I can't stay silent - today we received Helene DAC, "baby" DAC from Aries Cerat. What a baby, what a beauty. From the very fist second the sound was sublime, digital rarely gets better than this - in form of Kassandra DAC only probably. I am not saying this lightly, just compare Helene to all the big guns, you would be surprised. Rich, transparent sound, real body of instruments, timbre to die for, as analog as possible, but most importantly, natural music flow, touching your heart and soul. Be warned, after listening you might need to sell some very expensive equipment. But there is solution - you buy Kassandra LE, thus may be less painful.
Oh my, oh my - Aries Cerat Helene DAC
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It does not play MQA either? HmmI heard you can play it through streamer which supports MQA? Is true? Thanks for your response
No the DAC itself (being specific to the DAC) doesn't play MQA natively. Like the DSD conversion to PCM, the workaround for MQA is to unfold the MQA file in the streamer, not the DAC, to play MQA files.
Ok, so if I play it for instance with Moon Mind2 which is capable of streming MQa and Hirez it will play through Helene without loosing the quality? Do I understand it well? Is it better sounding through USB input? Thanks
USB is the best sounding input provided that your source is optimized for USB output. I have heard a couple of transports sound better through COAX, but that is only because they were much better than the streamer (no bearing on the input type). What sounds best will come more from the source but assuming they are both excellent USB almost always wins. IME There is no sound quality degradation unfolding the file at the streamer level, but there will be some overhead so make sure it is a good streamer.
As far as your question about playback of MQA, the streamer needs to be able to unfold it for it to work. Certain MQA players only offer passthrough which I have not personally been able to get to work yet. As I am not a dealer for Moon I can't say for sure, but upon doing a quick check I could only find notes about it being a passthrough to a MQA DAC so it will likely not work with that model
Hi Stavros,
thank you and all the best for 2021 to you as well.
I must confess that I am not very familiar with tube gear and a little bit reluctant to buy it.
Do you think that a tube DAC is inherently superior to a solid state one or can you imagine to design a non tube DAC as well?
Thanks again
Matt
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Short List both, Hear them and let your ears decide. My expectation is the Ares Cerat Gear will be the clear winner at or significantly above their price points regardless of whether the alternatives are tube or solid state.
Hello Matt
There is nothing inherently to any technology. We built the output stage of the Helene as we find this to be better and more realistic sounding. Tube or not, i am no dogmatic, if we would make a SS sound as good as this specific output stage we would.But...
Best
Stavros
Had a fun time this week bringing some gear over to a friends. We ran the classic Concero 65s and Incito with the Helene Dac. Previous in the setup was an Absolare Monos and Preamp which work very well with the Helene.
In comparison to the Kassandra for those in the know the Incito has a house sound very much like the Helene does. For those wanting a Kassandra but can only afford the Helene you are not leaving anything off the table that would make you feel as though you didn't buy a true reference dac.
Enjoy!
In comparison to the Kassandra for those in the know the Incito has a house sound very much like the Helene does. For those wanting a Kassandra but can only afford the Helene you are not leaving anything off the table that would make you feel as though you didn't buy a true reference dac.
Enjoy!
Absolutely agree Joshua. We have the Helené on permanent demo in Spain, plus the amazing Ianus Essentia. I'll post more details next week!
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I am almost at the point of ordering a Helene to replace my DirectStream but I am not sure about how it interfaces with Roon. Does the Helene need a special WIN 10 driver to work with Windows and Roon?
Thank you. I just run an I-7 WIN 10 PC with Roon Core direct. I could not find if a driver was supplied.
Thank you. I just placed my order through Worldwide Wholesale USA.
A great choice , the build and sound quality at that price point is exceptional imho.
Sorry for reviving an old thread but I just got an Aries Cerat Helene in as a demo (I am a new dealer in NJ) and did a compare to the Playback Designs MPS-6.
I have done comparisons testing of dozens of DACs using the same five songs, Duke Ellington and John Coltrane's In A Sentimental Mood, Sting's Be Still My Beating Heart, Anette Askviks Liberty, Bozzio Levin Stevens Duende and the Berg Quartett doing Mozart's String Quartet No 14 in G Major.
The AC Helene arrived in a wood crate on a pallet jack. The unit without packaging is 80lbs. With packaging, has to be 100. I used my hand truck to roll the unit down to my basement. Fortunately, I have a walk-in basement.
I opened up the unit with my cordless drill as the unit is screwed shut. It is heavy so getting the unit out is a challenge. Best if you have a second person. In fact, I would argue that a purchase of any Aries Cerat product should require a second person to be with you to unpack.
I got the unit out and quickly realized that the term "overbuilt" lost all meaning to other equipment I have owned. It borders on absurd. The top is machined stainless steel, not aluminum. Everything is solid on this unit. Mass is a benefit in terms of absorbing vibrations and AC definitely delivers mass.
Removal of the top for tube installation was quick and easy. I then placed the unit in my rack where it barely fits. Hooked it up. Turned it on and let it warm up.
Came back and listened and was pleasantly surprised with a very refined sound right out of the box. I then played it as much as I could for about a week. and this is my POV after maybe 60 hours of burn-in.
The Helene is immediately impressive with a massive soundstage that is deep and wide. Tonally it is neutral with extraordinary dynamics. As far as actual songs go:
In a Sentimental Mood - piano had great sparkle. Drum rolls are clean. Image extends beyond the speakers and there is minimal localization. Very energetic and dynamic.
