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Looking for a vinylesk sounding DAC

I cannot say I wasn’t satisfied with my system.

Laptop (Quobuz Studio) - > Schiit Bifrost 2 - > Ocellia Reference RCA - > Werner Acoustics, Selene (active tube preamp using two VT-231 from RCA) - > passive preamp - > Ocellia Reference RCA - > First Watt F6 dual mono custom built - > HEDD Audio’s "Heddphone" / Hifiman HE 4

From the beginning I started to built it I had a quite concrete idea of what it should sound like in the end: vinylesk without using vinyl. It took me a while to get there and now I really thought I got it: Due to the F6 the outcome is brutally powerful and incredibly fast while the tube stage adds lots of body, depth and a rich organic undertone. Finally the RCA’s from Ocellia were adding the fine raffinement and a nice holographic soundstage. Nothing smears, in just every situation everything stays transparent, well controlled/articulated and the separation is just excellent.

BUT when listening to streamed vinyl I still feel the need for action - I just want EVERY track from quobuz to sound like this. Please take just some seconds and listen to this:

https://musicandvinyl.blogspot.com/2020/08/haruomi-hosono-from-aegean-sea.html?m=1

There is just MORE elasticity, MORE tonal density, MORE plankton, MORE concentration to the point, MORE light-footedness and MORE palpability (compared to a "disdainful" quobuz stream). Do you know what I mean?

I still think and hope a new dac could be the nirvana-solution. But which one would manage the job to sound just like vinyl (99% would be ok...)?

Happy to hear your suggestions!
barrista0611

Showing 1 response by mahler123

mahler123
3,479 posts
 
Vinyl sounding?  Take the DAC of the month, record yourself eating Rice Krispies, fry an egg in the background, and you are done.

if you love the sound of vinyl so much, why are you wasting your time here?  Why not, you know, just sit and listen to some petroleum slabs spun on a platter that you hope plays at a stable speed with a sewing needle slashing the grooves to transmit some vibrations and call it a day?  If you truly believe vinyl is so superior why are you trying make digital sound like vinyl?  Do you also go to Burger King and expect to get Filet Mignon?
  I’ll take the increased dynamic range and drop dead quiet backgrounds of digital.  God forbid I get a DAC that generates the illusion that I am hearing what I gladly abounded 35 years ago
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