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.
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.
Showing 4 responses by ddafoe
@rsf507, compared to my previous DAC at the time a SimAudio 380DSD I found the M3 a little lean. I liked the M3 and thought it had a little more detail and soundstage, and way more bass and dynamics than the much older SimAudio, but I desired a little more fuller presentation. I really liked the SimAudio DAC when I purchased it years ago as it had a very organic musical sound that didn't make me feel like I was listening to digital. I didn't find the M3 to be analytical or fatiguing, I just wanted a little more meat on the bones... The RME I found to be cut along the same lines as the M3 sound wise, detailed and easy to listen to, it just didn't offer the same level of detail and soundstage and was likely the least dynamic of the DACs I tried (still killer for the $$ though in my opinion). The Mystique I think gives up a little resolution and maybe soundstage to the M3, has equal or maybe better bass/dynamics (its power supplies are pretty crazy), but has that organic/musical presentation of the SimAudio taken to another level. The couple really cool features of the M3 though which add to its value in my opinion are the quality of it analog output (which almost matched to my ears my ~ double the price preamp) and its option for a $1K Ethernet streamer. I use a Bricasti M5 with my Mojo and it sounds excellent, but it costs more than $1K :) |
I would add Ed Meitner to that list too :) I just picked up a MA3 DAC that uses his MDAC2 converters. I'm actively comparing it to my Mojo Audio DAC which couldn't be much different under the hood but so far I would say they sound more similar than different. What I really like about the Mojo's sound is pretty much present with the MA3. There are some differences and that is what I need to figure out to decide if the MA3 will replace my Mojo long term, but overall I have two DACs that sound really really good to my ears, and they don't share very much design or implementation details...
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@verdantaudio, were you using the stock power supply with the 204 or something else? I have the 205 and just purchased a Keces LPS for it and thought it was a nice improvement in dynamics and maybe it offered a little more fullness/mass to the presentation. I compared the combo with my Meitner MA3, and was very impressed with it relatively speaking for the difference in $$. |
