SBAF DAC Talk II

Brilliant.

 

There's no golden schlongs for comments, but that deserves at least a Gene Simmons-style plaster cast penis.

 

Too expensive. Origami schlong

 

Done.

 

I had PS audio DS with bridge for a month (redcloud firmware), it hits like a wet sock. Found it soft, un-involving, lacked bite and realistic timbre. I fiddled with the firmware rolled it back a few years and it sounded a bit better but as purrin said it wasn't worth the hassle and it still wasn't a great dac. sfd-1 > DS

I also had a DAVE on loan at home and have heard it on multiple high end systems world wide. @HitmanFluffy summed it up beautifully 3 years ago: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/how-is-chord-dave.2244/#post-57512
100% agree with @taisserroots as well. I cannot believe the amount of head-fi folks satisfied with the headphone amp of DAVE, it's AGD levels of dull. DAVE is especially useless with speakers due to the flat stage and lack of separation. With headphones it's not bad as you don't really notice the staging problems as much.

 

Then the sfd-1 > Yggdrasil and Gungnir MB too. I completely disagree with your assessment as I find the DS to be quite involving and timbre is as realistic as any DAC I have heard. There is basically no graininess or digital harshness and the resolution and detail are fantastic. It is smooth and musical. The soundstage is flat if you don't run it through a proper preamp but I don't see that as a downside as I never expected to use the DS without a preamp.

You'll have to define "bite" for me......

 

No offense, but the SFD-1 was the softest DAC I've ever heard in my entire life. If you think the SFD-1 was superior, I can't really trust your opinion.

 

sfd-1 isn't that soft if you do the upgrades and don't run amperex meme bloated warm toobs. Go listen to metrum, lampi, some of the agd wolfson dacs, heck even my forsell is softer..

The main softness that erks me about the DS is that the transients don't have much of a leading edge emphasis. Some people don't like that affect, but for me it's what makes the sfd-1 superior. TImbre, attack and decay are way more natural on the sfd-1 and even a bit of smearing in the mids, and warmth is forgivable because notes are so much more sudden and real sounding.

transients and stage matter a lot to me, which is why I prefer sfd-1/convert 2, m1 to a lot of hyper expensive dacs such as Dave, DS, dcs stack and a few more. I don't care what they cost, or what they look like much these days, I just want it to give me chills and make me remember standing in the crowd.

I also don't care who you deem trustworthy.

 

I have to say I'm surprised to hear that the DS lacked slammed and a tube-based dac hit harder. I haven't heard a single Sonic Frontier product so I'm trying to understand -- I mean they hold their value well so that could mean something I suppose. As a Canuck, PartsConnexion occasionally has refurbished gear so it certainly would be interesting to see what all the fuss is about, at some point.

When I had an XA30.5, I took it and my DSJr to shops around town to try speakers. The ATC SCM40 did timbre of acoustic guitar stunningly well with that combo, much better than the others I heard that day, which included Dynaudio. I play at home and didn't have any issues with the timbre but did notice a lack of slam with that combo, which could be the result of multiple things there.

I'm auditioning some ATC SCM40A and JBL 4429 soon and will be bringing Freya and the DSJr. Excited and curious to hear both of those.

Another dac I'd really like to hear is the latest Musical Paradise D2 MK3. I think this latest version is mostly improving the USB but if you're a tweeker, you could really trick that thing out. Cap rolling is encouraged and easily accessible, along with tube flavours, and choice of chips boards.

Anyways as it always goes, synergy is key. Someone's bright is another's fantastic resolution, after all Focal wouldn't exist without treble-heads.

 

I listen to a lot of piano and classical music. That “leading edge emphasis” you like so much sounds completely unnatural with that music. It makes it sound harsh. Nor does it help make the progressive rock I listen too sound any better. Maybe if I liked metal....but I don’t.

What you like in a DAC I specifically don’t like. Well, I get an exceptional stage in my 2 channel setup so maybe we have that as common ground. We are not likely to agree on a DAC we both like.

 

I also am very fond of classical, if a cello note or piano note doesn't emerge from the blackness with an urgency and suddeness like it would in real life then I don't want that DAC.

You are 100% right though, we don't have to agree.

 

But piano and cello notes do appear from the blackness with the urgency and suddenness of real life with my DAC. I got that with Yggdrasil too. I do not want it to be harsh which is what I hear with leading edge emphasis. I want plain old normal leading edge play from my DAC.

 

SFD-1 is warm and a bit mellow. (This might make it feel 'slow' and it doesn't match well with warm and mellow amplifiers.)
That doesn't necessarily take away from explosiveness and slam.
One thing good multibit dacs do that not that many people seem to care about is the meat (opposed to hollow) in the transient behavior.
SFD-1 has this in spades.
Actually the contours on soundscape of the leading edges are not as apparent and high contrast (super lit') with the SFD-1.
Yggdrasil (v1) is more like SigmaDelta dac in this regard, yes, and many people dislike this tendency in their system.

 

Does anyone here have any experience with the Cambridge Audio DacMagic 100? Ive been using Modi MB for a couple years now, but while I was traveling the other day I decided I love the sound I get from my AK Jr DAP which uses a Wolfson dac chip. Im not sure how much of that sound can be attributed to the wolfson dac (if any), but I was thinking about trying out a desktop dac that uses wolfson just for fun. I have a suspicion that I might be one of the people who likes the extra air DS dacs often provide. Im also thinking about trying out the SDAC too just for another flavor. Im trying to pin down my tastes a little bit before I try to actually upgrade from the Modi MB.

@Walderstorn mmmm, sounds right up my ally hahahaha. Jokes aside thanks for the info!

Thanks @purr1n , "stately, controlled, and graceful" sums up what I like about the AK Jr pretty well actually. I wouldn't say its the most dynamic and it doesn't do as much of a disappearing act as some of the other source/amp combo's I have heard but it always sounds subjectively pleasant to me. There's a smoothness/refinement to the sound that I like.

 

The Modi MB was not out at the time but i had the Modi 2, a creative external usb card, DMagic 100 and an SDAC at some point in time, at the same time, and from all i didn't feel the DM 100 was very musical and not even technical either so it didn't have much going for it. Lacked soul and it didn't provide any sense of enjoyment to my ears.

I would try as much before buying as YMMV.

 

I really liked the DAVE while I owned it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, but came to the realisation I was trying to be too much of a high roller and would never be able to afford my favourite headphones as well as the DAVE, so I sold it and bought the headphones instead. I also used the money from the DAVE sale to pick up a Hugo TT2, which...sounds good to me as well. I bought the HTT2 as it is a small (ish) all in one solution that can drive the Abyss and the Susvara. Now, its not as good as a speaker amp with the Susvara, but its pretty close (similar the iFi Pro iCAN in terms of driving them) and very simple.

Maybe the TT2 sounds like ass and I'm deaf though, but its certainly convenient at the very least. Too f'ing expensive at MSRP though...

 

Is Modi 3 vs Modi MB a decent representation of the differences between Gungnir DS vs Gungnir MB? For example, if I decided I preferred Modi 3 over MB in a particular system, is that a good indication that I would prefer Gungnir DS over Gungnir MB in that system?

@famish99, dang that would have made my life easier lol. Is Gungnir DS a full-on upgrade from Modi 3 in terms of sound? Or does Modi 3 do better in some areas?

@rlow Interesting, my Modi MB is a little over 2 years old. I think a lot of people would describe the sound of "rolled off treble" as sounding dark, so maybe that's the confusion here. You're saying, in your opinion, the the modi MB is a pretty good representation of the Schiit MB sound in general though?