AudioCircle
Audio/Video Gear and Systems => All Solid State => Topic started by: mresseguie on 28 May 2020, 05:05 am
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Since this is the Solid State Circle, let's limit this thread to SS DACs. They can be NOS, R2R, Oversampling, DSD, MQA, etc. There's no price limit. You can mention a $30 DAC (if it exists) or a $50,000 DAC. There's a plethora of new DACs out there.
Here are a couple that I've been oohing and awwing at lately:
Soekris 1541 R2R DAC and Nuprime Evolution DAC. I have not heard either of these, but they seem to get great reviews from audiophiles who own them. Have you heard either? What were your impressions?
Michael
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"They can be NOS, R2R, Oversampling, DSD, MQA, etc."
For those (few) of us that are not really into digital, please define your terms and acronyms. What exactly is oversampling vs NOS? I assume R2R isn't reel to reel as I usually interpret it to mean.
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Since this is the Solid State Circle, let's limit this thread to SS DACs. They can be NOS, R2R, Oversampling, DSD, MQA, etc. There's no price limit. You can mention a $30 DAC (if it exists) or a $50,000 DAC. There's a plethora of new DACs out there.
After all these years, I have formed an opinion that in terms of pure subjective sound quality, DAC technolocy advances since say the PCM63/UltraAnalog D20400 days have GREATLY been exaggerated :D
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The damn digital era -- it screwed everything up. You gotta be a tech nerd to understand modern day DACs. The solid state ones come with "filters" to give them different flavors. It's annoying to flip through them to find out which settings sound the best. What happened to "plug & play?"
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I use a Van Alstine FET Valve Hybrid DAC (discontinued), it has tubes so I can't talk about it's sound but a few years ago we compared the Van Alstine DAC to the more expensive PS Audio PerfectWave MkII DAC in two different systems and could hear zero differences. The only way we could hear a difference was to use the digital filters built into the PerfectWave, gritty digital recordings made in the early days can be ever so slightly altered to make them listenable.
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I'll bet there are plenty of $1000 dacs that can compete with my $10k dac these days. We should have a GTG and bring in some price points and technologies and do a comparison event. That would be fun. I've always wanted to try one of the newer resistor ladder units being made these days as compared to the earlier days.
Jon's on it. These chips are so close today that the pleasantness of the unit comes in the power supplies and analog output circuits and how they are done. A resistor here, an inductor there, …..
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After all these years, I have formed an opinion that in terms of pure subjective sound quality, DAC technolocy advances since say the PCM63/UltraAnalog D20400 days have GREATLY been exaggerated :D
I believe the best redbook I've heard was my old Resolution Audio CD50 with dual PCM63s. If that player had a dac input, I would probably still use it.
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After all these years, I have formed an opinion that in terms of pure subjective sound quality, DAC technolocy advances since say the PCM63/UltraAnalog D20400 days have GREATLY been exaggerated :D
I'm with you.....
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I believe the best redbook I've heard was my old Resolution Audio CD50 with dual PCM63s. If that player had a dac input, I would probably still use it.
By God, that brings back memories of my Resolution Audio Opus 21 CDP, which DID have spdif input, and I can't recall why I sold it other than the continual search for the next-best-thing in digital. It used the PCM 1704 ladder DAC chips, which have now become so sought-after! :duh:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49945571393_b87b9ce9ff.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2j6w7ig)Opus21 (https://flic.kr/p/2j6w7ig) by drjlo2 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/60017347@N03/), on Flickr
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Yes the gap has narrowed a bit however there are still big differences in performance/features of different priced DACs. Depends on how they are used can make ALL the difference. If using a dedicated transport @44.1 then a server the quality can be big. Using a DSD DAC with music recorded in DSD a bigger difference in sound quality.
Some DACs are voiced, some are not. R2R, Chip it is the end result in tonality, harmonic structure that matters.Higher price usually correlates with better sound. If that extra bit floats your boat and you can afford it. Go for it. If not thats cool as well.
charles
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For the last few years I've been using a Schitt Ygdrassil which I found to be far superior to previous DACs I've owned such as Eastern Electric, Audio Note, Monarchy and others. I have a feeling that for around a grand the Digital Amplifier Company (DAC) DACs may be the ones to beat in terms of sound quality for the money.
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"They can be NOS, R2R, Oversampling, DSD, MQA, etc."
