Set-up
Contents
The Jay’s Audio CDT-2 mk2 and DAC-2 signature replace respectively a Nad M50 and Metrum Acoustics Onyx in the set below:
- Atc Scm19 V2
- Ps audio stellar gain cell
- Benchmark audio AHB2
- Norstone Stylum 2
- Isoacoustics Aperta
- Cabling: Grimm TPR, Audioquest Yukon, Qed XT40, Sony I2s cable (included)
- We listened to these devices mainly as a duo and mainly played CDs.
Crystalline sound
How do our CDs sound now they are fed to a great transport with the very best connection to a great dac? You guessed it! Great of course. But because that doesn’t tell you all that much we’ve made a comprehensive comparison with other CD players and drives from different price categories.
Compare
We start with our Medion dvd-player (50 euros) and connect it via coax to the Dac-2. This cheap player is bought at the Aldi! It plays CD’s but through the built-in dac we just can’t listen to it on our ATC monitors. With the Dac-2 this cheap dvd player transforms quite a bit and we go a few steps up in playback. But it is still far from good. Everything still sounds hard and dark despite the expensive dac. So yes: a good source matters.Â
The next candidate is our budget-friendly Mitchell and Johnson cd-player (300 euro) which plays fine and has a Wolfson dac on board. This already sounds a lot better. It is still a bit sharp but a bit tighter in the bass and especially more open. With the DAC-2 via coax it grows a fair step. The sharpness disappears for the most part and the bass is now very good. So: not bad at all!
The third comparison is the transport in the NAD M50 (2500 euro). When we connect the Dac-2 via aes things improve even further. Now the music loosens up very nicely. The stereo image is wider and even more micro-details can be heard. Very nice and the reason why we still play CD’s on the M50. It sounds very good.Â
Now, of course, we get to the key question. Is the Jay’s Audio still one step ahead of the M50? Yeah, especially through i2s, it’s very audible on the ATCs. It’s like the sky is clearing and all the clouds are gone. There’s more air, speed, openness and insight. The DAC-2 in itself is not an analytical dac but rather full and round with a nice tonality that is perfectly in balance with drive. There is less noise, jitter, interference or whatever you want to call it via the direct i2s connection. If you push on one of the other inputs you will hear it immediately.
