For SW1X source gear
3 Likes
Wow this thread has a lot of content lol
Anyone with any impressions other than @M0N’s DAC II in his comparisons articles?
Also read this of course
1 Like
Because there is not much content written on the SW1x streamers (VDT), I thought I would give it a go. A VDTIII special has been with me since aug2024. It replaced a Pi2aes. I was looking for a better streamer with a dedicated spdif out as that was my preferred connection with my DAC (merason dac1 mkII). The spdif gave me the most organic sound.
With the sound impressions as written by MON in one of his articles about dac’s, I was really interested in the SW1X streamers. And as expected the SW1x house sound is also present in the streamers. I got lucky and found a great deal on a VDT3 SP, as new would be out of my price range.
The VDT3 models and further up the food chain also have internal harddrive present. The first few weeks I only used the streamer from internet option, which already impressed me greatly, but after awhile I bought an album (from Qobuz). Haven’t done that in about 25 years.
The sound when streaming from the internal HD is so much better. The music came even more alive, everything went up a notch. Toe tapping increased greatly. Cant really explain it. So naturally I have been buying more albums. Maybe even get one those top level Qobuz accounts where you get discounts when buying albums.
One minor downside is that the manual states the streamer to be “ideally always on”. However the software (volumio) was not made to be always on. When left on overnight the software would freeze which would require a flip of the switch on the back. You can turn off the software in the app, however there is no on switch apart from the main switch on the back. I would have liked to have a on switch for just the software.
7 Likes
The idea of improved sound from the internal HD is not out of whack. Very possible that the net noise from the processing of the stream through Ethernet may be higher than the processing of the data directly from the onboard HD.
2 Likes
Well early impressions from the sw1x dac3 balanced special. I had today the first few hours of listening. This mostly in comparison to my previous dac the merason dac1 which I used for the past 3 years.
What immeadiatly is noticed is the large soundscape. It feels like the music wants break out of my headphone, the DCA stealth. After that I found the sound to be way more neutral compared to the merason. Also the presentation was much more authorative and dynamic. This makes the experience very engaging.
The dac is very hot on the output. I had to put the volume lower on my feliks audio envy. Not much play left on the volume dial. May need a pre amplifier. Also may need open back headphone, because closed back seems to be bottlenecking this dac.
6 Likes
The dealer here informed me he had the headphone pre amp in his studio, so I went and had a listen with my DCA stealth. I was glad to hear no background noise, as that was an initial worry of mine, due to Sw1x making mostly speaker gear where noise is less noticeable. The other worry was if the amp would have sufficiënt power to drive the stealths. According to the builder, the amp has 1.5w power and an output ohm of 4. I am used to the feliks audio envy with 5w on mid gain, where the volume on about 8:30. So was hopefull.
The headphone amp drove the stealths very nicely. Really different presentation then the 300b. The synergy with the other Sw1x gear was there and the volume pots on 11-12. These mono volumepots are abit weird, but far from a deal breaker, and apparently better for the sound. The Sw1x amp uses el84 which I had in the past with the ZMF pendant and I thought I would never have again. But the sound was way better then the pendant.
The dealer also had the Sw1x 963 speakers and we listened to those aswell. Conclusion for me was that these would be my endgame.
At the end I placed an order for the headphone pre3 amp with a trade-in of the feliks audio envy to soften the blow.
6 Likes
Your post reminded me that I’ve never laid ears on SW1X gear. Heading to a show in DC soon and I’m make it a point to listen if I see something there.
Would love to her a little more from you on what you hears from the 963 speakers. It’s the first time I’ve ever read anything about them and they’re a damned unique design. The pair you hears was alnico or field coil version?
It must have been the alnico version. I don’t remember seeing additional power cords coming out of the back.
Regarding further information on the speakers. My experience with listening to speakers is very limited. The last time I had speakers was before I moved in with my wife some 20 years ago, and that were simple bose speakers. The wife is not a fan, but i’m getting the needle moving.
The 963 speakers just sounded right to me. All the instruments were lifelike. Their a further extension of the Sw1x housesound (as first described for me by mon in his dac comparison). The magic synergy it just there with all the components from the same company.
2 Likes
Hi, in regards to their speakers I think as with all of their new stuff, they are just trying to go into Lampizator-Land.. sorry, too much copy from Aries Cerat, Audio Note and for sure Abbas Audio.
The speaker you mentioned, I know that they are using the Sonido (hungary) drivers and completly insane overpriced… here the drivers: https://www.sonido.hu/adat_pdf/SWR-096A_Product_sheet.pdf
3 Likes