For those (few) of us that are not really into digital, please define your terms and acronyms. What exactly is oversampling vs NOS? I assume R2R isn't reel to reel as I usually interpret it to mean.
NOS = non-oversampling. Most DAC chips these days (and for a long time) oversample i.e. convert the incoming digital data stream into a higher multiple, like 44.1 to 352.8 kHz. Arguably the oversampling filter is not perfect, which is why a modern trend is to oversample in the computer (for some reason, this is called "upsampling") where you have more compute horsepower available, and then feed the DAC the highest possible sampling rate. NOS DACs don't oversample. However it means that - by default - they have a rolled-off frequency response conforming to what is known as the sinc function.
R-2R = resistor ladder - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistor_ladder. This is an old-fashioned (or now, "retro") way of converting from digital to analog, which is basically what you would come up with if you were starting at the beginning. R-2R DACs tend to have a lot of distortion components, a sort of "distortion grass," with the level of it depending on the accuracy of the ladder.
Oversampling - I guess I assumed that was known above. This is converting one sample rate into a higher one. Like any conversion process, it's not perfect.
DSD = direct stream digital. This is a single-bit representation of the digital signal - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_Stream_Digital. It consists of a stream of high-frequency pulses, where the signal value is represented by the density of the pulses. It’s the format that SACD stores data in, I believe. When passed through a low pass filter, you get the analog signal. However, you also get high-frequency noise, which is why you now get higher rate versions of it called e.g. DSD128, DSD256, and so on that push this noise up past the audio band. (Normal DSD is then known as DSD64, where 64 is the oversampling ratio.)
MQA = Master Quality Authentication, a proprietary technology that came out of Meridian Audio. It’s been controversial, but the key claims are that 1. High-res sample rates can be represented in a lower sample rate stream, and 2. That “errors” in the AD and DA conversion process are somehow fixed by the MQA decoder so the end result is the same as the “Master”. The latter part requires licensed hardware; the first part can be done in software with e.g. the Tidal player. It is a lossy process i.e. you will never get back out exactly what went in.
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By God, that brings back memories of my Resolution Audio Opus 21 CDP, which DID have spdif input, and I can't recall why I sold it other than the continual search for the next-best-thing in digital. It used the PCM 1704 ladder DAC chips, which have now become so sought-after! :duh:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49945571393_b87b9ce9ff.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2j6w7ig)Opus21 (https://flic.kr/p/2j6w7ig) by drjlo2 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/60017347@N03/), on Flickr
That's what I replaced my CD50 with:
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=194817)
I used it as a dac for quite a few years. Sold it about a year ago. It was one of those very easy sales.
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Thank you JohnR. I seldom listen to digital, and never really beyond a cd player, so my questions were sincere.
Although I had looked up much of it on Wikipedia, your explanations were helpful. So is basic sampling the selection of a data point along a string at a particular rate? For example, taking a particular number of points at a stream of data flowing at 44 100 bits per second?
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There are two parts to analog-to-digital conversion. First is sampling, where you capture the value of the signal (i.e. the analog voltage) at regular intervals in time e.g. 44,100 times a second. Second is quantization, where the (theoretically) infinite resolution of the signal value is reduced to the resolution of a finite digital word e.g. 16 bits. The first can theoretically be recovered exactly within the passband i.e half the sample rate, the second loses information. (The question then is whether any of the lost information was useful anyway, something audiophiles are prone to forget...)
The result is a (quantized) discrete-time signal, which has a spectrum that has infinite multiples of the original spectrum. Which is why a low pass filter is (usually) considered necessary in the digital to analog convertor and the reason for oversampling in the first place (the analog filter is simpler).
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A plug for the little guy :green:
$8.00 PCM5102 DAC with I2S input.
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=209612)
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A plug for the little guy :green:
$8.00 PCM5102 DAC with I2S input.
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=209612)
I had no idea. How does it sound? [I know. How does one describe how any DAC sounds?] Do you use this DAC?
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I had no idea. How does it sound? [I know. How does one describe how any DAC sounds?] Do you use this DAC?
Sounds pretty good. This was mostly a learning project, as I had no idea what I2S was. I was going to add a small Class D amp and put in a small chassis, but haven't yet.
Actually, this little project led me to understand S/PDIF as well. USB is still confusing. Trying to keep the old brain working.
