The greatest fun of audioing is building a system of your choice of components and tweaking to acquire a desired sound. It will be an honour if people can relate a sound to your system.
"Doc, could you help?"
"What's wrong?"
"My audibility outdoes my audio skills."
"Improve your skills, silly."
The greater the gap, my fellow friends, the greater the ridicule. Let's be honest to ourselves, we all suffer this mischief audible blues somehow or other. We all like to talk about high end audio, hearing the highest fidelity of sound only few of us can afford. But, our systems are far from optimized.
The Chinese quotes old gingers are more pungent. Listening skills could be acquired over time with repeated practices, this goes without saying audio sharpshooters are not born overnight. Exposure widens the horizon, for that reason, I always accord high respect for the audio veterans. It is their fruits of discovery that we capitalize on and strive to be better.
Back to where we were, I was determined to make S1EXs perform. The search for a DAC is on. My pre and DAC are my liability, they should be out. I have been this far, I will not stop here. Make no sense. Thorough search led me to BMC PureDAC, a DAC/headphone amp/pre-amplifier. It seems to fit the bill.
Minimalism, I believe is the way to further cut signal loss via shorter path. A remote control volume control is a godsend gift. BMC is relatively unheard of. Check this out Candeias Engineering. It is a classic story of innovation driven company behind the scene that decided to go on their own way. Pure series is BMC new budget friendly line-up in addition to their premium Reference series. They set to corner the market with more technologies for lesser money. I gave the dealer a ring telling my intent, he graciously let me try a unit in my system with no obligatory purchase. Reliability is a big concern, I take no chances, in that critical 48 hours, heating or crashing would have the unit returned.
PureDAC is visually far more eye pleasing than in picture. The fascia design is distinctive. The built is sturdy. Weighting in at 5.4kg, the input option is generous. It accepts AES/EBU, Toslink, coaxial and asynchronous USB. USB is now the next big thing, PureDAC capable of PCM 32 bits 384kHz and DSD 128. Future proof. Analogue outputs are balanced XLR and RCA outputs. If you are using BMC amp, BMC suggests that you utilize the proprietary BMC link connection for superior sound. No option to dim the display panel though. They are not glaring to the eyes. The remote control is of push button, rather handy and slim. Overall, the build and finish of PureDAC is unseen at this price range.
Maximum PureDAC volume is 66. My techie was impressed with the advanced circuitry especially a headphone DAC/amp. The output stage for the headphone amplifier is nothing short of spectacular with DMOS FET. This is a forward thinking company. BMC recommends using their belt drive transport in order to reap PureDAC full potential.
BMC bundles PureDAC with their following proprietary technologies
- DAPC, digital analog power conversion for the headphone amplifier.
- DMOS FET lateral MOSFET, zero negative feedback and super low impedance LEF (Load Effect Free) output stage. LEF allows single ended operation even with high current output which is said to have absence of distortion.
- And lastly lossless DIGM (Digital Intelligent Gain Management volume control). Visit BMC Pure DAC.
When I first lay my eyes on PureDAC, I figure it would fetch RM10k. Not until I checked on the net and found MRSP USD1690, my desire to give PureDAC a got became stronger. My friend and I were astonished with the price versus built and puzzled how on earth how did BMC manage to control their costs. It clears the air to know that the president of BMC married to a local Chinese and resides in Shanghai, Hangzhou to be exact. Candeias speaks six languages, Chinese too, don't play-play. Knowing the local culture is the best way to guard intellectual properties and low cost especially in China.
Wasting no time, I hooked up my crappy Pioneer DVD player to PureDAC via coaxial input and single ended RCA out to power amp. PureDAC sets a ten seconds time delay to allow charge up upon powered. Hit Play, my first thought came into my mind was "O boy! This is a dead quiet DAC". Low noise floor allows me the feel the tranquillity, a rarity from budget DACs. My air conditional fan noise became intruding. When a DAC as quiet as this, detail permeates. No noise is getting in the way.
Out from the box, PureDAC sounded cold and sterile though. After 20 minutes, things starting to come together. Comfortable listening volume at my place is 40-45 and occasionally cranks up to 60 for heavy orchestral work. It gets pretty loud at 60. Wow! This is a musical dac, the first thought that came in to my mind. Unlike some DACs that immediately grab your attention with their awesome resolution, offering everything but texture. Guitar, in particular sounded natural without being over emphasized with profoundly glassiness. If you are looking for microscopic detail, a feel of extravaganza to show off to your buddies, PureDAC will disappoint. You'd properly have to look elsewhere. I have heard dacs that packed with plentiful detail but wear you out after prolong listening. These dacs are likening to superficial boosted highs Chinese pressing CDs, that eventually a turn off.
