Atoll DR200
Contents
From the French Atoll we get the DR200. A 1550 Euro drive with a decent cabinet, a beautiful Teac drive and the practical outputs that allow you to connect to a dac: coaxial, optical and AES.
Now 1550 Euro is quite an investment for a player that only plays CDs. Is it worth the extra 850 Euros when looking at the Roksan Atessa?
You bet! This is not a subtle step up: this is a serious improvement. Both Martijn and Geoffrey let us know that the low end is better controlled and more audible without becoming analytical. Indeed, it flows more than the Roksan.
We honestly did not expect the difference to be so big. After all: it’s just a drive. The d/a converter is leading, right?
That’s partly true. If a user uses spdif (coax, aes, optical, bnc), the clock is taken from the spdif signal. So the source is leading. And that is now very audible in calmness, authority and flow. Also, instruments get more texture, which in turn deepens the experience of music.
All in all a very nice drive, with a typical “Atoll signature”. Robust, touch of cream…. very tasty!
Measurements Atoll DR200
We were unable to find a clock crystal or measurement point. Those were hidden deep under the Teac drive, we estimate. But we did manage to find a 2.8 MHz clock. It looks neat, but is not as fast as, say, the Tentlabs or NuPrime.
Noise is fine under control. We see some “grass”. The pattern seems similar to the NuPrime, but it is slightly cleaner.