Mike
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I'm really enjoying my new Bricasti M3 with network board, no more USB cables and dongles just Ethernet only to a network. Big improvement over the Comet and at twice the price expected.
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For a Solid State DAC I've settled on the Aqua La Voce S3 for the last year. If I get the urge for the tube sound I swap in the Musical Paradise MP-D2 Mk III Deluxe.
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For a Solid State DAC I've settled on the Aqua La Voce S3 for the last year. If I get the urge for the tube sound I swap in the Musical Paradise MP-D2 Mk III Deluxe.
The Aqua is a great sounding DAC. I doubt that the Paradise would sound any better but you won't know until you try. The S3 is on my radar. I would love to hear how it sounds compared to my Luxman DA-06.
I would not put much stock in $1K DAC's sounding better than $10k DAC's. I have owned quite a few high end DAC's in the $3K to $6K range and none of the lower priced DAC's sounded as good as the more expensive ones. I have also heard a few other DAC's of friends and we did DAC shootouts. In just about every instance the more expensive DAC's sounded better. The biggest differences are width, depth and height of sound stage and especially the separation between instruments. You get what you pay for. But I certainly agree that the gap has closed some. I also have found that some systems like mine are very sensitive to changes in DAC's. DAC's are definitely system dependent.
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Larry
The Musical Paradise is not better just a different flavor as is the Directstream Sr. which hasn't been used for a while. Sometimes I just swap them out for a change. My Aqua started out as an S2 but I sent it back for the upgrade last year after the Munich show. Took quite a while to break back in as a majority of the guts were swapped out. I can imagine some buyers giving up before the break-in was complete. I just put it in a spare room with an old Oppo and a test disc on repeat for a couple of weeks.
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Larry
The Musical Paradise is not better just a different flavor as is the Directstream Sr. which hasn't been used for a while. Sometimes I just swap them out for a change. My Aqua started out as an S2 but I sent it back for the upgrade last year after the Munich show. Took quite a while to break back in as a majority of the guts were swapped out. I can imagine some buyers giving up before the break-in was complete. I just put it in a spare room with an old Oppo and a test disc on repeat for a couple of weeks.
Agreed! I also agree with breakin. I like to give electronics 50-100 hours of breakin, more if using Teflon Caps which need 500 hours. Same goes for speakers and phono cartridges.
How do you like the S3 vs the S2? Is it analog and organic sounding?
I got to hear the La Scala DAC and loved it.
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For a Solid State DAC I've settled on the Aqua La Voce S3 for the last year. If I get the urge for the tube sound I swap in the Musical Paradise MP-D2 Mk III Deluxe.
The Aqua is a great sounding DAC. I doubt that the Paradise would sound any better but you won't know until you try. The S3 is on my radar. I would love to hear how it sounds compared to my Luxman DA-06.
I would not put much stock in $1K DAC's sounding better than $10k DAC's. I have owned quite a few high end DAC's in the $3K to $6K range and none of the lower priced DAC's sounded as good as the more expensive ones. I have also heard a few other DAC's of friends and we did DAC shootouts. In just about every instance the more expensive DAC's sounded better. The biggest differences are width, depth and height of sound stage and especially the separation between instruments. You get what you pay for. But I certainly agree that the gap has closed some. I also have found that some systems like mine are very sensitive to changes in DAC's. DAC's are definitely system dependent.
I must admit to spending precious little time reading about La Scala DACS. Can you talk a little more about the S2/S3 versions, and how does the Optologic DAC differ from them? I've never heard any of these models.
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I'm really enjoying my new Bricasti M3 with network board, no more USB cables and dongles just Ethernet only to a network. Big improvement over the Comet and at twice the price expected.
Hello, Kemper.
With the ethernet connection - I assume this means one must have either their modem nearby, or ethernet wiring from the room with the modem patched into the audio room. Is this correct?
I haven't read anything about the Bricasti M3, but I've seen references to it.
Michael
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Michael, Yes it does mean wired Ethernet cables, M3 to router and server to router. That lets me move server out of view but it must be cabled. My router is behind my left speaker and 4' from M3, Ethernet cables don't have length issues USBs have. The M3 is an upgrade in my system and I'm loving it.
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Hmm. As luck would have it, neither of my audio listening spaces have a router in the same room. I may be able to run an ethernet cable to one room (as long as my dear wife doesn’t see me drilling a hole in the floor!), but there’s no possibility of accomplishing it for the other space. Powerful WAF issues prevent my running cables along the floor or ceiling.
