a state of the art digital system include this DAC with the optional output transformers on their must audition list.
We used Bespoke TVC to as volume control for this test
2 months ago we heard a Nagra HD with the optional output transforms hooked up to a Nagra Jazz Preamp. The sound from PCM 16 /44 being up sampled to DSD 128 using HQ Player running on the Sound Galleries Music Server was so good, we felt we need to order one as well !
With the holiday delays we only received the unit and the output transformers yesterday, and we had to do the transformer install job ourselves. It did give us an opportunity to look inside. Here you see the standard output PCB
That comes out, and this board goes in
The resulting sound is hauntingly beautiful. There is a sonic transparency, clarity and coherence delivered which one usually associates with the finest vinyl rigs. IMHO anyone who is seeking to assemble a state of the art digital system include this DAC with the optional output transformers on their must audition list.
We used Bespoke TVC to as volume control for this test
Steve williams
Site Founder, Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Thanks Edward but why did you have to instal the output transformers rather than the manufacturers
How much was the output transformer option
Hi Steve,
The dealer in Holland confused the Interstage transformers which are now standard, with the output transformers which have always been optional. As a result the dealer ordered the HD DAC without the output transformers and that was the way it was shipped out of the factory. The output transformers were then shipped out separately. The European list price is about Euro 2,800
Nagra prefer to do the install themselves, but with our impatience we decided to do it ourselves. Turns out to be not a job for the inexperienced, but I am confident to repeat when necessary.
This was not done in our worshop in Hengelo, but on the dining table in Enschede, with very old left over tools
Have you been able to compare the Sound (through XLR balanced) with and without the optional transformers balanced. The question indeed is how much the optional transformers improve on a sound quality that is already stellar ?
Life is short, and have relied on the report from a long and well trusted customer. He had the Nagra HD with no tafos, Nagra Jazz and MPS and using XLR connections. He then had the transformers fitted and was very pleasantly surprised be the large SQ uplift.
He was running a CAPs, was skeptical about how much better the SGM would be than his CAPs but then brought his Nagra Ensemble to our living room listening room in Enschede. Needless to say he is now a very very happy SGM owner for the last 2 months. Two weeks ago based on the report from Blue58 and others, we suggested he try Synergistic Research Black Fuses. He says he is again surprised b the difference these fuses make on the SGM and the MPS. He is over the moon with the sound quality he now has.
It seems like that as one pushes the noise floor down, tweaks that we thought were somewhat trivial become a lot more sonically significant
The transformer swap looks very easy.
Whenever I see Nagra I think about how you can buy their enclosures for DIY projects.
I hope I get to hear some Nagra components before long. They seem to do some stuff that we do, to an extent.
Whenever I see Nagra I think about how you can buy their enclosures for DIY projects.
I hope I get to hear some Nagra components before long. They seem to do some stuff that we do, to an extent.
According to Stereophile today in his CES report, there is a new power supply options for the NAGRA HD DAC along with some other smaller changes and an update is also coming later ? Any one has infos on these ? especially the sonic impact of the new power supply option ?
bmichels - thanks for that - I also am interested in what they are up to - my hd dac seems to have a hair trigger protection circuit - a coffee grinder sometimes turns it off , suggesting that isolation is not the MPS strong point - I also find the blinking led indicating battery charge has a low level click which can distract late at night in quiet passages
eurodriver - it seems the transformer option is not well understood by the dealers as I had exactly the same problem - in fact it is not very well documented on the Nagra promotional material which I believe leads to this result - less time spent on graphics and more on clarity would be jolly good
other than that it is a splendid dac as all have attested
cheers,
Phil
eurodriver - it seems the transformer option is not well understood by the dealers as I had exactly the same problem - in fact it is not very well documented on the Nagra promotional material which I believe leads to this result - less time spent on graphics and more on clarity would be jolly good
other than that it is a splendid dac as all have attested
cheers,
Phil
News about the NAGRA HD DAC reported from the MUNICH's HighEnd show: The NAGRA HD DAC will in Fall have a new Digital Board that will support 4X DSD and include new connectors. The curent HD DAC will be upgradable by swapping a new board. Also there will be a new powersupply that will replace the curent MPS and be based on UltraCaps technology to totally insulate the NAGRA from the grid.
What I really wonder is what is the advantage to use a HD Pre in addition of a HD DAC to drive a power amp like the HD AMP (in the case you only use digital sources) ?
Indeed, the HD DAC has volume control and therefore can be connected directly to the HD AMP ! will it sound better with the Pré ?
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