OK, I'm ready to put some words down. I'll break it down into two sections, S512u "Perceive" DAC and S502i Ether Integrated.
Sparkler S502u "Perceive" DAC
The DAC is small, (smaller than you might expect), handcrafted out of relatively thin metal with a plexiglass top with your choice of dyed Japanese paper underneath. It comes with a very nice power cable that is well built and seems high quality. To use the DAC you'll need to buy one of the various adapters that Sparkler sells. For my PC system I opted for the USB to I2S adapter. However before you think this is a normal I2S connector (HDMI-like), it is not. Sparkler uses a 5-pin XLR to pipe this signal through to the DAC. The adapter has a wired XLR cable on the back that's about 1ft in length so it must be kept close to the DAC. Typical printer type USB input on the adapter and for all of my USB-powered stuff I use a dual-headed generic USB cable. This allows a little more current and I feel benefits the sound. DAC is limited to 16/44 and is NOS.
.For the evaluation I used standard 16awg KabelDirekt German-made speaker wire from Amazon as well as a 1m pair of Sparkler Audio interconnects that are directional. Speakers are Audio Note AX-Two with upgraded crossovers as well as MarkAudio Alpair 7 Gen3 wideband drivers in a home brew bookshelf design.
These are purely my own impressions and I won't go into great detail with music choices or the type of things the audio rags do. Just my amateur opinion.
As some in my personal circle know, I've had countless DACs. Gustard, Esoteric D700, MHDT Labs Pagoda, Gieseler Audio, Yulong DA8, Meier Audio Corda Daccord FF, Audio-GD, Denon DVD-9000, Schiit Bifrost old and new, Monarchy Audio, Grant Fidelity, Beresford old and new, and quite a few others. You get the point; I've had a lot. Some expensive, some cheap. Throughout this journey I've honed in on my kind of sound throughout the years. The kind of sound I expect and most importantly, the kind of sound that gets me closer to real, live music. What I've found is that the numbers don't tell all, and while you can chase the latest and greatest chips from the new manufacturers on the block and while you can chase the higher resolutions what it all boils down to is finding what works best for you. Your idea of perfect is NOT someone else's and while some may see a ton of wasted money above in the list of DACs (incomplete), I see a journey of progression and exploration of what I'm looking for. The cost was high but the end point was worth it.
All that said, I've been very happy with my Stephen Sank modded Esoteric D700 for about a year. It's the pinnacle of what I've been trying to achieve. It's great at displaying vivid and lifelike sound within the music, huge soundstage, natural midrange and great grunt down low. I could be happy with this DAC for the rest of my days. Like the Sparkler it too is limited to "low resolution", though topping out at 16/48 whereas the Sparkler is 16/44. It's very different than the Sparkler though as it's an oversampling DAC, using the AD1862 (4x) in a parallel push pull configuration. The Sparkler uses a single TDA1543 and is non-oversampling.
So, to buy the Sparkler Audio gear in N. America you need to contact Victor Klung of VKMusic. Victor is a great guy and is very passionate about music and seems to have aligned expectations. The transaction was smooth and the quoted 4-6wks till arrival was accurate. Victor is responsive to after-sales emails so that's a huge plus. He'll also check in with you after the gear arrives and a few weeks after that to make sure you're enjoying the gear or to answer any questions you might have.
The Sparkler Audio S512U "Perceive" DAC uses both a current mode and voltage mode output, choosing the Sparkler Audio S502i Ether Integrated to match and get the best results from it's current mode input is how I placed my order. When the DAC arrived I compared it on the Ether as well as the Stephen Sank built MicroBeast which is an interesting product in itself but was used as an integrated for this comparison as well. Back to the DAC. Out of the box the sound is SO fast, precise, dynamic and lean lean jellybean. I gave it a few weeks of continual music playing, power cycling and even used the Tara Labs Cascode burn-in track for about 24hrs until things finally settled the heck down. I can't say the sound during break-in wasn't enjoyable, but it did tend to have a bit of fatigue to it, though to be honest, I was also breaking in the Ether as well so it could have been that as well.
After break-in I found the sound of the Sparkler DAC to still be fast, but now it had a nice flow to it. It wasn't offending and it paired equally well with the Ether and MicroBeast. Compared to the Esoteric D-700 the Sparkler allows a deeper view into the recording and more concise soundstage. It's not small, it's not blown out, but what the recording is capable is what you're going to hear. I want to touch on this as well at the end so keep that in mind. What's on the file/disc is what you get. Nothing more, nothing less.
For years I thought I wanted a straight wire with gain and I've built multiple stereos out of this ideology. Some were successes, some were fails. It's a journey worth taking and an ideal worth exploring. However there's also caution that needs to be added into this. Be prepared for your destination because where you end up might just shock you.
See, this is why it took me so long to write this review. The Sparkler combo has perplexed me. It really has. I keep thinking "is this the truth?", "is this the end?", "is there anything left?". The DAC and amp combo offer the most pristine experience in audio I've ever personally heard. Even my MicroBeast which is reference level was exposed for being colored (in a good way). I've seen this mentioned in another review as well. This gear will expose flaws not just in what you've heard before, but in cables, speakers, etc. So be prepared if you buy this combo to pony up in case you're left unhappy with it's connected peripherals.
I'll start with what this DAC doesn't do. The DAC adds zero flavor to your music. It doesn't add warmth, it doesn't add coolness, it doesn't blow out the soundstage, it doesn't constrict the soundstage, it doesn't offer high resolution to the moon it doesn't give you any bloat, flab, drag, resistance, shampoo, car wax or toothpaste. What it does give you is the purest representation of what you feed it. If your music has warmth, it will show it, if it's rock hard and edgy then that's what you'll get. For better or worse, this is the straight wire with gain you might have been looking for. It can be a double edged sword that you may want to tune with cables of speaker selection. However if you're like me, you'll find great joy in hearing details in music or just how raw some recordings can be, all for the first time. I know I know, it's so cliche to say that, but having a ton of DACs before not much surprises me. THIS DAC surprised me.
Next post contains my impressions of the Ether.
parttimeaudiophile.com
cheaptubeaudio.blogspot.com
