DAC Shootout Part Deux: Ayre, AMR, Luxman, McIntosh

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Approved for publication to AudioAficionado.org by the authors.



As many long-term readers of AA are probably aware, back in January 2013 several of us decided to throw a few well regarded DACs into a mosh pit and figure out which one came out on top.

The results (and comments) were surprising, to say the least, as the AMR DP-777 survived the gauntlet and reigned victorious.

For the past two Sundays, and great thanks for the generosity of another AA’er (loop4fun aka Bill), a small group of us got together to see if the newest iteration of the AMR (the DP-777SE) could withstand yet another gauntlet against other DACs, including a direct comparison to its non-SE counterpart.

It all started about 2 months ago when Bill PM’s me and drops this quick note in my lap: “I don't have the patience to really sit down and compare this unit. I'd be happy to send it to you for a few weeks if you were of the mind to do another shootout.” With a quick reply of “let me see what I can arrange…” the spark was lit and I started to make a few calls to see what I could get my hands on and who could co-review.

The final list came down to (for the shootout):
AMR DP-777SE ($5500)
Ayre QB9-DSD ($3250)
Luxman DA-06 ($4990)
McIntosh MDA1000 ($4250-$4500 used)

Additionally, one of the reviewers brought along his Devialet 800 to see how it would incorporate into my rig.


There were 5 total reviewers for the shootout consisting of albikes, a member of the San Francisco Audiophile society, yours truly and two others not affiliated with AA. One of the latter two is a qualified music lover but does not play the audiophile gear ‘game’ – but does know my system very well. Call this person our “control” – he was unaware of any brands or price tags but has the ability to tell the difference in what the gear produces.

The following Sunday consisted of briweed and me for the A/B comparison of the SE versus non-SE AMR.

Tracks consisted of redbook, hi-rez and DSD material with varying levels of dynamic range. And this time (which should please the Pro-Preamp camp) a Pass Labs XP-30 was handling pre-amp duty. I will say this is the first time in a long while where I enjoyed having a pre-amp. It was incredibly neutral and did not color the sound in either direction.

So… without further adieu, the results:

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Devialet 800 (not ranked within group).




There is no doubt that this $30,000 two-piece set of art is beautiful to look at.

And that it sounds great… when you have the right system synergy.

It had no problem throwing some weight behind the XRT1Ks, but with the forgiving 1Ks, there just seemed to be a mismatch. The Devialet tends to work best with warmer speakers since those Class D amps tend to run a bit leaner. Unfortunately, that seemed to be the case here. None of us were particularly impressed with the combination, even though I can tell you without a doubt that this same setup on Sonus Faber Amati Futura speakers is damn near orgasmic. And I’m not even that big of a SF fan… so that is saying something.

The reason it remains “unranked” is due to it being a full amp/pre/DAC combo. And our collective belief was the mismatch was not due to the DAC or Pre but the amps. It wouldn’t be fair to assign a grading weight or rank due to the amps not synergizing with the XRT1Ks.

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Fourth Place:

Ayre QB-9 DSD



Ayre’s newest iteration of its QB9 swapped out the original DAC chip for… yep… a SABRE. And, this was the first time I’ve actually heard a SABRE not be actively awful. No doubt Ayre has massaged the hell out of the output stage.

However, the differences were dramatic when compared to the rest of the group. It felt hollow in the mids and highs, bloated down low, and showed little emotion and zero dimensionality compared to its peers.

Pros:
- Small form factor; it will fit into narrow spaces
- Does DSD ‘natively’
- Price is the least expensive of the group

Cons:
SQ is lacking with any format

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Third Place:

Luxman DA-06



Luxman really created a pretty chassis here... and by far the heaviest DAC of the lot (even outweighing the MDA1000). The fit and finish of this box is superb. Underneath the hood lies a Burr Brown 1792A handling everything from redbook up to 5mhz DSD. Additionally, there are multiple filter settings which have varying affects on sound presentation.

Where the Luxman truly excelled was in complicated tracks. And by complicated I mean busy, dense material. Think Dark Knight Rises – Rise. The instrument separation (in high-res) is this Luxman’s forte.

But when moving onto other tracks, it became evident that the Luxman just sounded… digital. While we in this hobby tend to use that term a lot, the Luxman exemplified it. There was plenty of detail, bass was decent, the midrange a slight bit thin… and no fatigue. But there was no emotion. Dimensionality in the presentation was lacking. It didn’t create a sense of user involvement with the music.

Pros:
- Built like a tank
- Up to 5.6mhz DSD
- Instrument separation to the Nth degree

Cons:
- Dry, cold, unemotional presentation
- Manual input knob (/ugh)

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Second Place:

McIntosh MDA1000



I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: HOW THE HELL CAN THIS EIGHT YEAR OLD DAC COMPETE STILL?!

The McIntosh MDA1000 and its dual parallel Burr Browns with the 768k upsampling still somehow produce some serious magic.

No USB. No DSD. No incoming signal higher than 96khz.

Yet.

It.

Still.

Rocks.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!

Out of the entire group, The McDAC had the most three dimensional presentation – by a country mile. No brightness. No lack of emotionality. Solid, clean bass.

