Marantz HD-DAC1 - Reference Quality Headphone Amplifier, Digital-Analog-Converter & Stereo Preamp All-in-One | High Resolution Audio Playback | iPod/iPhone Compatible | MusicLink Space Saver Design

I'd read glowing reviews from users about the DAC1 on Head-Fi but was extremely satisfied with my Bryston BHA1/BDA-2 amp/dac combo. But curiosity got the best of me, so I ordered one just to see what all the raves were about. Cutting to the chase, right out of the box, my HD-800S & AKG K812 sounded as lush, as full and smooth as the Bryston -- with a discernable improvement in the soundstage. Assuming it was the novelty of a new piece of gear, I decided to listen to the Marantz for at least a week without any back&forth switching with the Brystons. The most evident improvement was in my AKG cans -- the hotter top end was smooth as silk and mids were even lusher with the improved soundstage. Ultimate 3-dimensionality! And the Senn HD800 that's been (justifiably) criticized for a certain artificial sense of depth was pin-point perfect. To state the old hackneyed description, I was rediscovering my classical music collection (hi-res flacs, DSD files). My source is a FiiO X5 second gen connected via coax to the Marantz. Nothing in between. And as bonus, my two iPod Classics at 160GB each, plug directly into the DAC1, extending the capacity for my music. Wow! Back to my Brystons after a week-long audition of the DAC1, I found a sense of artificial 'detail' and 'presence' that causes listening fatigue after about an hour...with either of my headphones -- something I didn't experience with the Marantz. It becomes 'invisible', allowing me to glory, from massive symphonies to the intimacy of string quartets and everything in between. As a disclaimer, my musical tastes are almost strictly classical...with a small percentage of early bop. Rock isn't on my radar...but I can see why the Brystons would be more suited to it with its hard-edged sound and faux punchiness. Bottom line, I sold them for a handsome profit and haven't looked back...happy and loving it with the DAC1. At $800, it's one of the best values in headphone electronics!

2-8-20 Disliked: It sounds digitized. It should sound like music. It sounds like digitized music. Very good but digitized. Liked: Looks sharp. Good weight. Well designed for a lot of inputs. Disliked: It can’t reproduce dense music like John Williams E.T. soundtrack or Joe Lovano Sinatra tribute One for My Baby Liked: Bass is done very well, piano is pretty good. Disliked: cymbals, trumpets, upper register of saxes, sounds are a shadow of reality. It will hurt your ears after an hour. Liked: Dynamics are very very good. Perfect for non critical listening (video games, rock, hip hop.) Forget about jazz, classical, movie soundtracks. You’ll be left wanting. It’s definitely not more musical than my Halide dac I bought used more than 5 years ago. I tested this using Focal Clear headphones. My old 2013 Halide Dac sounds better by a significant margin. Much less edgy and more musical; closer to vinyl and actual sounds of vocals and instruments. I’m gonna burn this in for a few days and update this review. This is a decent 1rst Dac for a music lover who can’t afford anything in this price range and doesn’t want to spend for used equipment. I’ll pass. If you like vinyl you will too. It does lower register stuff very well. It’s dynamic in loads. After that it’s digital edgy music. 50% there unfortunately guys. Keep going Marantz. Hope you make it better next release. 2-11-20 After 36 hour burn in I’m truly surprised how less digitized and edgy the top end has become. It was awful before now it's tolerable but still digitized, but a lot less. Bottom end has become more musical and realistic. I used the medium gain setting for more dynamics and this dac really cooks in 1st gear. Bass is perfect ride in 2nd gear. Low mids are graceful then it gets stuck. Snare sounds shadowy, cymbals sound less fake than before but still fake. I’m buying a Wireworld USB cable to isolate the power and let this thing burn in more. Focal Clears are handling anything this can give out. Will update in a few days. Was a weak 3 stars now a strong 3 stars. 2-14-2020 NOW WE ARE COOKING 72 hour burn in and replaced stock USB with Wireworld USB cable. Now the bass is almost perfect. Midrange 90% better. Highs 75% better. Sound is more musical and locked in. Still can tell its digitized music but much less so. As long as you stick to small combo music jazz and classical you can live with this. I can't, so my search will continue but I am very impressed what this can do for small groups. Orchestral or large ensembles. Forget it. No way this unit can do it. But if your music needs are simple, or all electronic, then get this DAC. If you need a DAC that can do large dense works, keep looking. If realistic cymbals and wood blocks and bells are what you need. Keep looking. If you need vocals that are real. Keep looking. This DAC is 80% of what you really are looking for. If you listen to rock and hip hop or play games; this is the perfect dac for you. March 03, 2020 Somehow I thought I'd try one more thing before I sent this DAC back. Instead of using the on board amplifier I would feed it into another better headphone amplifier. I have a very old Pioneer VSX-D912 here and let me tell you. GOOD LORD. It is almost not even the same DAC. I can't believe it. Bass that was great now is almost perfect. Low mids are just luscious. Cymbals a LOT LESS DIGITIZED. Phantom Menace actually gave me goose bumps. Immoculation from Schindler's list just sung like an angel. Oh man. Now we have a winner. Why marantz? Why do I have to change out your stock USB cord and use another amplifier? Can't you just make a product that kills without hassles? It kills but after 50 hours of twiddling. Hey guys. Pretty confident this is a 4 star DAC now. Even dense music has seperation in the vocals, french horns, etc... I'm shocked. With caveats and 100 hour burn in you can get 4 star sound here.

