Cool thread! Enjoy your new DAC.
Advice needed: It's time for a new DAC
Hello People of Audiogon!
I received some help a little while back when I was considering upgrading my speakers so I am looking to the community again for guidance and opinions. It is time to upgrade my DAC.
My current system is Sasha DAW's driven by a Luxman L-509X.
The three DAC's on my short list are:
MSB Discrete
Berkeley Alpha V3
Chord DAVE
One thing to note is that I am in Canada so many brands are difficult if not impossible to audition.
My priority is "musicality" or "soul". What's this? Well to me, it means feeling. The Luxman and Sasha's well convey musical emotion and that is important to me. I don't know how to describe it better beyond that. They have flow (perhaps PRAT, to use another vague term). Sounds have meat to them and texture. The music feels real.
The second priority is three dimensionality.
The third is resolution.
My one caveat is no tube DAC's. Tubes, for me, just don't work well based on my listening style and habits. I love tubes, I've owned tubes and tubes are wonderful, but as things are now, I just don't want them in a DAC. Perhaps they will find their way into my system in a pre-amp in the future.
I listen primarily to Tidal but MQA is not a priority for me. I would switch to Qobuz but they were not available in Canada until recently and all my play lists in Roon are with Tidal tracks so I suspect a switch will be a real headache, but I digress. My point is MQA isn't really important and DSD isn't necessary either.
Of the above DAC's, if you have heard them, what are your thoughts/opinion?
Thank you in advance,
-Paul
63 responses Add your response
@bigfatpaulie so I kind of screwed up so don’t laugh… I had a Bricasti M3 and was using its network card as Roon end point and it sounded not too great. I kind of got pissed off at Bricasti. I bought an Aurender N200 and began using the M3 as DAC only via USB and it sounded excellent but I was still kind of pissed so I sold it. Bought PS Audio DSD MkI which is a really nice musical DAC but I couldn’t get past the high noise floor. I realized I made a mistake selling Bricasti, sold the PS Audio and decided to try Chord Hugo TT2. It’s better than PS Audio but I’m looking to sell it and go back to Bricasti…probably M1 this time. I had Pass XP-22 driving Pass X260.8 mono amps, into Wilson Sabrina. Sold Pass stack and bought 2 integrated amps: Coda CSib and Boulder 866. Zero regrets. So I had Bricasti M3 and PS Audio with Pass and Coda, and recently borrowed my buddy’s Bricasti M3 to compare with my Chord TT2 in my current setup with Coda and Boulder amps. I intend to only keep one of these integrated amps so I need a good DAC to figure out what combination I like best. |
@hk_fan Thank you! I am glad to have you along on my DAC journey!
@audphile1 There's no laughing from me, just pangs of relatability! I can completely relate to your situation of regretting selling something and so on. The Sabrina's are wonderful speakers. I'm not sure if you recall, but I had a pair. I have nothing but fondness for them. I feel like it is unusual for someone to go from mono blocks to an integrated unless it was a space issue. Was that the case with you, or something else? I'm not familiar with the Coda but I have heard a lot of really, really good things with the 866, especially so with the Sabrina's. The 866 has, from what I understand, a fantastic DAC. Do you not find that to the be case? |
I loved the way my system sounded with Pass monos and XP22. I wanted to make a change to 1) reduce the system’s footprint (2 chassis preamp, two amps…too many boxes, too many cables), 2) reduce the heat (the X260.8 are space heaters), simplify my setup WITHOUT sacrifice in sound quality and 3) get rid of the rack in the middle between the speakers without the need to buy a 5m length version of my Nordost Tyr 2 XLRs that I really like to move source components to the side of the room. I bought the Coda integrated before selling the Pass stack. Wanted to make sure I don’t go backwards in performance of my system. I was completely amazed to have discovered after few weeks of thorough comparison that the Coda hangs right there with the separates! It almost sounds too good to be true but after selling Pass separates and keeping coda I have no regrets. |
@audphile1 It's itneresting that you like the Coda so much, even next to big 'ole mono's! Good luck in your hunt for a DAC and I hope you report back on your findings!
@tweak1 I am not using a transport. I use a Lumin U1 as a streamer. |
@bigfatpaulie thanks! Will do. |
@bigfatpaulie Really enjoyed your listening notes, thx for sharing! +1 on Playback Designs...sounds like you heard the MPS-8 if it also has a CD drive? I've been listening to the latest MPD-8 for an extended home demo and suspect it may be a keeper. And I have a DAC twice the price in the house... |
@metaldetektor Thank you! Yes, I've heard both the MPS-8 AND MPD-8.
After listing to so many DACs, more and less expensive, I am ever more convinced that there no DAC's competitive with the MPD-8. To make it a fair fight, you have to compare it to a good vinyl system as all other digital is a very different sound.
One of the dealers I know very well has a Clearaudio Statement V2 and I think this would be a more comparable source. |
@mbmi I'm glad you love your new DAC! Rock on! |