B.M.C. PureDAC Review

The proof is in the listening – looking into the ogre’s warts and sleeping beauty really is a beauty

– Cat Power – The Greatest (2007)
– Gillian Welch – Time (The Revelator)(2001)
– Neil Young – Live at Massey Hall 1971
– Superchunk – Majesty Shredding
– The Decemberists – The Crane Wife (2006) 

So, how does this thing sound?  More specifically, how does the PureDAC sound in relationship with the other components in my system?  As is my usual practice, I played parts of several dozen red book CD and SACD albums, as well as several high-resolution music files.

The overall musical landscape is one of organic smoothness and cohesion.  It was the first strong impression formed after listening to several albums.  The graininess, glare and high frequency hardness I sometimes hear – even with some expensive components – are largely absent with the PureDAC.  By smoothness I do not mean musical notes are rounded off completely, resulting in blurriness where one can’t differentiate the beginning or the end.  What I mean is that notes do not begin or end sharply which results in a “hi-fi” sound, but rather notes commence and terminate in a more relaxed and natural way.  The latter presentation is more akin to a live concert.  Note attack and dynamics are present but not overly highlighted when the recording calls for them.

The ability to resolve low level detail is a strong suit of the PureDAC.  Gillian Welch’s Time (The Revelator) is one of my acid tests for this sonic attribute.  On the opening track “Revelator” there is movement – either musicians or equipment – immediately before the performance.  I can’t hear this non-musical detail on some systems.  One or more of the components in these systems is/are not capable of resolving the detail.  The PureDAC extracted this non-musical information naturally and without fanfare or highlight; that is, not too prominent in the presentation.

One of my favorite home audio attributes to listen for is “presence,” that is the illusion of recreating a live or studio performance.  An excellent example is Live at Massey Hall 1971, where a young Neil Young performs solo to a Toronto hometown audience at a popular local venue.  It is one of the best live recordings I have heard to date.  The track “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” exudes just the right amount of hall ambience, without exaggerating into hyper-reality.  The PureDAC is able to convey the various shadings of Neil’s voice, as well as the different overtones from his guitar picking and strumming throughout the song.

The PureDAC will also reveal the shortcomings of poor recordings.  One of my favorite post-punk bands is North Carolina’s Superchunk.  Their 2010 release, Majesty Shredding contains some of their best material, yet the recording quality sucks because of over compression.  The resultant vocals and instrumental accompaniment sound unintelligible and muddled.  The PureDAC didn’t sugarcoat these shortcomings but did what a high end component is supposed to do: present what is on the recording.   If you want a double chocolate chip cone all the time you may have to look elsewhere.

Transparency is very good though the PureDAC falls short of one of the best in this regard, the Lindemann USB-DAC 24/192.  What I mean is there is a slight opaqueness to the sound when compared to the best in this regard.

Using the PureDAC as a standalone preamplifier yielded a seemingly clean and accurate sound.  For fans of neutrality, this should be on your check it out list.  No matter if I used a tube or solid state amplifier, the PureDAC remained relatively neutral, with a tad more mid-range warmth with tube equipment.  This is not a criticism but it could be a factor in considering the PureDAC, depending on the listener’s preference.

US of B

Using standard CD format through the USB connection I listened to both 16/44.1 and up sampled files to 16/176.4.  The PureDAC easily distinguished any sonic differences, whether for better or for worse.  Sounds like part of a marriage vow, but I say again the PureDAC has very good resolution. For instance, there is greater air around Cat Power’s voice on “The Greatest” when up sampled to 176.4 but with that added resolution there were also some unnatural high frequency artifacts which affected my enjoyment.  On the other hand, Neil Young’s voice was more solid and fuller on “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” when up sampled to 176.4.  So it seems what differences I found are attributed to the particular recording process.

Well recorded high resolution files are the cat’s meow through the USB.  A 24/96 Pure Vinyl direct transfer of Ryan Adams’ Heartbreaker album and a downloaded 24/96 file of Keith Greeninger /Dayan Kai “Looking for a Home” brought me, figuratively of course, to the venues where these tracks were recorded.  I was able to hear the subtle emotional and instrumental variations easily, i.e. the musical intent.