Yes, its harddrive datastreaming into the Vekian is something I will definitely try. Some PC experts argue that a harddrive is a harddrive, why don't I go for a super PC with the top spec to do this and cost wise it is a fraction of 986. My view is that you will have a higher quality power supply and less noise and interference within that professional box than a PC, not matter how super the latter is...My friend in Taiwan has already used this combo to 'surprised' a few non believers a week ago. It kills a few giant DACs on spot as well but this is the farthest I can disclose in terms of the details.
What Marvel said is true. The 3-pieces dac from the UK fed by three powercords of USD8,000 each has no winning edge over the Vekian. The 3 pieces dac are great stuff and we have to give credit to for the hard development work behind. But at more than 2 times the price of the Vekian excluding all the hassle of digital cables and power cords around, the choice to us is very easy, not to mention the current economic condition. Personally, the mid range of the Vekian sounds even more natural to me. Our benchmarks are soprano voices with big dynamic range and energy.
What transport was used w/ the Vekian in the shoot-out?
Does the 3 piece UK set includes the transport? The transport alone is half the cost of the whole set, AFAIK. Are you saying the Vekian is half the cost of the UK DAC + Clock, sans the transport? Which will make it just 1/4 the price of the UK set. It is a real bargain!
We taiwanese don't like to bluff. I had known Marvel bro for 3 years, never bluff a single word, and we own all the so called expensive stuff all the time without the need to dump A in exchange for B. No bias whatsoever.
The 3-piece, of course, inclusive of the transport. We are using Zanden 2000p transport with the Vekian, the Orpheus zero, the EMT hard drive, and the conclusions are too clear to be true.
The Vekian was here since June and we did not make a word about it until only two weeks ago. The magazine people feel challenged, and so as usual we arrange large scale comparison exercises.
But caution that if one is looking for sensational digitized dynamic effect, stick with the Boulder. The 3-pieces dac, I gave high marks to it, it sounds very dynamic, very analog and just right. I still think it has done a very good job.
MatthewC, what are you looking for a dac? Like Jeff, VR, we are the first batch who had 1st hand experience with the Vekian dac.
What does the 3 boxes dac attract you? I am trying to sort out your thoughts and help. I agree the 3 boxes dac is great stuff. The bargaining factor is the least we concern. If it sounds bad, who cares the price.
To clarify, we only compare CD. The 3-piece dac with the SACD transport can spin transport. We did not use the CD/SACD transport with the Vekian. I hope this give you better perspective.
My apologies if I sounded like I was saying anything negavie Taiwanese! Never had that intention.
Reason I asked about the transport being included is that the UK stack can be had in a 4-box configuration, now w/ a upsampler with USB input, and since you mentioned the Vekian, which is a DAC, versus the 3-box UK DAC, I need to make sure if I read it right.
Raymond, it's a very good question you asked. But let me clarify my perspective.
Unlike Jeff, yourself, and VR, I am poor, very poor as a matter of fact. So I have a couple economic criterias:
1. For complex machinery, the long term viability of a company that sell me that product is important. For simpler stuff, such as tube amps, I can discount that.
2. I expect zero problems for the price of things being discussed here. Been bitten once recently.
Sonically, I can say I dislike things that over-emphasis pyrotechnics, such as Boulder. In general (though not always) I try to avoid US stuff for this reason. Tone, texture and naturalness are my first priorities, the rest, as long as they are not way too compromised, can be negotiated. And the "can be negotiated" bit of course varies by the price being asked. The UK stuff fits the bill, and has everything I want, except the very very steep price. I had the previous generation of the UK DAC and upsampler for a long time waiting for the transport, but the old transport's infamous reliability issues forced me to give up.
But the reason why I am piqued by the discussion about Vekian is that, these days, now that I have my real LP setup, I always start w/ CD first, then LP before I end my listening. Can't do the reverse. Do I really have to fork out that much for the UK stuff to make CD sound anywhere nearly as good?
MatthewC, we are all poorer with each passing day, aren't we?
Don't care too much about Jeff. He always sounds like that. I know him for 2 years.
If the uk dac fits your criteria, please stick with it. The steep price is what you have to paid to satisfy criteria. Don't like it, dump them back to 2nd hand dealer. But how many cables you have to figure out? This is the part that I dislike it. To me this means big big big trouble. The UK dac sometimes cannot lock on some SACD disc - does this trouble you?
