I can't stay silent - today we received Helene DAC, "baby" DAC from Aries Cerat. What a baby, what a beauty. From the very fist second the sound was sublime, digital rarely gets better than this - in form of Kassandra DAC only probably. I am not saying this lightly, just compare Helene to all the big guns, you would be surprised. Rich, transparent sound, real body of instruments, timbre to die for, as analog as possible, but most importantly, natural music flow, touching your heart and soul. Be warned, after listening you might need to sell some very expensive equipment. But there is solution - you buy Kassandra LE, thus may be less painful.
Oh my, oh my - Aries Cerat Helene DAC
- Thread starter vess
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OK, so the Aries Cerat is supposed to be better than the "Big Dogs" what have you personally A/B compoared it with and what was your takeaway from each one ? Ive been interested in the brand for a while and am wondering what does it sound like and what makes it so great. Please dont answer comparing to MSB or DCS, lets stick with Rockna, Lampizator, APL HiFi, BAlabo, Total DAC, T+A, etc..
Sorry, but this thread isn't about the differences between Aries Cerat and (Insert popular DAC here). If you want to know the differences I would suggest coming to the next event or purchasing one. I have personally A/B'd against the vast majority of the DACs out there and the answer lies in not what makes Aries Cerat so special, but what makes the bulk of the brands you have listed so special as most have very similar designs.
You will find that a 120lb DAC using E280F's and the largest number of R2R's in a single unit shares little to nothing with the mainstream designs.
That should cover it, but if that answer doesn't satisfy you then I can add that the majority of the Aries Cerat team are handsome and that little bit of extra helps the unit sound better
Some friends and I compared the Kassandra Ref 2 DAC to the Lampizator Pacific DAC:
https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/aries-cerat-kassandra-ref-2-vs-lampizator-pacific-dac.28680/
Oh?--that is one for the books--with all the brouhaha on the Aries DAC on this site it appeared as the second coming and the standard for all to top.
Seems the "lowly" Lampi Pacific was winner with a 3 out of 4 majority-interesting.
Food for thought there.
BruceD
One poster also preferred the Chord Dave to the Aries Cerat Kassandra, see the exchanges on this page:
https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/chord-hugo-tt2-dac-and-hugo-m-scaler.27916/page-5
Not having heard Aries Cerat I have no opinion myself, but some treat the DACs of this brand as Gospel indeed. I guess I'll keep an open mind, but cannot avoid some skepticism given the brouhaha.
So far we had four Dave owners moving to Kass Ref, but no Kass owner ever moved to Dave,if that ever tells something.
Cheers
S
Yes, that tells something, thank you.
Yet in the link that I gave, one Kass owner did move to the Dave, at least if I interpret as ownership that he "had the Kassandra in his system for a few months".
Hi Al
He owns the Dave and had the Kass for some time demo.
Other owners of the mentioned dac moved to Kass after five minutes of audition.Everyone's opinion is respected.
No item is holy grail,and no design is best for everyone.
We had a distr prefering Helene over a 100k dac (he carries both AC and the 100k brand), some might prefer otherwise.
Trying to get control what everyone likes and satisfy everyone needs is a bit OCD i think
and is a slippery slope so i never go to that part of the woodsBest
Stavros
Hi Al
He owns the Dave and had the Kass for some time demo.
Other owners of the mentioned dac moved to Kass after five minutes of audition.Everyone's opinion is respected.
No item is holy grail,and no design is best for everyone.
We had a distr prefering Helene over a 100k dac (he carries both AC and the 100k brand), some might prefer otherwise.
Trying to get control what everyone likes and satisfy everyone needs is a bit OCD i think
Best
Stavros
Hi Stavros,
this is a very healthy attitude, thank you for expressing it. Unfortunately, on WBF and elsewhere some push components with the implication that "this is the absolute best", or this speaker topology "is best" etc. Tastes, perceptions and opinions differ, but some want to raise theirs to an absolute.
Regardless, it is obvious that your DACs passionately satisfy many audiophiles -- congratulations on your accomplishment!
Al
Hi guys, heat is on. I like passionate debates. But I will not write about testing AC DACs against specific brands/models. I am part of the industry, and this is not the way for me. I share my personal opinion, which I value very much I won't mention group listening with votes ... There are many people and even more tastes, opinions, habits, systems, etc. I witness few audiophiles listening to some tracks, expressing different opinions, every other day.
The catch is - if majority votes for something, this is winner. No, it is not for me. I trust my ears, I don't trust other ears. No matter how big the group's choice is. I am individualist at heart. A dozen people can do same mistake, I like to think I don't, cause I check the subject/case/stuff according to my standards/sources/ears, then decide who is right, who is wrong. What is good, what is boring.
