EAR Acute Classic

[Analog21]

Does anyone have any experience or have heard the new Ear Acute Classic CD/DAC? I previously owned the EAR Acute 3 and loved it. The main drawback to the new classic is doesn't do DSD natively, but that is not a deal breaker for me, as I only listen to redbook cds and flac files. I was hoping Myles could get a unit for Positive Feedback to review as I know they were the only ones to review the Ear Acute 3 and the Ear DAC4. Here is the link: http://www.earyoshino.com/Acute-CD-Player/

I've tried the Exogal Comet previously but it was not for me. Most have loved it, so not sure why it didn't work in my system. I guess I've grown addicted to the tube output sound and love EAR products that I've heard. Anyways, here is the link to the Acute Classic: http://www.earyoshino.com/Acute-CD-Player/

[Analog21]

I may pull the trigger on this soon.

[Alrainbow]

when you sat native , you mean its dop and not non dop. playing dop is still fine and i for one would not let this break a deal on adac you love the sound of . no matter what dac you buy its really not native its through a digital format the moment its played on any server or desk top. second they all convert from say a usb or spidif in digital . lastly dop is real dsd its just framed in a pcm folder. if you have a dac that makes you happy stop and enjoy. now what i would say is stay away from fpga dacs as they are the highest order of digital processing . a chiped dsd is still ok but not as pure as chipless dsd.

[Analog21]

Not sure of all the digital knowhow… Here is what it does through the DAC: USB 2.0 (PC/MAC) 44.1K - 192 KHz, 16 - 24 bit PCM

[Alrainbow]

Ok now I know why you said no native , it's must be down sampled to Play dsd tracks. While this does not lay dsd to its best it's still ok if it pleases you. Also,it has valves a good sign of being musical . Some say stick a tube stage somewhere in your system and its adds musicality and even a touch of the analog sound too. Enjoy it

[MylesBAstor]

Ok now I know why you said no native , it's must be down sampled to Play dsd tracks. While this does not lay dsd to its best it's still ok if it pleases you. Also,it has valves a good sign of being musical . Some say stick a tube stage somewhere in your system and its adds musicality and even a touch of the analog sound too. Enjoy it

Obviously a DAC consists of a digital and an analog line stage. To my ears, it seems like sometimes there's more attention given to the digital conversion and the line stage is an afterthought. Some of the best DACs I have heard over the years, have incorporated a tube line stage. Audio Note. Altis Audio. And a few others.

[Alrainbow]

Don't leave out my lampi lol. But when I fed my Msb into the preamp input of my lampi the sound was worse then on its own. But your view I do agree with. But synergy has it's additive in this too. Ps audio at one point said less is more then changed it when Paul needed a preamp on his system. My Msb does not need a preamp in fact Msb claims not to use one. For now as my system is now balanced and my lampi is not I use my MyTek as a preamp SE in bal out. It sounds very good I dos the same with my Msb and it also was very good. While the MyTek is a good preamp and an ok dac its headphone amp not as good. While I helped lampi make the head dac there were sounds in early models that were not right for headphones. My point is voicing is important but when doing so what should there reference point be ?