Good lord this DAC/Amp sounds beautiful. I bought this unit as an upgrade for the Aune X1s paired with the legendary Emotiva a-100 basX amp. Man, what an upgrade it is. Don’t get me wrong, I still think the X1s is a very good DAC and the a100 can drive any headphone ever. What I wasn’t happy with was how recessed vocals seemed with the Aune and the incredibly loud noise floor of the Emotiva. I wanted an amp that could drive my Beyerdynamic dt1990 pros (250 ohm) and a DAC that didn’t sound quite so sterile. I looked at cheaper options such as Aune’s own X7s, the Darkvoice 336se, Schitt amps, Beyerdynamic amps, Massdrop’s THX AAA 789. In the end I figured I’d spend the extra money up front and hopefully save myself some growing pains. The reviews described the Marantz as an extraordinary DAC/amp that’s worth twice it’s price tag and I’d confirm that those boasts may be very, very true. Firstly with the Marantz, the noise floor wasn’t dropped, it was completely erased. The background is absolutely pitch black. At any volume. Secondly, the sound. I can’t imagine anyone would want something other than what the Marantz presents. I could go into a boringly detailed audiophile description about bringing vocals forward, filling out sub bass, and presenting treble so refined and pleasing that my entire music collection was completely transformed, but I’m not going to write that novel in an Amazon review. This is what I will say: I own Beyerdynamic dt1990 pros, Campfire Cascades, Shure SE846s, as well as a smattering of lower end OEM and IEM offerings, and through the Marantz HD DAC-1 they all sound ABSOLUTELY incredible!

the only thing this doesn't have is an exorbitant price tag, which means it has every thing i wanted: a hefty, gorgeous piece of hardware that feels substantial and well built and high end; a beautiful preamp stage with all the inputs and outputs i needed and more, and a remote, which is super awesome to have; as far as the DAC goes, i pair it with either my ciem's, ue 18+ pro, or my paradigm towers, and to my ears, it sounds sublime; and for me it is 95% as enjoyable as the gorgeous ones that cost 5 g's or more how lucky are we to be able to own something like this; it must be a dream oh yeah, there are drivers for win 10 on the marantz website; yes, they actually work; install the driver and then turn on the dac remember to use variable outputs if going straight into an amp, which of course does not have a preamp oh man, do i love the front panel with the central round lcd cutout

Phenomenal sound with speakers and Sennheiser HD650 phones. One quirk that I have confirmed with Marantz is that you get sound through BOTH speaker and headphones at the same time. Disconnect the headphones if you want to listen to speakers, but for headphone listening without waking the whole house up you seem to need speakers that you can mute or turn off. A lot of connection options - I have 2 computers both hooked up with optical cables and switching inputs is easy both on the component and on the remote. I was using cheaper DACs from Audioengine and Fiio and would have problems with loud and annoying crackling between tracks when I connected computers through optical connection (Mac Pro, Macbook Pro). That problem is completely gone with this DAC. You could probably get this quality of sound cheaper but for me this purchase was worth it because it is a simple integrated solution that sounds exceptional and gets rid of a lot of clutter and complicated switching rituals that I never got quite right when changing inputs. Apart from the surprising headphone/speaker simultaneous sound, the only potential negative might be that this component generates a lot of heat which could matter if you intend to stack on it or enclose it.

Oops, should have rated it 6 stars! Now that my Sennheiser HD 660 S are broken in I can really appreciate the warmth and clarity that this Marantz unit produces! I thought I was tone depth but now realize you truly get what you pay for. Other reviewers mention the power this unit produces and I must admit that they are spot on. I only use I tunes on my phone to play music and find this unit polishes and refines the music to a level I have never heard! I realize the initial investment is rather high but I now reap the rewards! I’m totally satisfied with this Marantz unit!

