Cary Audio’s newest digital products have received great reviews from well known industry magazines! Check out the highlights from all of these reviews.
DMC-600SE Digital Music Center
“As a CDP it excels. As a user of the 306 Pro, I’m competently familiar with the Cary “house” sound, which is lively without being exaggerated, detailed without being analytical, and the most compelling signature is having a rhythm and beat that brings real soul to an otherwise soulless codec. When setting up the DMC-600SE, which amounted to “plug and play,” the subjective improvement in all aspects of the audio signal was immediate and profound”
“I was simply locked on the 600SE and I enjoy everything about its sound, which I immediately recognized as an “improvement” over the 306 Pro. There was no desire to toggle back. Mind you, the 306 Pro is a high end, refined, and is a superior product, so for Cary to outdo itself is impressive.”
“Listening to the Cary DMC-600SE as a standalone CDP I give it the highest of marks”
“The DMC-600SE gave such a wonderful balance to the GamuT M7’s I currently use as my reference that I had to redefine some of my internal dialog as to what was possible in my room”
“Over the course of my time with the DMC, I accumulated a small collection of DSD files and have spent hours listening to them (over and over) for the vastly improved fidelity alone. It was the type of listening where you really don’t care what the music is because you are so immersed in the presentation”
“As a DSD planet player, I cannot be critical of the Cary as it performed flawlessly and, to me, wonderfully as, unfortunately, I do not have any substantive experience with DSD before my time with the DMC-600. Nonetheless, the heart of it all: the DAC, sent a wonderfully, impactful, crisp yet smooth signal throughout my listening experience.”
“The Cary also has a Bluetooth module and antenna. To test this, I streamed Apple Play via Bluetooth through my audio system. Again the Cary had excellent and remarkable fidelity considering the source.”
“I see the Cary DMC-600SE as the centerpiece of a high-end audio system fit for the present and the future. It certainly meets the current needs of any respectable audiophile, digitalphile, and considers the future of expandability. I’ve had the 600SE for several months now, and as time goes by I become more and more attached to its signature sound”
“I was not looking to upgrade my source, I have been happy with the 306, but once I ran the signal through the DMC 600SE, then listened to DSD files, combined with the selectable tube output, its Bluetooth XMOS xCore USB ASYNCHRONOUS DAC (for me eliminating the USB/SPDIF converter), it became an easy sell. Yes, this unit is not going back, and I am purchasing the sample”
John Brazier
Positive Feedback
“Firstly, my overall experience with the DMC-600SE was superior to just about anything in the recent past”
“using the upsampling capability brought out certain depth I hadn’t heard”
“The sound was rich and extremely enveloping to the listener. In fact, the early part of Limehouse Blues had me looking over my shoulder to see if anyone was actually there”
“another track that I use repeatedly had me wondering why I had missed so much prior to this particular playback”
“In fact, with many SACD playback systems the fidelity is often times lost and on the CD layer it is slightly harder to get comfortably accurate playback. However, this was not the case with the DMC-600SE. In fact, although it does not have the capability to play the SACD version, the CD version was staggering to hear and experience”
“Once again, upon experimenting with the upsampling capability, this reviewer came to the same conclusion, that the veil between the material and the reproduction had lifted substantially”
“it was with this same album that I found that the Bluetooth version from my iPhone had a staggeringly remarkable impact on the sound. Unlike many of my prior experiences with Bluetooth connection, the DMC-600SE did not suffer from any of the loss in performance other systems seemed to experience. In fact, for the first time, I found myself enjoying the Bluetooth version more than the CD version and that is a statement in itself.”
Brett Rudolph
Enjoy the Music
DAC-200ts Digital to Analog Converter
“What I want from any DAC is big, solid, well-defined, rich, and musically engaging sound. I don’t like wimpy overly detailed DACs, or dry emasculated music parading as “accurate”. I want to be able to sit back, close my eyes, and get lost in music for as long as I choose for years on end. While I cannot speak to the latter regarding the Cary Audio DAC-200ts, I can speak to everything else and what I say is check, all good.”
“I ran in the review unit for a few months on and off before sitting down to enjoy listening for many more weeks thereafter. I used the DAC-200ts during my review of the Bel Canto REFStream and even gave it some miles with the Auralic Aries as part of its break-in process. Throughout all of this time, yea I even aurally peaked for pleasure during those first few weeks, the Cary DAC delivered the musical goods. Its sound is big, solid, well-defined, rich, and musically engaging.”
“Everything I played through the Cary came out sounding like beautiful music. DSD, CD-quality, higher resolution PCM, and Tidal’s lossless streams. Of greater importance Frank Sinatra, Archie Shepp, Bomba Estéreo, Kendrick Lamar, Sera Una Noche, Hesperion XXI, Ibeyi, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Alice Coltrane, PJ Harvey, Nina Simone and on and on led me to wonderful musically motivated places regardless of sample rates and bits. Listening to music for pleasure is really a very easy thing to do especially when all the gear in use rings true like hitting a tuning fork that in turn rings out joy.”
“Back to lossless-land, I spent many a day and night in the DAC-200ts’ warm glow. Which brings us to those 12AU7s. I preferred them engaged, where music sounded more rounded up top and less sharp. This was especially welcome on lessor quality recordings and lossy music. I can see how some people in some systems at sometimes may prefer them out of the loop. Since this is an included option, you don’t have to devolve into that endless meaningless debate over the concept of accuracy versus enjoyment. Besides enjoyment is more accurate than any other measure when it comes to listening to music”
“Let’s finish things off by checking off some oft-requested sonic details. Bass response is fit and full, there’s plenty of timbral richness, and a lovely natural sense of the space of the recording which extends well beyond the speakers in every dimension. The Cary simply and effortlessly allows you to enjoy your music for as long as time allows.”
“The heavyweight from North Carolina is an absolutely worthy contender. I’m listening to Jimi Hendrix’s Blues as I type so I have to go now and get the full experience in my listening seat if I can stand to sit still. If you are considering a DAC in the $4k price range, you’d be wise to give the Cary Audio DAC-200ts as long a listen as you can afford. You may not want to ever stop”
Michael Lavorgna
AudioStream
“With normal CD content through the solid state output, this unit is fantastic. Smooth nicely extended highs, deep, tonally accurate, impactful bass, great dynamics, and a really nice deep soundstage.”
“I tend not to wax too poetic about sound, the ratings will reflect my evaluation, but the “base” sonic performance had me wishing I had the budget to keep this unit on hand purely for the sonics.”
“It handled everything thrown at it exceptionally well, from simple guitar music to piano, orchestra, electronica, and everything in-between. I’d call it neutral, and I think the dynamics would be a strength most people would note about this unit.”
“I Would hang on to the Cary Audio DAC-200ts DAC within my audio system if it was possible. The sonics are superb plus I love the sample rate conversion and tube output options”
“the Cary Audio DAC-200ts DAC would be a terrific unit to use in a modern stereo digital rig. It has all the features and connectivity you could desire and produces great sonics. The build quality is fantastic too!”
Jeff Poth
Enjoy the Music.com