Pre-launch of new range of Ciúnas Dacs & USB transports

[che15]

Hello Jhon this is Cesar from FL , I sent u an email this morning.

[jkeny]

Hello Jhon this is Cesar from FL , I sent u an email this morning.

Oops, I didn't get it - I'll have a look in my spam folder.
I just replied to your PM

[terrybites]

John,

I'd be very interested in working with you on designing a logo/packaging/website for Ciúnas. Couldn't do gratis but would consider kit as part payment (would need to be Mac friendly!).

I've mailed you my latest newsletter.

No bother if this doesn't suit.

Best,

Terry

http://www.redwhitegreene.com

[jkeny]

John,

I'd be very interested in working with you on designing a logo/packaging/website for Ciúnas. Couldn't do gratis but would consider kit as part payment (would need to be Mac friendly!).

I've mailed you my latest newsletter.

No bother if this doesn't suit.

Best,

Terry

http://www.redwhitegreene.com

Thanks Terry, very kind offer - I will PM you!

[GrahamJohnMiles]

Hi John. Graham from Ontario here. Do you still have Ciunas units available for evaluation. Am I too far away to give it a trial?

[jkeny]

Hi John. Graham from Ontario here. Do you still have Ciunas units available for evaluation. Am I too far away to give it a trial?

Yeah, Graham, you are too far away, sorry - it's only for local JKDAc32 owners
But the DAC should be ready to order early next week if you want to trial it in your system?

[tony]

Trying out the ciunas for the past couple of weeks in a variety of set ups.John asked that testers posted some thoughts.

I have compared it as best I can against the jkdac32 and briefly a meitner dac and used a variety of set ups which where primarily 2 laptop streaming(i3 to i5/dac and i3 to zuma/dac). Consistently used Van Den Hul Name interconnects and identical cheap standard short usb cables. The logic for this was to try and ensure a level playing field and no advantage for either device.

Software used was Jplay 5A in xtream mode, buffers set to directlink and hibernate. The amanero driver required for the ciunas was easily downloaded and automatically installed on my laptops and zuma.

The ciunas to my mind is a more than subtle development and improvement on the JKDAC32.John is using the same case but it now sports a dinky blue led light. His now familiar enclosure wins little on design and appearance. It is not ugly but in the world of hifi where appearances can often be just as important as the SQ it is not at the races for most people.

Connected to a laptop sitting on top of a hifi rack it is perfectly acceptable and portrays a neat tidy modern appearance that I personally like but it will not appeal to all.

Where this dac excels is SQ and price point. Using a single laptop with the ciunas you are getting seriously good performance for under €1k.This includes a very modern i5 based laptop with 6gbs of ram,1tb hard drive and running windows 8. I have listened to a number of cd players which would be up to three times the price of this combo and the ciunas imho is just at a different level.

The ciunas moves beyond the dac32 for me in that it has a fuller,warmer more textured sound. I found myself listening to music for much longer periods of time.Eighties cd recordings which sounded lifeless on CD suddenly have some depth and you can hear the detail. When I changed back to the dac32 it still sounds great but once you have heard the improvements in the ciunas there is no going back.
Prior to testing this dac I had managed to borrow a zuma server from Pearse(Many thanks for his generosity and ground work done in this space) . Basically this is just a hi spec pc encased in a fanless desktop case (streacom fc10). The spec includes 16gb of ram/i7 processor/sotm usb card(expensive at €450 and not used for the test), SSD drive,SSD noise suppression card and pico power supply. I had wanted to compare this set up to my 2 laptop set up for a while. What a revelation!.

Initially this was tested used 2 jkdac32's and it easily surpassed the 2 laptop set up.The laptops sounded slightly brittle and thinner in comparison but using Johns words which describe it very accurately the tonality and harmonic richness brought to the table with the zuma was surprising. Again just my opinion but the SQ using this with a JKDAC32(prior to arrival of ciunas) was at a level that I thought I would never be able to afford or aspire to.

Now it is at a point where the zuma and a ciunas or jkdac32 is bringing performance to levels that were unattainable a few years back unless you were prepared to spend vast sums on components.

It is a tribute to the ciunas that we look to the Ed Meitner dac to draw comparisons. The meitner to my mind still has something really special that is the benchmark for me.Simply it is the best dac I have ever heard to date. The difference between the dac32 and the meitner was clear straightaway. With the ciunas one was listening for longer to ascertain the subtle differences.The gap has closed again. When you compare the two products and look at the technology and parts that are in the meitner it is difficult to figure out how a little aluminium box with one simple switch can be knocking on the door of a dac that is at least 15 times the price.
What I found from the last few weeks is that careful implementation of a dedicated audio pc using the ciunas is going to get punters seriously close to a level of detail,depth and soundstage that cd players could never breach. I haven't touched on hi res but I would be very interested to hear a well regarded TT set up against this type of kit using hires material. Hires material played on this set up was simply spectacular. My collection is primarily cd ripped wav files but I enjoy the odd foray into hires material.Hope it comes down in price as it rankles having to pay again for material alright bought on vinyl and cd.

What you are getting with the ciunas is a device that can be used in small set up in conjunction with a headphone amp to deliver startling SQ in a very small footprint.

Alternatively it can be used with one pc/laptop connected to an amp delivering performance the majority of us would be happy to live with.

The ultimate is the dedicated pc receiving streamed music from either another pc or laptop.The great advantage of this in addition to the significant leap in performance is if you are conscious of appearance you hide the dac behind the server pc on your hifirack. Modern desktop server cases are cool and look very impressive. In an understated way. The total costs for this type of arrangement are circa €950-2K for zuma and €1k for dac/laptop

Personally I think the ciunas is a winner no matter what guise it is used. Its greatest achievements is drawing people into the music being played because it is so engaging in how it renders all material thrown at it. Secondly affordability which makes it available to a much bigger market.

Don't be put off by the small size of the unit and make assumptions that because it has no bling the sound will not sing. This device has been developed with only one thing in mind and that is to provide a top quality source using the minimal amount of parts required to deliver it's goal.

In my view this dac in conjunction with a zuma type pc brings me to a point where the disease of upgradeitis is finally conquered. Ok I might still tube roll but that is just playing with flashing lights.

[jkeny]

Thank you Tony for this comprehensive review. Much appreciate the time & effort you put into writing this.

One interesting point you raise about the looks of the device spurs me into doing a little market research - so why not start here. How many are put off by the looks of this enclosure & would pay an extra € to have a better looking box but the same SQ & the same functionality? Any suggestions or examples of types of enclosure & price that would satisfy?

And just one small point of clarification about Tony's excellent review - the Ciúnas DAC is really not meant as a headphone DAC - it may well work with many headphones (volume controlled withing playback software) but is not designed as a h/phone DAC/amplifier.

[Ken Moreland]

I'm sitting listening to the Ciúnas as I type and the sound is superb. I'm not looking at it and wishing it was prettier and I wouldn't pay anything more for superfluous additions. I do think a good product identification Logo/label would make it stand out and raise it out of the hobbyist appearance ,but that's it.
That's not to deny the pleasure people get from looking at a stylish multi-option piece of equipment with plenty of LED's and fluorescent panels showing bit rate, volume setting ,selected input name etc, maybe a valve or two, VU meters etc. For me the purity of the sound quality is the only thing worth paying for.
Maybe a balanced output option :)
KM

[jkeny]

Thanks Ken, I've noted your views in the marketing database that I'm compiling.
Balanced, yes something that I've had in the back of my mind for a while now :)