I had no problem with the Vekian dac, it's trouble free.
Don't be serious. I always bring out the word "Taiwanese" due to some personal reasons and not so pleasant experiences in my younger life.
I agree with Ray. Stick with what you want. Don't buy with skepticism. If you are poor, you will not consider the UK dac in the first place. On the contrary, we have chosen a much cheaper dac from the US. I have big ideological problem with the US as a country, and try to avoid as much as I can but the Vekian is something different. It is not easy to remove bias but it is a good one.
I believe you trust we do have some experiences in hi fi and audio in general. It cannot be bad but whether it suits your need, only your goodself know
Comments
986剛到步，仲需要時間摸清楚，以上係昨晚即時感覺，並用文字即時表達，不過真係好正，開心到...................飛起！
# 最後一點要補充：現場感覺好強，好真實，細節豐富
Marvel
I am piqued. But let me get this straight:
What transport was used w/ the Vekian in the shoot-out?
Does the 3 piece UK set includes the transport? The transport alone is half the cost of the whole set, AFAIK. Are you saying the Vekian is half the cost of the UK DAC + Clock, sans the transport? Which will make it just 1/4 the price of the UK set. It is a real bargain!
The 3-piece, of course, inclusive of the transport. We are using Zanden 2000p transport with the Vekian, the Orpheus zero, the EMT hard drive, and the conclusions are too clear to be true.
The Vekian was here since June and we did not make a word about it until only two weeks ago. The magazine people feel challenged, and so as usual we arrange large scale comparison exercises.
But caution that if one is looking for sensational digitized dynamic effect, stick with the Boulder. The 3-pieces dac, I gave high marks to it, it sounds very dynamic, very analog and just right. I still think it has done a very good job.
What does the 3 boxes dac attract you? I am trying to sort out your thoughts and help. I agree the 3 boxes dac is great stuff. The bargaining factor is the least we concern. If it sounds bad, who cares the price.
My apologies if I sounded like I was saying anything negavie Taiwanese! Never had that intention.
Reason I asked about the transport being included is that the UK stack can be had in a 4-box configuration, now w/ a upsampler with USB input, and since you mentioned the Vekian, which is a DAC, versus the 3-box UK DAC, I need to make sure if I read it right.
Raymond, it's a very good question you asked. But let me clarify my perspective.
Unlike Jeff, yourself, and VR, I am poor, very poor as a matter of fact. So I have a couple economic criterias:
1. For complex machinery, the long term viability of a company that sell me that product is important. For simpler stuff, such as tube amps, I can discount that.
2. I expect zero problems for the price of things being discussed here. Been bitten once recently.
Sonically, I can say I dislike things that over-emphasis pyrotechnics, such as Boulder. In general (though not always) I try to avoid US stuff for this reason. Tone, texture and naturalness are my first priorities, the rest, as long as they are not way too compromised, can be negotiated. And the "can be negotiated" bit of course varies by the price being asked. The UK stuff fits the bill, and has everything I want, except the very very steep price. I had the previous generation of the UK DAC and upsampler for a long time waiting for the transport, but the old transport's infamous reliability issues forced me to give up.
But the reason why I am piqued by the discussion about Vekian is that, these days, now that I have my real LP setup, I always start w/ CD first, then LP before I end my listening. Can't do the reverse. Do I really have to fork out that much for the UK stuff to make CD sound anywhere nearly as good?
Don't care too much about Jeff. He always sounds like that. I know him for 2 years.
If the uk dac fits your criteria, please stick with it. The steep price is what you have to paid to satisfy criteria. Don't like it, dump them back to 2nd hand dealer. But how many cables you have to figure out? This is the part that I dislike it. To me this means big big big trouble. The UK dac sometimes cannot lock on some SACD disc - does this trouble you?
I had no problem with the Vekian dac, it's trouble free.
I agree with Ray. Stick with what you want. Don't buy with skepticism. If you are poor, you will not consider the UK dac in the first place. On the contrary, we have chosen a much cheaper dac from the US. I have big ideological problem with the US as a country, and try to avoid as much as I can but the Vekian is something different. It is not easy to remove bias but it is a good one.
I believe you trust we do have some experiences in hi fi and audio in general. It cannot be bad but whether it suits your need, only your goodself know