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. sphinxvc

    sphinxvc Gear Master (retired)

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    Hmm. I'm not really sure what the right place is to share this, but I stumbled upon this post by Moffat on CA that's worth a read:

     
  2. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    I wonder what that DAC would be.....
     
  3. Madaboutaudio

    Madaboutaudio Friend

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  4. Case

    Case Anxious Head (Formerly Wilson)

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    @sphinxvc , great quote you posted, and reflects my very new experience: I picked up a Vali 1 for cheap, which got me interested and willing to upgrade, and in no way do I feel the Vali 1 to be an underperformer.
     
  5. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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  6. sphinxvc

    sphinxvc Gear Master (retired)

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  7. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Yes, albeit with a fairly generic filter at that. Schiit still has the best OS filters around I've heard. But it's a good option for those that prefer NOS.
     
  8. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    It has a silver power transformer?!
     
  9. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Yeah, it has an option for one. Take that as you will...
     
  10. Madaboutaudio

    Madaboutaudio Friend

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    It's just amazing how many R2R DACs we have now at end of 2016:

    Audio-GD Master/Nos series Dacs
    Holo Audio Spring Dacs
    Mhdt Labs Dacs
    Metrum Acoustic Dacs
    Schiit Multibit Dacs
    Vinshine Audio DAC-R2R REF

    And this list is not complete.
     
  11. lm4der

    lm4der A very good sport - Friend

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    Are any of these using current production R2R DACs, as opposed to older/end-of-life'd DACs? (besides Schiit of course, we all know they are using current Analog Devices DACs)
     
  12. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    Vinshine uses the soerkris DAC
     
  13. DigitalMaven

    DigitalMaven Acquaintance

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    ok, ive got a question for all of you...how much influence does digital mastering of the source audio comes into play concerning audio quality playback. the reason why i ask this is that i sometimes stream some of my favorite animae shows through my bifrost 4490 dac and the soundis very clean and three dimensional compared to cd recordings. i have a theory that somewhere in the creative process they either use japanese akm dacs for mastering or testing playback quality. when listening to the very clean chromecast video/audio playback i just dont have a sense of need for a better more expensive dac. also the excessive bassiness that others have complained about in bifrost is almost non existent. so...could the mastering process using akm dacs have a profound influence on our perceived audio quality. im thinking that content creators using a particular dac for testing and mastering might have a profound influence on our perceived quality of our favorite dacs.
     
  14. Madaboutaudio

    Madaboutaudio Friend

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    For those interested on technical side of dacs, here's some tech talk on the improvements of Sabre ES9028Pro over ES9018S:

    https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/dac3-introducing-the-new-es9028pro-converter
    http://6moons.com/audioreviews2/resonessence/2.html

     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2016
  15. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    The Benchmark DAC3 is only $200 more than the DAC2. Not horrible.
     
  16. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    The Holo Audio Spring DAC uses dual, discrete, R2R ladders with one providing linear compensation for the other.

    The Metrum units use their own R2R modules.

    Schiit you know about.

    And as @Cspirou said, the Vinshine is using the Soekris discrete R2R ladder DAC board.

    So none of those are off-the shelf/end-of-line DACs.
     
  17. TheIceman93

    TheIceman93 El pato-zorro

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    Anyone ever hear the Lake People RS 06 or Violectric V850? They are pretty much the same DAC.
     
  18. Kamikazi

    Kamikazi Friend

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    I have my doubts about Violectric DACs. The built-in USB DAC module I received with the V100 was totally horrid and it looks like the DAC-only models share some of these daughter modules, so I don't think the USB interface is a particular strong point, but if you have a good USB transport already YMMV.
     
  19. 8man

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    You can find more info on Marv's DAC thread and the 2015 awards, although not an extensive review, it's been approached. Hope that helps.
     
  20. Zed Bopp

    Zed Bopp Friend

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    My journey with DACs
    After a disappointment with the Modibit (lack of bass punch and subs and upper region crunch) I went on a tedious search for a new one. Buying and especially trying them is a real chore. One must basically trust the views of others and order something. I see no point in trying these in a store with completely unknown gear. The differences are subtle, but obviously there, unlike what I thought before.

    So, here's the first (used) contender, Arcam irDAC...Not lots of talk about this Burr-Brown (1796?) device here. I'd bet this UK-based company doesn't have a big market in the US.

    My Modibit got sold about a month ago, but I remember that signature. It's quite mid-bassy and warm in my opinion - highs are very smooth, for my uses they lack energy. I keep referencing DACs to my old & trusty Apogee Duet (1.0) - it has much of the FR characteristics I like. The resolution, instrument separation or SS are clearly not as good as these more premium DACs, though.

    Early thoughts
    The Arcam has the same depth in bass I loved with the Duet - maybe some more emphasis on mid-bass (everything sounds kind of "round", this is what many Sennheiser headphones do in much larger amounts). The mids have very good realism with guitars and vocals. It is very obvious if a guitar is in tune or not with the Arcam. Highs are upfront, if not boosted - boxy sound of the Duet is gone.

    I'm still surprised how much a DAC does. But yeah, it happens.
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2017
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