Not a lot of DAC talk on here...

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by The Alchemist, Oct 10, 2015.

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  1. Josh83

    Josh83 Friend

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    I wholeheartedly agree with these recommendations. Sabre DACs usually sound awful in terms of tonality. LH Labs are the only company that’s ever produced a Sabre DAC that I think sounds good, and I honestly don’t know how they worked that magic.
     
  2. Collusion

    Collusion Friend

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    How close are Modi Multibit and Yggdrasil (Analog 2) in terms of sound signature? If I like the former, is it safe to say I'd like the latter as well?
     
  3. tiberiantwilight

    tiberiantwilight New

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    I have the xdj-1000 mk2 at home for DJing and did compare its rca out with my grace m920's internal dac (ess 9018)...the grace sounded cleaner but the difficult was TINY. Think you'd better off replacing the xone 23 with something like a rotary mixer or a formula sound.

    cheers,
    HL
     
  4. bengo

    bengo Friend

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    Probably. I did. Modi Multibit is darker than neutral. Yggdrasil (v1) is pretty much neutral to my ears (or, compared with other good DACs).

    Yggdrasil (v1) treble is more extended, but the overall level of treble energy / potential fatigue is probably similar between these two.
     
  5. TomHP

    TomHP Facebook Friend

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    Thanks for the input man, appreciate it. Was actually planning on testing that exact same thing (I have an m900).

    The xone 23 will be bottlenecking things to a degree, but I could swear my previous setup sounded better (outputs coming from NI soundcard).

    Anyway, I've revised my speaker setup significantly recently and things are sounding a lot better because of that also, so I'm not to rushed to buy new things.
     
  6. deniall83

    deniall83 Acquaintance

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    What's worth buying around the $1000 mark?
     
  7. kevnin

    kevnin #facetweeting - Friend

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    Gungnir Multibit
     
  8. mrflibble

    mrflibble Friend

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    Or RME ADI-2 DAC (Delta Sigma) or Soekris 1421 / 1541 (R-2R Multibit). Probably others too :)
     
  9. bengo

    bengo Friend

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    Post this question in the general advice thread instead (assuming that you're looking for multiple opinions and don't think there can be one "right" answer to this question).

    Personally I quite like the NAD C510, particularly if you need the preamp and/or HDMI functionality. IMHO it is better than Modi Multibit and close to Yggdrasil (v1). Others may disagree. You can find this online for £800-£900 in Europe, which is closer to Gungnir (AKM) than Gungnir Multibit (Multibit).
     
  10. Forza AudioWorks

    Forza AudioWorks MOT: Forza AudioWorks

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    For 1K I'd probably hunt for the first Hugo, I think. I really liked this one.
     
  11. westermac

    westermac Friend

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    I'm a bit late to the Gungnir Multibit party, but I finally picked one up and learned something fun in the process:

    Analog attenuation > Digital attenuation*

    My previous DAC was an Apollo Twin MkII, which served double duty as a monitor controller (big ol' knob w/digital volume control). To completely replace it with a Gungnir Multibit I needed a passive volume controller, so I picked up a Mackie Big Knob Passive (think SYS but balanced, more I/O and with mono/mute switches which I depend for work).

    The Big Knob arrived before the Gungnir Multibit did so I decided to do a functionality/transparency check by running line out of my Apollo Twin through the Big Knob and out to my monitors. Holy smokes! I have never heard my monitors sound this good; especially at low volume. The soundstage totally opened up, and I could hear reverb tails, etc much more clearly.

    To make sure it wasn't just the quality of the line out I was hearing, I maxed out the monitor output of the Apollo Twin (so it was putting out the same 20dBu as the line out) and put it through the Big Knob as well. Same jump in quality.

    Why would Apollo (or any other manufacturer go this route?** I understand stepped relay attenuators are expensive (and may not even fit in such a small chassis) but even a decent quality pot like the one found on the Big Knob makes a pretty dramatic improvement in SQ. I guess they'd lose the pretty little value indicator LEDs? I suppose I will miss those.

    *In this particular case. I realize this is a blanket statement that will not apply to all instances

    **I answered my own question. The volume knob on the Apollo Twin also controls the level of the headphone output as well as the preamp outputs. So each of those things would need their own volume pot if they went with analogue attenuation. They 'd have lost the sexy/minimalist aesthetic I guess.
     
  12. mav52

    mav52 New

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    New here, has anyone performed any comparisons between the Halo Spring Lv3 and the T&A DSD DAC 8 ? are they close in DSD or PCM performance. Thanks
     
  13. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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