Comparing the relative sonic characteristics of both the Qutest and the Moon 280D, I can completely understand that. I completely agree that the Moon 280D was smoother in sound than the Qutest even though my preference between the two leaned toward the Qutest. But my impression is that the Pontus had better resolution of all parts of music than the Qutest along with much more tonal color as well as a smoother, more organic sound quality. Personal preference is also important as well because I've found that sound quality differences can exist in multiple dimensions.
bloated and slow - destroyed by all objective reviews at the time. Plagued by dumb engineering. Best ever? Only if your ears are made of tin.
I have the OG Rega DAC and I think it delivers an engaging sound when paired with my Rega Elex-R amplifier.
They aren't the same. The R quietly fixed the bass bloat issue caused by power supply noise. Also added hi-res USB input. And a remote.
Its well reported and measured by Stereophile. Rega even commented defensively in the publication but the very next update saw the noise fixed and bass bloat gone. hmmmmmm. I pre-ordered mine and was among the first in the US to have one. I was struck by the slow overpowering bass into my Thiel 2.4's. The bloat was severe (Jeff Dorgay called it a "bass monster!"). Turns out it was due to power supply noise per John Atkinson's investigation. The bass bloat was quietly fixed in the first update. Some might like this subjectively in the same way they like distorted tubes or surface noise. But objectively it's still noise.
If you like the Rega DAC get a USB to spdif converter or a new source. Topping D10s DAC has Coax and Toslink output. It also has ess dac in it. I use it as a usb/spdif converter and it's display shows sample rate. Its a modest outlay to get going. That being said I think you'll find sonic improvement across the board.
OMG I thought I was crazy...good to hear I was not. I had a Rega DAC a few years ago and definitely could hear an annoying bass "bump". How does one know if a unit is a "good" one?
Have the original Rega DAC and to me it sounds very very good, early S/N of 939 also, no noise in my system
Yes but it depends on the recording (I've only experimented with CD, I don't stream much). Typically, in my system, filter 1 will muffle things down in the higher frequencies and constrict or hollow out the whole lower end, whereas 2 and 3 open things up and fill out the lower end. The difference between 2 and 3 is more subtle and difficult to describe but they can be spacious in different ways, or sometimes 2 sounds more natural than 3. However, with certain recordings, 1 actually has better balance and sounds more relaxed in the lower end while the two others are almost boomy. And with yet some other recordings, I struggle to hear a difference at all.
I do own the Rega DAC-R (same DAC as in the Saturn) and love it very much. Very natural indeed. Could you please tell what differences you hear between the Rega and the Pontus? Thanks in advance.
I have a Pontus II and had a Rega DAC-R loaned to me for several weeks. The Rega DAC-R is warm in sound, but the Pontus is equally so, if not more so. The Pontus has far more resolution, tonal richness, pace and rhythm. Also, the Pontus has a somewhat unique ability to produce a different sound signature based on the type of music being played, i.e., calmer for quieter music and more upbeat for music with those characteristics. The Pontus produces music at a far higher level of quality than does the Rega DAC-R. With a Supra LoRad power cord, I was quite surprised to find that I preferred the sound from the Pontus over that from a $14.5k dCS Bartok that I heard last summer.
Sounds about right. i mean to me good DACs shouldn’t sound too far apart . If the Bartok sounded that much different , one is probably lying. seems to me these super over priced DACs have a lot of ‘ fluff”. If you can afford them more power to you. That being said I’m sure the Rega sounds really good. They know their analog really well. Probably beats the hell out of a cheap topping DAC. Which are just god awful
Thank you for answering my question. I don't recognize any of the "shortcomings" you mentioned. To my ears the Rega offers lots of resolution, tonal richness and PRAT is even one of its strong suits. It also is very well able to show the characteristics of all sorts of music. Rock does sound snapy, with punch, while a piece of classical piano music does sound calm (with a quiet dark background). Daft Punk sounds exiting as it should be while a meditation CD sounds like a breeze or wave............... This does not mean I'm saying your findings are not true. Maybe what we've heard is system depended.
I have two data points on this. A Chord Hugo TT + MScaler sounded absolutely lifeless to me. Quite surprising really. Otherwise after getting the Pontus, I've pretty much lost interest in hearing other DACs and have only listened to a dCS Bartok last summer and a dCS Rossini recently. I think the dCS Rossini does have more resolution than does my Pontus, but that difference was not strikingly evident. Also, adding a $91 Supra LoRad power cord to my Pontus DAC in place of a $150 Shunyata Venom V14 was a bigger sound quality than the difference between my Pontus and the dCS Bartok. The benefits I hear are more clarity, better resolution, and more sense of spatial cues and "air" around voices and instruments. This is a list of power cords that I tried and the best sounding was the Supra LoRad. Tripp-Lite Heavy Duty: $15 Audiophile AC Power Cable - WAudio 10AWG HiFi Power Cord 3.3FT : $35.99 Pangea AC-14: $44.95 Pangea AC-14 SE MkII: $79.95 Supra LoRad: $91 Shunyata Venom V14: $135 Audience F3 Forte: $150 AV Options Cryo TibiaPlus12 Power Cord: $249 Synergistic Research UEF Blue: $499 Shunyata Research Venom V10 NR: $600 Shunyata Research Delta XC: $1400 - intended for power conditioners not DAC, but my Pontus DAC doesn't seem to do well with power cords with built in noise reduction.
This is my only pet peeve -- happens in the Rega DAC-R and, interestingly, they have not done anything to change it in the Elex-R amplifier. Sure is the same same DAC inside... That being said, I still love the sound of Rega DACs...
I went through a lot of DAC’s before I settled on the Rega DAC. None of my first tries, no matter how expensive, could match the analogue sound and overall oomph of the Rega. Where some of my earlier tries sounded great with certain music genres, less so with others, the Rega just grooved along with everything I threw its way. It is a very pleasent listen without being boring. It makes you wanna get up and dance to dance music, while it rocks hard to even the most extreme metal. I believe I bought it around 2011, and only yesterday (the reason I started searching the web and found this thread) I had my first issue with the DAC. Just switching from Deezer hifi to Apple Music I stumbled over a song in 176,4Khz and the Rega DAC started stuttering. Couldn’t log on to the sample rate. Off course back in the day Rega had a fix (free) for this, but I don’t know what to do so many years later. I have written to the Danish distributor. Crossing fingers. By the way, I use a Topping D10s to feed the DAC from an iPad. Digital out via iPads lightning (using camera adapter) to the D10s’ USB in and coaxial out to the Rega. Works amazingly well.
