This is the finest DAC at this price point that we have heard. It lacks some of the features of its big brothers, the 501 and 502, but it does not lack in its ability to offer up great sound. I give the DAC 204 a big thumbs up – I’ll give two because I’ve got two thumbs ¬– and recommend it for anyone searching for natural and realistic reproduction and accuracy from their DAC.
Tiny enough for a desktop set-up, yet with a sound big, detailed and open enough for even the highest of high-end systems, the little Weiss DAC204 is nothing short of sublime.
The Helios immediately places itself in the narrow circle of the most musical converters currently available. A transparency and a sonic realism that is difficult to fault. The Helios is an uncompromising DAC and among the best choices available. With resolution, naturalness, and an incomparable sense of nuance.
That wide, deep, and expansive sound stage gives so much air around instruments. For a digital device to bring all this, it’s not surprising that Weiss is still at the top of their game.
The attributes of the Weiss DAC204 by far exceed what we can expect from its modest presentation. Its ability to translate zeros and ones into high-quality music with such pleasant and wide presentation makes it, for me, a reference equipment in this price range.
I think it is fair to say that this little box provided the best digital music I have heard in my system under eight thousand pounds to date. Despite its price it is hard for me to think of this as anything other than a bargain.
Throughout the changes of amplifier and loudspeakers, the Helios echoed the DAC502’s extraordinary clarity but with an enhanced sense of involvement with the music.
The Weiss Helios is amongst the best digital converters I’ve heard, and it deserves my highest recommendation for those looking for a high-end statement DAC at any price.
The sound stage is pretty wide and expansive; the lateral imaging and separation is very good and the depth and layering is also solid. This is probably the best DSD to PCM conversion I have heard.
A revolutionary hardware tool — the ultimate intersection of analogue and digital greatness. It has been raved about for years and is the standard to which all digital mastering plugins and digital hardware are compared. I don’t know a single established mastering engineer who hasn’t owned one of these.
One of the best D/A converters you can get. An amazing depth of sound. The digital tonal correction will help many rooms, and there is a very good headphone amplifier on board.
A superbly well-engineered and exceptionally well-performing 500-series mic preamp with an unusual integrated de‑esser combining digital control of an all-analogue signal path. Expensive, but very impressive.
The A1 is a very accomplished performer. It more than holds its own against pretty much anything in the 500-series sector. Its secret weapon is the de-esser.
There’s no question that the performance of both digital and analogue elements in the DAC1’s signal path warrants its description as a reference converter.
If you say the Weiss DAC501 is a D/A converter, you are short selling this device. It’s much more than that – it’s a streamer, a headphone amplifier, a preamplifier and DAC…. In short, it’s a bizarrely versatile device
The hardware platform is excellent, with very detailed and extraordinarily even-handed sound quality. The headphone amplifier in particular is extremely detailed and capable of driving even difficult headphones.
The performance was amazingly consistent in terms of lack of coloration, it was also very resolving, dynamic, effortless and open. The presentation was remarkably rich with details, textures and subtleties.
Weiss’s DAC501 shows great consistency of sound across all inputs and is an accomplished streamer too. Its headphone stage approaches the high standards of its line outputs. Build quality is excellent and the unit has super flexibility via its DSP options.
I very much enjoyed my time with Weiss Engineering’s DAC501. Its price puts it in the range of my Meitner MA-1, but with the headphone amp features found in my Oppo HA-1. Add in its various DSP modes and it’s an easy recommendation.
…the Weiss DAC 502 delivered phenomenally good performance across all the tests performed by Newport Test Labs. Across nearly all parameters, the Weiss DAC 502 delivered the best performance I have seen from any DAC… period.
Whenever world-renowned audio expert Daniel Weiss releases a new converter, sound connoisseurs are guaranteed a real treat. His DAC 502 is setting yet another benchmark for a new class of devices.
As far as any gear in the studio, this is the one I can’t live without. It’s unbeatable. I haven’t heard anything else, be it analog or digital, that even comes close to this thing.
The sound of the DS1-MK2 is impeccable. It is the most transparent, refined, flexible and least ”digital-sounding” dynamics processor I have ever used…I use it on over 90 percent of my mastering projects.
Sorry, I haven’t gotten a chance to tell you sooner how much I like the DNA1. I would definitely like to buy one.
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It goes without saying that the thing sounds great, but the interface is fantastic! I can tell that it is going to be a real pleasure to work with. I didn’t realize how great the ergonomics were… I have been dreaming of your stuff for years, and suddenly I am in Weiss heaven!
Once you’ve worked with such a quality-made, over-the-top engineered digital processor, you can really see how one’s job can be made easier using such tools.
This 202 series comprising the INT 202 FireWire interface, DAC 202 digital-analogue converter and ATT 202 passive attenuator represents Daniel Weiss’ latest thinking on how to make digital work well in the home environment.
If you want one of the best sounding, fastest, batch-capable options, my recommendation is Weiss Saracon. Do some head-to-head tests in your studio; I’ll bet you agree.