JKDAC32 Impressions

I've been listening to the JKDAC32 for a day or 2, it only has about 20-30hrs on it. I'm using the original 24bit Hiface driver but have just downloaded the Young driver to try

There is a marked difference between the orig JKDAC and this one. The newer Dac has a fuller and "gutsier" sound in the mids. treble is silky soft and smooth never bright. The bass isn't as deep or detailed as the Sabre based unit, still fantastic and not lacking though.....perhaps the sabre is overly boosted by comparison?

I find the soundstage not as big or ethereal but more focused and defined.......my speakers don't disappear as well but the image bounces in front of them with startling reality when required.........

Bottom line for me is this Dac32 is far easier to live with and enjoy for long listening periods, far less fatiguing. This one certainly is not "Dry" to my ears........

An excerpt from a mini-review of the JKDAC32 by another user: http://www.tirnahifi.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=18691#p18691

Since retiring my Young DAC and Teddy Pardo power supply after listening to the JKDAC32, I have been amazed how much this DAC has opened up. I am not one for all the hifi jargon which often leaves me wondering what it all means but the best way I can describe the sound is something like this, it now has a weight, body, depth and detail I had not heard before. It may be one of those lucky mistakes when I installed the JKDAC using the existing Young driver but the sound is so good I have no desire to try the HiFace driver yet for comparison until I get a little tired of listening to lots of music as it all sounds so good.

This evening for the second time I ran an experiment using my analogue set up against the JKDAC32 using Jplay. For the first time the PC based system left the analogue system behind. I used a fresh vinyl copy of Van Morrison’s “His Band and the Street Choir” against a FLAC rip off the CD for comparison and after repeated switching back and forward with both playing simultaneously all I could hear were the weaknesses in the analogue setup. Now I understand why people spend such crazy money on cartridges, turntables and phono stages. The analogue system sounded soft and lacking real separation of the instruments. Don’t get me wrong here as it is a sound you could easily live with and enjoy if you had not heard the PC based system in comparison and alas I guess this is what happens to us all when we hear a system with greater resolution but still retaining the weight and depth in the music.