For all Crane Song gear
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There are many very enthusiastic Crane Song Solaris Quantum fans out there. It’s a favorite at SBAF. I’m watching this thread with great interest.
Well, I mean, not sure you will see much, but it is a great dac and a really good value too, but not many people seem to have one or be in the market for one here
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I’ve seen them mentioned by you @M0N previously during the last big DAC comparison on the HFG forum. They look pro geared and the pricing is very much down to earth. It’s just that I’ve never run across one in the used market. Not a common beast in the wild.
I feel like I’ve mostly only heard about it in studio contexts rather than hi-fi contexts, so like, apparently it pairs well with the RNHP/Little Labs Monotor, but I don’t know much else about it.
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Any impressions regarding the Solaris DAC? Thinking of pairing one with my BHA-1 and could use some perspective.
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I’ve yet to see one out in the wild in the uses sales sites.
It’s very good, I would say they’re neutral leaning but with a bit of extra weight and sweetness, it’s a really refined balance overall. I think they’re generally just good all rounders, I don’t know if It’d say aside from the refinement that there’s a specific part of it that really stands out to me.
Spatially it’s not as holographic or wide as some others in the range but it’s also fairly accurate and pinpoint, really solid imaging and depth. Dynamically I do feel like it leans a bit more toward micro focused than macro, but it’s also not heavily skewed one way or another. I do think it’s got pretty great timbre for what it is, and weighting is very good and it has a slight bit of softness without losing definition. Pretty solid resolving power overall. I think in terms of downsides I might say that it might be a slight bit polite or restrained depending on the pairing, and it’s also not forgiving either compared to some other options (though also not the most demanding)
I feel like it’s something more to consider balanced and with a good spdif source, although usb isn’t bad per se. I would only really consider using it balanced, you can convert to single ended but something it’s iffy.
In terms of comparisons, I’m going to be out of date here, but from a technicalities perspective I feel likely within the range of something like a schiit yggy, being more technically proficient in resolving power, microdynamics, and stage accuracy, but lacking the macrodynamics and slam, along with having a more flat sounding stage. Yggy warmer and more tonally dense but crane song more faithful, honestly I feel like timbre is probably equally good between them. I’d personally say the solaris is a better overall package but that’s just me.
Awesome value new in the US, but the used value is actually kinda hurt by how well they hold their value, if you can find one lol
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Any experience with the AES?
Yggy defining characteristics that i find kinda muddies the experience. Thanks, as always, for your insight.
Sorry Spdif/AES either or, which ever one you have the better cable for with a slight preference toward AES
Compared to the crane song the yggy does sound somewhat dirty lol (but that’s part of the charm of the dac itself lol)
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