Soekris "dac1541": DAC/Amp - Stream of Consciousness Impressions

Discussion in 'Headphone Amplifiers and Combo (DAC/Amp) Units' started by Torq, Jul 27, 2017.

  1. mocenigo

    mocenigo Acquaintance

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    Yes, thank you for correcting me - of course everything has its own sound (at least everything active, here I suppose we all agree – I do not want to be involved in religion wars about cables). But I observed a balance and the same mentioned effect as "trying new prescription glasses." I have to learn to use more precise terminology. Maybe I made the mistake of writing without studying carefully enough the local vocabulary.

    In my home set up I have a Gustard X20 and a Mojo but they are not the only DACs I have listened to, even not the only ones I have listened carefully – but not in my own set up (amps, speakers). Never heard Schiit (difficult to find in Europe) but, for instance, some Audio-GD stuff and a Chord Dave – a colleague at work has the latter. But you see, I was avoiding a direct comparison because Mojo-Dave is clearly unfair, the Gustard has no headphone out, and I did not do an A-B of the DAC1541 to the Dave (since the Soekris is quite compact, this is planned, however I will have to fly with it). The Dave, in my memory and with the same cans, sound even more detailed, transparent, and neutral, but the DAC1541 is quite pleasing from this point of view. And of course it has its sound, macrodynamics are excellent (subjectively).

    ... and of course neither intended to dismiss it.

    Even Soren Kristensen said that the filters are an area where it can be improved (in his words the most important one, he sometimes commented that his R2R ladder is "perfect").

    Thank you again for correcting my terminology.

    Roberto
     
  2. rigo

    rigo Acquaintance

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    I'm interested in the buy.
     
  3. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    @mocenigo I get what you're saying. I do hope the DAC1541 treats you well for a long time! And I do hope that you will be able to hear more multibit DACs, especially the Schiit stuff. There are some fascinating vintage multibit DACs that sound wonderful too. I know it might not be easy where you're at, but I would be curious to see what you think as time goes on.
     
  4. Northwest

    Northwest Almost "Made"

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    Has anyone else changed the filters on their Soekris Dac? I really wanted to try community brewed filters especially the NOS filter so I got the raspberry pi TTL cable, read a few guides, and tried updating a few filters. The Dac plays music, but I'm not sure what filters are loaded, and or if I even did it right. Is this the right place for filter talk/troubleshooting?

    Nearly all of my listening has been with an external tube amp, but recently I've been using the amp on the dac1541 while I wait for the tube amp to warm up. I'm finding myself finishing an album or two on the built in head amp before switching to the tube amp. I enjoy the 1541 balanced headphone out. I've paired it with the AZ PMx2 using the soft filter, and I get a good feeling for the character of the Dac. I think the 1541 output may have a bit better bass grip, or extension compared to the Sonett 2, but I think I may prefer the presentation with the Sonett 2 overall, but I don't have any complaints with the built in dac1541 amp. I wonder what kind of external amp people have that trumps the headphone output of the dac1541?
     
  5. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Most decent amps, in my experience. At least for dynamic headphones.
     
  6. Cellist88

    Cellist88 Friend

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    Anyone try the internal amp with the andromedas? 1.5 ohms with the Low noise floor seems ideal.
     
  7. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    dammit sorry i did not. and really should have with Andro.
    still owe my impressions here soon as it’s a really good balanced alternative to Gungnir Multibit, yet maybe not a top value
    due to the Euro price hit for USSR Amerikans.
     
  8. bengo

    bengo Friend

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    Try feeding a high frequency sine wave like 15-18kHz and should sound pretty different in NOS mode compared with the rest, this is aliasing.
     
  9. Northwest

    Northwest Almost "Made"

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    Now I'm wondering how hearing damage I have. I have to the volume knob pretty high to hear 16khz+. With the 15khz tone I think can tell a difference between the original Linear phase filter, and the NOS filter I got from DIYaudio filter pack.

    There is still a few commands I don't get, and I'm not sure how to move individual filters from a .skr file into the dac, but I think I got the NOS filter loaded in.


    edit. Triple checked instructions, and I think I really got the intended result.
     
    Last edited: Oct 10, 2017
  10. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Not all NOS DACs do it, if I'm thinking of the same thing you are. I don't know why this is either, cause the actual high frequency sine wave measurements look, well, you know, the same on all NOS DACs.
     
  11. bengo

    bengo Friend

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    I guess different analog filtering, and the difference between audible/inaudible (could be less than 10dB in higher frequencies) is relatively much smaller, compared to the difference between measurable/unmeasurable.
     
  12. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

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    :drunk: Sooo...impressions? I'm specifically interested in DAC1541 vs GO2A SE as it's my main reference point right now.
     
