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DAC Shootout Starts This Weekend

Okay...in another thread I promised to do a side-by-side evaluation of the Audiobyte HydraVox/Zap vs the Rockna Wavelight. Due to the astonishing incompetence of DHL this has been delayed. At the moment, I have a plethora of DACs here and am going to do a broader comparison.

I am going to do a compare of the Rockna Wavelight, Rockna Wavedream Signature, Audiobyte HydraVox/Zap, Chord Hugo 2, Chord Hugo TT2, Bricasti M3, Bricasti M1 Special Edition, Weiss 501 and the internal DAC card for an AVM A 5.2 Integrated amp as a baseline.

For sake of consistency, I am going to use that same AVM integrated amp driving Vivid Kaya 45s. I may branch out and do some listening on other speakers (Verdant Nightshade of Blackthorn and/or Wilson Benesch Vertexes) but want to use the Vivids for every compare as they are the fullest range speakers I have here. For sake of consistency I will use a Chord 2Go/2Yu connected via an Audioquest Diamond USB as a renderer. The only exception is the Hugo 2 which has a 2Go directly attached to it. I will use a Roon Nucleus+ as a server in all cases.

My plan is to use the same five songs on every DAC; In a Sentimental Mood from Duke Ellington and John Coltrane, Be Still My Beating Heart from Sting, Liberty from Anette Askvik, Duende from Bozzio Levin Stevens and Part 1 of Mozart String Quartet No 14 in G Major from the Alban Berg Quartet. The intent is to touch on different music types without going crazy.

I will take extensive notes on each listening session and write up a POV on the strengths of each unit. I am going to start this this Friday/Saturday and will be writing things up over the next month or so. If you have thoughts, comments or requests, I will be happy to try and accommodate. The one thing I am not going to do is make the list of songs longer as that has an exponential impact on this and make everything much harder. If and when other DACs come in on trade I may add to the list through time.
verdantaudio

Showing 2 responses by azwill

azwill
98 posts
 

@verdantaudio,

Christiaan Punter at hifi-advice.com very recently did highly favorable reviews on Playback Designs MPS-X and then later on MPD-6.  I have been a fan of his review style.  The MPD-6 in his review had the Steam-X2 option installed.   I found it very interesting that as part of the MPD-6 review he additionally tested Antipodes K50 USB and AES/EBU as well as Grimm MU1 USB to MPS-X and then PLINK to MPD-6.  He is very enthusiastic on the results doing so with the K50 (original model).  If you have MPS-X, I would be interested in reading your impressions of the K50, MPS-X, MPD-6 combo.   

 

azwill
98 posts
 

I have appreciated your impressions and evaluations on this thread.  It was not clear to me if you utilized the Tambaqui with a preamp or direct.   I have the Mola Mola Makua preamp with DAC (Tambaqui card).  I have read that several Tambaqui owners have preferred preamp in their systems over Tambaqui direct.  The Makua DAC does not have an I2S output as does the stand alone Tambaqui, and I have not listened to the stand alone Tambaqui.   I have AES/EBU from my Antipodes K50 G4 to the Makua as well as RJ45 ethernet.   I have another unit taking USB from the K50 G4, but have been using USB output from Lumin X1 to the Makua.   While I enjoy all the inputs to the Makua, I favor the USB slightly over the AES/EBU and both over ethernet, but far too many variables in my system, including player hardware, player software, and cabling manufactures and models to generalize for others.   Of note, I also use Daedalus DID isolation devices under my Makua rather than the default support rails.  

Thank you again for the significant time you have invested in these comparisons.

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