2. digital
  3. 135167-91216

Borderpatrol Dac SE

I've been seeing this DAC mentioned a lot everywhere lately, hearing that it performs way above its price class, etc.

I took the leap and bought one.  Mind you I've only broken it in for 48 hours but I'm at this point I'm not sure it will ever open up.

So far it has really soft and closed in treble with no air or decay.  Mids are okay, bass is a little soft without great definition or extension.  Imaging is ok but feels a little confused.

To be honest it's getting smoked by my current Fostex HP-A8.  The Fostex is the design antithesis of what's gaining traction:  a delta sigma AKM chip.

Owners:  does this thing ever open up, or has the Sopra unmasked another pretender?  If this is "analog" sound, I think I'll pass the next time I hear that descriptor.

System:  

roon
Sotm Sms-200
Perla Audio Sig 50
Focal Sopra 2
emcdade

Showing 7 responses by emcdade

emcdade OP
95 posts
 
Thanks guys, I'll continue the burn in for a couple of days then give it a clean slate to evaluate it.  


emcdade OP
95 posts
 
I'll report back in a few days.  It's going to have to undergo one heck of a transformation.
emcdade OP
95 posts
 
It's been burning in in my office system all week.  I'm going to warm it up in my main system tonight and have another listen.  I may even get out my Umik-1 and take a few measurements to see if they confirm what I'm hearing.
emcdade OP
95 posts
 
Very interesting, sounds identical to my experience.  I have been giving the tube a break here and there and have been in touch with Gary.  

Kudos to Gary for giving a 14 day period to audition it.
emcdade OP
95 posts
 
Quick update:  it no longer sounds broken, and now sounds broken in.  Hard to believe how much better it sounds frankly.

I'll post more details tonight after I've gotten to know it better.  First impressions are that it's got good musical flow, nice full bodied mids, but still lacking in air and treble refinement.


emcdade OP
95 posts
 
I ended up returning it thanks to Gary's generous return policy.  No complaints about the DAC in general, it just didn't work in my setup.  My amp is a little sweet on top to begin with and the BP sweetness pushed it over the edge.

I'm starting to feel Dacs are a little overrated in my setup, or I just really like the sound of the Fostex.  I have a Directstream dac in house now and really the Fostex is just as resolving and smooth.  To be honest I experienced a much larger jump in sound quality moving from PC to SOTM renderer than I have with any DAC.  Ymmv


emcdade OP
95 posts
 
The T+A DAC 8 DSD I have now makes the BP sound just like it measures:  broken.  Especially when you let Roon convert everything to DSD to feed it.
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