Despite Its Advanced Age, the Marantz HD-1 DAC Still Offers a True Treat For Your Ears.
A true heavyweight in the realm of standalone DACs at this price point. While this offering from Marantz is beginning to show its age, it still offers the most dynamic and detailed sound not only in its own class, but is quite comfortable punching well above its weight as well. When a friend brought his Chord Hugo over for a head-to-head comparison, neither of us could pick a clear winner... Yes, its that good.
In fact, the performance level of this Marantz DAC greatly surpasses the expectations one might have, when based upon its budget DAC price tag alone. I replaced a similarly priced Rega DAC with this unit. Both units are very well constructed, and use high quality components. In the end, however, the Marantz blows the Rega away when it comes to sound quality.
The only reason I only gave four stars is this DACs age, and subsequent lack of features which have been developed since its release. These include the inability to upscale to DSD. While it has the ability to play hi-res tracks which are already in native DSD 2.8 or 5.8, that is as far as it goes. No DSD 64/128 or higher, and or course, no MQA.
I highly recommended this DAC for anyone searching for one of the best sounding and best built DACs out there, as long as there is no need for your DAC to handle high-rate DSD or MQA.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned