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R2R next? Don't like ESS

Can you recommend a good 'starter' R2R dac?  I've been through a number of ESS Sabre dacs and they're not for me.  IMO, they lack a certain transparency that I'm after.  Point of reference:   The *only* dac that I've heard that is decent to my ears is a 10yr old Maverick Audio D3 w/ Sparkos OpAmp swap.  *This* was great.  Alas, I sold it because I thought I could do better with something newer.  

Geshelli's offerings have piqued my interest - the J3 in particular - but it's an ESS chip.  Wondering if I should make the jump to something R2R - Denafrips, Broder Patrol..  thoughts?

martinman

Showing 2 responses by sns

sns
3,561 posts
 

Implementation is key with dacs, FPGA, R2R and ESS or other chip dacs can all do analog like sound along with transparency. At lower end R2R and older chips will be more forgiving than the ESS.

sns
3,561 posts
 

I also find it bizarre ESS chip dacs claimed to  not be transparent, never heard that complaint before, colorless, cold, sterile are the typical complaints. If you have any of these complaints with ESS, improperly implemented and likely cheap Chinese variety. I'm with those who suggest moving to higher price dacs, the Laiv Harmony is a great R2R dac at $2700, amazing dac at the price, both forgiving and highly resolving. Dacs in lower price category short term answers, dacs $2-3K range can be reference dac for many.

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