B.M.C. PureDAC Review

Headphone use

As stated above, I don’t own balanced headphones, so all listening were done with my Sony MDR 7506 cans.  I switched back and forth between the respective headphone amp sections of the PureDAC and my Rogue 99 preamp.  After listening to several CD albums I was able to formulate discernible sound differences between the two.  One notable difference is tonal balance, with the PureDAC being more linear without any part of the frequency range being prominent, resulting in a nice ruler-flat presentation.  The Rogue was fairly close in this regard with the exception of treble being a little attenuated in comparison.  This result is not large but it is noticeable on some of the albums used.

Another difference between the headphone amps is tonal color or harmonic texture.  The Rogue is slightly warmer and darker sounding, especially in the mid-band.  This results in a fuller sound, though the PureDAC did not sound lean by any means.

One perplexing difference is that the Rogue emphasizes male and female vocal sibilants more than does the PureDAC.  This is perplexing because the amount of sibilance is approximately equal with the two components when listening with speakers.  On the Decemberists’ The Crane Wife, for example, Colin Meloy is spitting out more snakes on the title track through the Rogue headphone amp.  I applaud head Decemberist Colin Meloy’s inspired effort in putting some Japanese folk tales into a thematic album.  For me, this is great music.

The PureDAC headphone section is an excellent monitoring device, with the ability to reveal, reveal, and reveal.  No, I don’t mean the component highlights detail ad infinitum.  What I mean is the musical detail is naturally rendered within the fabric of the performance.  I have auditioned several popular headphone amps which are resolution monsters, but leave my ears bleeding from its laser sharp focus.  In my opinion, it is an exciting but not a natural presentation; certainly not what I hear at live concerts.  The live performance may be loud and distorted, but detail is always within the whole of the composition and each detail is never highlighted separately unless intended by the performer.

The sound quality of the headphone amp section on my Rogue Super Magnum preamp is very good, but I like the PureDAC slightly better.  I can only wonder how much better the balanced headphone output is with this unit if I had the correct headphones.

Balanced vs. unbalanced

Since my electronics are old school, equipped with only RCA single ended connections l brought the PureDAC to an audio buddy’s place.  We connected the unit to his EMM Labs Switchman preamp/controller and ATC SCM powered loudspeakers using one meter balanced, as well as one meter RCA cables from the same manufacturer.  I set equal SPL level for both on the Switchman by using the sound meter app on my friend’s iPad.  This allowed me to switch between inputs easily.  Listening in 24/96 format to Ryan Adams’ Heartbreaker album and Keith Greeninger’s cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil” – both excellent sounding recordings – I could not hear any sonic differences between balanced and unbalanced when switching back and forth on the EMM Labs controller. Both recordings sounded vibrant and immediate with the appropriate cues of live recordings.  Theoretically, there should be no difference in sound with short length cables because the possibility of interference of any kind is minimize.  My limited experiment confirmed the theory in this instance.

All’s well that ends well

The design, execution, fit and finish, are indicative of a component costing much more than the $1,790 retail asking price.   When you include the quality of refined sound that this unit produces, it adds up to great value in true high end audio systems.  If you are someone who likes sharper, more technical color sound than the PureDAC offers, it may not be suitable for your taste.  But if you are like me, someone who attends dozens of concerts each year, and want to achieve a similar, emotional musical connection with his or her audio system, then you should seriously consider auditioning the PureDAC.  What the PureDAC does so well is to bring out the intention of the performer, so the result is you are enjoying the musical message instead of listening to your equipment.  For anyone looking for a DAC, or a DAC/preamp/headphone combination with the qualities and price I described, I recommend auditioning the PureDAC.  Until next time, I wish you happy listening.