quick report back, i am part done doing comparisons, can report on the following
system context/caveats first -
-- using the doge 7 vs a-m tubador 3se vs ank dac 4.1 all using xlr outputs, stock tube sets, vs long term references sonnet morpheus and much more expensive chord hugo tt2/m scaler
-- dacs feed into the ancient but still absolutely brilliant carver lightspeed reference passive linestage balanced section... into hegel h20, with purist audio xlr cabling (aqueos, dominus and colossus) to spendor sp100r2's - volume adjusted of course, the carver has 3 xlr inputs so i can a-b-c instantly - the morpheus, doge and chord stack all have volume adjustability to allow easy and exact volume equalization
findings thus far -
all three tube dacs are outstanding, sound very natural and dimensional, convincing body/weight/texture around voices, strings/woodwinds/piano, extended realistic treble with absolutely minimal sizzle/sibilance, solid round tuneful bass
-- sonnet morpheus was the least good sounding of the bunch -- it sounds great on its own, but once you directly compare, it has a slight but immediately noticeable grain/grit through the lower treble and midrange, compared against the others, while deep bass was slightly better than all the tubed dacs (deeper, more air) ... but i did not feel the bass presentation of the other dacs were lacking in the least ...
-- the chord combo (running at highest oversampling mode, sharp filter) was easily the cleanest of all, most easeful, velvety, best spatial presentation (big and yet very specific outlines of instruments), simply the most analog... i think due to the extreme oversampling and high fpga tap count, there is by far the most processing power at work here, so the digits/bits are glued back together in the most seamless, complete fashion ... there is NO harshness, NO sibilance, voices hang in the air, no electronic artifacts, bass is extremely deep and tuneful, just amazing -- shouldn’t be a surprise here, the m scaler/tt2 stack is ~3x the others in $$ and competes in a different league (see @verdantaudio’s bake-off thread)
-- among the three tubed dacs, i rank the audio note a touch better than the a-m and doge -- audio note has a notably richer, more saturated presentation, fatter (but least wooly) midrange, tones have best decay, woodwinds/guitar piano sound more full/harmonic, while there is also very good air/openess up top ... whereas the a-m has a more closed-in (intimate, haha) presentation and image, dynamically excellent, but just a touch of harshness can sneak its way in on some recordings... doge 7 using stock tubes sounded the leanest among the 3 tubed dacs by a slim margin, most prone to some sibilance (but not quite as lean as the chord combo)... the doge benefitted from a very deep image even if its decay was not quite as convincing on cymbals steel string guitar for instance ... listening deeper, the doge and a-m have a noticeable wooly quality to their midrange richness, which is quite appealing at first, until you hear the ank (richer but clearer, less wooly) or the chord (a touch leaner but much clearer, utterly pristine and pure), makes me wonder if that wooliness is added 2nd order harmonics (but then why is the ank rich but cleaner?) -- or -- it is a very subtle, slightly mechanical/digital nature to the sound, like the bits aren’t being glued together quite as finely maybe, i dunno... the a-m bass is full and deep, doge a bit thinner but still really excellent ... both a-m and doge bass are very tuneful, but don’t quite have the air and impact of the ank (the chord stack is vastly superior on bass) upon comparison (bear in mind the hegel amp is absolutely superb at portraying bass differences)
i still need to play with tube variations in the doge and a-m... doge will see old stock usa or euro 12ax7’s (which should add more warmth and texture), and the a-m will have mini-tubes come out and see old stock 6dj8’s go in, see how tonality changes
more to come...
system context/caveats first -
-- using the doge 7 vs a-m tubador 3se vs ank dac 4.1 all using xlr outputs, stock tube sets, vs long term references sonnet morpheus and much more expensive chord hugo tt2/m scaler
-- dacs feed into the ancient but still absolutely brilliant carver lightspeed reference passive linestage balanced section... into hegel h20, with purist audio xlr cabling (aqueos, dominus and colossus) to spendor sp100r2's - volume adjusted of course, the carver has 3 xlr inputs so i can a-b-c instantly - the morpheus, doge and chord stack all have volume adjustability to allow easy and exact volume equalization
findings thus far -
all three tube dacs are outstanding, sound very natural and dimensional, convincing body/weight/texture around voices, strings/woodwinds/piano, extended realistic treble with absolutely minimal sizzle/sibilance, solid round tuneful bass
-- sonnet morpheus was the least good sounding of the bunch -- it sounds great on its own, but once you directly compare, it has a slight but immediately noticeable grain/grit through the lower treble and midrange, compared against the others, while deep bass was slightly better than all the tubed dacs (deeper, more air) ... but i did not feel the bass presentation of the other dacs were lacking in the least ...
-- the chord combo (running at highest oversampling mode, sharp filter) was easily the cleanest of all, most easeful, velvety, best spatial presentation (big and yet very specific outlines of instruments), simply the most analog... i think due to the extreme oversampling and high fpga tap count, there is by far the most processing power at work here, so the digits/bits are glued back together in the most seamless, complete fashion ... there is NO harshness, NO sibilance, voices hang in the air, no electronic artifacts, bass is extremely deep and tuneful, just amazing -- shouldn’t be a surprise here, the m scaler/tt2 stack is ~3x the others in $$ and competes in a different league (see @verdantaudio’s bake-off thread)
-- among the three tubed dacs, i rank the audio note a touch better than the a-m and doge -- audio note has a notably richer, more saturated presentation, fatter (but least wooly) midrange, tones have best decay, woodwinds/guitar piano sound more full/harmonic, while there is also very good air/openess up top ... whereas the a-m has a more closed-in (intimate, haha) presentation and image, dynamically excellent, but just a touch of harshness can sneak its way in on some recordings... doge 7 using stock tubes sounded the leanest among the 3 tubed dacs by a slim margin, most prone to some sibilance (but not quite as lean as the chord combo)... the doge benefitted from a very deep image even if its decay was not quite as convincing on cymbals steel string guitar for instance ... listening deeper, the doge and a-m have a noticeable wooly quality to their midrange richness, which is quite appealing at first, until you hear the ank (richer but clearer, less wooly) or the chord (a touch leaner but much clearer, utterly pristine and pure), makes me wonder if that wooliness is added 2nd order harmonics (but then why is the ank rich but cleaner?) -- or -- it is a very subtle, slightly mechanical/digital nature to the sound, like the bits aren’t being glued together quite as finely maybe, i dunno... the a-m bass is full and deep, doge a bit thinner but still really excellent ... both a-m and doge bass are very tuneful, but don’t quite have the air and impact of the ank (the chord stack is vastly superior on bass) upon comparison (bear in mind the hegel amp is absolutely superb at portraying bass differences)
i still need to play with tube variations in the doge and a-m... doge will see old stock usa or euro 12ax7’s (which should add more warmth and texture), and the a-m will have mini-tubes come out and see old stock 6dj8’s go in, see how tonality changes
more to come...