Calyx Femto DAC anyone tried one

[Budt]

I have heard the Meitner ma-1 , Weiss202 and Invicta at length in my system. Of these three I would place the Meitner/Invicta close with the Weiss last( The transient response of the Weiss was it's largest failing,it was quite poor in this regard). I am hoping to hear the Calyx Femto soon.

 

[opus111]

I believe your noticing of the lack of 'transient response' is in practice the dulling of transients through noise modulation. What happens is the subjective blurring of fast attacks because these get accompanied by a short burst of noise. Its a characteristic of S-D DACs in general but the levels it occurs at vary according to architectural details, especially the number of bits used in the quantizer.

 

[Silvertone]

Any other comparisons? Thanks!!

 

[michael123]

This is only a clever way of marketing a low phase noise clocks they are using. If you measure the DAC as a whole, the jitter figures will be much greater, as clocks are only a part of a greater whole.

There are other companies that use those clocks as well - MSB and BADA spring to mind.

Exactly...

 

[Budt]

Well, it turns out the only way I would be able to hear the Femto is if I outright buy one. I am hesitant as it is made in Korea( can we say poor resale) and it doesn't do DSD... I may well pass on this one and pick up a Benchmark Dac2 to hold me over for the next year.

 

[Silvertone]

Femto vs. Classe CP-800

Well, it turns out the only way I would be able to hear the Femto is if I outright buy one. I am hesitant as it is made in Korea( can we say poor resale) and it doesn't do DSD... I may well pass on this one and pick up a Benchmark Dac2 to hold me over for the next year.

Anyone compared the Femto to the Classe CP-800, by any chance?

 

[daytona600]

sold my femto just did not gel correctly in my system , replaced with a astin trew concord one
Tube NOS Dac from the UK , much better & lower cost , which i spent buying more music & a AK100 astell kern as a digital transport

 

[Silvertone]

Thanks for the feedback. What specifically about the Femto sound did not 'jive' with your system?

 

[daytona600]

silvertone just thought it sounded thin & digital when i had one on loan for a few weeks
Purchased a concord tube Nos , non oversampling dac which sounds fantastic , very detailed but without that digital glare
first night i plugged it in i was up till 4am , always a good sign
some info #

http://www.astintrew.co.uk/concord/

 

[Silvertone]

Interesting. That's exactly opposite to what I'm hearing from reviewers and from folks that have actually bought the unit.
Sounds like you come from a tube loving background, maybe that's a contributing factor to what you're hearing.

 

[acadie]

Interesting. That's exactly opposite to what I'm hearing from reviewers and from folks that have actually bought the unit.
Sounds like you come from a tube loving background, maybe that's a contributing factor to what you're hearing.

My unit sounded a bit of the thin side when I first got it (out of the box). This went away after 50 hours. The Femto is one, if not the best DAC I had/tried for bass. What's the transport you are using/used with the Calyx Femto?

 

[daytona600]

used the femto with a cec transport , marantz ud9004 , custom server & astell kern ak100 . very nice unit but a but dry and lean sounding
but did not keep it in the end. tube nos one i bought far better sounding + better resale value if i ever need to upgrade/sell than the calyx

 

[RBFC]

Interesting how your opinion & enjoyment of the Calyx changed after your first report. Is it possible that something else in your system affected the sound?

Lee

 

[daytona600]

no rbfc system has not changed , tested a few Dacs for a couple of weeks
my 1st post was that the femto had recieved very good reviews in the states asking for any thoughts from users
too many to list but ended up buying the tube nos dac as above & a mytek 192 for my desktop system as it also has a great headphone amp + Dsd
both cost less than the calyx unit

 

[Silvertone]

By any chance, did anyone happen to compare the Calyx Femto with the EMM Labs DAC2x? The DAC2X is a bit pricier but I'm hearing great things about it and I'm wondering if it's worth the 'investing' the extra money there..... Thanks!!

 

[edorr]

By any chance, did anyone happen to compare the Calyx Femto with the EMM Labs DAC2x? The DAC2X is a bit pricier but I'm hearing great things about it and I'm wondering if it's worth the 'investing' the extra money there..... Thanks!!

If you decide to go down this path, forum member Priaptor is selling his DAC2X.

 

[Silvertone]

Not a good sign

Why is he selling it? That design is pretty new....

 

[edorr]

Not a good sign

Why is he selling it? That design is pretty new....

Not such a bad sign either. He bought >40K+ worth of MSB diamond dac IV to replace it. However, if you're in the market for a $15K dac, I would definitely audition the MSB Dac IV platinum plus as well.

I sold my DAC2X and bought MSB signature plus as well (twice the price of the EMM Labs)

 

[Matias]

Silvertone, read this:
http://www.ultraaudio.com/index.php...nu/344-what-i-d-buy-digital-source-components

"The Femto invites the question: Why spend more?"
His opinion.

 

[Aqua]

Calyx Femto is extremely musical

Has anyone compared this DAC to any of the DCS products, e.g. Debussy DAC?

Can anyone comment on how musical this DAC is?

Thanks!!!

This excellent review compares the Calyx Femto to the DCS Debussy and many other similarly priced DACs:

http://www.stereomojo.com/CalyxFemtoDACReview.htm/CalyxFemtoDACReview.htm

I have heard many DACs in the $10,000 plus price range and the Calyx Femto beats them handily in terms of sheer musicality.