Aragon D2A DAC

My new to me Aragon D2A DAC is in the test rig this morning. At first, the left channel was dead. Took the cover off and found a bad solder joint for the left channel signal wire to the output section. Left channel is back and singing strongly.

The Aragon D2A features dual 18-bit Burr-Brown PCM58P chips and what looks like dual output stages with plenty of filtering. The power supply is a separate unit. So, looks like Aragon put some effort into this unit.

I'm using my Luxman D-109 digital out with a standard coax cable. I immediately notice how much sharper and detailed the sound is. I've only played a few tracks after my lucky fix so more later.

Attached Image (Click thumbnail to expand)

The Aragon D2A was one of the early digital processors and the design of digital processors has improved a lot since then.
The Luxman is a very good cdp and it has a good dac also, the PCM56P....

But, it looks very nice. How much you payed for it?

Yeah, I figured the D2A was a first gen DAC since there is a D2A2 and the PCB says "Rev. 0". I gave it a listen in the main system this morning and the balance isn't totally right or I am hearing things I haven't heard before, which is a possibity without having heard a variety of DAC/transport combos. The 18-bit over-sampling chip uses the two extra data channels to interpolate the 16 signal and fill in some of what is lost in the DA process. So, how much the edges are filled in is determined by algorethms, which is ultimately up to human interpretation. To my ears, the D2A brings the treble forward a little too much so that cymbols seem to be overly pronounced. Mids are richer and fuller than before and the bass has more punch. I just wish I could tone down the top hat.

This post has been edited by socal sam on February 25, 2009 03:52 pm

Maybe recapping with some smooth caps...like the Black Gates or Elna Silmic or Cerafine?! Just a thought.

Recapping maybe but I don't think murkiness is a problem with my Aragon. I listened some more today and I still haven't gotten the measure of my DAC. I'm hearing stuff in my CD's I have not heard before so I have to recalibrate my standards. Perhaps I'm mistaking this for over-enphasis or loss of balance, I just don't know yet. Good stuff, this is a new avenue for audio discovery.

I plugged the Luxman D-109's analog outputs into the MAC C2300's CDR input to compare to the DAC output. The D-109 also has a Burr Brown DAC, the PCM56. I can't remember if it has dual chips.

The two are surprisingly close but the edge has to go to the Aragon. The D-109 is a degree less resolved everywhere. The symbols just don't have the brassy overtone and the mids and bass lack body. Not that the D-109 is bad, we are talking about an nth degree difference. The Aragon resolves nuances much better and really makes me notice how good a recording can be.

The other significant difference is in the output stages. The D-109 is not bad but I think the Aragon is better and probably must faster as well.

This post has been edited by socal sam on February 27, 2009 09:43 pm