Massdrop RDAC Airist Audio R2-R DAC

Looking at your signature, myself being a big fan of metal music, I can relate to your "harsh and processed" description of OS sound.

To my ears, oversampling sharpens and intensifies. Too much according to some listeners it seems, especially with higher rates (8x OS). The above combined with the typical signature of Schiit products (not shy in treble region) can potentially become unbearable.

There is my comparo between Onyx and Modi MB burried somewhere around here. Without OS (24bit/192kHz mode), Modi MB was zingy in treble. With OS, artificial sense of intensity and sharpness was added on top. Modi's sound signature itself was actually quite engaging at times but the effects of oversampling I definitely do not miss.

 

RDAC upsamples to 192Khz though so not really entirely 'non OS'.

 

I know it's not a NOS DAC, but as Hands and others have said, it's closer to NOS than OS in terms of sound and direct comparisons to the Amethyst and Gungnir Multibit also in my possession line up with that. It sounds closer to the Amethyst than the Gungnir Multibit, no question.

That'd be really cool and I appreciate the offer! I don't want to get ahead of myself here but we have a pretty big house and a very sweet German Shepherd. My wife often hosts her book club group here as well as her school team's Christmas party so depending on the size of the group, I should have no issues cashing in some chips to host a get-together here.

I'm not offended or upset by any of this. I fully expected people to question my preferences.

And I could definitely do with getting out of the house a bit more. I (thankfully) work from home and wouldn't change anything about that, but I do miss the shenanigans that go on in offices. Plus, my dog isn't a great conversationalist.

 

I havn‘t met many Germans who are sweet and great conversationalists regardless of their profession and I have lived there most of my life

 

If I interpret it correctly most NOS DAC will have sound of Vintage R2R however few may sound like DS DAC. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Edit :Sorry I missed to read the link you posted. So if I combine both your post, higher tier Metrum DAC, Sonic Frontier as NOS DAC falls in classic R2R sound. NOS DAC from HOLO is modern R2R sound and will share similar characteristic as that of Schiit or Soekris DAC.

 

Update to my previous impressions on the Amethyst vs. Gungnir Multibit A1 vs. RDAC now that I've gotten an Eitr and have discovered the wonders and beauty of coaxial audio.

(Ether 2 does not pair well with the ZDT Jr. at all and I found the HD6XX quite lean through the Ragnarok, so all Ragnarok testing was done with the Ether 2 only and all ZDT Jr. testing was done with the HD6XX only)

Using Ragnarok -> Ether 2:

1. Gungnir Multibit
2. Amethyst
   
3. RDAC

Using ZDT Jr. -> HD6XX

1. RDAC
   
2. Amethyst
3. Gungnir Multibit

Regarding the Gungnir using Eitr: bass is much clearer and more powerful on Gungnir Multibit; it has serious weight in both the Ether 2 (especially) and HD6XX. The congestion, graininess, and harshness I was hearing previously is all totally gone. There is excellent separation and placement of instruments/layers. Treble is detailed but smooth and not fatiguing. Distorted guitars have a bit of extra "bite" that feels more aggressive (this is a good thing). I still do not like how it mutes and clicks when starting tracks, though, and I usually have to restart songs to get the first 1-2 seconds.

Amethyst is much softer and more laid back. Bass isn't as punchy or impactful as the Gungnir (but through optical, the Amethyst had superior bass), treble is noticeably darker/less sparkly. At first, it's jarring but after I get used to the sound, it's great. Quite a departure from the Schiit sound. I'm very intrigued by the NOS and Metrum sound and would really like to hear an Onyx to get a better NOS experience before I fully make up my mind. Instruments still sound more organic and real but slightly less detailed on the Amethyst compared to the Gungnir. I also find that certain backing vocals and other backing guitar riffs are still more noticeable on the Amethyst and RDAC than the Gungnir. I can hear these things much better on the Gungnir now with Eitr feeding it, but they're more recessed and I have to actively listen for them while they're totally obvious on the Amethyst and RDAC. The Amethyst seems to give equal presence to everything while the Gungnir tends to focus more on what I guess it thinks the "primary" parts of the songs are, bringing those elements to the front and leaving the background stuff very much in the background. Maybe it's just that my primary music choices that are better suited for the Amethyst/RDAC than the Gungnir?

The RDAC is still a great sounding DAC and I think the RDAC -> ZDT Jr. -> HD6XX stack is something truly special--there's this synergy that is more than the sum of its parts making it such a musical, enjoyable experience regardless of what I throw at it. The RDAC also much more forgiving of bad recordings or lower-quality audio files than the Gungnir or Amethyst. I noticed this especially with some MP3 sources I have in Roon as well as streaming from Spotify. The RDAC adds some weight and richness while both the Amethyst and Gungnir sound much thinner. However, the RDAC definitely does not do anything better on a technical level than the Amethyst or Gungnir now that all are fed by Eitr. Still, it's a very impressive DAC with an awesome sound that seems to have elements of the best aspects of both the Amethyst (awesome spatial placement and presentation, especially with background/side elements) and Gungnir (detail and "edge"--not harshness, but definitely harsher than the softness of the Amethyst, especially with treble).

With Eitr, I feel I better understand the differences between OS and NOS and am honestly torn now. Reading through the Amethyst thread here, I was not noticing at all what many said in terms of how underwhelming the sound of the Amethyst was because, compared to my Gungnir fed by optical, the Amethyst was markedly better. I don't know if optical-in is better on the RDAC and Amethyst or if the Gungnir's is just horrendous, but the Gungnir sounds like a much different, and much worse using optical instead of coaxial. Music is much more immersive and enveloping with coaxial, harshness is smoothed and congestion relieved. I feel more like I'm in the room with the band using Eitr vs. feeling I was listening in the mixing room via optical with the Gungnir.

Through the Ragnarok, there's no question: the Gungnir is the best-sounding DAC all-around. The Schiit gear definitely has great synergy together. Through the ZDT Jr., it's much closer between the Gungnir and Amethyst but I think I prefer the Amethyst just slightly. Live music definitely sounds worse through Gungnir Multibit -> ZDT Jr. I feel like I'm listening to a live recording vs. being in the crowd.

Despite all that, I find myself going back to the RDAC and using the RDAC -> ZDT Jr. -> HD6XX stack more than any other combination. There's just something about the RDAC that I can't get enough of and I honestly don't feel like I'm missing anything at all by using it as my primary DAC over the Amethyst or Gungnir.

 

Definitely agree, the holo doesn't have it. I wonder how Airist managed the very NOS-like roll-off while not actually NOS. Is it the digital FIR, or somehow purely analog? Or perhaps a combination of the two?
If it's digital, they made a damn good filter.

 

I just got mine and, to me at least, the treble roll-off is perceptible. Thus far, it’s the RDAC’s real clear weakness IMHO. OTOH, the tonal accuracy of the bass, in particular, is marvelous.

 

Besides its highly-praised pairing with the HD 650/6XX, the RDAC’s darkness might explain why it works pretty well with the ZDT Jr. and HD 800. This combination alleviates some of the severity of the treble, although my HD 800 are as yet unmodded (yes, I’m a degenerate, and I have fairly old ears).

 

I was about to post that I did some half-assed FR measurements with my Caldigit interface and saw that I was wrong about significant treble rolloff, but I see that Amir just “reviewed” the Airist and (whatever his other negative takes) didn’t find much rolloff either. So I’m going to have to rethink what exactly I’m hearing.