After 24 hours power on standby, PureDAC ran a little warm at about 30+ degree Celsius. PureDAC started to show its true color, a human tone. This slightly dark tone treated vocal with an adequate bloom without homogenization. I melted in my chair listening to Cai Qin. Her throaty vocal quality was deemed correct as I can relate to her memorable live concert. I would not care much on the piano on Cai Qin album, they are synthetic. I arrived at this with PureDAC on spikes sitting on chengal planks.
PureDAC preserves the harmonic structures, the rightness of sound. Say the Commemorative CD 2013, Chitlins Gefiltefis from Christian Mcbride/Conversation with Christian, track 13 is a bloody good example. The Jewish harp has a unique and complex harmonic structure, the overtones vastly different from the fundamental tone. It was like a twist of harmonic. Jo took time to explain how a Jewish harp is played, sadly, I couldn't grasp entirely how the harp was being played. The Jew's harp looks like a horse shoe to me.
I somewhat do not like this track that much before because my earlier room acoustics and hardware were the hindrance. This track received a new breath of life with PureDAC. Greasy! I was opened to a new window to this track, the tendon strings were tenacious and the strings were delineated. Sitar too has a complex harmonics with crazy overtones which can form a challenge to playback. Preserving complex harmonic is important because I am very particular on tones. PureDAC responds to what it sits on. Cleaner sound on marble and warmer on MDF platform. A digital cable is critical that sees a chameleon PureDac.
Off to the tonal balance, PureDAC camps on the neutral school of sound. Falling slightly to the warm side of neutral. It sounds like everything but mechanic. I was greeted with a dense Class A analogue-ness, added some meat to the bones. Hey KF (A class A topology advocate)! I do not need to have class A amplification to have class A sound! What sets PureDAC apart from most modern dac is the ability to convey emotions.
The highs were easy to listen to with no irritating fatigue. Suffice to say I'm not missing anything. The sound through PureDAC is balanced. On low registers, PureDAC bass slam packs with weight but looses to American cousins in terms of bass authority. It is the dynamic where PureDAC makes up some ground. Transparency and soundstage are at par with its competitor if not greater.
One worthy note, PureDAC IEC is of UK phase, so if you are planning on using US power cord, you would have to reverse the phase. It makes a lot of difference, more spacious, more spatial, more depth and more effortless. Lots of products were screwed due to this phasing. Many thanks to my techies for I would not have arrived at this level of revelation without them.
Let's see how PureDAC fares in the plethora of sub 2000USD dac, the fiercest fighting ground. NAD M51, Benchmark HDR, Wyred for Sound DAC2, Anedio D2, Audiolab MDAC, Arcam FMJ D33, Mytek DSD192, M2Tech Young and Hegel HD25. They all have one thing in common, a remote volume control.
I have no chance to test all of them but the new generation dacs are vastly superior to yesteryear dacs. It is the matter of finding a DAC to your preference. Indeed, a dac can certainly pivot the sound of your system. Behringer SRC2496 is a solid Class C in Stereophile Recommended Components, a brand that have deep root in pro sound. SRC2496 sounds reckless, raw and uncivilized and is a great addition to a sleepy and lazy system. In a lively system, SRC2496 proves to be too enthusiastic. In terms of musical and finesse, PureDAC is firmly in a different league. SRC2496 is also no slough in detail department, it eats MSB Link III alive. The ageing of MSB Link III is shown. Rega dac has a different flavor altogether, triumphs on musicality, everything is inoffensive. NAD M51, a hot dac in the market hold a typical NAD creamy house sound.
The conclusion, PureDAC is not a dead neutral dac. It has sweetness, it has body, it has soundstage and it has slam. It is easily tweak-able. And I shall report again in a follow up on various power cords. PureDAC is beyond doubts, one of the dacs to watch if you shopping for a sub 2000USD dac. You will need to fork out a lot more to beat PureDAC. And this is not a hired review!!!! I put my money where my mouth is, bought the review unit and playing it happy ever after.
Contact BMC dealer, Mr KW Ng, Dream Audio at 012 3117959
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