Unfortunately, there are people with golden ears/voices/minds and there are much more with not so golden senses. That's how our world is made. I would suggest everyone to trust their senses/instincts/feelings, to listen with their hears and souls, not minds. Please don't analyze, this is pro people's business, just sit back, relax and enjoy.
For me, as a part of the industry, it is paramount to tell the truth, my truth, all the truth and nothing but the truth. I know my writings sound like marketing, but they are far from that, I share my honest opinion, experience, because I believe it is important to tell other audiophiles what will bring joy in their lives. This is strictly personal, but so what, this is very personal hobby.
my 2c advice from Sofia
Vess
I won't mention group listening with votes ... There are many people and even more tastes, opinions, habits, systems, etc. I witness few audiophiles listening to some tracks, expressing different opinions, every other day.The catch is - if majority votes for something, this is winner. No, it is not for me. I trust my ears, I don't trust other ears. No matter how big the group's choice is. I am individualist at heart. A dozen people can do same mistake, I like to think I don't, cause I check the subject/case/stuff according to my standards/sources/ears, then decide who is right, who is wrong. What is good, what is boring.
Unfortunately, there are people with golden ears/voices/minds and there are much more with not so golden senses. That's how our world is made. I would suggest everyone to trust their senses/instincts/feelings, to listen with their hears and souls, not minds. Please don't analyze, this is pro people's business, just sit back, relax and enjoy.
For me, as a part of the industry, it is paramount to tell the truth, my truth, all the truth and nothing but the truth. I know my writings sound like marketing, but they are far from that, I share my honest opinion, experience, because I believe it is important to tell other audiophiles what will bring joy in their lives. This is strictly personal, but so what, this is very personal hobby.
my 2c advice from Sofia
Vess
Bratko lepo si ovo napisaoHi guys, heat is on. I like passionate debates. But I will not write about testing AC DACs against specific brands/models. I am part of the industry, and this is not the way for me. I share my personal opinion, which I value very much
The catch is - if majority votes for something, this is winner. No, it is not for me. I trust my ears, I don't trust other ears. No matter how big the group's choice is. I am individualist at heart. A dozen people can do same mistake, I like to think I don't, cause I check the subject/case/stuff according to my standards/sources/ears, then decide who is right, who is wrong. What is good, what is boring.
Unfortunately, there are people with golden ears/voices/minds and there are much more with not so golden senses. That's how our world is made. I would suggest everyone to trust their senses/instincts/feelings, to listen with their hears and souls, not minds. Please don't analyze, this is pro people's business, just sit back, relax and enjoy.
For me, as a part of the industry, it is paramount to tell the truth, my truth, all the truth and nothing but the truth. I know my writings sound like marketing, but they are far from that, I share my honest opinion, experience, because I believe it is important to tell other audiophiles what will bring joy in their lives. This is strictly personal, but so what, this is very personal hobby.
my 2c advice from Sofia
Vess
Just added a client review of the Kassandra that may help give some insight to whether it is up your alley or not
https://www.whatsbestforum.com/thre...ndra-ii-ref-dac-wow.23452/page-16#post-599727
https://www.whatsbestforum.com/thre...ndra-ii-ref-dac-wow.23452/page-16#post-599727
Hello, I`m looking for a new R2R DAC. The Helene looks interesting. Any thoughts on how it would match with an Ayon Triton III integrated amp. I think it has a high output voltage, is this correct ? any compatibility issues ? I think we have a dealer in the UK, not sure about demo prospects.
Kind regards,
Gary
Kind regards,
Gary
Hello, I`m looking for a new R2R DAC. The Helene looks interesting. Any thoughts on how it would match with an Ayon Triton III integrated amp. I think it has a high output voltage, is this correct ? any compatibility issues ? I think we have a dealer in the UK, not sure about demo prospects.
Kind regards,
Gary
Kind regards,
Gary
Hello Gary
We talked by email i think.
The Ayon can only answer about the max input voltage,or if we know the IC used for volume control.
That said,the Helene can be custom ordered with lower voltage output.
Best
Stavros
We talked by email i think.
The Ayon can only answer about the max input voltage,or if we know the IC used for volume control.
That said,the Helene can be custom ordered with lower voltage output.
Best
Stavros
Just yesterday i listened to the Helene at Australian distributor system in his semi-modest full AC system, it is superb, rich, detailed, dynamic and very real sounding. Currently Helene is his main dac. I would definitely put it on your short list for a must audtion. I don‘t think you’ll be disappointed. He had a few people over for a demo the previous day and the feedback he received was that were taken back with the sound quality and they already own very expensive components, they were thinking of selling some of thier gear and getting some AC components. The server was a dual pink faun - which is also excellent.
Hello Stavros, I can't seem to find your email. Anyway
Hi Stavros, I have sent you a pm.
Best regards,
Gary
Some emails are lost/bounced ,we have still the server problem on company emails.If anyone sends email and do not respond,please cc on sigmadane at yahoo . com
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