Received the Pegasus dac 5 days ago and have basically been running it in.
Initial impressions - the dac is quiet heavy and sturdy. It has an excellent fit and finish to it. In real life, in its silver facade, it looks very svelte and ready ‘to do business’. It certainly has no problems fitting in with my other components on the HiFi rack.
Having spent 5 days running it in I though I would sit down today and compare it with my other ladder dac as well as providing some general feedback re sound quality impressions. Both dacs are used in Nos mode.
The Pegasus dac has a distinct advantage of having a very low noise floor which equates to blacker backgrounds, increased transparency and detail. You really can hear well into the mix. Btw, this is not fake detail achieved by boosting the treble region. Far, far from it. The Pegasus is very much natural sounding in its presentation.
The soundstage presented is probably the largest I’ve heard in my space. All 3 dimensions - width, depth and height are well outside the speakers positioning. Imaging is excellent with instrument separation being just as good. You can clearly place the instruments within the soundstage when listening to good recordings. Air around instruments is also of note, making the sound feel very much light footed and natural.
The bass goes down low. Very low. Yet it is linear in nature. No specific low frequency is pronounced resulting in deep, tight, beautiful bass. To me, it’s actually one of the dacs strengths. At the same time the treble region also presents itself as being very linear and smooth, unlike other dacs which can sound ‘scratchy’ in comparison. Take for example the shimmer of symbols- on the Pegasus they just sound natural and real. No zing, no sharpness to the sound. Just beautiful music.
Overall, in comparison with my other ladder dac and after having listened to a number of different flavours of dacs (some at significantly higher price points) I really think the Pegasus dac is just exceptional value for money. Supply it with some decent recordings and you too will appreciate what this overachiever can truely accomplish. Highly recommended.
