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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
rareace
113 posts
 
Just purchased the SE-i and out of the box it sounded AMAZING! The best DAC I’ve owned. In a nutshell smooth, natural sounding with huge power on the low end. One of the best upgrades in my system and highly recommend to anyone looking at the this unit.
-Alex
needlebrush
99 posts
 
Had mine for over 2 years... Gary says upgrade to i version makes it sound more organic. This will not help the bass issue, its way too soft and boomy even with a fully treated room of GIF panels. Another member suggests I should but the Audio Mirror. I’m looking for a natural sounding DAC with a very tight and deep bass, up to 5k new or used, any suggestions?
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.
divertiti
225 posts
 
I have had it in my system as well, it's not worthy of all the praise. It was very slow, unfocused and colored in the sound. I think people who like it are in it for the overly warm colored sound.
pastorbob's avatar
pastorbob
78 posts
 
Owned one for around a year. It never really opened up. Lacked air and dimension. It was a pleasant sounding DAC, but nothing really special in my opinion.
I felt it never really lived up to the raves it got in audiophile press (although there were some naysayers).

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