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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 1 response by torontodt

torontodt
12 posts
 

I agree that ESS isn't for everyone - sometimes it just a chip specific thing. For instance, some people find AKM velvet sound chips too mellow regardless of the implementation.

My setup now includes a Holo audio dac which is my end dac - really like it.

However, I did consider some other R2R Dacs including those from Audio-GD, who have brought many R2Rs to market and are fans of Burr Brown. 

Website: http://audio-gd.com/Products-EN.htm

Not everyone's cup of tea but perhaps worth some research since their price point is certainly reasonable. 

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