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GIESELER Kompakt DAC owners thread


Gieseler Audio

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45 minutes ago, lenticularis said:

Well, I finally received my Aries Femto from a US seller. Yesterday I switched the LPSU from 120V to 240V (a simple jumper switch, thanks to advice received via a query to the Auralic Community) and it's now plugged into the USB input of my miniDSP SHD Studio.

 

I now have the luxury of:

1. streaming directly through Lightning DS,

2. using the Aries as a Roon endpoint

3. Using the SHD Studio's own Ethernet-wired streaming

 

All of the above enable Dirac Live to be switched in or out (4 target curves) and if I wish, I can even plug the Aries directly into the Kompakt's USB input.

 

Roon will be useful to discover new artists but I'll finish my 1-year sub in Oct 2021 and revert to LDS.

 

The overall system is giving me immense satisfaction, playing all kinds of music.

 

Currently rocking to John Mellencamp's 'Big Daddy' album (44.1 / 16 bit FLAC home-ripped).

 

After an initial setup, I've shoe-horned the Kompakt alongside my Stereo Coffee LDR pre-.

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Hi @lenticularis how are you finding the sound signature of the combined Kompact DAC and Stereocoffee...very interested to know...

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On 10/11/2020 at 12:43 PM, ray4410 said:

and now the fun starts
both are new and have had not much play time,will be interesting,time will tell?

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Any thoughts on comparisons between the Kompakt and the Aries II, Ray? Have you had a chance yet?

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yeah simon,listening as we speak,bloody hell i am starting to hate hifi,well that's not quite true i have hated it for 50 f====== years,so to answer your question i can't say as i love them both,if anything i think the kompakt is a bit more laid back than the aries,i can listen to either one of them and really like what i am hearing,keep in mind both have not had a lot of hours on them so weather that will change things who knows,one thing i will mention is that spotify premium has never sounded better through either of the dacs,most of the time i use a rega apollo 35 anniversary cd as a transport or a opppo 95 both sound pretty darn good,
ray.

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8 hours ago, BLAH BLAH said:

Hi @lenticularis how are you finding the sound signature of the combined Kompact DAC and Stereocoffee...very interested to know...

Hi Ray,

 

The combination is fantastic as far as I'm concerned! 

 

The SC already gave a very strong sense of presence 'in the room' and the Kompakt's extra stereo separation over the Klein and lesser non-Gieseler DACs adds to the mix. That summary of course, is over-simplifying what the Kompakt brings to the mix.

 

Many people find that the Auralic Aries' Lightning DS sound quality is preferable to Roon. If I had to choose further I would add that I think LDS is a tiny bit more delicate than the miniDSP SHD Studio streaming. The Aries uses wi-fi and the SHD Studio a local Ethernet cable from the same cheap wi-fi booster. One of my reasons for returning to the Aries (it's the second I've owned) was to avoid the rabbit hole of improving Ethernet performance with things like the Ether-regen and switches. Purists will probably criticise the lack of audiophile components in my whole Ethernet chain, from modem, router and LAN cabling through to the network device that hosts my music (when bloody Mac OSX releases Catalina and the new Big Sur stop degrading the connectivity of network devices from older versions of the operating system). 

 

I need to have a proper listening session to determine that best mix of 1-3 in my earlier post. I don't want to sell the SHD Studio because Dirac Live improvements although not huge, are noticeable. Furthermore, the SHD Studio pushed me towards Roon because the bundled Volumio is pretty crap as an interface, and I also spent on Audirvana as an improvement in that regard. Having the Aries streamer bypassing the SHD Studio streaming capability is not such an overkill when all of the above is considered.

Edited by lenticularis
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4 minutes ago, lenticularis said:

Hi Ray,

 

The combination is fantastic as far as I'm concerned! 

 

The SC already gave a very stroing sense of presence 'in the room' and the Kompakt's extra stereo separation over the Klein and lesser non-Gieseler DACs adds to the mix. That summary of course, is over-simplifying what the Kompakt brings to the mix.

 

Many people find that the Auralic Aries' Lightning DS sound quality is preferable to Roon. If I had to choose further I would add that I thing LDS is a tiny bit more delicate than the miniDSP SHD Studio streaming, the Aries uses wi-fi and the SHD Studio a local Ethernet cable fro the same cheap wi-fi booster. One of my reasons for returning to the Aries was to avoid the rabbit hole of improving Ethernet performance with things like the Ether-regen and switches. Purists will probably criticise the lack of audiophile components in my whole Ethernet chain, from modem, router and LAN cabling through to the network device that hosts my music (when bloody Mac OSX releases Catalina and the new Big Sur stop degrading the connectivity of network devices from older versions of the operating system). 

