Meier Corda Daccord ff Impressions

This is my first impressions post, I don't dare to write a real review yet. Also, I don't have much gear to compare to, so this might be of limited value. But I like my new gear so much that I just can't keep my mouth shut.

General Information
The Daccord ff is the standalone DAC/preamp from Meier Audio, i.e. from Jan Meier. I fetched my new stuff (see also the Jazz ff headamp impressions I'll write next) directly at his place. He's a really nice guy, I liked being there for a few hours and listening to his gear.
This is a SE only device. It features USB, an optical and two coaxial inputs and can stomach up to 192 kHz/24 bit digital data. On the output side, there is a fixed volume RCA line level ouput, an RCA output with volume control, the maximum level of which can be changed using a jumper (0.9 Vrms, 2.4 Vrms, or 6 Vrms), and a volume controlled 3.5 mm TRS jack with the same gain levels.
Like with many other Meier Audio devices, there is crossfeed available at two distinct levels (plus off, of course), and also a switch for adding a bass shelf in two levels (or none) because the crossfeed can lead to a perceived loss of bass.
There are LEDs on the front that show the incoming frequency of the source material.
It uses a CMedia 6631 chip for USB in, a Wolfson WM8804 S/PDIF receiver and two Wolfson 8741 D/A chips in dual mono mode for the actual conversion duty. It can be fed with 85-265 V AC or, interestingly, with 65-370V DC.
Much more technical info is available at https://www.meier-audio.de/daccord.html
Its price has been lowered permanently to currently € 375,– including VAT for EU customers or € 320,– for customers outside the EU (used to be € 740/625).

Chain
Roon -> Pi4 USB -> Daccord ff -> Jazz ff -> Clear Mg
For comparison:
Roon -> Pi4 USB -> Daccord ff -> Jotunheim 2 SE in, bal out -> Clear Mg
Roon -> Pi4 USB -> Jotunheim 2 ESS card USB in, bal out -> Clear Mg

Sound impressions
I'm very happy with the device. It sounds very neutral to my ears with good extension at both ends of the spectrum, and it provides lots of detail.
I especially like the treble a lot because the DAC manages to provide it with lots of sparkle, air, and detail, but at the same time it never becomes harsh or incisive, even with bad mixes. To me it has a silky, yet very clear quality. I'm quite treble shy, so this means a lot coming from me.
Over the rest of the spectrum, the main quality that immediately sprang to my ears was detail and plankton. The delivery is extremely precise, but never felt clinical or digital to me, at least with the headamps I could test it with, which are both on the musical side of things.
I don't use the crossfeed much. It is not very strong, on many modern recordings I strain to hear a difference at all. It is very audible on extreme panned recordings, but I don't listen to such music much, so I can't say much about how good it is.
On the negative side, there is an audible click or short noise when switching frequencies. Also, 176.4 KHz is not supported as input format (but 44.1 kHz and 88.2 kHz are). Roon will automatically detect that and upsample to 192 KHz, but that's not perfectly ideal, and I'm not sure what that means for other players.
The 3.5mm jack is not suitable for low impedance headphones, as it has an output impedance of 47 Ohms like all the rest of the analog outputs. I did a short test with my HD650, however, and it actually sounded pretty decent.

Comparison to Schiit ES9028 DAC card in Jot 2
I know this is not a fair comparison, as the card costs $100 whereas the Daccord ff at least used to be €625. But it's the only other actual DAC (not dongle) I can compare it to, so that's what I'll do.
The Daccord ff provides much more microdetail, and this is immediately noticeable, too. I'm definitely sure now that "All DACs sound the same!" is complete BS. You don't have to pry your ears and be unsure if you heard right or not, this is completely obvious.
With all the extra plankton, natural instruments sound more real to me, and thus I get a more immersive experience.
The Daccord also provides considerably more treble, especially more bite in the treble, without ever becoming painful, though. In fact, tracks like Morcheeba's Fragments of Freedom that often made me wince with the ES9028 card are perfectly fine with the Daccord.
But it's not only microdetail, also dynamics or macrodetail are far more pronounced with the Daccord. Orchestral swings from piano to fortissimo have much more force with the Daccord.
All in all, the ES9028 card sounds dull and boring to me in direct comparison, with a noticeable veil, but still sometimes more painful in the treble.
As I said, the comparison isn't fair, but still I hadn't expected the differences to be so stark.

Pros:

• Best DAC I ever heard (which doesn't mean much, admittedly)
• Lots of microdetail/plankton
• Lots of macrodetail/dynamics
• Great silky treble
  
• Can be used as preamp
• Very good bang for the buck

Cons:

• Audible click/short noise when changing bits per sample, as well as when switched on (not loud even in the quite low impedance Clear Mg, though)
• 176.4 kHz not supported

Conclusion
To my ears, this is a spectacular device, and for the current price, it's a steal. Highly recommended!

 

Just to add that: I’ve been listening to some 70s stuff since, and the crossfeed really works wonders there.
Even on remasters like the Ziggy Stardust I’m currently listening to. Much better than without. And also much better than Roon crossfeed, even with the “Jan Meier” settings.

 

That is build in usb interface CM6631 to SPDIF problem.
I also get daccord-ff and jazz-ff in this summer.
On the other hand,daccord-ff usb interface is quite bad.I using topping d10s usb bridge to daccord spdif port,will give daccord-ff huge improve! I highly recommend for.
Did you try listening Corda Soul ？

 

Yes, I listened to the Soul at Jan’s but I did so only for a few minutes on purpose. I can’t afford it right now, and I didn’t want to ruin the stuff I actually wanted to buy for me.

My impression was that it was “better at everything” than the Daccord/Jazz combination, but I don’t remember more, which is exactly what I wanted to achieve.

 

Now that I use my Daccord via S/PDIF on my Zen Stream, it became clear that @lpcken’s comment above isn’t true. The Daccord sometimes produces noise when switching data format via coax, too, no difference from USB. Actually, it seems to be changing the bits per sample rather than frequency that triggers this.

Unfortunately, I edited my post above after that comment to say that this happens on USB only, which is not true, and now I can’t edit it anymore. EDIT: Now that I’m a Friend it seems that I’m allowed to edit my old posts, and I did.

Looks to me as if that comment was just an ad/SEO for Topping, anyway. Wrong information, only post by @lpcken ever, never seen here since then? Quite fishy, if you ask me.

Anyway, yes, coax sounds better to me than USB, but the difference between a good USB source and a good coax source isn’t huge. However, the Zen Stream vs. the Pi 4 USB I used before is a much bigger difference! I love the new sound. EDIT: Comparing again after honeymoon phase says that the difference is tiny at best. At least via USB, a good source doesn’t make much of a difference at the Daccord.

Investing in a good source for the Daccord definitely makes sense.

 

Maybe I didn't make it clear. In my environment, FOOBAR2000+ASIO,

Changing the sampling rate DACCORD USB will produce a larger pop sound than other USB interfaces.

There will still be pop sound when using other interfaces by changing sampling rate, but it will decrease.

I don't sell ads for topping. I use gustard, singxer and other interface too.

Reply to your post only because I bought the same dac, which is not many people discuss in china forums.