Author Topic: Recommendations for DAC  (Read 60498 times)

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Offline MrDeckard

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Re: Recommendations for DAC
« Reply #180 on: Apr 05, 2019 at 06:11 AM »
Magkano and where can you buy the psaudio direct stream?


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Offline vgsison

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Re: Recommendations for DAC
« Reply #181 on: Apr 05, 2019 at 07:24 AM »
Magkano and where can you buy the psaudio direct stream?


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Locally AVDI Shang. Close to 300k.


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Offline MrDeckard

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Re: Recommendations for DAC
« Reply #182 on: Apr 05, 2019 at 02:59 PM »
Thanks!


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Offline lithium_deuteride

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Re: Recommendations for DAC
« Reply #183 on: Apr 23, 2019 at 06:52 PM »
Got the Chord Hugo TT2.  As a headphone amp, this thing impresses!  Timing, attack, bass, details, PRAT. It’s very musical with my LCD-3s.  Will see how it performs as a DAC on my system tomorrow.
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Offline lithium_deuteride

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Re: Recommendations for DAC
« Reply #184 on: Apr 25, 2019 at 12:04 PM »
Bottom line, if you want a DAC that will make you forget your records and turntable for a while and own a great headphone amp to boot (favorably compared to the Cavalli Liquid Gold amp in one review), the Chord Hugo TT2 is it.
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Offline alvinbaronsia

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Re: Recommendations for DAC
« Reply #185 on: May 09, 2019 at 02:49 PM »
Bottom line, if you want a DAC that will make you forget your records and turntable for a while and own a great headphone amp to boot (favorably compared to the Cavalli Liquid Gold amp in one review), the Chord Hugo TT2 is it.
How did you decide on the TT2? What did you compare it with?

Offline lithium_deuteride

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Re: Recommendations for DAC
« Reply #186 on: May 11, 2019 at 02:38 AM »
How did you decide on the TT2? What did you compare it with?

 I compared the Chord TT2 with my present DAC - a Bel Canto DAC eONE 1.5.  I also listened to the Chord MScaler by itself connected to the internal DAC of a Denon AVR. Then I listened to TT2 and MScaler stacked together on the same Denon setup.  The TT2 by itself sounded smooth and devoid of digital glare but adding the MScaler removes all traces of digital glare (which I thought was already gone with the TT2 alone) and you are left with exceeding smoothness. But alas - buying both together was a financial challenge for me.  I'll have to consider the MScaler as a future upgrade. 

I compared the headphone output of the TT2 to my current balanced mos-fet DIY amp. Ganda ng output ng TT2, thanks to its DAC.  And also due to its powerful and clean sounding analog output stage.

This TT2 DAC/headphone amp is all about timing. Chord's DAC designer Robb Watts is on to something - he starts with a knowledge of psycho-acoustics and designs his DACs around his experiments which according to him shows that human hearing can be affected to a surprisingly large degree by even infinitesimally small timing errors on the starting and stopping of musical notes (transients).  Check his lectures on Youtube.

I also listened to Ted Smith and his lectures on the PS Audio's Direct Stream DAC, which he designed.  I guess I was more convinced by Robb's more detailed and sensible lecture. Also I heard from reliable sources that PSAudio is on the warm side and given that my stereo system (Harbeth / Accuphase) is on the warm side, I went with Chord.     
« Last Edit: May 11, 2019 at 02:41 AM by lithium_deuteride »
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Offline edwin

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Re: Recommendations for DAC
« Reply #187 on: Jul 25, 2019 at 04:02 PM »
Replaced my Metrum Acoustic R2R dac with a Denafrips Ares R2R dac. The Ares is way better at half the price of the Metrum. All aspects regarding sound quality is better in comparison. Highly recommended.

https://youtu.be/x32kMm6E4Pg

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Offline laukong

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Re: Recommendations for DAC
« Reply #188 on: Jul 26, 2019 at 11:41 AM »
SMSL Su-8 balanced DAC, very good value.

Offline JoeyGS

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Re: Recommendations for DAC
« Reply #189 on: Aug 13, 2019 at 10:23 AM »
This is getting good reviews and now has the version II


Replaced my Metrum Acoustic R2R dac with a Denafrips Ares R2R dac. The Ares is way better at half the price of the Metrum. All aspects regarding sound quality is better in comparison. Highly recommended.

https://youtu.be/x32kMm6E4Pg



Offline lithium_deuteride

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Re: Recommendations for DAC
« Reply #190 on: Aug 13, 2019 at 11:59 AM »
John Darko had a good review of the Denafrips. I considered it and even got a quote from the Sg dealer.  Should be a good DAC.  Darko is always on point.
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Offline accastil

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Re: Recommendations for DAC
« Reply #191 on: Mar 29, 2021 at 11:51 AM »
Smsl m400 or denafrips ares2? Which and why? The goal is neutrality and my system consists of x10dacv3,x10v3,xpsuv3+m5si+gx200.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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Offline alvinbaronsia

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Re: Recommendations for DAC
« Reply #192 on: Mar 29, 2021 at 07:29 PM »
Smsl m400 or denafrips ares2? Which and why? The goal is neutrality and my system consists of x10dacv3,x10v3,xpsuv3+m5si+gx200.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

If by neutral you mean transparency then the M400/Topping D90 will be one of the most transparent DACs right now with 121 SINAD vs the Ares 103 SINAD. You may even want to test out first with a PHP 5k SMSL SK10 v2 or Topping E30 as they are also much more neutral than Ares with 112db. source: audiosciencereview

If you are looking for musical satisfaction and not the best in cleanliness, then the Ares may be more your type. While the AK delta sigma DACs are not as sterile compared to their ESS counterparts, they are still too neutral/transparent for me, and I much prefer my dirtier R2R/FPGA/AD DACs.

Offline accastil

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Re: Recommendations for DAC
« Reply #193 on: Apr 01, 2021 at 07:15 PM »
If by neutral you mean transparency then the M400/Topping D90 will be one of the most transparent DACs right now with 121 SINAD vs the Ares 103 SINAD. You may even want to test out first with a PHP 5k SMSL SK10 v2 or Topping E30 as they are also much more neutral than Ares with 112db. source: audiosciencereview

If you are looking for musical satisfaction and not the best in cleanliness, then the Ares may be more your type. While the AK delta sigma DACs are not as sterile compared to their ESS counterparts, they are still too neutral/transparent for me, and I much prefer my dirtier R2R/FPGA/AD DACs.
Which between the 2 would result to smoother highs, warmer sound, thicker mids/vocals?
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Offline alvinbaronsia

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Re: Recommendations for DAC
« Reply #194 on: Apr 02, 2021 at 10:05 AM »
Which between the 2 would result to smoother highs, warmer sound, thicker mids/vocals?
Ares. Though I would like to suggest the Chord Mojo/Qutest or Schiit Modi Multibit/Bitfrost 2 as they are similarly as good and arguably better, as well as being made in UK/US (politics: protest against Chinese encroachment).