So from the day I order it, this thing takes a day to travel from Hong Kong to Saudi Arabia and another day to get to Joburg. From there, a day to Cape Town. Then I wait another 8 days for customs. Pretty quick for Cape Town Customs this time around, I thought. Guess it wasn't a busy week.
I read a lot of reviews (by people in forums, not magazines) of this new Chinese DAC, so I was prepared for the richness and detail that this baby pushed out. But I'd also read that it was specially tuned to sound warmer and less clinical than some Sabre DACs are apparently wont to sound, and this innovation -- indeed, selling point -- is probably also the DAC's weakest feature. Paired with my Marantz PM7004 integrated, it was just too muted, particularly on the treble side of the spectrum. Which is funny, because you can hear a lot of detail, even in the upper registers, but it just isn't foregrounded well enough. I feel little buyer's remorse, though, because -- well -- the sound is just so much better than anything I'd had before. I also recently had the pleasure of hearing Rodney's Audiolab M-DAC, which uses the same Sabre chip, and whereas his seemed to have more air and clarity, it also didn't quite have the same richness. Of course my comparison isn't fair (the DACs weren't being compared side by side on the same system), but the posts I've read of the Yulong do point in the same general direction.
Then I got a perfectly preserved Rotel RB-981 power amp from Leander, and suddenly clarity was restored. Combining the reserved yet generous Yulong with the almost-sharp, in-your-face Rotel has left me with a system that produces a lot of detail without harshness. Voices are particularly good, as is instrument separation and placement. Of course you don't buy a Rotel for its refinement, but what it lacks in that regard is made up for with liveliness and clarity, which are the two things you need to lend to the Yulong to round out an otherwise impressive sound.
Andre once told me it's not what you buy, it's how you match them up. I can attest to that. Can't wait to see how the better cables are going to interact with my little experiment. But I can tell you that right now, I'm enjoying my music again!
I read a lot of reviews (by people in forums, not magazines) of this new Chinese DAC, so I was prepared for the richness and detail that this baby pushed out. But I'd also read that it was specially tuned to sound warmer and less clinical than some Sabre DACs are apparently wont to sound, and this innovation -- indeed, selling point -- is probably also the DAC's weakest feature. Paired with my Marantz PM7004 integrated, it was just too muted, particularly on the treble side of the spectrum. Which is funny, because you can hear a lot of detail, even in the upper registers, but it just isn't foregrounded well enough. I feel little buyer's remorse, though, because -- well -- the sound is just so much better than anything I'd had before. I also recently had the pleasure of hearing Rodney's Audiolab M-DAC, which uses the same Sabre chip, and whereas his seemed to have more air and clarity, it also didn't quite have the same richness. Of course my comparison isn't fair (the DACs weren't being compared side by side on the same system), but the posts I've read of the Yulong do point in the same general direction.
Then I got a perfectly preserved Rotel RB-981 power amp from Leander, and suddenly clarity was restored. Combining the reserved yet generous Yulong with the almost-sharp, in-your-face Rotel has left me with a system that produces a lot of detail without harshness. Voices are particularly good, as is instrument separation and placement. Of course you don't buy a Rotel for its refinement, but what it lacks in that regard is made up for with liveliness and clarity, which are the two things you need to lend to the Yulong to round out an otherwise impressive sound.
Andre once told me it's not what you buy, it's how you match them up. I can attest to that. Can't wait to see how the better cables are going to interact with my little experiment. But I can tell you that right now, I'm enjoying my music again!
