DAC Shootout Starts This Weekend
+1 ditto from me too on this. As Stereophile raved about it, and JA said one of the best bench tests of a dac he's ever seen. https://www.stereophile.com/content/holoaudio-may-level-3-da-processor Cheers George |
Read again "If you do A/B using CD and streaming"!!!!!!!!🙏🙏🙏 If you do A/B using CD and streaming, be aware early CD’s are usually not compressed (sound much better), where later of the same cd (re-issues/re-masters) are compressed, and are what you usually get when streaming. Yet again the fuser that believes there is nothing wrong with compression in todays releases or re-releases from the streaming/download companies. (you need to hear the quiet so you can hear the loud) it’s obvious you don’t.🤦♂️🤦♂️ |
@georghifi. I thought I mentioned that the Vu Jade was an R2R. Definitely a goodNo, you only mentioned the cheaper single box was Delta Sigma verdantaudio OP |
verdantaudio OP Sounds like you just listened to a R2R dac, you didn’t say what conversion topology this one uses uses?? You did say the cheaper one is Delta Sigma. though. Cheers George |
If a user purely does DSD playback in his system If you only do DSD (no pcm) then Delta Sigma is the way to go. But if you do 50/50 then go R2R with dsd capabilities If you do 100% PCM: RedBook,16.44, 24.96, or DXD then the only choice is for the best reproduction is a well thought out R2R dac, as Delta Sigma can only give a facsimile of PCM Cheers George |
What it delivers is PRaT. Punchy mid-bass and mids that shine like the sun. It is not bloated. It is not lean. Nor is it overly warm. I thoroughly enjoyed this playing In a Sentimental Mood as the saxophone was sweet and the piano sparkled. It made Anette Askvik’s voice sounded incredible during Liberty. There was no sibilance in Sting’s voice or during Liberty. It was incredibly quiet and delivered good detail in the opening of Duende and the ending sounded unified and extremely coherent.Sounds like you just listened to a R2R dac, you didn’t say what conversion topology this one uses uses?? You said the cheaper one is Delta Sigma. though. However, it sounded big and slightly colored to me on strings.Maybe the tubes causing that??? Cheers George |
Don’t know how you can find sibilance distortion without sibilance. Very simple. Sibilance is a very complex waveform and hard to reproduce exactly with nothing added or removed. There is natural sibilance and that’s listenable, when it’s emphasised it’s added distortion that’s created trying to produce the natural sibilance, when there’s no sibilance, usually means the amp has rolled off or masked it with bandwidth limitations Wide bandwidth SS Class-A done right is usually the best at doing it perfect, nothing added nothing removed, and violin piano high notes are a good indicator also. Cheers George |
If it’s distracting on voice sibilance (it’s distortion), it will without a doubt manifest itself on violin and piano as well. Play the 4 tracks (5ths a bonus add on) of of Jose Serbrier and the LPO of Rimsky Korsakov’s Scheherazade on RR-89CD the violin should sound like the sweetest sounds of most beautiful woman ever!!!, making eyes at you. If it doesn’t, you’ve got distortion. Get it on CD only!! https://referencerecordings.com/recording/rimsky-korsakov-scheherazade/ Cheers George |
This almost says it all, warmer presentation, no sibilance on Stings voice (which "can" tear you a new one), yet top level sparkle from piano. Save for no mention of bass slam and tightness? Georgehifi - Tons of bass slam. Overall relatively tight. Thanks that to me is where one of the places R2R’s really shine, with that kind of bass then, it’s to me the ideal sound for a DAC. Cheers George |
This is the ladder DAC of the four and it sounded very, very good. This had the least amount of sparkle and the warmest presentation of the four. If you like a warmer presentation or you are struggling with brightness or glare in a system, this is a brilliant option. It struck a nice balance where there was no sibilance in Sting’s voice or during Liberty but there is still top level sparkle in the piano. The intimacy of the Berg piece was lost a touch, but sounded more like a large room rather than a concert hall.This almost says it all, warmer presentation, no sibilance on Stings voice (which "can" tear you a new one), yet top level sparkle from piano. Save for no mention of bass slam and tightness? Cheers George |
Hate to put another fly in the ointment but! If you do A/B using CD and streaming, be aware early CD’s are usually not compressed (sound much better), where later of the same cd (re-issues/re-masters) are compressed, and are what you usually get when streaming. Just look at this one and only album they came together to make, and you’ll see, and why I campaign for all streaming/download companies/sites to give the provenance of what they sell you. And why I stay with CD until they do. (green is good uncompressed) https://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list/year?artist=Traveling+Wilburys Remember, dynamic range gives the music breathing space. (without quite, you have no loud, = compression) Cheers George |
R2R dac sadly will be at a disadvantage then as they specifically do PCM (redbook) "bit perfect" and should be better in the shootout, that's why one of the very high-end dacs now I've seen have a discrete R2R stage for PCM and a ESS Delta Sigma for the dsd streaming It would be good if you could get some CD's and a transport also for this shootout Cheers George |