Toe-tapping and involvement became instantly apparent with the group when the MDA was played. Gasps were heard from other reviewers whom, coming into this review thought “Mc… meh” when they realized what was being played.

Pros:
- Competes with and outpaces far newer counterparts
- Soundstaging that defies digital
- Three dimensionality creates mind=blown experience
- Built like a tank
- Can get a good used specimen for a hell of a price

Cons:
- No USB
- No DSD
- No input higher than 96khz
- No longer in production
- No successor that can get near the SQ of this unit
o Seriously, McIntosh… all you had to do was tweak this box by adding a USB receiver, a 192 receiver and forget about DSD for an epic win here

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First Place:

Abbingdon Music Research DP-777SE



(Dual discrete DACs – Philips for 16/44 and Wolfson for up to 24/192.)

Well… yeah. This happened.

Again.

Where do I start?

How about… the reviewer that owned the QB9-DSD bought this AMR from Bill 24 hours after the review.

But first the ugly: AMR seriously botched (and I mean total-cluster*$#* level botched) the release of this product. Bill’s is one of the few au-natural SE units on the planet right now.

And it took him OVER ONE YEAR to get it from when they promised. Why, as a manufacturer, would you announce a new product that you can’t deliver, let alone apparently don’t even have re-designed? First it was supposed to have DSD support… and that got pulled. Then it was “oh just 3 months while we ramp up” which turned into a year. And the final changes have nothing to do with the DAC stage (/phew) but with the output caps, the tubes used, a minor clock update, and fiddling with the other digital inputs (USB remains the same).

So you get a pretty little gold badge that says “Signature Edition” – yippee!

But, how does it sound?!

In a word – exceptional.

Bass was impactful, heart-felt, and tight. Mids were elegant, engaging, and smooth. Highs were detailed but not offensive or bright. Its digital-y-ness was the least of the entire group.

Albert (albikes) was visibly agitated… he knew what he was hearing and he just recently bought the Luxman.

Oh, and I finally think I get what BADA is doing with the whole “to hell with the DSD fad.” Why, you ask? Well, because the AMR manhandled the Luxman and Ayre in DSD playback, even as a transcode to 88/24 PCM.

Even our “control” human could point out this box when it was getting played and give a simple nod of “yeah – that one sounds the best.”

While not having the level of three dimensionality of the MDA1K, or the instrument separation of the Luxman, its entire playback was the most engaging with a superbly placed soundstage in width and height.

Oh… and after I mentioned that this thing had a decent Pre section, to boot, one reviewer asked to take the Pass out of the chain to see how it sounded. Result: Pass not needed. One reviewer even told me in private (as two other reviewers owned the same Pass XP30) that he preferred the AMR over the Pass.

But the bass. As George Takei would say: Ohhhhhh myyyyyyyyyyyyy!

Winner winner, chicken dinner.

If you can find the chicken dinner.

Pros:
- Best bass presentation of the lot
- Great remote control
- Preamp rivaled the Pass XP-30
- SQ tough to beat
- DSD what?

Cons:
- Availability
- Output still lower than it should be – even max Vol not loud enough on some tracks
- Aggravating clicking noise when adjusting volume but does not affect overall SQ

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The A/B: SE versus non-SE

It’s difficult to describe but the best way I can put it is: you can tell the DACs are the same but the other upgrades do make a significant shift in presentation.

The bass on the SE was noticeably more refined. More impactful. Tighter. Bigger.

By far the biggest difference between the two was the top end roll-off. The non-SE is a far warmer unit, far more forgiving.

Midrange was similar.

Volume and output was identical.

The same annoying click when changing volume variably was present on both units.

I preferred the SE mostly due to the bass and the added detail; briweed preferred the non-SE since it was warmer (and he is on a bit of a vinyl kick right now). Neither had ear fatigue or sounded fat, bloated, or otherwise unengaging.

USB sounded the same on both, but optical was abysmal compared to the MDA1K (personal sidenote).

Is the SE worth the upgrade (and time) of sending it back to the factory? Depends… if you like yours now, probably not. If you want more top-end without the roll-off, or you love near-perfect bass, then yes.

Plus you get the gold sticker/badge.

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Final thoughts:

Thanks to all those participating in the review (Dewey, Lawrence, Albert, Leslie, and Brian); and a very special thanks to Bill for FedEx’ing his personal SE for the review. Which he didn’t even get back because it sold right after that first weekend.

This hobby is ever-changing, and sometimes seems like a rat-race to find that perfect audio unicorn. One day we look out the window, see something shiny and shout “SQUIRREL!!!” only to do the same thing the following day.

However, we’ve seen something between these two DAC shootouts now that are surprising:
- The core chips matter, far more than previously thought
- Old DACs can still be relevant
- Manufacturers need to get smarter with both production promises AND successor models
- The generosity of members of our community really defies logic sometimes, and is truly and greatly appreciated

Anyhow, my /flamesuit is on.

[Albikes]

Excellent write up Emile! Was a very enjoyable afternoon at your pad. That AMR SE did sound fantastic. Can you get one in Silver?

Al

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Originally Posted by Albikes

Excellent write up Emile! Was a very enjoyable afternoon at your pad. That AMR SE did sound fantastic. Can you get one in Silver?

Al

Good Q. I'll put you in touch with someone who can find out.