  13. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    TL;DR = too long, don't remember.

    actually, didn't compare directly as GO2A SE was at work with IEMs, and soekris was used to connect to BW2 at home with Utopia.
    massive worlds apart.
    also didn't focus on amp section of Soekris much. I typically find built in SS amps in units this size to be an afterthought with subtle micro tweak filters beyond my interest level.

    that being said, dac1541 did not give me goosebumps nor did I want to get see it go. it was a solid performer, without the plankton retrieval of Yggdrasil.
    for sure presented a dead black background with a balanced presentation.
    probably would benefit from an Eitr connected up, all i had was lame USB.
    quality built case, yet can't help think that better power (not switchers) could help even more? (if I read their diagram parts properly)

    based on ergonomics, features and XLR ports- would rather have dac1541 than a GO2A SE as my primary DAC at home. not to mention that 3 year warranty.
    GO2A SE these days is still superb for transportable or small laptop listening sessions.

    but based on price (1100 euro) though? tough call.
    that's $1400 US, and Schiit Gungnir Multibit in USA swallows up the DAC market near the $1250 price range IMO.
    realizing you are in SA, finding a used dac1541 would probably be a great deal.

    a direct shoot out between Amethyst and dac1541 would be nice, but I'd need them side by side.
    maybe @Hands could provide a better direct comparison from memory?
     
  14. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

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    Thanks, @jexby - I should have been more specific, I was curious about the sound signature, not really functional equivalence. I have the GO2A SE driving monitors now, but I need/want exactly the feature set the DAC1541 offers: DAC, headphone and preamp for active monitors with a remote control (balanced a plus, some longish runs).
    The GO2A SE brings out sibilance in the monitors that is distracting to me, but on good recordings is wonderful. If DAC1541 is a little better in that regard it's a great contender.

    Of course it's in Gungnir Multibit price territory, but to get the same feature set at a similar price in a Schiit stack it would have to be Bifrost Multibit/Saga/Jot...and I'm not sure if that would be an improvement over the DAC1541. It's certainly less clunky than 3 Schiit boxes.
     
  15. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    completely understand, sorry I couldn't pin down sonic details to that level, especially never using GO2A SE with speakers.

    a couple leans tho on your topics:
    heard zero sibilance on DAC1541 with BW2 and Utopia.
    there's no way the built in amp will be anywhere near as powerful, clean or fast Jotunheim. nor the pre with nice tube as awesome as Saga (so I've heard)
    if headphone amp is a lower use feature, and you don't have planars- dac1541 amp may suffice. maybe.

    based on the feature set you describe,
    if a consolidated single box is critical, with DAC being primary functionality- would recommend the DAC1541 be attempted.
    you won't have a hard time selling it, except for international shipping, etc.

    Yet I sincerely doubt dac1541 will "sound better" across the spectrum of use
    than the 3-box-o-schiit, so be mentally comfortable for eventual yearning to upgrade beyond single box DAC1541.
     
    Last edited: Oct 24, 2017
  16. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    The pre-amp functionality on the DAC1541 is nice, but I honestly think you should just pretend it doesn't have a headphone out. I did not find it particularly pleasant to listen to.

    Upsides to DAC1541 as a DAC are super black background and an incredibly clean, pristine sound. But the Schiit stuff excels at staging and resolution due to the filter, at the expense of sounding more grey and less refined.
     
  17. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

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    I love Cape Town, but it sure would be handy to be back in L.A. right now. It's a long trip to the Schiitr from here :mad:.
     
  18. randytsuch

    randytsuch Friend

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    I bought the original Soekris r2r dac board a long time ago, the 1021.

    Reason for posting is that I wrote a blog page a while back on setting up the 1021, including instructions for loading new filter packs.
    http://randytsuch-audio.blogspot.com/2015/11/soekris-r2r-dam-dac.html
    Looking at internal pictures for the 1541, I see an empty connector location with ground, rxd and txd pins. I'd wager those are for a RS-232 interface. This is where you would connect for loading new filters. Front of the unit, left middle.

    I have no idea if the 1021 filters work on the 1541. A question for Soekris. For a while, there was a lot of effort at diyaudio going on in filter development for the 1021. At some point, people were satisfied with the filters, and work stopped a while back, as far as I can tell. There were some smart guys who really understood digital filters doing this work, they are probably happily running 1021's.

    FWIW, I really like my 1021, but it's a highly modded, basically one of a kind unit so no point in any comparisons.

    Before doing anything, I would highly recommend getting the existing filters from Soekris, so you could revert back to the factory ones if you have to. At some point, I had loaded the wrong filters for the firmware version I had, and had no sound. I just had to install the correct filters for my firmware, and it was fine. The 1021 went through a bunch of firmware revisions, but I don't think the 1541 has different firmware.

    Randy
     
  19. soekris

    soekris MOT - Soekris Engineering

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    I think I have said it a couple of times, but yes, the dac1541 use same filter file as the dam1021 and other Soekris DAC products, and yes, you load them the same way, and yes, the clearly marked J8 is the ttl level serial port, easy to use with a RPi serial cable like the FTDI TTL-232R-RPI. The stock filter file is also the latest one available on the download page at soekris.dk, instructions should be easy to find on the net.

    But a web page is really needed, I'm going to put up a detailed one with instructions, but currently it's not that high priority....
     
  20. randytsuch

    randytsuch Friend

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    I made filter upload instructions a while ago, link in previous post.

    So there you go guys, if you want to try different filters see my blog.
     

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