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Currently using a Digital Amplifier Company DAC2 HSV with a Sparkler Audio s503 CD player as transport. The DAC DAC2 HSV has its own volume control and is connected directly to a DAC 2-Cherry amplifier.
The Sparkler s503 utilizes the Philips TDA1543 16 bit nos chip. As a stand alone CD player the Sparkler presents a sweet natural sound that the tda1543 chip is known for. IMO one of the better stand alone nos CD players available.
I have had some of the DAC gear over time (STM, Mono blocks, original DAC-HS) with great results and highly recommended them for SS listening. DAC came out with the new DAC DAC2 and 2-Cherry so I'm giving them a try. So far after a couple of weeks I gotta say I'm not missing the nos sound of the Sparkler. The DAC set-up produces a wonderful detailed huge relaxed sound stage, with right bass. I say right because its not bloated or anemic just very natural in presentation. Very clean where musical nuances add to the listening experience yet there is a "meat on the bones" quality. Not the dry sterile sound one might expect but more like very good expensive Class A sound. The DAC set-up is all balanced but DAC does make XLR-RCA adapters at a cost if needed. The input is coaxial only and DAC makes a very good USB-Coaxial converter.
My speakers are Charney Audio Companions with Omega RS7 Drivers.
So far really liking my DAC DAC2 HSV and this might be the end game for me.
FWIW I have had many dacs over the years SS, tube, nos chips, saber chips, and delta chips.
Chris
https://www.cherryamp.com/dac-dac-d-to-a-convertor
https://sparkleraudio.eu/en/products/s503-spiral
http://charneyaudio.com/
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I must admit to spending precious little time reading about La Scala DACS. Can you talk a little more about the S2/S3 versions, and how does the Optologic DAC differ from them? I've never heard any of these models.
Jack D would be the one to ask. I heard the La Scala (it possibly could have been the more expensive Formula DAC that I heard, but I don't remember for sure as I was concentrating on the speakers) at SunCoast audio in Sarasota Fla. in February when I flew down there from MN to listen to a couple of pairs of Fyne Audio speakers that I am interested in.
I have a friend that has the La Voce S2 after going through several high end DAC's like the PSA DSDse, Metrum Hex and a few others. He likes the smooth organic and natural sound of the S2. No digitis. Whats nice about the Aqua DAC's are that they are modular and can be upgraded as Jack did to his S2.
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Michael
If your router is reasonably close to where you need a hard wired connection that a WiFi extender will do the job easily. I used one for several years with no issue. If by chance you have Comcast internet service they have their own called Xpods.
As to the difference between the La Voce S2 and S3 the basics are that though they are both still R2R style DACs the S2 used the Burr Brown 1704 chips and the S3 uses a programmable FPGA. In addition to changing the processor engine the other supporting daughter boards were also changed out.The Optologic is another technology used in the two higher level models. David Abramson's review on Stereo Times will give you a better idea of the differences and the parts that were changed out. The La Scala also has a tubed input stage which the other two models don't. Some people either like it or don't. I met a guy from Larry's area on Audiogon that started out with the S2 who after trying to different variations of the La Scala finally went to the La Voce S3 and much prefers it to the higher priced model. The basic character of the La Voce didn't change with the upgrade it just gained more in the bass and detail department making it more of a complete DAC and less of a "midrange champion." When I was looking into Aqua DACs to start with almost five years ago the US distributor at the time, Mark Sossa, who I knew as a dealer recommended the La Voce to me over the La Scala.
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Larry
You might want to see if you can get a demo of this DAC from Boris. Built down the road from you in Eden Prairie. Joe on AS has one and loves it.
https://www.audiomirror.com/product-page/tubadour-iii-se-nonoversampling-tube-dac-2500
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Larry
You might want to see if you can get a demo of this DAC from Boris. Built down the road from you in Eden Prairie. Joe on AS has one and loves it.
https://www.audiomirror.com/product-page/tubadour-iii-se-nonoversampling-tube-dac-2500
Thanks for the tip. The DAC looks interesting but I am not keen on those golf ball looking knobs. I may contact him and see if he will loan me one for a review and to see if it sounds better than my Luxman. I have heard of this company before as I have a friend that bought gear from him.
