Post by james on May 9, 2020 20:06:23 GMT 12
Soncoz LA QXD1
Firstly, this is a few words about my impressions of a DAC/Pre amp – thus the following discourse may prove unsuitable reading material for those Luddites that are firmly entrenched in the “world” of vinyl.
This morning while contemplating the time required to invest in the “joyous” pass time otherwise known as mowing the lawns I was disturbed by the out of balance concrete mixer sound of the courier arriving. After the somewhat impolite exchange (amazing what “social distancing” could be held accountable for) I had todays package in hand.
Plastic bag dispensed with and double boxes opened I am confronted with my first view of the surprisingly heavy Soncoz LA QXD1.
Now with a great reason to avoid the lawns it was off to the study to connect up the little box, power is by USB C and data inputs are variously optical, coaxial or USB.
The ancient laptop wheezes and creaks into life, log into a favoured audio site – no output. Off to the Soncoz website and down load the required driver. (Windoze 7 is not the greatest platform at sourcing drivers).
Now we have music – the LX QXD1 is a DAC pre that takes advantage of the digital volume control on the late generation ESS chip.
This iteration of System 5 has a laptop (Windoze media player in this case) into the Soncoz then balanced into a 31 band EQ into a home made 3 way amp into some “full range” 10” drivers housed in small cabinets.
Streaming music is much nicer than it was no longer can you hear each packet of data hit the amp in the jerky way my MiniMax presents USB derived signals. Insert a CD into laptop – it is an improvement and probably about as good as System 5 will get.
Next experiment was to snag the Genelec 8010s out of System 4. (laptop to Soncoz into the Genelecs).
First off some streaming – okish Then it is time to spin some discs - now we have some tolerable music. Radar Love is still its usual listenable but hazy self, Bad Company (Self titled) is suitably engaging, Stockfisch 1 sounds great but these Genelecs roll off at about 40hz so a lot of the bass in Beat Hotel is AWOL. (most would not be aware how much bass underpins Beat Hotel).
Time to try the Soncoz on System 2 Bada HD26 single ended into the Soncoz then singe ended into a McIntosh MC2255 then into Arden 2s. The bass in Beat Hotel returns, Dire Straits (Self titled original issue) sounds great from beginning to end, Division Bell sounds pleasant, a well mastered Clayderman provides suitable piano music for the evening repast.
Why did I purchase the Soncoz? – was it too long in lockdown distorting my usual parsimonious ways?
What drove the purchase? the (now tweaked) MiniMax is diabolical with USB input and I am now streaming some music. Besides being what turned out to be a very capable DAC the Soncoz can take a USB data feed convert and send out in a digital format that the MiniMax can more pleasantly digest.
I came across the Sonocoz on a forum where gear is measured – they seem to concentrate on “more affordable” equipment and are not afraid to call out what they perceive as deficiencies in the tested equipment’s measurements.
The engineer that manufactures the Soncoz came on the forum and explained how he got rid of a hump in the output of the ESS DAC chip (I have no idea if this hump is audible) Somewhat impressed that an audio engineer would venture onto a public forum with such information I looked further and subsequently made another “blind” purchase.
The Soncoz LA QXD1 is a good DAC that punches well above its weight and for US $200 delivered it is a howling bargain.
I have not reviewed many DACs of recent time but to put a dimension around the sonic output. I would suggest the Soncoz could be considered more favourably than a Chord Mojo by many people.
Firstly, this is a few words about my impressions of a DAC/Pre amp – thus the following discourse may prove unsuitable reading material for those Luddites that are firmly entrenched in the “world” of vinyl.
This morning while contemplating the time required to invest in the “joyous” pass time otherwise known as mowing the lawns I was disturbed by the out of balance concrete mixer sound of the courier arriving. After the somewhat impolite exchange (amazing what “social distancing” could be held accountable for) I had todays package in hand.
Plastic bag dispensed with and double boxes opened I am confronted with my first view of the surprisingly heavy Soncoz LA QXD1.
Now with a great reason to avoid the lawns it was off to the study to connect up the little box, power is by USB C and data inputs are variously optical, coaxial or USB.
The ancient laptop wheezes and creaks into life, log into a favoured audio site – no output. Off to the Soncoz website and down load the required driver. (Windoze 7 is not the greatest platform at sourcing drivers).
Now we have music – the LX QXD1 is a DAC pre that takes advantage of the digital volume control on the late generation ESS chip.
This iteration of System 5 has a laptop (Windoze media player in this case) into the Soncoz then balanced into a 31 band EQ into a home made 3 way amp into some “full range” 10” drivers housed in small cabinets.
Streaming music is much nicer than it was no longer can you hear each packet of data hit the amp in the jerky way my MiniMax presents USB derived signals. Insert a CD into laptop – it is an improvement and probably about as good as System 5 will get.
Next experiment was to snag the Genelec 8010s out of System 4. (laptop to Soncoz into the Genelecs).
First off some streaming – okish Then it is time to spin some discs - now we have some tolerable music. Radar Love is still its usual listenable but hazy self, Bad Company (Self titled) is suitably engaging, Stockfisch 1 sounds great but these Genelecs roll off at about 40hz so a lot of the bass in Beat Hotel is AWOL. (most would not be aware how much bass underpins Beat Hotel).
Time to try the Soncoz on System 2 Bada HD26 single ended into the Soncoz then singe ended into a McIntosh MC2255 then into Arden 2s. The bass in Beat Hotel returns, Dire Straits (Self titled original issue) sounds great from beginning to end, Division Bell sounds pleasant, a well mastered Clayderman provides suitable piano music for the evening repast.
Why did I purchase the Soncoz? – was it too long in lockdown distorting my usual parsimonious ways?
What drove the purchase? the (now tweaked) MiniMax is diabolical with USB input and I am now streaming some music. Besides being what turned out to be a very capable DAC the Soncoz can take a USB data feed convert and send out in a digital format that the MiniMax can more pleasantly digest.
I came across the Sonocoz on a forum where gear is measured – they seem to concentrate on “more affordable” equipment and are not afraid to call out what they perceive as deficiencies in the tested equipment’s measurements.
The engineer that manufactures the Soncoz came on the forum and explained how he got rid of a hump in the output of the ESS DAC chip (I have no idea if this hump is audible) Somewhat impressed that an audio engineer would venture onto a public forum with such information I looked further and subsequently made another “blind” purchase.
The Soncoz LA QXD1 is a good DAC that punches well above its weight and for US $200 delivered it is a howling bargain.
I have not reviewed many DACs of recent time but to put a dimension around the sonic output. I would suggest the Soncoz could be considered more favourably than a Chord Mojo by many people.
