vitus audio rd-100 inital thoughts

[Mr Goldmund]

Just thought I'd share some initial thoughts after finalling biting the bullet and purchasing the new vitus audio rd-100 dac.

Hooked up the box last night, after a slight warm up period (couldnt wait any longer) played the usual mix of chris botti, chesky, va and some live recordings. The sound was much more three demensional than my Aesthetix Pandora - a great dac mind you. Every bit of detail was now present, like Adele's vocal chords shaking in I cant make you love me (live at royal albert hall), adding to the realism of a live recording. Similarly, woth mich better recordings like acoustic voices male, the vitus brings out many finer subtle details that I didnt hear with the Aesthetix.

I also found the sounstage has now increased quite dramtically, vertically but much more depth. This certainly helps with the system having struggled somewhat with apartment living in the past.

What I was most pleased about was the fact that the dac was just about being more revealing, it's also amazingly musical. This is really evident playing eva cassidy live at blues alley, where the combination of the brass and her voice in some parts will really challenge the highend rendering of the system. I found with the vitus in place, the topend was smooth but not masked - theres no artifical pleasantries layered on top of the music, and mis bass is incredibly layered. The Aesthetix in the same tracks added just a hint of sweetness in the vocal midrange (being a tube dac) whereas the vitus was much more revealing, airy, uncolouring and just plain enjoyable. Some would call this sound "tube like", but I think it's not about tubes vs solid state at all, it's more just revealing without being mechanical.

You can tell by now that I'm a huge fan of the dac, but here are some objective notes:

- price $$$ at $18k rrp it's double the price of the aesthetix, and certainly not cheap. Is it better? Absolutely. Is it twice as good? Probably not

- construction - being the reference range for vitus, this is part of their "entry" level (yes entry level for $18k), construction is great, but not excellent. I would have expected it to be built more like a tank for the price

- remote, it uses an apple remote! For those people with all apple in their house this is great, whilst I dont mind this, for me personally I would have preferred a chinkier remote with more buttons and direct input switching

Finally, I do love this dac, and imagine it will continue to shine as I run it in. Nothing's ever perfect, but it certainly comes close in my system.

I'm writing this on the way to work will post some photos tonight .

My setup for those wondering:

Bladelius thor mk 3 amplifier

Marten django l speakers

Vitus audio rd100 dac

Jorma design no. 2 speaker cables and interconnects

Acoustic revive usb cable

Mac mini

Taoc rack

Gigawatt pf2 power conditoner

Voodoo tiger powr cables

[Juicester]

nice purchase! always have liked Vitus gear.

[maximus]

Glad you're enjoying the DAC. Vitus gear is renowed for its detail and lack of grain. I cringe at the resemblance of tubes in comparison because it's the total opposite and how all high quality solid state should sound.  If only it was half the cost.

Good luck with this super player Ethan.

 

cheers Frank.

[Mr Goldmund]

Here are the photos:

[vmhf]

Thanks for posting EthanSun.

 

Congratulations on joining the Vitus family

[darthlaker]

Nice!

 

ES, you may like to try throwing a blanket/rug over your TV when you listen.......it will do wonders!

[Mr Goldmund]

Thanks for posting EthanSun.

 

Congratulations on joining the Vitus family

Thanks, Im thinking the ri100 integrated next to replace my bladelius. How do you find the darzteel? Noticed you had one whilst I was drooling over your system updates:)

[Mr Goldmund]

Nice!

 

ES, you may like to try throwing a blanket/rug over your TV when you listen.......it will do wonders!

Thanks darthlaker, I was thinking some room acoustics so will start with this!

[vmhf]

Thanks, Im thinking the ri100 integrated next to replace my bladelius. How do you find the darzteel? Noticed you had one whilst I was drooling over your system updates:)

 

 

Yes, I had the Dartzeel CTH-8550 at the same time as the Vitus RI-100. Was using YG Carmels. These are the perfect reference speaker.

The Dartzeel had a very nice enjoyable sound with a big, deep soundstage. Compared to the RI-100 the Dartzeel just lacked some attack and sparkle. 

I would say the Vitus RI-100 sounded more like real, live music whilst the Dartzeel honey coated it. If you love bass then the Vitus wins hands down. 

