I bought this DAC on Audiogon about 1 year ago now. It is a few years old now. None the less, it is fine sounding DAC. I've been trying to think of how to write this. Use all those fancy Stereophile words that are used in the magazines. There is no point. This DAC, in the Levinson tradition, converts the digital signal then amplifies it as close to the way the recording was done. I've owned some fine sounding DAC's before. This one is the best. It doesn't have the high end extension of my Sonic Frontiers, but the base true and real. I can sit for hours and listen to the music without getting tired. When I get up to go to bed, my ears are not ringing. I have heard things in recordings I haven't heard before. This is a keeper.

Built like a tank. Very detail, superb imaging and separation. Superb resale value.

Dry and lifeless. Not involving at all. Good for audiophile but bad for music lovers.

I have used numerous low end, mid end, and high end D/A, upsampling or not. I simply purchased the ML 36S (upgraded from ML 36) just for the experience of it. I'm rather disappointed at the 36S. The sound is thin, lifeness and towards the bright side. It is superbly detailed and the seperation of instruments are noteworthy. I guess it is a matter of taste: Do you listen to equipment or do you listen to music.

Similar Products Used:

Sonic Frontiers Processor 3; Kora Hermes; MSB Gold II and III, Nelson; Odeon Birdland 24/192; Classe DAC1; Sonic Frontiers SFD-Mk II; etc

Incredibly detailed sound. Depth to point of being 3D. Supports SPDIF, AES/EBU, ATT glass, and toslink. Balanced/Single out.

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Had my 36S upgraded to 360S status. This includes total replacement of the digital processing side of things. The 360S as delivered is capable of 24 bit word lengths at 96khz. The processor performs 8X oversampling before the DtoA conversion. Support for 192khz and DSD is claimed to be software download upgradable. In the case of DSD, some type of hardware upgrade would also have to take place as their is no current industry standard or jack configuration only brand specific ones. The most immediate difference between the 36S and the 360S is the amount of detail and depth to music that is revealed. It almost sounds cliche to say it but you WILL hear things that you have never heard before even on discs you know by heart. Subtle details, depth, resonance, sustain, harmonics to the point of being the audio equivalent of 3D. I think Stereophile called the 36 or another DAC the "swiss army knife" of digital audio processors. The 360S is surely the big fat grandaddy swiss army knife that has every conceivable input jack, single ended and balanced output jacks, polarity toggle and is designed to be future proof. Only time will tell

Similar Products Used:

ML36, ML36S, AA 3.0, PRO32

This is in regards to the 360s. Everything, a completely developed and well thought out musical device..it generates music on the most exhalted level!! My SACD player is sold..it sounded dead compared to the Levinson 360s

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I had no idea that current red book CD's could sound so good compared to SACD!!! It is not even close, this DAC is so musical and vivid and truthful in timbre. It makes me question all of the praise for SACD..has anyone compared a great DAC side by side with the Sony or Marantz players?? The Levinson completely blows them away...it sounds like Boston Symphony Hall, and if you don't know what that sounds like you better go soon and prepare to readjust your ears.

Similar Products Used:

Sony SACD, Levinson 39, Wadia 860x, BAT VK-D5.

The Mark Levinson 36S Dac has been replaced/upgraded to the 360S dac but remainsa viable competitor to any thing currently in the marketplace. That is to say that even though it is yesterday's news, it will still go toe to toe with 99% of what is being made today. It was $6000+ retail when new. They can be had on the used market for less than $3000 and are a no brainer buy at that price point. This dac continues to reveal new musical information on discs I thought I knew cold. I had the 36 before the 36S and it gets 90% of the way there. The S model has a slightly warmer bass but consistently gets more high frequency info to you without any grain or ear bleed. Cymbals and horns sound very detailed, airy and more lifelike. Can't wait to audition the 360S. So far not much buzz about it in the zeens other than the Audio article which was taken verabatem from the levinson web site. Supposedly shines with DAD/DVD discs with true 24/96 data. The 36S is so good I do not see how the 360S can be light years better. The upgrade to the 360S is around $2000, so if you buy a 36S right and have the upgrade done you could still be $1500 to $2000 less than a new 360S. Highly recommended.

Build quality and sonic performance

Levinson price when new

I must agree with the previous reviewer. Actually his note made me look for a pre-loved 36S. Most Madrigal products are of a highest sound quality and are built to last. The 37/36S combo I have now have replaced a 9 years old Proceed CDP, which has never gave me any troubles and it still sounds better than many new products. Yet the 36S is something worth raving about. The sound is so warm and natural. Totally effortless dynamics, transparency and liveliness are just a few characteristics worth mentioning.
For less than $3K on the second hand market this class A product is highly recommended.