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Bottom line what is the best dac? From the expensive I read Ares Cereat Kassandra & Briscati. I myself looking at Audio Note dac 2.1 sig, Prima Luna Evo 100, Lampizator Amber 3, Border Patrol SEi, Musical Paradise MP-D2 Mk3 Deluxe.
Any other suggestions for a non digital dac? I will look into the Aqua dac. BTW are you guys fans of the simple analog devices AD 1865 chip?
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AD1865 is my chop of choice. Currently upgrading my speaks and then a new ANK 2.1sig prob by the Fall.
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So AD1865 better than the Phillips TDA1541?
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Also someone online who has the ANk to 2.1 sig dac says the stock AN Dac 0.1x was better! Have you heard this?
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So AD1865 better than the Phillips TDA1541?
Depending on implementation yes but to each his own. I have a Sparkler CD player that uses the TDA 1543 chip and sounds fantastic too!
Also someone online who has the ANk to 2.1 sig dac says the stock AN Dac 0.1x was better! Have you heard this?
Interesting that one persons opinion can carry so much weight. I have never listened to the AN 0.1x so I can’t comment.
Back in 2007 I had an ANK 2.1 sig built for me with a plethora of upgraded parts...AN Silver coupling caps, AN IV transformers, all Black Gate power supply caps, upgraded Black Gate caps on the AD1865 digital board, upgraded tube sockets, all resistors were AN 2w tantalum, ANV wire from output on analog board,NOS Siemens Helasky 6dj8 tubes. My transport was a highly modified 47 Labs Flatfish with upgrade Superclock and filtered battery power supply.
The sound quality was incredibly natural and very analog sounding. Unfortunately a few years later the banking crisis happened and my business took a dump, had to sell off most of my gear. I currently have a lot of the necessary parts to build another 2.1sig and will most likely do so later this year.
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Thanks for sharing that! So you don't believe a 0.1x can beat a 2.1x sig? BTW we may have cc another financial crisis soon!😃
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Jay’s Audio DAC-2 Signature
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=223005)
I use this along with Jay’s CDT2-MKII dedicated transport utilizing I2S connection. Best digital I’ve ever had in my system. Replaced Border Patrol DAC SE and Woo Audio WTP-1 transport.
Don P
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It appears that the Jay's DAC is unavailable probably as a result of the devastating AKM fire, hope they can start making chips again soon.
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It appears that the Jay's DAC is unavailable probably as a result of the devastating AKM fire, hope they can start making chips again soon.
The Jay’s DAC does use the AKM chipset.
Don P.
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I received my Holo May DAC (Kitsune Edition) a couple of weeks ago. My well broken-in Benchmark DAC3 was sounding terrific, but the Holo May has gone farther in every respect. More separation and space, more bass texture, more detail, terrific timbre, and even lower glare (very non-fatiguing with even more detail). It's about halfway through Kitsune Audio's recommended 500-hour break in, and it has been shifting a bit since a couple of weeks ago, balancing out a bit and opening up with more space and detail. Very very happy with it.
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So you don't believe a 0.1x can beat a 2.1x sig?
Hmmm I don’t like to use words like beat, trounce, crush, etc when comparing audio gear. As noted I have never listened to the AN 0.1x so maybe? Dunno? There are so many variables that come into play and everyone has their own “flavor”‘of sound they prefer...kinda like “how do you want your coffee?” I’ve owned and listened to many DACs with all kinds of chips (not every but a lot) and to my ears a highly modified ANK 2.1sig AD1865 gets it right. YMMV
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Hey!
I still use a DAC kit that I got off eBay for $40 back in 2006 based on Philip TDA1543 chip. I built case for it, some bypass caps added and I power it with 12V SLA batteries. The whole thing probably cost me $80-120 I think.The output from the chip is directly drive my pre-amp. It is a very simple DAC and it just sound a lot like my turntable set up actually.
Anyway, crazy that there are so many DACs out there. Many of them comes and goes, like "flavor of the month" don't they? There seems to be a new way of making the same data on CDs sound better every years.
Buddy
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I received my Holo May DAC (Kitsune Edition) a couple of weeks ago. My well broken-in Benchmark DAC3 was sounding terrific, but the Holo May has gone farther in every respect. More separation and space, more bass texture, more detail, terrific timbre, and even lower glare (very non-fatiguing with even more detail). It's about halfway through Kitsune Audio's recommended 500-hour break in, and it has been shifting a bit since a couple of weeks ago, balancing out a bit and opening up with more space and detail. Very very happy with it.