If its female vocals the Dartzeel with its more liquid, richer sound wins hands down. 

 

Once again neither is better than the other as it depends on your tastes, ancillary gear and speakers. 

 

But seeing you have Marten speakers there is a known synergy with Vitus amps   

[Phantom]

Thanks, Im thinking the ri100 integrated next to replace my bladelius. How do you find the darzteel? Noticed you had one whilst I was drooling over your system updates:)

 

Hi ES.

 

I hope you don't mind a slight thread diversion,but I am possibly looking for a new integrated and I was curious to know your opinion of the Thor. I haven't been able to find any substantive reviews on them and would appreciate an owners perspective.

 

Thanks mate.

[Mr Goldmund]

Hi ES.

 

I hope you don't mind a slight thread diversion,but I am possibly looking for a new integrated and I was curious to know your opinion of the Thor. I haven't been able to find any substantive reviews on them and would appreciate an owners perspective.

 

Thanks mate.

Hi Phantom,

Happy to share, agree there are no real reviews on this but then again I'm finding that more often these days.

I had switched from tubes to the thor, and the differences were quite large. The thor has a much tighter sound, and more focused soundstage. There's little colouration and this is quite evident with eva cassidy live recordings, on tubes her voice was coated with some warmth and sweetness but on the thor it's much more nuetral and as is (lets face it I like her a lot but she can be screechy). I also find the thor to have much much better bass control, particular mid bass, whereby there's much better intepretation of mid bass which helps a lot as I listen to a lot of jazz.

I haven't looked back after the switch, and don't intend to after jearing what high end solid state can do.

Just my two cents and I'm certainly not saying which side is better

[Mr Goldmund]

Yes, I had the Dartzeel CTH-8550 at the same time as the Vitus RI-100. Was using YG Carmels. These are the perfect reference speaker.

The Dartzeel had a very nice enjoyable sound with a big, deep soundstage. Compared to the RI-100 the Dartzeel just lacked some attack and sparkle. 

I would say the Vitus RI-100 sounded more like real, live music whilst the Dartzeel honey coated it. If you love bass then the Vitus wins hands down. 

If its female vocals the Dartzeel with its more liquid, richer sound wins hands down. 

 

Once again neither is better than the other as it depends on your tastes, ancillary gear and speakers. 

 

But seeing you have Marten speakers there is a known synergy with Vitus amps

Thanks for that, I plan to listen to the ri100 again very soon.

You're a lucky man with all thay gear!

[Chrakker]

Just thought I'd share some initial thoughts after finalling biting the bullet and purchasing the new vitus audio rd-100 dac.

Hooked up the box last night, after a slight warm up period (couldnt wait any longer) played the usual mix of chris botti, chesky, va and some live recordings. The sound was much more three demensional than my Aesthetix Pandora - a great dac mind you. Every bit of detail was now present, like Adele's vocal chords shaking in I cant make you love me (live at royal albert hall), adding to the realism of a live recording. Similarly, woth mich better recordings like acoustic voices male, the vitus brings out many finer subtle details that I didnt hear with the Aesthetix.

I also found the sounstage has now increased quite dramtically, vertically but much more depth. This certainly helps with the system having struggled somewhat with apartment living in the past.

What I was most pleased about was the fact that the dac was just about being more revealing, it's also amazingly musical. This is really evident playing eva cassidy live at blues alley, where the combination of the brass and her voice in some parts will really challenge the highend rendering of the system. I found with the vitus in place, the topend was smooth but not masked - theres no artifical pleasantries layered on top of the music, and mis bass is incredibly layered. The Aesthetix in the same tracks added just a hint of sweetness in the vocal midrange (being a tube dac) whereas the vitus was much more revealing, airy, uncolouring and just plain enjoyable. Some would call this sound "tube like", but I think it's not about tubes vs solid state at all, it's more just revealing without being mechanical.

You can tell by now that I'm a huge fan of the dac, but here are some objective notes:

- price $$$ at $18k rrp it's double the price of the aesthetix, and certainly not cheap. Is it better? Absolutely. Is it twice as good? Probably not

- construction - being the reference range for vitus, this is part of their "entry" level (yes entry level for $18k), construction is great, but not excellent. I would have expected it to be built more like a tank for the price

- remote, it uses an apple remote! For those people with all apple in their house this is great, whilst I dont mind this, for me personally I would have preferred a chinkier remote with more buttons and direct input switching

Finally, I do love this dac, and imagine it will continue to shine as I run it in. Nothing's ever perfect, but it certainly comes close in my system.