This DAC is OK. At $799.00 the Marantz competes with other DACs in the price range between $500-800. It doesn't compete with good DAC's belonging to the $1500 price range. The build quality on the Marantz is top notch, it looks and feels like a high quality product. The only issue that I noticed was significant distortion at max volume. I would say that the ACTUAL max volume should be somewhere between half way and three quarters. I compared the Marantz directly with a 1 yr old Emotiva reciever and the Wadia 121. Right now the Wadia 121 is on sale and priced the same as the Marantz. I used the Wadia for about 2 days before auditoning the Marantz. When I first used the Wadia, I immediately knew it was better than the Emotiva and didn't even bother with A/B comparisons. When the Marantz arrived I quickly unplugged the Wadia to have a listen. My audition lasted for about 12 minutes before decided I didn't need to compare them any longer. The Marantz seems just a touch warmer, but doesn't really compete sound wise. The Wadia is much clearer and really draws you in when your listening. I didn't evaluate either unit for use with headphones. I used 96/24 material for the evaluation and connected from a MBP using USB. Both DACs were feeding a Decware Torii MkIV tube amp, which was driving 4 Klipsch Heresys.

Short Version: The HD-DAC1 (DAC1) has great sound, cannot accept analog audio input from an amplifier without a level controller, and had trouble with the signals from one of my TVs, producing regular popping sounds reminiscent of a vinyl record with a scratch on it. (I place more blame on the TV.) Long Version: I bought the DAC1 to replace two boxes in my best stereo/TV system, an Arcam rDAC-kw (rDAC) and a simple stereo receiver which only provided headphone functionality. My integrated amplifier is analog-only and does not have a headphone jack. When the DAC1 arrived, however, I tried it with my secondary stereo/TV system. Playing the cable box thru HDMI to the Samsung plasma TV (model PN51F5300B, purchased this August) and thru optical cable into the DAC1, I noticed regular popping sounds very similar to the sound from an old vinyl record with a scratch on it. Testing ruled out bad cables, long signal paths, and TV or cable box settings (please use plain PCM stereo, uncompressed). The DAC1 worked fine with the Sony TV in my best system; no pops. Conclusion: The DAC1 is intolerant of something in this particular Samsung TV's signal. This was confirmed when I used the rDAC in its place. The sound is pop-free. Score one for Arcam! This Samsung model has factory fresh software, is totally "dumb", cannot be connected to the internet, and Samsung refused to send me a USB stick with a software update. Since the rDAC works fine with it, I'm OK. Time will tell if other users see this problem. (Try a software update of the TV if you do.) Since I hear similar pops when I pause or fast forward my DVR, my hunch is that the circuits for signal drop out and reacquisition are somehow in play when processing the Samsung's signals. The second issue is that the DAC1's analog input expects a low level input (from a smartphone or portable player), and the headphone output is distorted when connected with my amp's "Line Out". I bought a "remote level control" from an auto stereo store, two male-to-male RCA couplers, and an RCA to 3.5mm adapter plug to get this connection working. Total extra cost, $40. Other headphone amplifiers out there have much better connectivity with amps. This is a design flaw in my opinion. Valuable real estate on the back panel that could have been used for RCA inputs rigged to accept amplifier level input was instead used for a Marantz external remote control hookup. This connection can only be of value for die-hard Marantz groupies or Marantz corporate executives showing off the DAC1 to big-money stockholders at a cocktail party. The Marantz design engineers missed on this issue, (or got overruled by their bosses). The sound from the DAC1 is wonderful. I prefer it to the rDAC as the DAC1 has slightly stronger bass. I prefer my Primare CD player's sound to having it's digital output played through the DAC1, but there is no shame in that. Average quality CD players and probably 90% of blu-ray players playing CDs will see greatly improved sound with the DAC1 doing the conversion to analog. Ripping CD's to a computer and playing that through the DAC1 might perform even better, but I will leave the DAC1's performance with computers for others to evaluate. Bottom line. The great sound of the HD-DAC1 outweighs the connectivity design flaws and hopefully rare source signal quality intolerance issues described above. I am happy with this machine.