I’m another Holo May KTE owner as well. I received mine in January and experienced the same as yourself. Instruments and vocals have such presence, separation, dispersion, detail, attack and decay. On some recordings, you will hear the resonance and character of the wood of the guitar after the string pluck. Heck I even replaced my VAC avatar due to this DAC. Also, please don’t forget to feed your DAC’s with a good streamer/music server. Happy listening!
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I'm adding this account here in part because some of you mentioned Holo Audio DACs (and because I'm the OP - :lol: )
About 10 days ago, three of us (audiophools) visited an audiophile friend in an out of the way home in northern Taiwan. This friend lives alone and buys pretty much whatever gear he wishes (within his budget) and piles it up in three different groupings of gear. He really needs a bigger living room! Anyway, he bought a used Holo Audio Spring 2 which he and an audio engineer friend of his very heavily modified with new clocks, Nichicon caps, new power supply, maybe better opamps(?), upgraded silver connectors and silver connecting wires, Siltech XLR cables and PC, and upgraded feet. I think that's a complete list. I have no idea how much money he spent on all the upgrades nor how much more they might cost if they were done in the US. I'd never heard any of the Holo DACs before, so I have no way of knowing how much better it sounds compared to its pre-modded condition, nor do I know how it might compare to a May DAC.
To this get together, I took my SW1X DAC III+ NOS tube DAC with my Analog Research-Technology Legato USB-SPDIF Asynchronous Converter and Triode Wire Labs PC and RCA cables. Both his modded DAC and my DAC were patched into his preamplifier for a comparison. [As you might notice, thanks to different cabling and power cord differences, this wasn't exactly an apples to apples comparison.] The source was his laptop and his music - much of which is unfamiliar to me. Some of the tracks were DSD files, some Redbook, some Hi-Res 96KHz. My DAC does not play DSD, so sometimes the same song was played twice in different formats - once as DSD into his DAC and once as Redbook or Hi-Res into mine. [I know. That's not a direct comparison. I'm just trying to make you aware of the situation.]
Anyway, the three other participants (host and 2 other audiophiles) conferred back and forth with some input from me over a three-hour listening session. Our collective assessment was that my DAC sounded better than his heavily modded and better-connected Spring 2 (2-plus??), but that there wasn't a huge difference. Personally, I felt my SW1X DAC reproduced the resonance from a guitar and piano better than his DAC, but the majority of the music didn't emphasize individual acoustic instruments. I guess my take away is that a very heavily modified Spring 2 sounds pretty darned good, though I'm not going to rush out to buy a 2nd hand Spring 2 in order to modify the bejeezus out of it. Someday, I'd be interested in listening to a May DAC if the opportunity ever presented itself.
Edit: Ha! I just noticed this little sentence on the AR-T website: "In order to avoid costly compromises, needed to accommodate multiple sampling rates, the Legato operates only at 44.1 kHz." I'll have to pass that along to the guys at the get together.
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Thanks for sharing your impressions, but I thought that this was a thread about SS DAC’s and not uncontrolled shootouts with a tubed one (even though I love TS 5687’s). I’m also quite happy that I didn’t purchase a single-boxed discontinued DAC or use a laptop as a source.
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Also, please don’t forget to feed your DAC’s with a good streamer/music server. Happy listening!
I'm currently using an Allo DigiOne Signature going into a Denafrips Gaia. The Gaia is connected by Stealth Audio Varadig coaxial cable to the Holo May KTE DAC. The DAC takes no more than 3 seconds to lock onto the signal when switching sampling rates, which is fairly quick given its exacting PLL. I will try a Pi2AES via I2S directly and through the Gaia once the DAC breaks in. I heard a big shift today at almost 400 hours, so the 500-hour minimum recommended by Kitsune seems reasonable.
Regarding the head-to-head comparison of a homebrew altered Holo Spring DAC to something else, it's hard to make much of that. Swapping some parts doesn't necessarily make the DAC better and could make it worse. The Holo Spring is not the same as the May, and the Holo May Kitsune Edition has parts upgrades that are developed by the US distributer in coordination with the DAC's engineer. Some of the upgraded parts are hand-selected through testing for tighter tolerances and others are proprietary, in-house parts meant to improve things where Holo's engineer knows there could be a bit of refinement. I'm not saying that a third party couldn't improve the Spring with parts upgrades, it's just a complete outlier compared to the widespread experience with Holo May Kitsune Edition that has dozens and dozens of professional and amateur reviews going back nearly a year now.
