Doge 7 tube DAC

@nnsixx

i have not carefully compared balanced vs rca outs on the doge as yet... nor have i had a chance to tube roll... with the multiple paralleled tubes in the unit it is a bit of a pain, but i will eventually get around to it

i would agree a weak point in the doge is that despite using a multitude of 12ax7’s in its output circuit the output voltage is not strong... i am always adjusting other dacs down in volume to match the weak output level of the doge even at 127 max output setting when doing comparisons

i am a two channel listener only, no ht for me

jjss49, as a Doge 7 owner with 6 West German Telefunken valves and 2 GEC A2900  tubes rolled in I'm very interested in your further impressions after tube rolling. Also wondering, if you happen to have tried it with RCAs instead of XLRs and whether either of these variables change its ranking. Since my Denon 4806 AV doesn't have XLR connections I can only take advantage of 4 out of the 6 Tele's I swapped in. I concur completely with your impressions on the deep soundstage. My other sources (burr brown, Wolfson),  are much flatter and even my Sony ES SACD player with its great center voice imaging isn't nearly as deep. I thought the tube swap might have improved cohesiveness and basically just further extended existing charactetistics making it sound even more dynamic and powerful. I didn't switch tubes back and forth so could this could just be confirmation bias from buying expensive tubes. Sounds several db louder too and now I sometimes turn my head thinking background vocals are coming from my surrounds when listening to certain recordings in stereo. I'm using Audio Envy RCA interconnects btw and have newer KEF R series bookshelf and center speakers with Martin Logan sub and old 80's uni-Q towers for surrounds. Not that it matters with the Doge, but I'm mentioning to say it has brought my 2-channel enjoyment almost up to par with my love of SACD surround when streaming hi res through the Doge.
 

Another super contribution from jjss49. Its just a pleasure to read what you have to say.

I would just say thank you again for what you add to this discussion forum. I wish more would do as you do here, it is so useful and informative for those of us trying to learn about good components to perhaps add to our setips and improve them. Your first hand reports of what you hear and try is one of the best things on this forum, and I have been reading here for many years, although I have only recently set up a workign account to write my own comments here at times.

...this is China - that says it all ... they try, but they have no taste, they look at the world through the Asian prism of culture and physiology)))
This article is just a hidden ad ... I'm sure no one here heard it)))
On the other hand, there is an "authoritative" person - who, many years ago, praised their player as a red book (as a good entry-level).

Never buy something - that you yourself cannot hear and appreciate the sound!

Agreed... much appreciated.

nice detailed work and clear observations….

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...

Haha, "Best" DAC award. 

Finding your best is key. g/l

I own one. It is a great DAC. Better than my previous DAC': Chord, Auralic, Berkley Audio and Hegel all top of line models. 
I have a warm setup with an old VAC/70/70 and a pair of WP7's. The DAC is much more musical then the aforementioned    

@dvdboulet,

The Chinese tubes that ship with it are really quiet, decent tubes. I really like new/reissue Gold Lions throughout it, as an easy choice (both the 12AT7s and 12AX7s), but I got some "butt ugly" RCA 12AT7s from Brent Jesse that sound really good too.

I suppose one of the downsides to the Doge 7 is the 8 12 volt tubes you have to deal with. 8 tubes make rolling not an inexpensive thing. I’ve rolled more tubes in my amp and preamp than the thing so I’m not an expert on it. I’ve noticed that so long as the tubes are quiet and have good life, the sound from the Doge 7 is excellent.

Just curious for those of you who’d rolled the tubes, any particular tubes you think pair really well? I see on the dodge website one reviewer really felt compelled by the sonic improvement using Tung-Sol 12AX7 tubes. I love how so many folks pair this DAC with all sorts of downstream components (more tubes, or solid state) and it seems to play well with just about everything.

Also curious if anyone is using the (digital) volume control on the DAC and driving their amplifier directly. 

Thanks!

this will take some time, several units to sort through, tube choices, rca vs xlr outs, lots of permutations to cover, differences can be somewhat subtle ... i will come back with what i am hearing once i have solidified the impressions ... thanks for the interest!

Yes!!! JJSS is in the house and ready t review!  Love it. 
This is a wonderful piece of gear.  I’m confident you’ll find it clear and musical.  

jjss49  - +1 on your D7 findings as well.  The AN 4.1 + sonnet have been on my radar.

jjss49 - very intrigued by your findings, been looking at the Sonnet and Tubador, but also the Lab12 dac, was very close to order the Doge7 at one time.

i have a doge 7 here now, comparing against audio note 4.1, dena pontus, soekris 1421, a nicely modded mf trivista, and my trusty standbys a-m tubador, sonnet morpheus, mhdt orchid and chord tt2/scaler

Best DAC I have owned better than Lumin,Berkeley Audio, Dac1, Chord, NAD, Moon....etc.

I ordered my Doge 7 in December 2020 and still waiting. Ordered it without tubes, because I wanted to know what tubes were supposed to be best upgrade out of the box. They offered there experience of what tubes to use in the upgrade, so I could purchase beforehand. I've been patiently waiting sure hope the wait is worth it. Currently not using an external Dac.

