Longdog Audio’s VDt1 – A Minimalist High-End DAC (Part 2)

Sound quality

This is a warm, expansive performer that will delight analogue addicts, thanks to its particularly natural tonal balance. Instead of a rather lean, analytical, matter-of-fact sound that you often get from digital-to-analogue convertors, the Longdog gives a smooth and sweet – if not quite sumptuous – performance that makes extended listening a pleasure. For example, take Simple Minds’ Someone, Somewhere, In Summertime. As well as being assaulted by a grumbling bass line that’s as loud as a forced realignment of the earth’s tectonic plates, you’re assailed by a metronomic, thumping snare and hi-hat sound that feels positively electric. It fizzes with energy, and then the kick drum comes in loud enough to remind you that your windows are made from breakable glass. It’s a massive, gutsy sort of sound that makes even dCS’ superb high-end Debussy DAC look rather over-polite. And the great thing is that it’s not just big and punchy in a hi-fi sort of way, it’s actually very naturally musically satisfying, too. Staying with 16-bit CD as a source, and The Jam’s classic down in a Tube Station at Midnight thunders out. Although packed with amphetamine-fuelled anger, it’s a pretty thin and reedy-sounding recording and can underwhelm, especially on CD, but this DAC isn’t having that. Instead, it serves up an engrossing sound that gets me hooked. It perfectly catches the expressive, plaintive tones of Paul Weller’s vocals, and drives home every last ounce of the song’s powerful emotion. Unlike so many DACs it simply doesn’t stand in the way of the musical event. Indeed, the VDt1 proves wonderfully subtle, yet involving in its presentation; vocals hover ethereally in a wide soundstage, against a backdrop of a powerful bass guitar, pushing the song along.

Unlike so many DACs it doesn’t stand in the way of the musical event

So rather than treading the well-worn, respectable path of trying to cover all the bases, it goes steaming into the recording to see what it can pull back out with breathtaking energy. Digital geeks will know what I’m talking about when I say that it reminds me of the old Philips TD1541-equipped eighties CD players, which seemed to make every piece of music you played on them sound dramatic – epic, even. The VDt1, of course, has more refinement and depth than such players, but still goes about the job of making music in much the same sort of fashion.

Feed it some hi-res music via its USB input and it really begins to shine. Art of Noise’s Moments in Love at 24/88.2 is just superb, the DAC capturing the synthesized rhythm backing beautifully, giving a very realistic sense of texture. At the same time, those big synth stabs sound powerful and menacing, and backing vocals creamily smooth. The Longdog sets up a spacious soundstage, one that hangs back well, but projects powerfully into the room, too. Everything seems to syncopate so convincingly; sparse electronic music such as this relies on the rhythmic interplay between instruments for effect, and in this case it proves the DAC’s fine timing. For me, the ability to combine believable tonality with fine timing isn’t universal in a DAC of any price, let alone this, so the VDt1 is in good company.

Feed it some hi-res music via its USB input and it really begins to shine

Firing up some high-powered thrash metal courtesy of Metallica’s Enter Sandman at 24/96, shows that it can rock out with the best of them. This is a true large-stage production, one with all the faders set to eleven, and the Longdog shows this in no uncertain terms. Bass is deep and powerful in a way that few similarly priced designs are. In absolute terms it’s a fraction on the warm side, with a slight extra weight in the upper bass, but it lacks the instantaneous start-stop of the very highest-end solid-state DACs. Midband is very detailed and drops back surprisingly far, giving an enjoyable immersive sort of feel, and the treble is sweet and smooth – again some will bemoan a slight lack of bite, while others will love it. The same goes for a DSD file of Alex de Grassi’s The Water Garden, which has a lovely lilting sound. Again, a naturally open, smooth and enthusiastic nature shines through, and it serves up a highly involved rendition of the music, with lots of detail and focus.

Conclusion

Here’s an interesting new DAC that can hold its head high even among considerably more expensive types in terms of pure Sonics. It isn’t quite as swish looking as some price rivals, because much of the budget has gone towards getting it to sound superb – and it’s been money well spent. If you’re looking for a minimalist, high-performance digital convertor, then the Longdog VDt1 illustrates how less can be more! If you take your digital and/or computer audio seriously, but aren’t too concerned about a vast range of features, it’s an essential audition.

Longdog Audio VDt1

How it compares

Costing $6590.8 with AES/EBU, RCA, BNC and optical inputs – plus USB – the Astin Trew Concord 1 is the closest competitor. And with a high-quality tube output stage – in this case it is switchable and you can use the solid-state one – it is quite similar in concept. It is based around two Burr Brown PCM1794 DAC chips running in dual mono configuration, so there’s a different chip at its heart. The Astin Trew sounds superb, but is a fractionally brighter and lighter sounding device than the Longdog. Not that the latter is fat and overly rich, but it is a little deeper and more three dimensional. Both are very fine machines, and not dissimilar in terms of the end result.

Our verdict:

·         Sound quality: 5/5

·         Value for money: 5/5

·         Build quality: 5/5

·         Features: 4/5

·         Like: Very natural, musical, organic sound with power and punch

·         Dislike: It could do with a sampling rate display and some more inputs

·         We say: Single-minded audiophile product purposed for top performance

·         Overall: 5/5