Auralic Vega/Aries vs. Classé 800

[lassej]

Hi,

I have a mac mini with JRiver. Then the mac is connected to the USB input av my Classé 800 mk2. I former had a HTPC with Lynx DAC- The HTPC create a much better SQ than the mini mac. But now my HTPC did'nt start and I am thinking of buying an Auralic Vega DAC and Aries streamer.

Both have got very good reviews and the Aries also works with Tidal and Roon. Do you think the SQ will increase with the Auralic combo compared the mini mac and Classé inbuilt DAC. Anyone have any experience?

 

[asiufy]

Lasse,

I don't have any experience with your DAC, but I can tell that the Aries is a significant upgrade over a Mac (running Audirvana), as I used to use my MacBook Pro that way, until I received our first Aries. Paired with Auralic's own DAC, it should perform quite well.


cheers,
alex

 

[cjf]

I own a Classe CP-800 ver1 and used its internal DAC for about a year. During that time I thought it performed well but compared to my previous Ayre QB9 the Classe DAC was definitely on the Thin/Sterile sounding side. Again, it doesn't sound bad at all but once you step into a more purpose built external unit the short comings of the built-in unit are much more obvious.

When moving to an external stand alone DAC you do give up or compromise some of the very cool features the CP-800 offers though when using its built-in DAC. The biggest thing one compromises is the ability to do PEQ and other processing entirely in the digital domain without the need to go thru an additional layer of DA/AD conversion. For me, I was willing to live without those features after hearing how much better my replacement DAC sounded (Meitner MA-1). Granted, the replacement DAC costs more than the whole CP800 itself does so this should not be much of a surprise but I feel the unit is better served when used as a straight-up PreAmp instead which it does VERY well. Inputs & Outputs for days and great measured performance to boot.

Long story short, I think you would be better served with a different DAC. I have not heard the Aurilac unit and did consider it myself before getting the Meitner but after reading many reviews of the Aurilac and seeing a common opinion form that it too was a bit on the sterile/thin sounding side I choose to not go that route in fear of it being too similar to the CP800 DAC I already had.

One thing that is nice though about the CP-800 is that I can still plug in my i-Device in the front panel and use its built-in DAC that way when I dont fell like powering on my regular music server.

 

[lassej]

Alex & Cjf,

Thanks for the usefull information! I should definitable go with an externa DAC. Auralic is one strong contender. Another is the new Bryston BDA-3.

Thanks again.

Lasse