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Thanks for sharing your impressions, but I thought that this was a thread about SS DAC’s and not uncontrolled shootouts with a tubed one (even though I love TS 5687’s). I’m also quite happy that I didn’t purchase a single-boxed discontinued DAC or use a laptop as a source.
You're correct. This thread began because I was trying to suss out <in my mind> whether I wanted to buy a standalone SS DAC for a secondary system. I'm still somewhat undecided, but I'm leaning toward not buying one in the near future. I only brought up the shootout because it involved a Holo DAC.
BTW, Nice to see you post. I appreciate your input on more than just audio. :thumb:
Michael
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Thanks Michael. Yes, I just stick my head in every now and then here or in the Audiogon forums. It’s tough trying to compare these DAC’s, and you kinda have to go in ear unheard. I think it’s so system dependent and what your preferences are. The Holo Audio May KTE seemed safe given all the reviews, and it measures well too.
Not much to say about COVID, but you’re very safe in Taiwan where everything was done properly. We’ll see how B117 spreads here in the States. I am worried that the numbers here are artificially lower due to previous testing centers converting to vaccination only centers, younger infected people not seeking a test and opening too quickly.
Ken
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Thanks for sharing your impressions, but I thought that this was a thread about SS DAC’s and not uncontrolled shootouts with a tubed one (even though I love TS 5687’s).
Not just a "tubed" DAC, but even tube-rectified, no oversampling, no digital filtering, using the ancient TDA1541 DAC chip. It's as if the designer did everything possible to rebuke the "all DAC's sound the same" challenge :green: I'm sure many like this presentation.
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Not just a "tubed" DAC, but even tube-rectified, no oversampling, no digital filtering, using the ancient TDA1541 DAC chip. It's as if the designer did everything possible to rebuke the "all DAC's sound the same" challenge :green: I'm sure many like this presentation.
I sure do! 8)
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Not just a "tubed" DAC, but even tube-rectified, no oversampling, no digital filtering, using the ancient TDA1541 DAC chip. It's as if the designer did everything possible to rebuke the "all DAC's sound the same" challenge :green: I'm sure many like this presentation.
Thanks Jon. I think that you’re missing my point. The OP posted about DAC’s in the “All Solid State” circle then brings up a shootout between a discontinued SS DAC with a tubed one. That is all.
Michael, what DAC are you using in your secondary system? I’ve got an Audiolab 8000 CD used as a transport and 8000 DAX in mine along with a Schiit Yggy in the bedroom. The Audiolab has a warmer and not as detailed presentation.
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Thanks Jon. I think that you’re missing my point. The OP posted about DAC’s in the “All Solid State” circle then brings up a shootout between a discontinued SS DAC with a tubed one. That is all.
Michael, what DAC are you using in your secondary system? I’ve got an Audiolab 8000 CD used as a transport and 8000 DAX in mine along with a Schiit Yggy in the bedroom. The Audiolab has a warmer and not as detailed presentation.
Ken,
I've got two standalone SS DACs - my dB Audiolabs Tranquility SE with a TDA1543 chip in Oregon, and a Sabaj D5 in Taiwan. The dB Audiolabs DAC has been pulling headphone duty in my office while the D5 is my 'vacation' system DAC.
My original thinking when I began this thread was that I might wish to replace my Tranquility DAC with a newer breed of SS DAC if the bang for buck is great enough. At this point, I'll probably keep the Tranquility where it is with my HP amp. It's a fine little warm sounding DAC that causes no harm and no fatigue. However, there are two pairs of new headphones (Audeze LCD2 and Sennheiser HD800) sitting in my living room waiting for me to open them up and begin using them. Depending on how they sound, I may move forward with a new DAC.
I've got a Nuprime IDA-16 integrated in our master bedroom, and I will take delivery of a Nuprime Omni A-300 integrated amp/DAC in the next week or so. The A-300 replaces my little IDA-8 amp which accompanied me on many adventures until I cleverly gave it to my son. :duh: I'm hoping I'll like the A-300 as much as the IDA-8. If not, I'll buy another IDA-8 and sell the A-300.