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dac recommendations for turntable listener?

hi everyone, kindly asking for your dac suggestions. im almost 100% a turntable listener, but recently picked up a DirectStream Dac for those times I cant find the vinyl, its too expensive, or it simply doesn't exist. im looking for suggestions as im not happy with the DirectStream dac, its just not to my liking. its too sharp up top, too thin in the lower midrange, other than that everything else is pretty great. id like to get, if possible, a dac that sounds more like my turntable. I feel like I would get mostly there if the midrange was fuller, and the top end was softer. 

my current system is marantz tt15 , dynavector 20x2, icon audio ps3 mk ii, primaluna prologue premium, and elysian 4 speakers. 

the current dacs I was looking to switch to were lab 12 dac, primaluna evo 100 dac, lampizators entry model, or Merason DAC 1. does anyone have experience with these and can recommend them? 

thanks a lot! 

Anthony 

128x128palutena
deep_333
1,318 posts
 

@palutena, what you needed from day 1 was a dac or streamer with a parametric eq (PEQ) feature.

Fo example, the Wiim pro plus is a 200 dollar streamer with a 10 band PEQ feature. Use it to bump up the mids, lower the highs, etc all with very wide Qs, adjust to taste, create your vinyl sound. From there, run it to your denafrips.

It will become the best sounding ’vinyl’ you ever heard with no pops, crackles, no running back and forth between turntable and couch like a ceaseless laborer, etc.

Otherwise, the squirrels in your head will keep bouncing too much everytime the recordings change (I used to be a vinyl guy too).

Good luck.

mdrone
125 posts
 

I went through a similar search and stumbled upon the Electrocompanient 1 MKII.

It does not get much press but does offer a nice warm rich sound.

Worth looking into.

Good luck.

jfuquay
107 posts
 

Ha!, I was going to suggest the Directstream MK1 closeout sale, and then I see you didn’t like it, and then I see the change with a different room and setup. Truly, this is a subjective experience and synergy matters. Everything’s connected.

merland100
6 posts
 

I do not think an entry-level DAC and streamer or even a step above that will get you close to vinyl.  I have a Simaudio Moon 780dV2 with an outboard Moon 820s power supply which is driven by the Roon Nucleus+, and the sound it produces is excellent and rivals vinyl, and the convenience is amazing.  One of the newer Moon North integrated systems that includes a DAC and Streamer would be worth looking into or the dCS Linea or Bartok.  You will need a budget of roughly $10,000 - $20,000 new or used to get what you are looking for.

sls883
227 posts
 

I recently upgraded my streamer to a Innuos Zen Mk3. I'm using it with a Gustard R26 r2r dac. I'm quite happy with it. I think the Gustard is excellent for the money.

My vinyl playback is decent, but not crazy expensive. Marantz TT-15S1 turntable, Hana ML moving coil cartridge, and Sutherland TZ Vibe phono stage. It sounds really good, but I mostly stream now. 

I had been playing cds and SACD through my Denon DCD-1700NE, but now that I have the Innuos streamer, I'm not using it much. 

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