On Be Still My Beating Heart, the image is massive extending well beyond the speakers and depth is very good with the sound coming immediately from my left and right while the image is behind the speakers dead center. Stings voice has no hint of sibilance, piano and bells sound natural and the noise floor is very low.
Liberty sounds big and natural. Effects come from well beyond the speakers. Noise floor remains low. Again, not a hint of sibilance.
Duende, opening bass solo is clean and crisp reflecting top level performance. Cymbals are airy. Plucks of the guitar are clear with great air.
Berg sounds great. No massing of strings. Image is probably bigger than it should be but that is the nature of these very big sounding DACs.
I was so impressed I decided I would do an AB comparison between it and the Playback MPS-6. I connected both units via XLR to my preamp and ran an AES and Coax out to the devices from the Antipodes.
The difference between DACs was immediate and obvious. The PBD is a hair warmer, image is the slightest bit smaller and a bit softer and less dynamic. The Playback is a bit more detailed and has a certain musicality that is simply unmatched by any other device I have heard.
I dragged my wife down and she is a HUGE fan of the Playback. To a point where I have had other DACs hooked up to the system and she asks "what is wrong" and insists I swap Playback back in.
Her favoritism toward the Playback remained here but she acknowledged that the AC is much better for her than other units I have had in.
Compared to two other units I have tested in this price range (Rockna Wavedream Signature XLR and the Jadis JS1 MKV), the AC is probably a hair less detailed than the Rockna, a bit more detailed than the Jadis. I am not sure anything can match the scale in terms of width and height of the Rockna soundstage but this sounds much deeper as the Rockna central image is relatively flat. It matches or exceeds the dynamism of the Jadis.
This unit is amazingly good and very fairly priced at $19,000. The Playback is $18,000 as tested and starts at $15,000, the Rockna is $18,500 and the Jadis was $20,900.
I have done comparisons testing of dozens of DACs using the same five songs, Duke Ellington and John Coltrane's In A Sentimental Mood, Sting's Be Still My Beating Heart, Anette Askviks Liberty, Bozzio Levin Stevens Duende and the Berg Quartett doing Mozart's String Quartet No 14 in G Major.
The AC Helene arrived in a wood crate on a pallet jack. The unit without packaging is 80lbs. With packaging, has to be 100. I used my hand truck to roll the unit down to my basement. Fortunately, I have a walk-in basement.
I opened up the unit with my cordless drill as the unit is screwed shut. It is heavy so getting the unit out is a challenge. Best if you have a second person. In fact, I would argue that a purchase of any Aries Cerat product should require a second person to be with you to unpack.
I got the unit out and quickly realized that the term "overbuilt" lost all meaning to other equipment I have owned. It borders on absurd. The top is machined stainless steel, not aluminum. Everything is solid on this unit. Mass is a benefit in terms of absorbing vibrations and AC definitely delivers mass.
Removal of the top for tube installation was quick and easy. I then placed the unit in my rack where it barely fits. Hooked it up. Turned it on and let it warm up.
Came back and listened and was pleasantly surprised with a very refined sound right out of the box. I then played it as much as I could for about a week. and this is my POV after maybe 60 hours of burn-in.
The Helene is immediately impressive with a massive soundstage that is deep and wide. Tonally it is neutral with extraordinary dynamics. As far as actual songs go:
In a Sentimental Mood - piano had great sparkle. Drum rolls are clean. Image extends beyond the speakers and there is minimal localization. Very energetic and dynamic.
On Be Still My Beating Heart, the image is massive extending well beyond the speakers and depth is very good with the sound coming immediately from my left and right while the image is behind the speakers dead center. Stings voice has no hint of sibilance, piano and bells sound natural and the noise floor is very low.
Liberty sounds big and natural. Effects come from well beyond the speakers. Noise floor remains low. Again, not a hint of sibilance.
Duende, opening bass solo is clean and crisp reflecting top level performance. Cymbals are airy. Plucks of the guitar are clear with great air.
Berg sounds great. No massing of strings. Image is probably bigger than it should be but that is the nature of these very big sounding DACs.
I was so impressed I decided I would do an AB comparison between it and the Playback MPS-6. I connected both units via XLR to my preamp and ran an AES and Coax out to the devices from the Antipodes.
The difference between DACs was immediate and obvious. The PBD is a hair warmer, image is the slightest bit smaller and a bit softer and less dynamic. The Playback is a bit more detailed and has a certain musicality that is simply unmatched by any other device I have heard.
I dragged my wife down and she is a HUGE fan of the Playback. To a point where I have had other DACs hooked up to the system and she asks "what is wrong" and insists I swap Playback back in.
Her favoritism toward the Playback remained here but she acknowledged that the AC is much better for her than other units I have had in.
Compared to two other units I have tested in this price range (Rockna Wavedream Signature XLR and the Jadis JS1 MKV), the AC is probably a hair less detailed than the Rockna, a bit more detailed than the Jadis. I am not sure anything can match the scale in terms of width and height of the Rockna soundstage but this sounds much deeper as the Rockna central image is relatively flat. It matches or exceeds the dynamism of the Jadis.
This unit is amazingly good and very fairly priced at $19,000. The Playback is $18,000 as tested and starts at $15,000, the Rockna is $18,500 and the Jadis was $20,900.
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