Doge 7 Tube dac is on my radar since a while. I have had a Clarity 8 2019 version for two years and can say to be hundred percent satisfied with it. Very transparent , dynamic and detailed sound.
Amazing zero floor noise too, very good being e tube preamp, thus Doge 7 will be my next move.

I have the Doge 7 Tube DAC.  I highly recommend it. And I don't love everything I buy.  I wish it was that easy.  It takes me a long audition to truly understand a product in my system. 

I did a post on the unit and tube rolling in it. 

The stock Shuguang tubes do not get enough credit--yours truly included.  The beauty of the stock tubes is that they are very quiet and the preamp side of this unit needs that.  If you aren't going to use it as a preamp you may not have to worry about quiet, non-microphonic as much.  

I liked the Doge more than NAD M51, Border Patrol, Denefrips Ares.  I haven't compared it head to head with any "Giants".  All I know is that I love the sound.  

When my reissue Gold Lion 12AT7s got noisy within 500 hours, I had trouble diagnosing where the hiss was coming from.  I put the stock Shuguang's back in (they were next to new) and things quieted down. 

I would have paid $2000-$3000 for this unit.  The features are super.  

When I built a Roon NUC server this summer, it instantly recognized the Doge 7 and they play really well together, even though the Doge is not "Roon" or MQA ready.  It is DSD ready. 

I saw a used one on US Audio Mart last week for $900 or so.   

I have the MHDT Orchid and really like it but the Doge 7 is very interesting.

I, too, have the Doge 6 CD player for 6 year now. It's an excellent CD player. I like it better than my Oppo 205 player.

I recently compared Doge 6's analog output and digital output via Doge 7 DAC. The Doge 7 DAC has a bit more rich sound and extended high. To me, the tube analog section of Doge 7 DAC is excellent.

I had the Doge6 CD player and loved it.  Doge definitely knows digital.  Plus they offer service in your home country, which is great if you need it.  

My own experience with Doge product is very positive. I have some email communications with their chief engineering and he is very polite and always try to answer questions with technical details. It's a small Chinese company with excellent design and engineering capability and run like a family business producing tube gear for over 15 years, I believe. The first Doge gear that I bought was a Doge 8 preamp exactly 10 year ago. It's been in my living room system ever since, playing about 3-4 hours per day. It never has had any problem and I changed tubes twice. 

The main problem for Doge is their poor web presence. Their website and produce pages are poorly written. So I don't suggest read too much into what they advertised for their product review. But, personally, I don't think they are paying Jay for his review.  

Cheers,

Bought a Doge 5 and Doge 7. I can highly recommend them . The Doge 7 blew my Matrix MQA pro out of the water in every aspect. The Doge 5 is as musical as I have ever heard. 

Go to Doge website and lookup the Doge 10 page. See who is prominently featured on that page. Impartial reviews... yeah, right!! Like I said, nothing wrong with making it a full time profession, but it’s disingenious to pose as an impartial reviewer when it’s clearly a pay-for-play job.

No 'doge' in this fight but ocean2059 just relayed his impressions based on the same gear in his room and seems like Jay isn't blowing smoke - or at least Jay's smoke doesn't NECESSARILY smell like BS.

Or you can keep watching Jay/NBTS, he will be promoting another giant killer chifi dac next month. And another one the month after ...

hahaha arafiq - couldn’t agree w you more

flavor of the month, flavor of the week

rite of survival with these internet/youtube reviewers

ultimate hamster on treadmill - ultimately credibility asymptotic to zero

I have been using Doge 7 for almost two years now and I highly recommend it. Very organic and musical with great imaging. While it's very detailed, it doesn't have any of digital harshness at all. I just watched Jay/NBTS and fully agreed with his assessment of the Doge 7. The stock Chinese tubes sound pretty good, very quiet and provide ample resolutions. I recently change the stock tubes with some of NOS Jan/Philips 12AT7 tubes and they improve sound quality noticeably to my liking.  

In general, Doge produces a range of great tube products. They are a bit unknown but their products have great quality and the values this DAC and other amplifiers are tremendous.  I also highly recommend their Doge 8 preamp, which I have been using for the past 8 years with great satisfactions.  

I use both Doges in my main living room:
Doge 7 DAC
Doge 8 Preamp
Manley Snapper Mono Amp
Magnepan 1.7i Speaker
Audio Envy cables 

I just noticed that Doge 7 is being back ordered, maybe due to high demand now. I am happy to see they finally got some recognitions they deserve. 

Or you can keep watching Jay/NBTS, he will be promoting another giant killer chifi dac next month. And another one the month after ...

there are many great DACs that are made in the USA by the likes of Schiit, Audio Mirror, PS Audio, etc. with good reliability, reasonable prices, and resale track record.  NBST has pretty much turned into the marketing arm for chifi products at this point. Nothing wrong with that, he has to earn his bread somehow. But their claims of 5x the price to performance ratio or hogwash. 

I'm thinking about the Doge 7 too. Currently have a PS Audio DSJr and like it but wanting to check out some tube and/or NOS dacs this year. MHDT, Doge 7, AudioMirror are all on the radar. Curious to hear anyone else's thoughts if they've had and/or heard the Doge 7.

Check out the MHDT line of tube dacs, detailed and smooth. easy to listen to