Looking for a vinylesk sounding DAC
@barrista0611 well implemented digital can sound somewhat 'vinyl like'... but it will never sound like vinyl as vinyl has its own unique and sympathetic colorations (not mention issues) but i would agree with posters below suggesting various r2r type dacs, and ones with tube buffering of analog outputs, they head in the tonal direction you seek - there are Delta Sigma dacs and ones w/o tubes that do this as well... you do not mention your budget for the dac - if you stay in the schiit bifrost range of cost it will be hard to get there you need to be at least in the $750-1000 price range to get a very nice somewhat tonally denser ’analog sounding’ dac from the list of gear you mention you seem to be a headphones guy -- there is tremendous discussion on mhdt, audio mirror, denafrips, etc etc on the couple well subscribed hp boards |
@barrista0611 https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/thinking-about-getting-a-r2r-dac?page=3 that thread will help you... a lot of info you want gets covered in it in the thread, you will note that there is one person who got highly disruptive and argumentative in the thread, he was booted after complaints by several longstanding members, thus the numerous notes of deleted threads and some threads calling him out you should also note that person is back here, with a new usersname, in this thread and in the other i referenced... he/she is the only person who is repeatedly argumentative (this is fake, that is fake etc etc), posts several replies in succession... won’t name names here... read through and it will be obvious this having been said, the reading, if you are patient, will yield useful info to you as you upgrade dacs good luck |
@snackeyp I find it amusing how so many "audiophiles" dig in on one or the other medium of music delivery as being superior and the other being useless. well said, and i agree wholeheartedly earlier this year when covid started and being mostly shut in, i undertook the challenge of learning and implementing streaming into my system, which was cd and lp based up to that point - my question was can i get streaming to sound as good as cd or analog it has been a long, but fun and interesting journey - some 8-10 streamers, 25-30 dacs... the short answer is yes, streaming sounds every bit as good, mostly due to good sounding dacs the whole experience streaming is such a massive upgrade to only listening to cd’s and lp’s on hand -- simply because streaming lets you discover new music so effortlessly... sooooo happy now... i listen more than ever and enjoy it more than ever |
@barrista0611 i won’t say which is my favorite, it so depends on rest of system and synergies desired - but here is what i have kept vs gone (have 3 systems across couple homes so lots of duplicate gear) kept: audiomirror tubador 3 se sonnet morpheus metrum jade and amethyst mhdt orchid stockholm paradisea istanbul w mods chord m scaler and hugo tt2 mojo van alstine fet topp/hybrid dac jolida black ice glass fx (upgraded) dena pontus auris d1d ayre codex sold: chord 2qute qutest neko d100-2 schiit bifrost mb gumby yggy border patrol se-i psa directstream topping d90 rme adi 2 dena ares 2, term metrum octave mytek brooklyn benchmark dac2 w4s dac 2-2 smsl vmv d1 many of the dacs sold are good, just didn't work for me tonally, or didn’t seem better to me than less expensive ’relatives’ or alternatives for a similar sound signature a few others out there i will try over time, like a holo, a lampizator... not in a hurry, as the ones i have all clear the bar for being very listenable with the tonality and resolution i seek to enjoy streaming and files served |
@barrista0611 That’s - even for 3 systems - an impressive list (with some candidates I’m interested in), thanks a lot for your effort! Out of those you have kept: which one do you think could match best in my case, if you take as a basis that I prefer really rich, organic and thick textures in the mids and an overall fine articulation with a tactile and palpable grip of the bass while I don’t care for the absolute last resolution in the treble region? It’s not that I don’t like an extensive resolution in the treble too as I see how much this is related to a holographic soundstage but I’m a bit sensitive in that region. You are a 100% headphone listener? I am looking at your opening post. If so, my experiences are only partially applicable as I very rarely listen to HPs. So I value imaging (depth, height, width, specificity) greatly with my speakers, in conjunction with tonal balance and timbre on voices and real instruments. For HPs the considerations and weighting of SQ aspects may be rather different. Feel free to PM me. Several of the DACs I really like are actually for headphone listening (Ayre, Mojo, Amethyst) , but I use them for my regular stereo system. I also don’t want to get too specific about the negatives of the various units... people here get defensive and pissy when someone says what they may have and like didn’t work well for reasons a b and c... |