 

I need to have a proper listening session to determine that best mix of 1-3 in my earlier post. I don't want to sell the SHD Studio because Dirac Live improvements although not huge, are noticeable. Furthermore, the SHD Studio's pushed me towards Roon because the bundled Volumio is pretty crap as an interface, and I also spent on Audirvana as an improvement in that regard. Having the Aries streamer bypassing the SHD Studio streaming capability is not such an overkill when all of the above is considered.

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Edited by BLAH BLAH
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1 hour ago, ray4410 said:

yeah simon,listening as we speak,bloody hell i am starting to hate hifi,well that's not quite true i have hated it for 50 f====== years,so to answer your question i can't say as i love them both,if anything i think the kompakt is a bit more laid back than the aries,i can listen to either one of them and really like what i am hearing,keep in mind both have not had a lot of hours on them so weather that will change things who knows,one thing i will mention is that spotify premium has never sounded better through either of the dacs,most of the time i use a rega apollo 35 anniversary cd as a transport or a opppo 95 both sound pretty darn good,
ray.

 

What a wonderful problem to have :D 

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The love affair with my Kompakt in my system continues...

 

image.png.25a6afdfa3f5d09c9679a0a0fc71013e.png

 

listening to this, selected from one of my Tidal playlists.

 

There is such transparency, yet appropriate mellowness. I can hear all of the actuation of the piano keys, and pedals too I think. I like classical music but not often piano, however I can listen to this as a different style to my normal enjoyment of baroque or early medieval classical.

 

A couple of days ago, listening to completely different music, I was triggered to share the track with Clay in an email. That time it was a track called Eireann (Ireland), from the  Afro Celt Sound System’s second album.

C7B1A741-ADBE-47E4-BB80-EC733173BFCF.jpeg

Edited by lenticularis
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2 hours ago, lenticularis said:

The love affair with my Kompakt in my system continues...

 

image.png.25a6afdfa3f5d09c9679a0a0fc71013e.png

 

listening to this, selected from one of my Tidal playlists.

 

There is such transparency, yet appropriate mellowness. I can hear all of the actuation of the piano keys, and pedals too I think. I like classical music but not often piano, however I can listen to this as a different style to my normal enjoyment of baroque or early medieval classical.

 

A couple of days ago, listening to completely different music, I was triggered to share the track with Clay in an email. That time it was a track called Eireann (Ireland), from the  Afro Celt Sound System’s second album.

C7B1A741-ADBE-47E4-BB80-EC733173BFCF.jpeg

Hi @lenticularis...care to elaborate on that sense of appropriate mellowness in regards to the Compakt!?

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44 minutes ago, BLAH BLAH said:

Hi @lenticularis...care to elaborate on that sense of appropriate mellowness in regards to the Compakt!?

Hi Blah Blah,

 

I was referring to the quality of the piano playing, not to a general character of the Kompakt, although that certainly doesn’t mean that I find it harsh or digital in any way.

 

Like the Klein III I had before, and still keep for use through computer desktop playback with a Cavalli Tube Hybrid headphone amp, my experience with Gieseler DACs is that they are very resolving, but not harsh.  
 

Compared with the Klein, noting that a direct back to back test between the two isn’t something I’ve done, the Kompakt adds a wider stereo image, and even more separation between the instruments and voices. That to me is the Kompakt’s hallmark, the easy ability to resolve individual voices and instruments, even at fairly low playback levels. I also rate my Stereo Coffee LDR as a major component in my system’s resolvability.
 

A friend who plays violin and viola in an active pseudo-professional capacity in a quartet, recently again heard the violinist Hilary Hahn through the Kompakt. Similarly to when I was tweaking various things with my Klein, he says both give a completely realistic playback of her Bach violin pieces.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This Kompakt just gets ‘better n better’!

 

Listening to Tidal hi-res streaming on Lightning DS ( Auralic Aries Femto streamer) to ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’ on RLJ’s album ‘The Devil You Know’. She is right in front of me, as if I were listening in some bar with great acoustics!
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Yesterday I was streaming Bonnie Raitt’s ‘Road Tested’ album and once again the atmosphere of a live recording came across very well.

 

@Gieseler Audio Clay, how many more Kompakt’s have you in stock, given the AKM fire problem? I’m really pleased that I bought when I did.