produto: qualidade de áudio excepcional

Der Marantz DAC/KHV lässt keine Wünsche offen. Das meine ich nicht nur klanglich, sondern auch anschlusstechnisch. Es stehen analoge, wie digitale Anschlüsse zur Verfügung. Der Line-Out ist gleich zweifach ausgelegt (fix + variable). So kann man eine Endstufe, aktive Boxen oder auch eine HiFi-Anlage / Vollverstärker bequem anschließen. Es gibt sogar einen Front-USB-Anschluss, worüber das Gerät direkt ohne Software (ohne Windows-PC ohne Mac) Musik abspielt (habe dies mit MP3s probiert; FLAC wird angeblich über den Front-USB nicht unterstützt; nur via PC/Mac). Der Klang stellt alle von mir bisher gekauften und getesteten Kopfhörerverstärker und Soundkarten in den Schatten. Der Marantz hat Kraft ohne Ende. Per Ohm/Gain-Schaltung kann man in drei Stufen eine Anpassung an seinen Kopfhörer vornehmen. Das klappt wirklich perfekt. Die Verarbeitung dieses Gerätes ist über jeden Zweifel erhaben. Die Optik, jede Taste, jeder Schalter und Drehregler sagt förmlich "ich bin High-End" und das nimmt man dem Gerät auch sofort ab. Sobald es auf dem Tisch steht und man noch nicht einen einzigen Ton darüber abgespielt hat, macht es bereits den Eindruck, als hätte es noch weit mehr gekostet, als dafür aktuell aufgerufen wird. Die Bestätigung alles richtig gemacht zu haben, kommt sobald man mal per USB einen guten Song einspielt. Der Klang ist über alles erhaben und der Marantz kommt mit all meinen Kopfhörern (AKG, Sennheiser, Philips, HiFiMan, B&W, Panasonic) super klar und hat diese jeder Zeit im Griff. Wie schon gesagt ... der Pegel reicht locker aus. Die Reserven sind gigantisch. Die schwerste Entscheidung ist nicht ob ... sondern ob in silber oder in schwarz. ;-) Man kann auch Musik analog über einen 3,5mm Klinkenstecker z.B. von einem TapeDeck, CD-Player, Handy zuspielen. Diese Variante habe ich aber bisher gar nicht ausprobiert, da dieses Gerät meine Soundkarte und meinen bisherigen Kopfhörerverstärker ersetzt und somit eigentlich nur der DAC läuft und somit Material per USB zugespielt wird. Sehr schön ist auch, dass eine Fernbedienung dabei ist. Ein Komfort-Extra, das durchaus Sinn machen kann. Vor dem ersten Abspielen von Songs muss noch ein Treiber von der Marantz-Homepage geladen werden (zumindest unter Windows). Dann kann's sofort losgehen. Dieser DAC taugt auch, um den PC oder ein Notebook mit einer sehr hochwertigen (analogen) HiFi-Anlage zu verbinden. Der Wandler macht alles richtig und verfälscht das Klangerlebins in keinster Weise. Es gibt kein Summen, kein Brummen, kein Rauschen und keine Klicks vor einem Song (hab' das schon alles mit billiger Hardware erlebt). Falls das hier einer von Marantz lesen sollte ... ... was noch fehlt, ist einen 2-Kanal-Endstufe im passenden Design für den variablen Line-Out. Das wäre die Krönung ! Eins noch für Feingeister ... Etwas negativ empfinden könnte solche Personen, dass das Gerät ein leises Relais-Schalt-Geräusch erzeugt, wenn es seine Taktung/Abtastrate 48k, 192k ändert. Aber selbst dieses Geräusch klingt keineswegs billig. Wer die Möglichkeit hat, diesen DAC/KHV einmal vor Ort zu hören und natürlich auch auf der Suche nach so einem Boliden ist, der sollte diese Gelegenheit nicht auslassen. Es lohnt sich ... Ich kann nur 5 Sterne geben. Der hoch erscheinende Preis ist mehr als angemessen und die Leistung & Optik einfach genial.

Discrepo de la opinion anterior. Sí que es cierto el sonido en el "relé" entre pistas, pero, efectivamente, cuando se trata de cambios manuales ya que en reproducción continua no sucede. Supongo que va a gustos, pero invalidar el equipo por este simple sonido entre pistas me parece injusto. Sinceramente, a mí lo que me interesa es cómo suenan las pistas y si lo hacen bién me da lo mismo ese relé en los silencios. Aparte de eso, a mí la reproducción me parece espectacular para un equipo de este precio. Muchas reviews en medios anglosajones lo califican de "matagigantes", pues se equipara a productos mucho más caros. Soy mucho más melómano que audiófilo, y en mi opinión la reproducción es muy fiel, con mucha separación y escena. Para mi gusto (escucho pop-rock y electrónica) el único detecto es que los bajos suenan apagados, pero con unos auriculares adecuados el sonido es espectacular. En mi caso hacen una pareja estupenda con los Master&Dynamic mh40s2, que mantienen la vanguardia separación y claridad y mueven perfectamente los bajos, con un sonido muy musical y sin fatiga. Muy a mi pesar he tenido que devolver el equipo por una urgencia económica inesperada, pero lo volveré a adquirir en cuanto me sea posible.

-)

Dac molto valido. Posseggo su primo impianto un Luxman DA250 che costa 3 volte tanto. Questo non sfigura come qualità sonore. Ha immagine meno larga e forse qualcosa in meno come dettaglio e trasparenza, ma ha un rapporto qualità prezzo notevole. Diciamo che è la base per un impianto hi-end nel senso che potrebbe costare anche di più per la qualità che offre