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Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

Hi All.

Putting together a reference level system.
My Source is predominantly standard 16/44 played from a MacMini using iTunes and Amarra. Some of my music is purchased from iTunes and the rest is ripped from standard CD's.
For my tastes in music, my high def catalogues are still limited; so Redbook 16/44 will be my primary source for quite some time.

I'm not spending DCS or MSB money. But $15-20k retail is not out of the question.

Upsampling vs non-upsampling?
USB input vs SPDIF?

All opinions welcome.

And I know I need to hear them, but getting these ultra $$$ DAC's into your house for an audition ain't easy.

Looking for musical, emotional, engaging, accurate , with great dimension. Not looking for analytical and sterile.
mattnshilp

Showing 5 responses by ksattic

ksattic
9 posts
 
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Chord yet.

The Chord DAVE is the most advanced DAC in the world. It uses an FPGA (field programmable gate array) to implement a proprietary DAC which achieves a noise floor and reproduction accuracy better than anything else on the market.

http://www.chordelectronics.co.uk/product/dave/
ksattic
9 posts
 
@wisnon I'm fairly new to Audiogon - didn't realise this thread went back to 2014! Will read back.

As you say, Chord implement the pulse DAC and filtering in FPGA. Many other manufacturers have FPGAs but I've only even seen them used for filtering (like the Ayre).

I did have the chance to A/B the Ayre QX-5 Twenty vs the Chord 2Qute and I preferred the latter.
ksattic
9 posts
 
@bar81 that's why I believe my ears. :) I had a chance to meet Rob Watts when he was in California two years ago and he went over his DAC technology.
ksattic
9 posts
 
@bar81 very true... I've recently learned that there's only so much you can learn from A/B comparisons. At the end of the day you should spend money on what makes you happy.
ksattic
9 posts
 
@wisnon where do you find music that has been mastered in DSD without conversion at some point to/from PCM? I find the biggest issue with DSD is that mastering and production does happen in PCM realm, and conversion/resampling introduces noise. At least if you record in PCM 24/32 bits, do all your mastering and then do a final mix-down just once to 16/44.1, there's less chance of repeatedly introducing noise.
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