 

 

 

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no not at all,besides if you decide you like what it does use any cd, dvd or transport with the kompakt and enjoy the upgrade in sound quality from digital playback,don't procrastinate for too long as i am sure that what remaining stock that clay has left won't be around for long,and with the unavailability of the akm dac chips it's all over red rover.

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  • 5 weeks later...

I would imagine it would. I got the Kompact dac about a week ago and enjoying the less fatiguing listening on headphones. Like yourself I have a blusound node 2i and am using coax S/PDIF cable to feed the gieseler. I plugged in an optical cable to test as well and I think the coax gives a ever so slightly warmer sound.

 

hope that helps, my downstream amp and speakers are audio lab and Dali. ....

B

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi I'm also considering an upgrade to a bluesound node 2i Internal DAC. 

If I currently had no DAC the kompakt would be an easier choice but I'm worried to spend the bucks on this external for what might be unnoticeable improvement.  

What are your thoughts?

 

Rest of system is primaluna evo400 valve amp, IMF Reference Standard Professional Monitors IV. Or sometimes magnepan .7.

 

 

 

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7 minutes ago, JeffN said:

Hi I'm also considering an upgrade to a bluesound node 2i Internal DAC. 

If I currently had no DAC the kompakt would be an easier choice but I'm worried to spend the bucks on this external for what might be unnoticeable improvement.  

What are your thoughts?

 

Rest of system is primaluna evo400 valve amp, IMF Reference Standard Professional Monitors IV. Or sometimes magnepan .7.

Have a look at other owners of Gieseler DACs and you will understand why so many people like them

 

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Option 1 = do nothing

Option 2 = buy gieseler kompakt and see for yourself. 

option 3 = research other external dac options in your budget price range.. if they are at an audio store nearby take along your blusound node 2i and ask to hear them in the sound chain of components and connections.

 

is $1200 a significant investment in comparison to the rest of your kit? 
 

value is in the ear of the listener :)

 

best of luck in your decisioning.

 

cheers

Blair

 

 

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Hi Broad,

Between amp and speakers maybe $10,000

I'd probably need to audition anything in my own home, I'm crap at in-store listening.

Yeah I'll Google a bit more. The investment isn't going to keep me out of craft beer but I certainly want to make sure it's a decent upgrade. I assumed in advance my question won't receive a definitive response but all answers help. Thanks. 

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1 hour ago, JeffN said:

Hi Broad,

Between amp and speakers maybe $10,000

I'd probably need to audition anything in my own home, I'm crap at in-store listening.

Yeah I'll Google a bit more. The investment isn't going to keep me out of craft beer but I certainly want to make sure it's a decent upgrade. I assumed in advance my question won't receive a definitive response but all answers help. Thanks. 


if your question is, will the Kompakt sound better than the internal dac on the node 2i, then I can pretty definitively say yes. I have the Auralic Aries mini which is generally considered to be equal to or better than the node in sq and even the Klein III made an immediate and obvious improvement. The person I purchased the Klein from upgraded to the Kompakt and said it was a significant improvement over the Klein.
 

Given the calibre of your system I’d be pretty shocked if you didn’t hear a significant improvement. If you don’t like it, you can always resell it and try another dac but I doubt you’d ever go back to the node’s internal dac

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I think Rankstranger has nailed it for you JeffN.

 

nothing ventures nothing gained as they say.

 

also, from what I read in the threads previously , clay G (cousin of Ali G :) except he doesn’t rap and builds DACs ) is apparently approachable. Give him a call and chat. Cant imagine you can do that easily on any other store bought DAC components .

 

B...

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1 minute ago, Bross said:

I think Rankstranger has nailed it for you JeffN.

 

nothing ventures nothing gained as they say.

 

also, from what I read in the threads previously , clay G (cousin of Ali G :) except he doesn’t rap and builds DACs ) is apparently approachable. Give him a call and chat. Cant imagine you can do that easily on any other store bought DAC components .

 

B...

 I bought a Klein III from Clay about 18 months ago and also bought his Kompakt s/n 0001 as soon as it was released. Both DACs are fantastic value and I also use them with an Auralic Aries streamer (the Klein now in a separate desktop system).

 

You can't go wrong... re-sale through SNA classifieds is going to be rapid, should you ever wish to sell, especially since the AKM factory fire late last year has dried up chip supply.

 

Give Clay G a call. He is indeed very approachable, although he may be in E. Europe, ferretting around one of 'the -stans' researching cottage-industry chip output, after cousin Ali's film success in the region.

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