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

This made my day

 

I did some brief searching for this question and saw very little so I'll ask here. I'll appreciate whatever Soren will say.

Anybody using a 1541 or other Soekris DAC with HQPlayer? I've been playing with it on a well designed simple TDA1543 NOS DAC and it makes a surprisingly amazing improvement in perceived audio quality in spite of the relic chip's limits. I'm wondering how it will play with a 1541 (or any Soekris DAC). What is the potential of bypassing the 1541's internal filters and using the HQPlayer's processing exclusively?

 

The focus for upsampling with HQPlayer seems to really be DSD. DAC1541 will convert DSD to PCM anyway, so there's no point in doing anything other than PCM upsampling. Given it's not really their focus, and the CPU requirements for the better modes are significant and the player is shitty, it didn't strike me as something I'd care to put too much effort into. The sweet spot for HQPlayer seems to be the Holo DACs that do native DSD. For all the expense (hardware) and irritation (usability) of HQPlayer, using a PCM DAC would seem like running your race car on street tires.

That said, I have tried it. I run a fanless i5, so I couldn't really push the upsampling and filtering to the level they (apparently) should be at according to the community, and I did end up with a perceptively different sound, but not something appreciably better IIRC. It certainly wasn't near enough to justify going further, it was more of an "Oh, so it does work" kind of thing and then I dropped it. So I certainly didn't give it a full go, either.

 

I'm curious,

I might get this next year due to I want to try out R2R for once. How's the headphone amp if just using IEMs and using something like the HD600 and the Clear running balanced?

I like my Codex, but honestly I might want to try something different for a desktop all in one. Plus I do like supporting the little guys like @soekris.

 

Ive been using it as an all in one for a little while and it's a great performer for the money. As far as the dac is concerned, I like it more than any of the schiit mb, matrix, solaris and other recent loaners, regardless of price. Solaris stages better on speakers but the soekris nails timbre, tonality, and is clean af. The headamp is good for convenience, and has plenty of gain for senns and focals. Later if you decide you want more out of an amp you can throw something on top of it, but you might not care enough to do so (like me haha). Other pluses are that it's great out of SE and balanced inputs, and it has a good USB as well if you don't want to mess with stuff.

 

Soekris 1541 is my favorite DAC/amp combo I've heard. DAC has wonderful timbre, excellent black background and above average staging. The headphone amp is dry but very clear, something I appreciate (GSX mk2 wishes it sounded this good). Okay, but seriously some might not care for the headamp if they are used to a warmer or smoother sound but for something warmer like HD650 or Verite it has excellent synergy.

 

Thanks Bros. Good USB is a plus, don't like too many boxes on my desk. It's funny, I have my Codex running directly to the THX AAA (but at the moment I'm just using the Codex Balanced Headphone Input).

Codex is only great if you buy it used (not new), but I could use something different down the road. Nice to at least go back to an all in one (even with its downsides at times).

Still not giving up the THX AAA, too useful.

 

@brencho you went for the 1541 after all?

 

@Clemmaster Yeah dawg modhouse was doing some nice sales a few weeks ago. Very happy with it!

 

I would not go as far as @brencho as a prefer Yggdrasil to 1541 for my speaker system, but for headphones it is an excellent choice, as he explained. I used mine with various MrSpeakers closed headphones on its own. The Neurochrome HP-1 I have stacked with the 1541 provides extra dynamics, but it's really icing on the cake, I just happened to have the HP-1 around. I use AES for my 1541 because I use a Pi 2 Designs 502DAC as digital source, but I tested the USB and it works better than USB on Schiit, Holo, or Metrum DACs I've owned.

 

Yeah, horses for courses, etc etc. I had a Yggdrasil, Gungnir Multibit, Gungnir Multibit a2, and have had many opportunities to hear the Yggdrasil a2. Wouldn't go back. To me, Soekris sounds cleaner, tighter, blacker and less bloomy. More neutral, without emphasizing parts of the fr, and nails timbre and tonality. Not the best for soundstage sluts in terms of size but does spatial cues and imaging very well. Not as mechanical or clinical like some of the recent loaners (which have been very good too), slightly rolled up top compare to them. This is regardless of headphones or speakers. I mostly use it in my speaker system, but mostly use vinyl anyway haha

 

Probably not. Needs more warmth

Yeah I'd send it, maybe in exchange for some fancy Colorado beer.

 

Having owned both side by side, I have to say while I do agree with @brencho on the strong points of the soekris, the blackground, the neutral response, and for me, good transient response, but soekris is a bit on the drier side and a bit lean sounding with a bit of etch/bite. Sound is dry to the point where the sound seems to resolve too quickly, and you don't get all microdetail/nuances in between like the schiit, nor does it have the soundstage, or the dynamics/slam either. That was with gen5 usb....add in the elvish magic usb, and allo usbridge, I dont think its close at all.

I do miss the cleaniness and the nice transint edges. Great AIO, though i am curious how it stacks with the ifi IDSD pro.

 

I find HD6XX is a bit too dark with DAC1541 without some EQ (I modeled the Sonarworks profile in Equilibrium). Andromeda picks up a little hiss but sounds very good to me. The slightly lean presentation of DAC1541 combined with my Genelecs can aggravate sibilance but sounds fantastic with well-mastered material, so that's a very analytical and ruthless combo. Sitting off-axis makes this worse - on-axis and it's very detailed vs scratchy.

In a couple of months I'll be able to report back on BW from the DAC1541 SE out which measured better than balanced when AtomicBob measured it - I'm hoping there will be some excellent synergy there with HD600.

 

Now I need to hear one.....

 

I sold my stack to my friend locally who needed something quick. Best deal right there.


But I still wanna hear the 1541......

 

Think for yourselves, question authority (especially when it comes from warmbutts or ppl citing elvish influences). Or just buy schiit and call it a day!