DAC finalist please help
I love my MHDT Orchid. Still, lots of options. You might watch the recent video from A British Audiophile. I always come away learning something. https://youtu.be/bb-O8JF24PI (Oh, and if you’re spending $1500 on a DAC, you have much more than most people, so don’t feel too bad. FWIW, money is not typically a sign of virtue.) |
I greatly enjoy my audio mirror and from everything I've read it seems the mdhts @jjss49 suggested are also beautiful sounding. After getting an r2r nos dac and enjoying my AM T3se for the past year, I am heavily biased to stay within this typology. The AM I have just sounds more "right" and less electronic than the chip solutions I've tried. |
+1 on jjss49's comments on the Ares II. It does sound very good, but ideally I want a bit more refinement. The Ares II sounds great overall, but I do
feel that its sound quality has some harshness when listening for an extended period of time. I am considering getting a Pontus to retain the strengths of the Ares II (detail presented with ease, natural presentation across the frequency range, transients are easy to understand but not etched in sound quality). One potential way to reduce the Ares' sibilance is by using different power cables. An Audience power cable seems to cause more harshness. A Shunyata Venom power cable seems to sound smoother to me. I might do a comparison of Ares II sound quality with these two cables this weekend. |
I still listen and continue to buy Redbook CD’s so something that would be kind to those is important.Go R2R discrete for PCM RedBook 16/44 24/96 or DXD. Delta Sigma just doesn’t cut it in comparison so far, but it is better for DSD but it's loosing ground to the newer discrete R2R’s that are out. Cheers George |
for the money it is very hard to beat an mhdt tubed dac for sheer musicality - they are well below a grand used, and allow tube rolling to tailor tonality if you go denafrips i suggest you wait for a used pontus rather than an ares 2... for all its strengths the ares 2 in my system had a troublesome sibilance, which the pontus' added level of refinement avoids the other dac not to overlook is the ayre codex... well less than a grand used now... so lovely sounding warm dynamic sophisticated yet with life and drive |
