2) don’t estimate older dacs, they can sound excellent if they have excellent design and componentry (which need not be super expensive)
i obviously meant to say ’don’t UNDER estimate older dacs'... sorry for the error in my earlier post
New DACs High End Munich 2023
I am now searching for a new DAC to replace my Oppo UDP-205 and High End Munich 2023 was the event I was waiting for to hear about new announcements.
I know that Auralic and Total DAC have introduced new DACs and Primare has new modules. Anyone hear any other DACs being released in the next 2-3 months?
Showing 11 responses by jjss49
i would like to share what i am doing currently, as it may help put in perspective the relative impact of a dac change on the sonic performance of a system listening to my modded magnepan 1.7i’s (xo and wiring mods) w rel subs pair, pass int150 (x150.5 power section with passive pre front end) ... exceptionally high resolution system in a dedicated well damped room comparing a denafrips pontus 2 12th, venus 2, weiss dac501 4ch, AND a $400 van alstine fet valve topp dac (circa 1998, tda 1541 nos chip, dual 12ax7 tubed output, redbook only, good os tubes in it), 3 fed by parallel optical rendu’s, the older ava dac fed by spdif rca out of an ifi zen stream, which in turn is cleansed by an etherregen moat running roon, so can set different sample rate settings at each digital leg, each leg maximized for the receiving dac, core mqa decoder activated as appropriate the venus (3.5 grand) sounds a teeny bit silkier than the pontus (2 grand), teeny bit better bass drive, clearly more forward treble, slightly wider image but no deeper no more layered weiss (10 grand) has equal tonality as the venus, but a deeper more layered soundstage, a little more subtle detail and treble clarity, midbass a little leaner cleaner, equal excellent deep bass drive and prat the $400 (used) van alstine has less (and less deep) bass drive, which i can easily adjust for with subs’ setting, slightly less micro detail (due to a slightly higher noise floor) but has equal imaging width as the venus, is as layered as the weiss, but with a touch less specific outlines, and a cool, ethereal nature to voices and guitar and acoustic bass that none of the others can quite match sooo, to me, the implied lessons learned are 1) get the front end very clean (pre streamer/renderer), i use etherregen out of a good audiophile switch, into optical rendu where possible - it lets all dacs compete on an equal footing, be at their best sonically 2) don’t estimate older dacs, they can sound excellent if they have excellent design and componentry (which need not be super expensive) 3) well done tube stage can bring something very special, not better or worse, but different from what ss output dacs sonically present typically 4) the sonic differences between dacs of vastly different costs , even on an excellent, highly resolving, well tuned system, are quite subtle -- not in the 10, or even 5% range... we are talking 1-2% differences here ... (of course functionality and construction quality are separate, distinguishing issues among dacs of different price tiers) do dacs matter? sure they do... but among very good dacs in various price tiers, even on an excellent, highly transparent, very well optimized system, the performance differences are small indeed sorry for a long one, but i thought this should be said here on this thread |
you as well, enjoy the music (and your amber) i have never tried a lampi, one day i am sure i will, i know the brand has a loyal following, and an excellent reputation for excellent quality and sound vacuum tubes at the output stage of dacs can be a terrific solution to provide a lovely wide deep soundstage and that certain magic quality to voices and natural acoustic instruments that solid state gear can have a much harder time doing |
over time, there have been many shills on this site this new member @rubicon15 presented like a shill in his first three posts, as i saw it joins on day 1, on days 2 and 3, he posts only on three different threads about expensive dacs, each recommending the lampi amber, and on one post boasting ’it outperforms dacs 2-3x its price’, i also asked what dacs has he tried and compared against the amber 2-3x its price, no reply on that so i called it out, questioning who is this dude, smells like a shill to me his first reply defending his earlier posts on the amber amber amber was, well, hey at least i am consistent, to which my reply was, sure bud, shills with an ulterior motive are consistent too... no condescension here, just being matter-of-fact... when i smell b-s i call it out... dacs are a territory i am quite experienced and knowledgeable about, i have been here a helluva long time, learned a whole lot, contributed much as well, have nothing to gain in giving advice i do like this site, having been here from the very start, and i do what i can to protect its integrity and well being if he is a real person, as he now seems to be with successive posts, if he is coming from an earnest place, then all is well and good... we welcome the participation (as i also said earlier, even when calling him out) |
wonderful! welcome... please tell us more about your system, your background, your country (which you have listed as n/a)... there is a virtual system page, please post pictures of your gear and set up, and list your equipment so we might see what prior dacs have you owned? which ones 2-3 times the cost of your lampi have you tried? just curious to know, thanks ... what other usernames have you used here in the past, if any? we welcome legit new members who are dedicated to this hobby, and have alot to contribute to others here seeking advice or points of view on successful system building... otoh we who have been around the block here a while can smell a shill from a distance... shills, by the way, are also remarkably consistent in their posted content, sometimes painfully so...
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scott i hope you will listen to this thing and compare to the well known ones you have discussed in the past, weiss, bricasti, rockna, chord, pbd and so on, and report back to us! or ship it to me and i will ... 😁 https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisb583d-lampizator-amber-4-dac-preamp-da-converters i do know our good buddy @tvad also had a lampi, liked it quite alot but ultimately sold it and kept his bricasti as well |
gotta love it 2 posts, new member, both touting the same dac in different threads guerilla marketing from warsaw? 🤣🤣 |
great to see you posting here purely for fun and curiosity i picked up one of your pecanpi streamer/dacs used to try and play with, i have much more expensive units (weiss, modwright modded cambridge unit, gustard r2r r26, msb analog dac with streamer card)... your little box does very well indeed in the company of gear many multiples more expensive (albeit fed with nice linear power supply) performance and satisfaction per dollar is off the charts! keep up the great work! 👍👍 |
no worries @stuartk, and no offense intended -- i wasn’t at all implying you had any vested interest was just a little needling that i couldn’t resist -- to remind all of us that these youtube talking heads are helping themselves as much as, if not more than, helping ’the viewers’ after all he is just a guy with a pair of ears in a house in the woods, made some inroads getting retailers and minor manufacturers to send him stuff to opine on and publish as cost effective advertising in our hifi world, not much difference than the kardashians or paris hilton... famous only for, well, being famous, zero credibility otherwise |
where does one buy stock in steve huff??? seems like he is the sole opinion leader swaying expensive dac purchases around the globe these days... the monetization potential is just enormous!!!! 🤣😂 be sure to get the indonesian speakers he recommended too while you’re shopping... sorry, i just couldn’t resist... carry on... |