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R2R Ladder DACs or All in One Streamer Solutions

I am soon to own a Pass INT 25 integrated amp. I also own an Oppo 205. 

I am now searching for a separate DAC to replace/improve the DAC in the Oppo.
Budget $2k. Used preferred.

I like the R2R ladder sound and want a tube inside for a little balance with the Solid State gear.
My current source is the Oppo 205.

I am also shopping for a Streamer/Ripper/Storage device. Roon friendly and DSD capable.
Budget also $2k. Used Preferred.

It seems that the few offerings of these all in one solutions all contain a DAC.
My thought is that the DAC included will not be any better than the Oppo so it is of little use.

Has anyone been down this road lately? 

Am I missing something?

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences!
chorus

Showing 3 responses by decooney

decooney
2,265 posts
 
@jjss49 
Got it. Thanks. 

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yeah, I avoid oversampled echo-chamber unnatural sound.
decooney
2,265 posts
 
@audio2design
How did a DAC that was way behind the times 30 years ago (TDA1541) magically become good?

As we know, the Philips TDA1541 and TDA1540 "16-bit" d/a chips were used in hundreds of different acclaimed CD players. It’s sonic signature is still considered to be "musical" to many. Some DAC designers went back to it, and so did a few diehards buying up the old CD players.

Last year I demo’d a topic shelf 24 bit perfect re-clocked studio DAC at 3x the cost, installed +high end coupling caps in my 16-bit MHDT Orchid (stock TDA1541a chip), +a really good tube.  It wiped the floor in terms of enjoyability and musicality in my system. Same thing with a 16-bit Audio Note DAC.  Could not listen to the highly acclaimed 24-bit perfect DAC for very long. Found it to be dry, boring, fake sounding, not engaging, YMMV.  


decooney
2,265 posts
 
Formed in 2002: Music Heaven Development Team (MHDT):

ABOUT THE BRAND, old article. Still in business in 2020.

The gang of four founded Mhdt Lab in 2002 and are known as: ‘"Music Heaven Development Team".
They had decided to begin designing DACs to bring the feeling and fun back to digital. Motivated by the shortcomings of most DACs to faithfully convey, with spirit, varying styles of music, they have successfully created affordable great sounding and flexible little gems. Asynchronous and synchronous inputs, BNC, USB, RCA, and Toslink. The best of R-2R Burr-Brown PCM56P-J DACs, and a single NOS GE5670 vacuum tube buffered output stage in its circuit design brings the soul into the digital realm.

“‘Less is more’ is still the major rule we follow in our designs. By using the PCM56P, and due to its current output, we can omit the use of amplification (the op-amp), which provides a purer signal than can be achieved with a more complicated circuit.”


Along with Burr-Brown PCM chips, the Philips TDA1541 series chips were imbedded into the mhdt designs as being another 16-bit chip that produced a very musical and enjoyable result. More bits isn't always better. 

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