SonicFlare First Listen: Stello DA100 USB DAC
by Josh Ray, Feb 20 '06
Oh, glorious day! USB audio is growing up! Yes, folks, here's a first peek at April Music's Stello DA100 USB DAC in for review here at SonicFlare. If you want the quick dirt, the DA100, at $695, does USB audio right and sounds just silly good.
While more comprehensive coverage will come later, here are a few snippets to get you salivating. Over the weekend, I had a chance to throw the Stello into the octagon with such giants as the $13000 Chord Blu transport/DAC combo and an older Linn player hooked up to an ATC/Linn system. If you're not familiar with ATC, they're an ultra high-end pro company with speakers sharper than razor blades. If you can't hear it over ATCs, then it's simply not there.
The Stello, if you look closely, is a complete DAC with multiple inputs including coax and optical (pic next page). The size of a ream of printer paper, the construction is first rate. Of course, next to the Cartier-inspired Chord gear with its blingified aluminum chassis and alien landing gear lights (pic next page), the Stello was just another black box. But, hey, what do you expect for $695? Source consisted of an Apple PowerBook running Lossless through iTunes.
Now, the most important part: how did the DA100 stack up to Chord and Linn? Would you believe me if I told you the Stello was better than both? If you answered "no" you get a shiny gold star. The Chord and Linn were hands down better. For 13 grand, there should be a significant difference. But switching between the Stello and the Chord, it was just amazing just how good the Stello was.
To delve into audiophile babble (I'm dirty, I know), the differences between the Chord and Linn were pronounced with the Chord having a much crisper and cleaner image while the Linn was warmer and more laid back. Personally, I like the Chord though others may cozy to the Linn (especially Linn's newer equipment). In any case, the Stello was like a Chord Blu-lite, hitting that same crisp and clean image but not as well.
So what percentage of performance did the Stello hit relative to the Chord? 70%? 80%? I'm not even going to touch that one, but the overall feeling is the Stello will give less expensive CD players a serious run for the money. It can't touch $13k but $2K? $3k? $10k? Maybe, maybe not. Time will tell.
I imagine the vast majority of the Stello's magic is simply due to the solid implementation of the USB input and the jitter-slaying qualities of hard disk-based audio. I did not get a chance to run the Chord Blu transport directly into the Stello to compare the DA100's DAC directly to the BLU's outboard DAC, but I imagine the Blu is vastly better. So chances are the performance results from the Stello are simply an indication of "USB done right" and the giant-slaying qualities of HDD audio. April Music makes highly regarded equipment, but I can't believe the DAC alone accounts for the monster performance.
Keep an eye out for more comparisons against lower priced CD players as well as other USB DACs. But, fellas, if this little sampler is any indication, you'll soon start seeing industry-wide reviews of USB DACs murdering CD players at double and triple the price. Mark my words, it's going to happen.
Man, all this USB DAC goodness of late is just like begging for more, deeper, comparison reviews. Wouldn't it be great to assemble a comparison article between the Stello, the Scott-Nixon (tubed), the Wavelength Brick and some other USB DAC I'm forgetting, by terms of price/performance, within the $300-$1000 range - which is a reasonably affordable deal for the Playstation demographic I guess. $13K is not.
By the way, I just heard the next Sony's PS3 might cost about $800-900 in parts alone. If young'uns are willing to pay that much for a videogame machine, suddenly the most affordable USB DACs seem like a heck of a deal.
At least on this, I'm sold. No more CD's for me. This is where it's at now - audio mags better catch up, and soon.
Posted by: beto at February 20, 2006 9:27 PM
Actually, on the topic of the PS3, the price is not going to be $800-900 for consumers. It is going to be $300-400, hence the problem for Sony. The delay of the PS3 and rumours swirling about which MPEG format is going to be used on Blu-ray DVDs will only make things harder for this new technology, if and when it launches.
At this point, HD-DVD and Blu-ray are starting to look like SACD and DVD-A.
USB DACs are going to become even better over time and don't be shocked to see Wavelength release something even better than the Brick (eventually) at a price point that PS3 folks will appreciate.
Ian
Posted by: Ian White at February 20, 2006 11:58 PM
It's unfortunate that you can't run that Chord DAC off a hard disk based transport. You'd see just how bad traditional transports are in comparison.
Posted by: B. Riley at February 22, 2006 7:24 PM
I realize Pioneer Elite isn't exactly considered audiophile, but as someone who represents the "new blood" of the audiophile target market I'd be very curious to see how the USB/DAC performance of the 56TXi (192kHz/24-Bit Delta Sigma) compares to the Stello. I'm probably one of the few using the USB port on this unit, but I have to say the quality is spectacular (all things relative, of course). Plus, this is the kind of unit I think people like me use as a stepping stone into the next category of gear.
And since I'm on the topic, I think it would be rewarding to see a unit like this brought into speaker reviews. I can't afford to upgrade all of my equipment at once and I have no idea if the Elite even deserves to drive a pair of B&W 603's (for instance).
Cheers,
Tim
Posted by: TWKnight at February 23, 2006 7:34 PM
please, if you can, add the apogee mini-dac USB to your comparo list. thanks.
Posted by: baald at April 10, 2006 2:00 AM
Dear All,
At this moment I am looking for an affordable DAC to connect my Sonos ZP-80 digital music player to my Burmester 032 amp. Currently, the ZP-80 is connected by its analog outputs to the Burmester. Believe it or not, but even people from Sonos (The Netherlands) cannot believe their ears. However, I cannot imagine the built-in ZP-80 DAC to be better than an external solution. I have read good reviews of the Apogee miniDAC, the Stello DA220, the CEC D53 and Benchmark DAC-1. All in more or less the same pricing scheme.
Does anybody of you have some experience with this kind of setup? Any suggestions are more than welcome of course. My intention is to hook up the DAC with balanced XLR cables to the Burmester. Most of my digital music collection is in FLAC format (to my opinion the best format there is for HDD audio reproduction) and stored on a NAS in my home network.
Thanks guys, appreciate all your suggestions, remarks, comments etcetera.
Kind regards,
Peter Kievits
The Netherlands
Posted by: Peter at May 4, 2006 7:08 AM
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