I'm writing this on the way to work will post some photos tonight .

My setup for those wondering:

Bladelius thor mk 3 amplifier

Marten django l speakers

Vitus audio rd100 dac

Jorma design no. 2 speaker cables and interconnects

Acoustic revive usb cable

Mac mini

Taoc rack

Gigawatt pf2 power conditoner

Voodoo tiger powr cables

 

 

EthanSun,

 

I am only new to this and not sure if I am breaking protocol by asking you about your Django L's.

in this thread. I am  interested in your opinion as there doesn't seem to be many reviews around at present.  

Any feedback is appreciated -  on the speakers (or the protocol)

 

Thanks

[Mr Goldmund]

EthanSun,

I am only new to this and not sure if I am breaking protocol by asking you about your Django L's.

in this thread. I am interested in your opinion as there doesn't seem to be many reviews around at present.

Any feedback is appreciated - on the speakers (or the protocol)

Thanks

Hi Chrakker,

I'm not sure about protocal either, but happy to give you a view of the Djangos.

I like the djangos a lot. I find that they produce a "full sound", with quite defined bass. Imaging ia extremely good, and a big soundstage - i find with a little toe in the music is more involving, but the soundstage is much bigger without.

I also heard the bird 2s when I bought these, and find the difference between the two is the sweetness and size of the soundstage, with the birds able to disappear.

[Chrakker]

Thanks for that, I have heard them once for a short audition and thought the same about the lower end. I liked what I heard and am considering them. I do love the look and pedigree etc.

I have some small quad floorstanders at present and am looking for something with more lower end, without loosing the sweet highs.

Thanks again

[Mr Goldmund]

Thanks for that, I have heard them once for a short audition and thought the same about the lower end. I liked what I heard and am considering them. I do love the look and pedigree etc.

I have some small quad floorstanders at present and am looking for something with more lower end, without loosing the sweet highs.

Thanks again

No problem, good luck with it. The ceramic drivers are fantasic and Im hoping to eventually pick up the bird 2s

[Mr Goldmund]

Just a quick update for those interested:

I've been cobtemplating getting the vitus power amp to complete my system lately and have put the bladelius thor in the classifieds.

However, aftrr watching the movie thor in the cinemas last night, something struck me - why dont I try using the thor integrated as a power amp through bypass mode and using the preamp function of the vitus rd100 dac? Afterall the creator Hans Ole did say the linestage of the rd100 is about 20% better than the preamp in the ri100 integrated amp. Anyway after the moment of inspiration (Im not sure how the movie triggered this), I came home, diasabled the preamp function of the thor, and turned off the volume bypass on the vitus rd100...

Then it came...

The soundstage suddenly came to life, much much larger than before. Listening to Chris Botti in Boston, I suddenly started hearing subtle details I never heard before, like the background ochestra shuffling of feet, the more precise location of each instrument, and the overall "live" ambience was just so much more. There is also an added level of realism, to voices, the brass and especially the timbral qualities of yoyo mas cello.

Im not sure why I didn't think of this before, but so glad I did try it.

Looks like I will be removing the ad for the thor off the classified, Im really happy with the improvements made without spending a single cent!

Vitus power amp will come... just delayed for quite a while as I sit back and enjoy this new found goodness.

[PKay]

Nice!

 

ES, you may like to try throwing a blanket/rug over your TV when you listen.......it will do wonders!

I agree on the blanket/rug over the TV, mine is under stairs and the difference is amazing - Especially at louder volume levels.

[darthlaker]

I agree on the blanket/rug over the TV, mine is under stairs and the difference is amazing - Especially at louder volume levels.

 

It's a cheap tweak!

[Rob181]

It's a cheap tweak!

 

Sounds like a good name for a band....oh...its been done before...no...no...no...that was Cheap Trick...Rob

[darthlaker]

Hmmmmmmmm.....................Cheap Tweak...............sounds like an excellent name for exorbitantly priced accessories......!?